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Since I've been asked these questions a lot, I thought to write some journals about it. This is from an Adopter's point of view.

What are adoptables?
Adoptables are "designs" that you can purchase for your personal use or, in specific cases and only if the original artist permits it, for commercial use. They can be animals, humans, objects... Anything and everything can be turned into an adoptable.

What exactly *is* it that I'm adopting?
You're adopting the *design* itself, not the colours, not the art, just the character design.
Take this adoptable:

Art = The drawing itself = Right remains to the artist, unless stated otherwise
Original Species = The lines = Right remains to the artist, unless the species is for adoption too (Not valid in case of existing species such as wolves, cats, etc....)
Colouring = Black coat/Golden wings/Pattern on Tail = Right remains to the artist
Design = (Original Species + Colouring) = This is yours

You are basically adopting the right to use the character as a whole, species + design/pattern. Usually, artists are able to do a lot of different designs so it is unlikely that that *exact* design will be recycled with another species. Orange fur with black stripes on a dog can be used again on a horse, but they are still different *designs*.

Why should I adopt one?
There are lots of reasons to adopt a character. Because you want a fursona, because you want a pet for your OC, to join an ARPG, because you like the way they look... Anyone has a different motivation for wanting an adoptable, plus it supports starving artists so that's always a plus. Many artists also allow for re-sale or trading, so it's also a future investment.

Where do I find them?
You can either browse dA by searching for 'adoptables' or you can go to an adoptables groups. There are a lot of groups, so you might want to look at more than just one, to increase your chances to find the perfect character for you.

How do I adopt an adoptable?
Many adoptables have a 'first come, first serve' rule, meaning that the first one to offer the artist what they ask, becomes the owner but lately, the trend of doing auctions for adoptables has increased, so it's very likely that you'll find people replying to each other with their bids. If interested, just reply to the highest bidder with your own bid.

This being said, there are four main things you might be asked to give the artist of an adoptable to purchase their design:

Nothing
The adopt is free and you get them with little effort but be there at the right moment and place, because of that, they're the first to go. Your best bet in getting one of this kind is by religiously watching the artist who does them. Raffle adoptables fall in this category, even though the artist might ask for a comment, or a Journal adverstisement or something of the sort to make you enter. (Points/Money lotteries are not allowed on dA, as per dA ToS, so do not engage in one if you find it.)

Draw to Adopt
a) With reservation = You were the first to ask for the adoptable, so you only need to submit a drawing of the adoptable and you're done. This might come with a time limit, so be sure to be able to finish your entry within the time frame.
b) Without reservation = It's like a small contest, everyone submits their drawing and the artist chooses the one they like best. In this case, the time limit is mandatory.

Trade
You'll be asked to draw something (one of the artist's OCs or a design of your own) in exchange for the adoptable. A time limit might be involved.

Points/Cash
Not much to say here, points are dA's currency and cash is real money. There's usually a time limit to send the payment to the artist.

And always, always remember to read the artist comments and follow their rules. You might find that some are more lenient than others and will bend the rules a bit, others stick to what they have written and there's no way to change their mind. To avoid upsetting the artist and creating useless drama, please read the rules. Asking never hurts, but if they've clearly stated that what you want is *not* going to happen, please don't push.

