# professional or serious photographers: how has a website w/galleries



## creative_one (Sep 1, 2009)

Hi Everyone,
For those of you who are a professional or serious photographers :
 How do you keep your photos protected ( from being stolen etc) on your own website that you either built yourself or had someone designed it for you? Any Advice?
If you do have a flash gallery how do you disable the right click so that people wouldn't be able to print the photographs?
Thanks 
Creative One


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## boogschd (Sep 1, 2009)

a big watermark - restrict access - dont post in the interwebz




if i really wanted an image and the right click option is disabled .. id get the image location from the source code

if that doesnt work , id use a firefox plugin (idk what  tho)

if all else fails

screenshot - paste to PS - crop - save


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## creative_one (Sep 1, 2009)

boogschd said:


> a big watermark - restrict access - dont post in the interwebz
> 
> 
> 
> ...




 Im trying to protect my images or at least try to figure out a way to before i make my photography website.


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## boogschd (Sep 1, 2009)

i guess a flash gallery will work ? 

i post my stuff on multiply (has an option to restrict those who view albums)

does require a registration tho for private albums


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## epp_b (Sep 1, 2009)

If that's the case, then give up.  You weren't meant for photography if your goal is to suck every penny out of it.

The hard, fast rule of copyright and computers: if you can see it or hear it, you can copy it.  Period.


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## loopy (Sep 1, 2009)

creative_one said:
			
		

> Im trying to protect my images or at least try to figure out a way to before i make my photography website.



You can't.

There are various "tricks" you can use to help protect your image, but the reality is that if someone really wants to steal your image - they will. Putting on a watermark might discourage theft.


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## creative_one (Sep 1, 2009)

thanks 4 all of your advice


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## Overread (Sep 1, 2009)

we are getting some very odd replies to simple thread these days... Lets try and not get into another silly fight,

Ahem for image procetion the upshot really is that you can't fully protect, but there are some methods to use

1) Limit the online size - 600pixels on the longest side up to 800 is far big enough to show images on the net for most computers. It also limits the printable options for those shots should they be stolen

2) Watermarks - a good theif can remove almost all watermarks and very big ones hide far too much of your image detail, which will mean people can't see what your showing. Better is smaller watermarks which detail your name and website - that way if hte image is used on the net or hotlinked to another website, its free advertising of your work.

Any watermark can be removed - any copy prevention scheme can pretty much be got around with print screen - even flash galleries. Also remember that any image shown on a computer from the net is already downloaded to the computer before it displays - so those nifty rightclick banned setups are voided since one just has to search the computer internet history.


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## epp_b (Sep 1, 2009)

No offense meant, I was just being a little... extreme.

These days, though, if you're not online, you're very unlikely to be noticed.


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## boogschd (Sep 1, 2009)

loopy said:


> No, there is NO way to protect your images from being stolen on the web.



apparently this message is too short.


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## ocular (Sep 1, 2009)

Overread said:


> we are getting some very odd replies to simple thread these days... Lets try and not get into another silly fight,
> 
> Ahem for image procetion the upshot really is that you can't fully protect, but there are some methods to use
> 
> ...



Overread is right, there's isn't much you can do to prevent some one taking your images and making a buck off it. a.k.a designers don't need to print ur image they take it and absorb it into their artwork.


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## craig (Sep 1, 2009)

I really do not worry about it. I go view only and say a prayer. There will always be ways for people to "steal your images" wish I had time to prevent it, but I am way too busy to be concerned about it.

I want the whole world to see my work. That is my goal. It may be risky business, but in my experience it pays off more then it hurts. 

You have to play the game. Your email is out there as well. What are going to do to prevent spammers?

Keep in mind that fear is the mind killer.

Love & Bass


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## craig (Sep 1, 2009)

nealrm said:


> Instead of trying to keep people from coping your photos, make it so that any copies will help to promote your business. Use a web address for a watermark, add contact information to the metadata.



That is the best advice I have heard on here.

Love & Bass


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## Jedo_03 (Sep 2, 2009)

creative_one said:


> epp_b said:
> 
> 
> > If that's the case, then give up. You weren't meant for photography if your goal is to suck every penny out of it.
> ...



 [FONT=&quot]Hi Mr Creative_one...
The guys here are trying to help ypu - and giving you good advice...
Despite your protestations here that you are *really* good at photography, and that you were *meant* to be a photographer... Don't you think you should tell these nice guys that you are a complete novice to photography and that you have never taken a photograph of a person yet...
As per your post less than an hour before you wrote this cr*p above...
Here:[/FONT]
 [FONT=&quot]http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/people-photography/176188-church-event.html[/FONT]

Sheesh....


