We appreciate image reports, because it is an important aid in maintaining the site. Duplicates provide no benefit whatsoever and merely waste space. Same with non-porn, non-Rule-34 material, and other pics not on mission for the site.
However, an image report done incorrectly is just a waste of everyone's time. At best, it will simply be dismissed. However, you can get banned if you repeatedly make invalid reports (report abuse) and do not respond to correction by the admins.
The most common image report is for duplicates, so we will discuss those first.
Duplicates
First, make sure it is actually a duplicate. Find the pic it is a dupe of. You may have seen the pic before, but perhaps it was actually on another site. Or maybe it wasn't exactly the same pic. It could have been an edit. Save the image ID, because you will need it in the report.
Actually compare the two pics. Don't just go by thumbnails. Edits are often too subtle to be visible in thumbnails. A good technique is to put the pics in two different tabs and line them up so they are in exactly the same position in the window. Then toggle back and forth between the two tabs. You can see even tiny differences that way.
In any case, at least make an effort to verify that it's actually a dupe. We've often had cases where a dupe was reported with glaring differences like wearing panties or not.
Speaking of differences, alternate versions of pics, such as different colorings or edits, are not considered dupes and should not be reported. Breaking apart a pic or combining pics into one is generally allowed, but don't go overboard.
Once you have determined that it is actually a dupe, make sure you place the image ID of the other pic in the reason box of the report.
For instance:
dupe of >>123456
or
smaller dupe of >>123456
where 123456 is the image ID of the other pic, the one to be kept.
Not Porn
Nowadays the rules for porn on the site are much more rigid than they used to be. Too many people were uploading stuff in the grey areas. We won't go into the actual rules here, but you can find them in Site Rule 8 and in the FAQ.
Speaking of Rule 8, don't report pics as "not porn" unless you check the hit counts for the characters. If the count is less than 60, the character falls under Rule 8 and the rules are less strict. One character under Rule 8 is enough to save the pic.
However, be careful when determining hit counts. Make sure each count is entirely for the character in the pic. If there is just a first name, there may be more than one character with that name, in completely different fandoms, causing the count to appear higher than it really is. Thus the pic may be deleted when it should not be. Do a search of both character name and fandom name to get a true count.
Also make sure the full name is used if the character has one. Using just a first name when a character is normally tagged under full name will also give you an incorrect count. There was a recent example of this. Someone complained when a Veronica Star pic was deleted for "not porn", claiming Rule 8. However, she was incorrectly tagged as just Veronica, throwing the count off. She appeared to be Rule 8, but actually wasn't. Her real name had a count much greater than 60.
Not 34
These are pics which qualify as porn, but not of any known character/person/corporate-logo/inanimate-object. Just generic nameless porn. Fan/Original characters and fursonas are included in not-34.
Some people report Not-34 for any pic without porn, which is true, but please use not-porn in that case. If the pic is not porn, it doesn't matter whether it is of particular characters or not.
Fan Characters
Also known as Original Characters (OCs), these are characters which are drawn in the style of a particular fandom, but are not actual characters in that fandom. They can appear with canon characters, but not by themselves. (However, the canon characters must qualify as porn, not just standing there fully clothed watching the fan characters have sex. That is not porn "of" the character.)
Administrative Action
Image report can be used for any needed administrative action that is specific to a pic. This includes comment spam and tag/source vandalism.
For administrative action that is not specific to a particular pic, the best approach is to use [url=mailto:staff@paheal.net]email[/url]. You can use PM's if you must, but only one person will see it. You will get better service with mail.
Invalid Reports
DO NOT report images to express outrage or tell us that you don't like a pic. That goes in comments, not reports. Rule violation and administrative actions only.
However, an image report done incorrectly is just a waste of everyone's time. At best, it will simply be dismissed. However, you can get banned if you repeatedly make invalid reports (report abuse) and do not respond to correction by the admins.
The most common image report is for duplicates, so we will discuss those first.
Duplicates
First, make sure it is actually a duplicate. Find the pic it is a dupe of. You may have seen the pic before, but perhaps it was actually on another site. Or maybe it wasn't exactly the same pic. It could have been an edit. Save the image ID, because you will need it in the report.
Actually compare the two pics. Don't just go by thumbnails. Edits are often too subtle to be visible in thumbnails. A good technique is to put the pics in two different tabs and line them up so they are in exactly the same position in the window. Then toggle back and forth between the two tabs. You can see even tiny differences that way.
In any case, at least make an effort to verify that it's actually a dupe. We've often had cases where a dupe was reported with glaring differences like wearing panties or not.
Speaking of differences, alternate versions of pics, such as different colorings or edits, are not considered dupes and should not be reported. Breaking apart a pic or combining pics into one is generally allowed, but don't go overboard.
Once you have determined that it is actually a dupe, make sure you place the image ID of the other pic in the reason box of the report.
For instance:
dupe of >>123456
or
smaller dupe of >>123456
where 123456 is the image ID of the other pic, the one to be kept.
Not Porn
Nowadays the rules for porn on the site are much more rigid than they used to be. Too many people were uploading stuff in the grey areas. We won't go into the actual rules here, but you can find them in Site Rule 8 and in the FAQ.
Speaking of Rule 8, don't report pics as "not porn" unless you check the hit counts for the characters. If the count is less than 60, the character falls under Rule 8 and the rules are less strict. One character under Rule 8 is enough to save the pic.
However, be careful when determining hit counts. Make sure each count is entirely for the character in the pic. If there is just a first name, there may be more than one character with that name, in completely different fandoms, causing the count to appear higher than it really is. Thus the pic may be deleted when it should not be. Do a search of both character name and fandom name to get a true count.
Also make sure the full name is used if the character has one. Using just a first name when a character is normally tagged under full name will also give you an incorrect count. There was a recent example of this. Someone complained when a Veronica Star pic was deleted for "not porn", claiming Rule 8. However, she was incorrectly tagged as just Veronica, throwing the count off. She appeared to be Rule 8, but actually wasn't. Her real name had a count much greater than 60.
Not 34
These are pics which qualify as porn, but not of any known character/person/corporate-logo/inanimate-object. Just generic nameless porn. Fan/Original characters and fursonas are included in not-34.
Some people report Not-34 for any pic without porn, which is true, but please use not-porn in that case. If the pic is not porn, it doesn't matter whether it is of particular characters or not.
Fan Characters
Also known as Original Characters (OCs), these are characters which are drawn in the style of a particular fandom, but are not actual characters in that fandom. They can appear with canon characters, but not by themselves. (However, the canon characters must qualify as porn, not just standing there fully clothed watching the fan characters have sex. That is not porn "of" the character.)
Administrative Action
Image report can be used for any needed administrative action that is specific to a pic. This includes comment spam and tag/source vandalism.
For administrative action that is not specific to a particular pic, the best approach is to use [url=mailto:staff@paheal.net]email[/url]. You can use PM's if you must, but only one person will see it. You will get better service with mail.
Invalid Reports
DO NOT report images to express outrage or tell us that you don't like a pic. That goes in comments, not reports. Rule violation and administrative actions only.