ADOPTABLES BASIC TYPES AND GLOSSARY

PRE-SET: Your everyday kind of adoptable, a complete design with no possibility of editing.
CUSTOM: A character you order from an adoptable artist. Usually colour design and accessories are fully customizable/editable but the base can be the same.
DTA: Draw-to-adopt, a way of adoption where you need to draw the character to try and get it, often works just like a normal art contest with one winner and one prize.
OTA: Offer-to-Adopt, a way of adoption where you offer what you want, not necessarily just money/points, but it's usually the artist that puts up a list of what they'll accept as payment.
NYP: Name Your Price, another form of OTA/Offer-to-Adopt. See description above.
RAFFLE: A way of adoption where you follow the rules ('fave the adoptable', 'comment and say this-or-that'...) and then the winner is chosen with a random number generator.
F2U: Free-to-Use, used about bases, means that the base can be downloaded and used for free. Please read the description to check if making adoptables with it is allowed.
P2U: Pay-to-Use, used about bases, means that the base can be downloaded and used for a price set by the artist. You have to pay only once that fee and then are free to use the base as many times as you want. Please read the description to check if making adoptables with it is allowed.
MYO: Make-your-Own, means that you can create your own character of that species/breed. MYOs are usually obtained by paying for one or through contests, where you design the MYO and can keep the design if you are picked as a winner.
UFT: Up-for-Trade, when an artist is thinking of trading their character in exchange for another. Read the description to find out if the trade is open only for some specific species.
LF/LFO: Looking-For and Looking-for-Offers. The first is basically a call out to find some species/characters, the second one is asking for people interested in your characters (LFO is usually an OTA of the artist's own characters instead of simple adoptables).
CYOP: Choose-your-own-palette, they're very similar to customs, though the lineart is set and cannot be edited, and you can decide the colours and which colour goes where.
YCH: Your-character-here, basically a commission/custom with a pre-set pose. There is a mannequin, either alone or with another mannequin, in a pre-set pose, which is not editable, and you can ask for your character to be placed there.

Adoptables Journals Series:
Adoptables, Basics for Adopters
Adoptables, Basics for Adoptables Artists
Adoptables Tutorial
Adoptables, Writing an Artist's Description
Adoptables, Customs
Adoptables, Design Tutorial
Adoptables, Buying Adoptables
Adoptables, Pricing
Original Species Tutorial
Adoptables, Auctions
Adoptables, Original Species Confusion
Adoptables, I sold one, now what?
Adoptables, Doing It Traditional

Adoptables, Truth Pills

Adoptables, a Burnout Story

Adoptables, Why are you so EXPENSIVE?

:P (Lick) — Description
body div#devskin0 hr { }

Since I've been asked these questions a lot, I thought to write some journals about it. This is from an Adopter's point of view.

What are adoptables?
Adoptables are "designs" that you can purchase for your personal use or, in specific cases and only if the original artist permits it, for commercial use. They can be animals, humans, objects... Anything and everything can be turned into an adoptable.

What exactly *is* it that I'm adopting?
You're adopting the *design* itself, not the colours, not the art, just the character design.
Take this adoptable:

Art = The drawing itself = Right remains to the artist, unless stated otherwise
Original Species = The lines = Right remains to the artist, unless the species is for adoption too (Not valid in case of existing species such as wolves, cats, etc....)
Colouring = Black coat/Golden wings/Pattern on Tail = Right remains to the artist
Design = (Original Species + Colouring) = This is yours

You are basically adopting the right to use the character as a whole, species + design/pattern. Usually, artists are able to do a lot of different designs so it is unlikely that that *exact* design will be recycled with another species. Orange fur with black stripes on a dog can be used again on a horse, but they are still different *designs*.

Why should I adopt one?
There are lots of reasons to adopt a character. Because you want a fursona, because you want a pet for your OC, to join an ARPG, because you like the way they look... Anyone has a different motivation for wanting an adoptable, plus it supports starving artists so that's always a plus. Many artists also allow for re-sale or trading, so it's also a future investment.

Where do I find them?
You can either browse dA by searching for 'adoptables' or you can go to an adoptables groups. There are a lot of groups, so you might want to look at more than just one, to increase your chances to find the perfect character for you.

How do I adopt an adoptable?
Many adoptables have a 'first come, first serve' rule, meaning that the first one to offer the artist what they ask, becomes the owner but lately, the trend of doing auctions for adoptables has increased, so it's very likely that you'll find people replying to each other with their bids. If interested, just reply to the highest bidder with your own bid.

