Everything you need to know about finding your way around the Unseen galleries and joining the Unseen community of artists and aficionados.
Unseen is an Internet marketplace for grassroots erotica art, a forum where artists and art aficionados can meet, socialize, and transact business. We welcome all artists with an erotic attitude to join our community. We do not produce or commission any of the content found on this site. Everything you publish on this site remains your intellectual property and full responsibility.
We take art seriously, no matter the content. We are adamantly inclusive of all legal forms of erotic expression in the visual arts, without regard to genre, style, subject matter, race, gender, or sexual orientation. We also take the law seriously. This means we don't tolerate any depiction of minors or violation of U.S. or international copyright law. Therefore, in order to publish on the site, you must agree to Unseen's Terms of Service.
To become a member of the Unseen community of artists and aficionados, you must first create an account. This will allow you to comment on the artwork you see on the site, publish your own art and list it for sale if you wish, and network with other Unseen community members.
Although we don't prescreen the work published by Unseen artists, we do look at most new galleries and recommend those we find particularly successful. This recommendation earns the gallery a temporary spot in the Recently Recommended Galleries section of the Home page. There are no other implications to our recommendation.
Here are the criteria we use when recommending a gallery:
Each time a gallery is recommended we also select one of its images for the Home Image pool. The featured image that appears when you navigate to the Home page is chosen randomly from this pool of 100 recently recommended images. If you wish to see all the images in the Home Image pool, click the right or left arrow on the bottom right to page through them. To see the artist's Storefront page, click on their username on the bottom left.
On occasion, we recommend an image without recommending the entire gallery. This happens when the gallery does not rise to the standard of being recommended, but it contains images we find strong.
There are many ways to search Unseen for the kinds of images you enjoy. You can use the quicksearch input window to look for galleries by keywords, or conduct a more specific, advanced search to look for either galleries or people by a variety of criteria. Whichever option you choose, your current content preferences are always in effect.
The quicksearch input window is located at top right of most pages. To conduct search, enter one or more keywords separated by spaces and press Enter. The hit list will contain all the galleries that are tagged with any of these keywords, or feature them in their title, description, etc.
From the drop-down menu to the right of the quicksearch window, select Advanced Search to conduct a specific search based on a variety of criteria.
To search for art:
To search for people:
Tags are keywords associated with a particular gallery for the purposes of searching. For instance, if the tags "bath" and "wet" are associated with a particular gallery, whenever a user searches on either of these tags, that gallery will be included in the search results.
Unseen uses a powerful extension of this tagging scheme, called Adaptive Tagging. Each tag associated with a particular gallery also has a weight which reflects the relative strength of the association and affects the order of the search results. For instance, if the tag "wet" has higher weight with respect to gallery A than gallery B, then when someone searches on "wet," gallery A will appear closer to the top of the hit list than gallery B. Likewise, if the tag "wet" has a higher weight than the tag "bath," both with respect to gallery A, then gallery A will appear closer to the top of the hit list when searching on "wet" than on "bath."
Users have no direct control over tags' weights. Rather, the weights are maintained by the server automatically. We use a sophisticated proprietary algorithm that tracks usage patterns and constantly adjusts tags' weights to reflect actual user experience. These algorithms take into consideration every search and a user's subsequent actions, such as which of the galleries on the hit list the user actually looks at and how many images are clicked. For instance, assume you search on the tags "goth" and "librarian." After examining the search results, you will likely click on some of the galleries, but not others. For some of those galleries that you click on, you will not look any further than the Gallery Summary page, while for others, you will actually click on gallery images. All these actions are tracked by the server and eventually, aggregated over thousands of searches, lead to a tagging scheme that results in the most relevant hit lists.
One of Unseen's founding principles is that we're affirmatively inclusive of all legal forms of visual expression of human sexuality without regard to genre, artistic medium, technique, style, subject matter, race, or sexual orientation. But this doesn't mean you have to see what you don't want to see. If you wish to limit the explicitness of what you see, or exclude a sexual orientation (straight, bisexual, or gay) from the content displayed as you browse the site, select Content Preferences from the quicksearch window drop-down menu and adjust the sexual orientation and hardness rating to suit your comfort level. As you change the content preferences settings, the number of images available will be displayed asynchronously. This means you can get a dynamic idea of how many images (and what percent of the total images on the site) will be available to you with any given filter you select.
When you browse art, the galleries that have been filtered out by your content preferences will not be displayed in the table you see on the Browse Galleries page.