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## creative_one (Sep 2, 2009)

Jedo_03 said:


> creative_one said:
> 
> 
> > epp_b said:
> ...


 Look im not a Mr. Im a Miss. first off. & im not a Novice at all. I have so much experience in photography as a photographer : landscape also sunsets & sunraises & fireworks as well as sky too! I photograph nature more than i do people! I have taken pics of people before but not in an *EVENT*!!!  This is not crap! So *BACK OFF!!!!*
 Plus one of the guys confessed :  I was just being a little... extreme.


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## chammer (Sep 2, 2009)

creative_one said:


> I was just being a little... extreme.



you still are. people are trying to *help* you, and you're not being very polite. the answers we get are sometimes not the ones we always want to hear, but it doesnt make them any less helpful or that they are attacking you personally.


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## RodeoFotocom (Sep 2, 2009)

This is a real issue IMO.  I only post photos in my gallery in thumb size.  I see other Rodeo Photographers photos all over Facebook with PROOF across them.  I do agree with the poster above that people will steal anything they can from the web nowadays.


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## damonb (Sep 3, 2009)

Watermark is one option. You also don't want to put larger images on your website or photoblog...smaller sizes means that the photos wouldn't look good if someone tries to print them.


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## iamacyborg (Sep 5, 2009)

There's no way to protect your images, the only thing you can do is put stuff online that'll have limited use. 
Edit them down to 72 DPI, cut them down to a lower resolution, stop hotlinking from your site. That way, even if someone does try to steal them, they won't really be able to do anything with them, other than just post small images online.


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## damonb (Sep 6, 2009)

"Instead of trying to keep people from coping your photos, make it so that any copies will help to promote your business. Use a web address for a watermark, add contact information to the metadata."

Excellent advice, or a watermark over the image is another option. Keep in mind that smaller images on your website aren't going to turn into quality prints  - so that should alleviate some of your concerns. If someone tries to print an 8x10 from an image size of about 200 x 200, then they will be getting a really crappy print.

One thing you could do: Ask buyers to contact you directly if they would like to buy a print, or use a service (Smugmug, Fotomoto.com (work there), Redbubble, Etsy, etc.) to give folks an easy reason to buy a quality print.

The internet age is tricky because it comes down to distributing your work over profit, which may lead to additional leads for other work.


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## ncphotographer (Sep 7, 2009)

Add a watermark. That's the best way. Even then, they can be "stolen" if they don't mind the watermark. 

Make your watermark your web address as well, so if the image IS "stolen" at least other people will see your website address.


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## manaheim (Sep 7, 2009)

I embed a trojan into the jpegs that when viewed beyond a certain date causes the entire machine to implode, creating a small black hole in their home or office, immediately sucking in everything within a 10' radius.


btw, setting the image quality low enough so that when the image is blown up does a nice job to keep the theft levels down as well... since there isn't a heck of a lot they can REALLY do with a 600 pixel image that can't be printed on anything bigger than a 3x5 without looking awful.

Aside from that, not much you can do.  It may happen. <shrug>


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## craig (Sep 8, 2009)

monay said:


> without a trace
> without a trace seasons 7 dvd boxset
> without a trace is one of my fav american tv shows(without a trace seasons). all the cast are amazing and
> without a trace dvdboxset is very intresting .I loved this show(
> ...




Do people still waste their time watching TV? I thought that ended in the 90's?

Love & Bass


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## creative_one (Sep 9, 2009)

monay said:


> without a trace
> without a trace seasons 7 dvd boxset
> without a trace is one of my fav american tv shows(without a trace seasons). all the cast are amazing and
> without a trace dvdboxset is very intresting .I loved this show(
> ...


 Wrong thread dude!!!


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## bluewaterjon (Sep 30, 2009)

What I do is put a url as my watermark in a place that makes getting rid of it unusable, but makes the photo still look good enough to impress people. I know that this way works- or at least I think I do- because I get emails from people saying they saw my gallery and they loved the work, and then I also get emails from people saying they loved the gallery but why do I have to put a mark on it (which means they wanted to use it for free).
In my business which is fishing and travel photography, if I don't do this, my images will be used in ads and so forth online, plus it makes it so that I can't sell it again as they already have a decent copy to enjoy.
Plus with these type of url watermarks, I feel comfortable sending them out to editors I don't even know because it has my contact info. I have gotten some big gigs this way, by images that were passed on.
Here is an example:







Jon Schwartz, Bluewaterjon.com
Bluewater Jon Schwartz: Fishing articles, photography, travel, stories, and adventures


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