The Sect of Homokaasu

Rasterbation FAQ

I cannot rasterbate!

The Rasterbator uses a variety of technologies. The basic requirements are a modern browser (Mozilla or Firefox recommended) with Macromedia Flash Player 7. You will also need Adobe Reader (or other pdf viewer) in order to print the image.

If it still does not work, please check that you have cookies enabled in your browser and homokaasu.org is allowed to set them.

Some ISP's may try to reduce traffic by using a proxy or web cache. Because the Rasterbator is highly personalized, this will render it quite useless. You may be able to work around this by configuring the "Check new versions of the page" setting to "Every visit". In Mozilla this can be found at Edit - Preferences - Advanced - Cache. In IE, it's located at Tools - Internet Options - General - Settings.

Where did you get the idea from?

We created the DIY-Pope several years ago using Photoshop filters. Quite a few people contacted us and asked how it was done, because they wanted to make their own posters using the same technique. We grew tired explaining this all over again and decided it would not be too difficult to provide a web service to automate this. As it turned out, it was not.

Where is the rasterbation done?

The web server does the rasterbation using a special software we have written. The Flash application does not process the image - it merely provides an user interface for cropping the source and sizing the output.

How exactly does it work?

The following explanation presumes that you have gone through the rasterbation process.

When you upload the image to the server or after it has been downloaded from the web, it is converted to a preview jpeg image. The Flash application running in the browser then loads this preview image and allows you to crop and resize the image. The Flash application then sends the coordinates, desired paper size and desired size to the server.

After you have set the options and the rasterbation begins, you may end up in a queue. Rasterbation uses a lot of memory, hence this conserves server resources and actually reduces the average time users have to wait. When your turn begins, the server examines the original image (preview image is not used here to ensure maximum quality). The image is divided into squares. Each square maps to a dot in the output. The average brightness and color values of the origin square determine the size (and color if desired) of the output dot - bright area produces a small dot. Vector representations of the dots are written into a pdf document. When the entire image is processed, your browser is sent to a different page, which will instruct it to download the pdf file.

How do I get best results?

Best results depend on your visual skills. The idea, image positioning and cropping easily outweigh technical aspects in the matter of getting good results. However, technical aspects outweigh artistic in the matter of not getting bad results. Here are a few tips, which you should consider. However, depending on your image, these may be very bad things to do.

Use "Auto levels" of an image processing application to ensure that the image utilizes the entire available color range
Make sure the image has enough contrast. A rule of thumb would be that when the image looks great and natural on the screen, add a little more contrast so that the image overburns slightly.

Are you planning releasing a standalone version?

Yes, download it here.

Is there a conspiracy involving printer ink manufacturers behind The Rasterbator?

No. But of course, you cannot be sure. (Seriously: no.)

Can I display rasterbations in public? Can I sell them?

Yes and yes! The Rasterbator is an algorithm and no copyright can be based on outcome of an automatic process (as far as we know). Even if we somehow got copyrights of the works, we'd say yes, twice. However, if you exhibit or sell your work, please tell us about it!

Please note that in most countries you need to have the consent of the copyright owner of the source image to sell it (rasterbation for personal use is different). Wikipedia has a comprehensive list of public domain image resources:

Is there a way to use the same image used by someone else, displayed in the gallery?

Unfortunately, no, due to copyright issues.

Allowing other people to get the images would be distribution, which is not allowed without consent of the copyright holder. (The Rasterbator modifies the image uploaded by a certain person and no one else will be able to download it.)

Any advice on mounting techniques?

Yes, there's a lot of discussion on this at the Forum.