# Getting a website



## Bec (Mar 22, 2008)

I was not sure where to post this...so I thought I would put it in here.  I am wanting to either start a website or something to show off my work...I have had several people telling me that I need to....on there I would like to give people a chance to buy my photographs...however I would like to have the saftey feature on them to where people could not copy them illegeally....if you could please give my any advice I would greatly appreciate it.

Bec


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## ladywings (Mar 22, 2008)

Unfortunately, there is no way to completely protect your images, at least not that I'm aware of.  If you put your work online, there will always be a way that someone can copy it, if they know what they are doing.


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## John_Olexa (Mar 22, 2008)

Some say watermarking the images helps a whole lot in preventing theft.


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## Bec (Mar 22, 2008)

I have seen like an x you can put on them but I don't know how to do that...can you just do it on photo shop...what is the best way to put my images on the net...a website?...I have no clue how to even set one up....lol...that is free


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## bekaphoto (Mar 22, 2008)

There is a place where you can watermark an image and I think they can track it.  It also works on has compatability with Photoshop. It ranges from $79-$499. www.digimarc.com


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## Bec (Mar 22, 2008)

I think I can do it on photoshop...


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## Alex_B (Mar 22, 2008)

invisible, traceable watermarks cost money. visible ones can be done with most graphics programs.

keep your resolution on your webpage low enough, that people cannot steal them to print properly. that is the best protection.


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## DHammer (Mar 23, 2008)

Check out Exposuremanager.com. I have used it for a couple of years and basically its as theft proof as it gets. They watermark the image, disable right click etc. etc. I have not had a huge problem with theft, at least that I know of, but a majority of my sales are to parents of high school athletes who tend to be less technologically inclined. I don't normally post weddings unless asked (and paid) to do so. But I sell the all the pictures to the bride anyway she can give them all away if she wants.


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## Bec (Mar 23, 2008)

is that a website where I can set up my own website for free....thanks for the help...I really appreciate it.


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## pm63 (Mar 23, 2008)

Number one rule: if they can see it, they can copy it, by one way or another.

You could put a semi-transparent logo diagonally across them, but the best thing is just to show them relatively low-res on your site, so people can see what they are buying, but they are not big enough to copy.

Don't go for free hosting: you get what you pay for and free hosting is rubbish. It also looks much more impressive when you have your own domain - clients will take you seriously as opposed to if you had a freewebs site or whatever.

Hosting is extremely cheap these days, so are domains.


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## Snyder (Mar 23, 2008)

You can add hidden meta data in your photos so when you type it in google it will show who else is using it on their site, I use it all the time to find where all my photos are being published. Though I want my photos to go everywhere. better coverage and it gets my name out there.


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## onedayillknowbetter (Mar 23, 2008)

In Photoshop's Lightroom, you can make Flash web galleries fairly easily.  Like these fine people have said already, though, if you can see it, it can be copied.

Using flash makes it much harder for someone who isn't a hacker to steal your photos, but putting your watermark on an image in an HTML gallery allows your images to get out there more.  Depends on what you want, I guess.


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## pm63 (Mar 24, 2008)

onedayillknowbetter said:


> In Photoshop's Lightroom, you can make Flash web galleries fairly easily.  Like these fine people have said already, though, if you can see it, it can be copied.
> 
> Using flash makes it much harder for someone who isn't a hacker to steal your photos, but putting your watermark on an image in an HTML gallery allows your images to get out there more.  Depends on what you want, I guess.



I'm going to have to disagree with this post, and discourage you from using a Flash gallery, as not everyone has Flash installed on their computers and will therefore not be able to view it, and for some it will mean LONG loading times. I suggest a HTML gallery. Also, it won't be harder to steal images off a Flash gallery, you can still print screen them.


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## D-50 (Mar 24, 2008)

If your using something like somple viewer in your website that should be protection enough, if someone wants to "print screen" an image of mine or steal a 500x800 pixel photo thats fine you really cant do much with an image of that size.


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## abbeyrd (Mar 24, 2008)

I just made a post myself, to see what ideas everyone has to prevent SCANNING, not right clicking, of photos they get with their wedding package. 

Take a look at my post, it's pretty good, but I need your ideas to make it better. I think in the end, the only hope we have, is to put the bride's photos in an album that won't lay flat; she can't scan them. 

jeff


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## Holy Ghosted (Mar 29, 2008)

There is no prefect solution or else it would just be the standard, Your better solutions are low res, water marking and put them on a web site that you can control rite click protect, I use SmugMug's pro Account and I seem to do ok with that. but these solutions will only keep the honest people from stealing your photos if some one wants it bad enough they will find a way.


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## newphotographer (Apr 2, 2008)

I use a watermark that is embedded in the images, but is transparent, so you see the image clearly, but at the same time, the logo is also clearly visible. I suppose you could say the appearance is "waterish" (not a word, is it???) I think it looks classy, where as simple having partially transparent text can really spoil an image.


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## onedayillknowbetter (Apr 2, 2008)

I just downloaded and installed a plugin for Lightroom that is incredibly helpful to me.  I don't know how many images you usually export at a time, and then *ideally* upload to your website, but if you work in batches of more than 20, this plugin is helpful.  

It does a number of things, including embed a watermark, or a border around your images when exporting, so you don't have to go to Photoshop and do it anymore.  I found the link on a Flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/groups/adobe_lightroom/discuss/72157603747748847/?search=borders

Quite helpful, and the cost of the unrestricted version of it is a donation of your choice.


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