>> We wouldn't want one user's file to upload over another, when we're still trying to shrink and process it. How do we avoid orphaning images if users re-upload things?
>Tough. Not sure what you exactly mean with this though.
>> Should user icons be considered the same sort of thing as gallery images?
>Not sure what you mean by this either. What do you mean by "user icons"?
Most forums and art sites let their users upload a little picture, which is placed by each of their comments or posts. The difference between this and a normal image on the site is that, while other pictures may exist in different forms (e.g. full view / original, medium size, and thumbnail), user icons often only show up in one small standard size, and the original image they were shrunken from is not saved.