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Contrary to rumor, we will not accept just any article sent in to us! These guidelines will help you submit an article with a better chance of being accepted.

We look for four types of articles. We want articles that clarify or add detail to material covered in the manuals. Some areas are covered by a one or two sentence summary that just cries out for a tutorial. Other times, the manual has done a very nice job of describing a function, and an article would simply be redundant.

We also want "how to" tutorials. If you've achieved an unusual effect with Aladdin or ImageFX, write a step by step article on how you achieved it, and suggest a few alternative uses for the technique. Aladdin 4D's gas objects, for example, can be used to simulate rocket exhaust, clouds, fog, starship shields, energy weapons, or nebulae and galaxies. The trick is in the details of the settings.

On occasion, someone will create a new tool for ImageFX or Aladdin 4D, and then we need them to write an article on how to use it. After all, who knows the uses of a tool half so well as the one who created it?

No software is perfect, so our fourth article type is the bug report, preferably with a way of working around the bug. These reports should be very detailed as to what circumstances allow the bug to show up, and how to work around it. All bug reports should also be forwarded to Nova Design; don't assume that we've done it for you!

Tips and Tricks are not really a fifth kind of article, but we love receiving them anyway. These will usually be a tip or neat trick that might only be a couple of sentences to a couple of paragraphs long. We may gather these for awhile so that we can publish several all at once.

The preferred method is to archive (LHA, LZX) your article and email it to the current editor. Plain ASCII text is the preferred medium, although we can also read FinalWriter and WordPerfect 4.1 wordprocessor formats at this time. (This is subject to change, which is why ASCII text is preferred.)

No matter what format you send it in, we need you to add information on where to place the illustrations. Something on the order of "[figure one here]" will do. This would also be a good time to add in any captions for the illustrations, as well. FinalWriter allows you to embed images as part of the document; don't use that option! I have no way of removing images from a FinalWriter document, and it's a waste of your time and mine if I have to re-create the images. All image files should accompany the article file in the archive you send.

We limit the size of illustrations to a maximum of 640x480. Animated GIFs should be kept to an absolute minimum, preferably none. Screen captures of ImageFX or Aladdin 4D settings should be GIFs, typically 16 colors will be adequate. 24 bit renderings should be in JPEG format.

If you are working in Aladdin 4D, you will probably want to include the drawing file you used for the article. In ImageFX, you might have script files or setting files to include.

ImageFX Currents and Aladdin's Lamp are nominally published at quarterly intervals: January 1st, April 1st, July 1st, and October 1st. While we accept articles at any time, to make the issue for a given quarter, you need to get your article in at LEAST three weeks before the publication date. This gives us time for HTML conversion, editing, debugging, and any other items that seem to make a habit of cropping up at the last minute.

This one should be so obvious that it need not be mentioned, but nothing is obvious to everyone, so here we go: the article, objects, scripts, images, et cetera should be your own work. If we find that you have used the work of others without their permission, the article will be withdrawn from the Nova Design website and we (the newsletter staff) will assist the original artist(s) in finding you and prosecuting you.

Do NOT include any script, image, or other binary or text files, modified or original, unless you own the copyright on them, or have received permission to use it from the copyright holder. NO EXCEPTIONS. If you have received permission from the original copyright holder, we need proof of that permission and contact information included when you submit your article.

When you send material to the Nova Design newsletters for publication, you are granting Nova Design a non-exclusive right to reproduce your material, including any drawings, binaries, et cetera in any format Nova Design deems appropriate. You retain all copyrights to your material, so you may publish it again elsewhere if you desire. You must include a statement to the effect that you agree to these terms for us to be able to use your material for publication.

There pretty much isn't any. This is a free newsletter now, open to anyone with access to a web browser, whether they own a Nova Design product or not. As a result, there is no newsletter revenue from which to offer compensation to our authors and editorial staff. This is strictly a volunteer effort.