This being said, there are four main things you might be asked to give the artist of an adoptable to purchase their design:

Nothing
The adopt is free and you get them with little effort but be there at the right moment and place, because of that, they're the first to go. Your best bet in getting one of this kind is by religiously watching the artist who does them. Raffle adoptables fall in this category, even though the artist might ask for a comment, or a Journal adverstisement or something of the sort to make you enter. (Points/Money lotteries are not allowed on dA, as per dA ToS, so do not engage in one if you find it.)

Draw to Adopt
a) With reservation = You were the first to ask for the adoptable, so you only need to submit a drawing of the adoptable and you're done. This might come with a time limit, so be sure to be able to finish your entry within the time frame.
b) Without reservation = It's like a small contest, everyone submits their drawing and the artist chooses the one they like best. In this case, the time limit is mandatory.

Trade
You'll be asked to draw something (one of the artist's OCs or a design of your own) in exchange for the adoptable. A time limit might be involved.

Points/Cash
Not much to say here, points are dA's currency and cash is real money. There's usually a time limit to send the payment to the artist.

And always, always remember to read the artist comments and follow their rules. You might find that some are more lenient than others and will bend the rules a bit, others stick to what they have written and there's no way to change their mind. To avoid upsetting the artist and creating useless drama, please read the rules. Asking never hurts, but if they've clearly stated that what you want is *not* going to happen, please don't push.

ADOPTABLES BASIC TYPES AND GLOSSARY

PRE-SET: Your everyday kind of adoptable, a complete design with no possibility of editing.
CUSTOM: A character you order from an adoptable artist. Usually colour design and accessories are fully customizable/editable but the base can be the same.
DTA: Draw-to-adopt, a way of adoption where you need to draw the character to try and get it, often works just like a normal art contest with one winner and one prize.
OTA: Offer-to-Adopt, a way of adoption where you offer what you want, not necessarily just money/points, but it's usually the artist that puts up a list of what they'll accept as payment.
NYP: Name Your Price, another form of OTA/Offer-to-Adopt. See description above.
RAFFLE: A way of adoption where you follow the rules ('fave the adoptable', 'comment and say this-or-that'...) and then the winner is chosen with a random number generator.
F2U: Free-to-Use, used about bases, means that the base can be downloaded and used for free. Please read the description to check if making adoptables with it is allowed.
P2U: Pay-to-Use, used about bases, means that the base can be downloaded and used for a price set by the artist. You have to pay only once that fee and then are free to use the base as many times as you want. Please read the description to check if making adoptables with it is allowed.
MYO: Make-your-Own, means that you can create your own character of that species/breed. MYOs are usually obtained by paying for one or through contests, where you design the MYO and can keep the design if you are picked as a winner.
UFT: Up-for-Trade, when an artist is thinking of trading their character in exchange for another. Read the description to find out if the trade is open only for some specific species.
LF/LFO: Looking-For and Looking-for-Offers. The first is basically a call out to find some species/characters, the second one is asking for people interested in your characters (LFO is usually an OTA of the artist's own characters instead of simple adoptables).
CYOP: Choose-your-own-palette, they're very similar to customs, though the lineart is set and cannot be edited, and you can decide the colours and which colour goes where.
YCH: Your-character-here, basically a commission/custom with a pre-set pose. There is a mannequin, either alone or with another mannequin, in a pre-set pose, which is not editable, and you can ask for your character to be placed there.

Adoptables Journals Series:
Adoptables, Basics for Adopters
Adoptables, Basics for Adoptables Artists
Adoptables Tutorial
Adoptables, Writing an Artist's Description
Adoptables, Customs
Adoptables, Design Tutorial
Adoptables, Buying Adoptables
Adoptables, Pricing
Original Species Tutorial
Adoptables, Auctions
Adoptables, Original Species Confusion
Adoptables, I sold one, now what?
Adoptables, Doing It Traditional

Adoptables, Truth Pills

Adoptables, a Burnout Story

Adoptables, Why are you so EXPENSIVE?