I noticed how many users from theO post on MT lately. I don't want to be rude but I don't see any other way around this, so to say it bluntly, don't.
MT standards are high, and to be honest compared to how they were once, now they're way lower, but still not low enough for most theO walls submitted there.
I used to always criticize issues such as extraction or quality, but I ultimately gave up, not because I calmed down and don't want to anymore, but because no one listens to me. No one tries to improve the pixelated quality or the horrible extraction just because I advise them to. TheO is a site mostly for amateurs and it annoys me to see that they are content with their level and refuse to improve.
But back at MT, no matter how awesome you think your wall is, for MT is deletion material. Blurriness, bad extraction or low effort composition are deleted on the spot.
Here are some tips:
Extraction - Don't use Magic Wand!
It leaves behind horribly jagged surfaces and it messes with the lineart as well. I saw that it's often corrected with Smudge, it doesn't look good, especially on sharp quality scans.
The perfect tool for extraction is Pen Tool, it gets a perfect job done and very fast. I know how tempting it is to extract with the Magic Wand when you have lots of hair strands, but do control yourselves, Pen Tool makes the extraction look perfect, if used patiently!
Quality
The quality is most likely the biggest reason walls are deleted from MT and even though here a bad quality wall gets comments such as 'kawaii desu~' it doesn't mean it looks good!
I use Photoshop so I'm not familiar with other programs' saving options, but for those who use PS, when saving do it at the highest level for quality, 12. When saving a window pops and it has a 1-12 bar for quality check. Stretch it till the end, 12 is perfect quality!
Other popular ways of busting the quality:
1) Don't over-resize!
The pixels look horrible afterward and no matter how much you filter it, the result only gets worse! Never, ever try to make a tiny 500x600 picture into one that would fit into a 1600x1200 wall, unless you plan on vectoring it.
2) Avoid resizing brushes!
Brushes are complicated to use since they rarely look good when resized no matter in what sense, to make them bigger or smaller. When using brushes try your best to use them at their given size.
3) Resize huge textures!
Very big textures often have questionable quality so try to make them smaller. Don't worry, unlike brushes, they will look better and the quality issues will disappear.
Composition
Effortless layouts are frowned upon! Don't just add some brushes a render and call it a day. The background needs to be complex and high quality for a wall to look good! Take elements from many other scans, connect them with brushes if you want, but don't ever leave a wall with a brushes only background, it will be justifiably deleted for low effort. No one cares if you spent hours on arranging those brushes, the result matters, if it looks poor, then no second chance for it.
Ghosting
Is a very popular way to get lazy with the background. You just blend a character in the back, add some text and the work is done. Not really! Ghosting is complicated and unless it's made into a context, to illustrate memories or feelings and such, it's just thought of as a way to get it over with the background.
No need to say that collages or screencaps aren't allowed at all, right?
These are the Minitokyo and Animepaper standards, they are high, well designed, and for those with no will to improve, impossible to follow!
The mods on MT are very kind and often explain what to do to a wall before it's acceptable for submission, but I strongly suggest the Sandbox [link]. It's a section where you post a work in progress and ask for advice on it. It's easier to improve like that.
Posting deletion worthy walls only serves in making the mods' jobs harder. Deciding to post on MT is a big step in a waller's life!
To get MT passing grades means almost becoming pro.
Think about these issues and fix them before posting walls on high demand sites.
Check this link for EDD tutorials on vectors and extractions [link] (learn those by heart and practice like crazy).
