Guidelines
AvoidXray is for photographs shot on film. If it went through a camera on a roll, it belongs here.
What belongs here
Film only
Every photo here was shot on a roll of film in a film camera. How you scan it is up to you, including with a phone. A photo that started on a phone or a digital camera does not belong here.
No film filters
Apps like Dazz, camera film simulations and digital cameras made to look like film all produce digital photos. However good they look, they are not what this site is for.
Tag your camera and your film
Every film and camera page on the site is built from these tags. Someone deciding whether to buy a roll of Gold 200 is looking at your frame to find out what it looks like.
Keep the editing light
Correcting color, cleaning dust and straightening are fine; that is getting the scan to match the negative. Heavy edits, like removing grain or reworking the look, stop the photo showing what the film does, and someone who buys that roll because of it will not get the same result. Post heavily edited work somewhere else.
Post the rolls that went wrong
Color casts, underexposure, light leaks and expired film are worth posting as they came out. Add a community note on the film or camera page saying what happened: expired, pushed, left in the heat, or a lab problem. That tells the next person more than another clean frame.
Only your own photos
Post photographs you shot yourself, or that you have the photographer’s permission to post.
Not sure what you shot?
A thrifted camera with half a roll already in it, a lab envelope with nothing written on it. Say you’re not sure instead of leaving it blank. Someone usually recognizes it from the frame edges, and you can come back and fix it later.
What doesn’t
Nothing nude or sexual
No nudity, including partial or implied nudity, no lingerie, no suggestive posing and nothing sexual in any form. It is removed without a warning. Nude photography has a long history on film and this is not a judgment of it, but the line has to be clear, and this site is not the place for that work.
Nobody else’s photographs
Post your own work. If you have permission to post someone else’s, say so and credit them.
No graphic violence or gore
No graphic injury, gore or images meant to shock.
No going after people
Disagreeing about a film stock is fine and often useful. Following someone around the site, piling on or making it personal is not, and neither is attacking anyone over race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, gender, sexuality or disability.
No one else’s private information
Addresses, phone numbers, documents, workplaces. If someone identifiable in your frame asks you to take it down, take it down.
No deliberately false tags
Including digital photos posted as film. Honest mistakes are fine and can be fixed. Wrong tags on purpose make the film and camera pages unreliable for everyone.
No spam, and no gaming the numbers
Mentioning a camera you are selling in a comment is fine. Unrelated links are not, and neither are bought likes or extra accounts, whether to boost your own work or to get around a block.
Sexual content involving anyone under 18 is illegal. It is removed, the account is banned permanently, and it is reported to the authorities.
A few practical things
What’s in the frame
Phone photographs often record where they were taken, which can be your home. We strip those coordinates out of every upload before storing it. Check the frame for other personal details: house numbers, license plates, school uniforms, mail on a table.
Blocking and reporting
Block anyone you’d rather not deal with. They can’t follow you, comment on your photos, or like your work, and you stop seeing each other.
Report anything that breaks these rules from the … menu on the photo, comment, or profile. It reaches us with the link attached, and the person reported is never told who reported them. Please don’t report someone for disagreeing with you.
If something breaks the rules
We try to match the response to what happened.
- Honest mistakes get a note and a chance to fix it.
- Content that breaks a rule gets removed, with a reason where that’s practical.
- Repeated problems get a suspension.
- Serious violations get an immediate permanent ban, with no warning first: anything sexual, harassment campaigns, and publishing someone’s private information.
Anything else
For anything that is not a report, including a bug or a photo of yours you think we removed unfairly, use feedback. You get a reference you can check back on, and we reply there.
The legal side
These guidelines form part of the terms and privacy policy, which cover who owns what, what we do with your data, and where it’s stored.