When you browse people, all users will be displayed in the table you see on the Browse Users page, regardless of your content preferences. However, when you navigate to a user's Storefront page (by clicking on their username or real name), any galleries that are filtered out by your content preferences will not be displayed on the user's Storefront page. Thus, depending on your current content preferences, it may appear that a user has no published galleries, when in fact those images are being hidden due to your preference settings. If you wish to be sure you are seeing all galleries by a particular user, return to Content Preferences to amplify your scope.
We think of all erotic content as catering to either straight, bi, or gay sensibilities. Admittedly, we also think that sometimes these designations can be vague, irrelevant, or even misleading. So, to make things less arbitrary, we allow any gallery to be associated with one, two, or all three of these categories in some proportion. Each gallery is rated as a weighted combination of the three orientation categories. We call this multi-category association the Orientation Histogram.
The important thing to remember is that anyone in the Unseen community can adjust any gallery's orientation rating. For instance, if the creator of a gallery chooses the straight designation, then the initial histogram will be 100% straight, 0% bi and 0% gay. Consequently, this gallery will only be visible to visitors whose orientation preference includes straight. However, if another registered user disagrees with this orientation, he or she may associate this gallery with, say, the gay category. After this adjustment, the gallery histogram will be something like 80% straight, 0% bi, and 20% gay, and this gallery will be visible to people whose content preferences include either straight or gay.
Note that we treat the original designation given by the gallery owner as far more relevant than the subsequent revisions by viewers. However, if enough people think that the original designation is incorrect, they will eventually overpower the gallery's original designation.
Each Unseen gallery is rated with regard to the explicitness of its content on a scale of 1 to 10. Any member of the Unseen community can adjust a gallery's hardness rating if they disagree with the original setting. However, the Unseen algorithms will treat the original setting as the most relevant and any subsequent adjustment by the owner as more relevant than adjustments made by another community member.
The critical thing to remember is that a rating of 4 and below means that the gallery will be visible to minors. Please exercise your best judgment when assigning or adjusting the hardness rating.
All of Unseen's galleries are available for viewing by both registered and anonymous users. What galleries you see and how they are presented can be controlled in a variety of ways.
The Browse Galleries page lists all of the galleries in your scope, as defined by your content preferences. The order of presentation can be sorted by the gallery's view rank, the artist, the gallery title, the date of publication on Unseen, the price range (if a gallery has artwork for sale) or the number of images in a gallery. The sorting order can be changed by clicking on the column header.
At the far left of the table header is the All/Recommended selector. If Recommended is selected, the table only contains galleries that have been recommended by Unseen.
Select Browse People to see a list of Unseen users. You can sort this list by username, real name, location, occupation, date of joining Unseen, or the number of images they have published. Clicking on a user name will take you to their Storefront page.
The Storefront page shows a list of the user's galleries, which you can access by clicking on the gallery thumbnail or gallery title. You can sort the list by View Rank, gallery title, date of publication, or number of images in the gallery. Change the sorting order by clicking on a column header.
The Storefront page is also the place where users can connect with each other and with visitors by sharing a personal statement and displaying biographical information and their social interests on Unseen. To send a private message to a user, click on the envelope icon in the top right corner of the Artist Details informational box. Remember to include your contact information in your message so they can respond to you. A red line through the envelope means the user has chosen not to be contacted.
The View Rank is the degree of a gallery's popularity, as manifested by the number of times the gallery's images have been recently viewed. The Unseen server continually monitors the actual viewing patterns and adjusts each gallery's View Rank based on how many people have looked at any of its images. This method is far superior to the typical rating approach employed by many social media sites, because, instead of expecting users to make the extra effort of rating (which, surveys have shown, some users never bother with, while others are obsessive raters) we simply record each time anyone anywhere has taken a look at anything. At the same time, we employ sophisticated fraud detection algorithms that will discount programmatic racking up of image clicks.
Uploading your images onto the Unseen site is extremely simple. First you must be registered with Unseen. After you have logged in, go to the Upload page, fill out the info about the gallery and seconds later your stuff is online for the world to see. Simple as it sounds, though, there are a few critically important points to remember:
You may upload your gallery as a single Zip archive file, containing all of the image files, or as a collection of individual image files. If you choose the Zip archive option, you will be prompted to locate the Zip file on your computer that contains all the image files for the gallery. Your Zip archive can have up to 200 image files. If you choose the individual files option, you will be prompted for up to 50 individual image files. Whatever option you choose, there's no limit to the number of images you include in a gallery; you can always add more images to the gallery later by going to My Galleries.
The supported image file formats are: JPEG, GIF, and PNG. If your files are in another format, consider using one of the popular image editing tools to convert to the JPEG format.
You may upload files of any size. The Unseen server will automatically resize them to 754px along the larger side. (If your file is smaller than 754px it will be enlarged, but we do not recommend this option because of the possible loss of quality.)
Because we resize all files for Web display at the time of gallery creation, if you choose to sell reproduction prints of your artwork on Unseen, you will be asked to upload another, high resolution file, which Unseen will use specifically for printing. For more details about selling your work, see the Seller's Guide.
Images marked with a green dot are being offered for sale by the artist as either originals or reproduction prints. A red dot means the original piece has already been sold. The Image Detail page displays the various purchase options available: the original artwork; postcards; folding note cards; or an archival print of the artwork, available in various sizes.
When you buy an original artwork, it will be shipped to you directly by the artist. Therefore, the price of the piece includes shipping, and the shipping term listed on the Unseen site has been determined by the artist.
Postcards are 4 x 6 inches (10.2 x 15.2 cm) printed on high-quality heavy card stock. The image side is slightly coated, the back is matte. The artist's copyright is asserted on the back of the postcard. Postcards are produced and shipped by Unseen from a high-resolution image file provided by the artist and are watermark-free. They are available in shrink-wrapped packages of 250, 500, or 1000 cards.
The price for postcards is as follows: $111.50 for 250 cards; $180 for 500 cards; or $260 for 1000 cards, plus shipping. Once you place an order, it will take us up to 4 business days to print the cards; expect delivery to you within 7-10 business days. Your credit card will not be charged until your order has been shipped.
Folding Note Cards are 5 x 7 inches (12.7 x 17.8 cm) printed on high-quality medium weight card stock, which is slightly off-white and matte. The note cards are blank inside. The artist's copyright is asserted on the back of the note card. Note cards are produced and shipped by Unseen from a high-resolution image file provided by the artist and are watermark-free. They are available in shrink-wrapped packages of 50, 100, or 250 cards. Matching envelopes are included.
The price for postcards is as follows: $72.50 for 50 cards; $122.50 for 100 cards; or $220 for 250 cards, plus shipping. Once you place an order, it will take us up to 4 business days to print the cards; expect delivery to you within 7-10 business days. Your credit card will not be charged until your order has been shipped.
Archival prints are produced and shipped by Unseen from a high-resolution image file provided by the artist and are watermark-free. Once you place an order, it will take us up to 4 business days to make the print, so you should expect delivery within 7-10 business days. Your credit card will not be charged until your order has been shipped.
Generally archival prints are available in three sizes: small (11x7.78 inch or 27.94x19.76 cm), medium (15.56x11 inch or 39.52x27.94 cm), and large (22x15.56 inch or 55.88x27.94 cm). The exact dimensions will vary, depending on the dimensions of the image, therefore, one of the print's dimensions may be slightly less than these dimensions.
The archival reproductions are printed with top-of-the-line Epson technology using the following paper and ink selections:
The prices for archival prints vary as they are set by the artist.
Original Artwork. When you buy an original work of art, you have 7 days from the date of receipt to return the piece for any reason whatsoever for a full refund, provided the artwork is returned in the original condition and original packaging. You will also be responsible for the return shipment costs.
If you decide to return an original artwork, you must let us know prior to returning it by emailing returns@unseen.tv or calling +1.510.525.1905 (9-5 Pacific Time). Please note that we will not accept returns after 7 days from the day you receive your purchase.
Reproduction Prints. Unseen does not accept any returns for reproduction prints, including postcards, note cards and archival prints. The only exception is if the merchandise arrives to you in a damaged or defective condition.
Unseen is first and foremost a community of artists. We put much stock in the notion of community and entrust users with many freedoms and responsibilities. We also constantly work on offering users ways to connect with each other. Currently, you may network with other Unseen users by:
One of Unseen's defining principles is that we do not censor the content in any way. Anything you upload to the Unseen site becomes instantly available to viewers. Our Terms of Service place full responsibility for the content on the poster. While we trust that the majority of artists will take this responsibility seriously, there will be a few who will step outside the boundaries of what is permitted by the law, and we count on the Unseen community to help us curb such incidents of abuse. Whenever you come across objectionable content which violates Unseen's Terms of Service, please let us know by following the Flag this Gallery link, or by emailing abuse@unseen.tv. We review all flags promptly.
To resign your Unseen account, follow the Resign link on the Account Management page. When you close your Unseen account, we will immediately remove all your content from the server. However, we may keep some of your personal information for a period of a few weeks for marketing analysis purposes.
Last Updated: November 2009
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