Working with digital images

[AJ]

As a web designer, I am going to create an on-line gallery for a professional photographer.

I have a program that can apply a copyright notice to each photograph, and I have read about digital watermarking photos.

I'm also aware of the controversy regarding disabling the mouse's right-click to prevent novices from doing a "Save Image."

I would like input from professional photographers and/or web designers regarding the protection of photos they display on-line.

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Mike54]

Hi AJ and welcome,

I'm not a "Professional" photographer but I have dabbled a bit with web design and the truth of the matter is that if you don't want your images taken don't put them on the web. Disabling right click won't stop me or anyone else and generally will annoy visitors who use it to bookmark or for other purposes than stealing. Adding a copyright or watermark will discourage most people but again someone who wants the image and knows how to use a graphics program well will be able to remove or at least mask both. The best suggestion I have is to not use images large enough or of a quality to be truly usefull if copied. They can look good on the web but anyone wanting to print them just won't have a good copy to work with.

[AJ]

Hi Mike54,

Are you the "Mischievious Scamp" from OutFront?  If you are, glad to see you posting here, too.

Thanks for your advice.  I was fairly certain I was on the right path, and you confirmed it.  I hadn't taken into account the lesser print quality of lower-pixel web images, which may soothe my photographer's worries.  He may be able to live with someone downloading a photo for a personal screensaver, but definitely not a download for mass reproduction or sale by someone else.

I'll be sure to let him know that the web is not a safe place.

Thanks again for your input.

[ShutterbugGail]

Hi AJ,

I think I can speak for Mike and confess that, yup, he is that "Mischievious Scamp" from OutFront. And I'm fortunate and appreciate that he's agreed to moderate here.

Mike just about covered it all regarding your question, but I'd like to add one idea for your client to consider, though it can be expensive. It's called Digimarc watermarks.

According to Adobe Photoshop Help files:

"You can add copyright information to Photoshop images and notify users that an image is copyright-protected via a digital watermark that uses Digimarc PictureMarc technology. The watermark--a digital code added as noise to the image--is generally imperceptible to the human eye. The watermark is durable in both digital and printed forms, surviving typical image edits and file format conversions--and is still detectable when the image is printed and then scanned back into a computer.

"Embedding a digital watermark in an image lets viewers obtain complete contact information about the creator of the image. This feature is particularly valuable to image creators who license their work to others. Copying an image with an embedded watermark also copies the watermark and any information associated with it.

"For more detailed information on embedding Digimarc watermarks, refer to the Digimarc Web site at www.digimarc.com."


Regards,

_gail (from Outfront)  

[AJ]

Hi _gail,

I know you've posted on OutFront, which is how I found your wonderful website.  I  figured there could not possibly be more than one "Mischievious Scamp".

I really appreciate your input regarding Digimarc.  I never have used Adobe Photoshop (except the free version that only creates slide shows.)  I will definitely consider investing in it, as my photographer friend is paranoid about theft - a valid concern for a true professional.

I'm just a hobby photographer and I keep my best stuff off the web because I don't want to see it in some newspaper or magazine (not that it's that good, but I can always hope!) with someone else taking credit for my work.

You have a beautiful site and tons of great information.  Keep up the wonderful work, and thanks for your reply.

[ShutterbugGail]

I really appreciate your input regarding Digimarc.  I never have used Adobe Photoshop (except the free version that only creates slide shows.)  I will definitely consider investing in it, as my photographer friend is paranoid about theft - a valid concern for a true professional.

Thanks AJ, for the very kind words about Digicamhelp!

As you probably know, Photoshop is quite expensive; haven't checked lately but it cost in the range of $600 U.S. That's a lot of money if you're not going to use Photoshop on a regular basis. If the cost is prohibtive, you might want to check out it's baby brother, Adobe Elements. It has many of the features found in Photoshop, though I'm not sure about watermarking. There are other fine programs such as PaintShop Pro, which may offer that capability.

Check out the link in my previous post and see what programs they recommend to apply their watermark.

[Deb]

Hi, yes indeed, keep those images small and do embed a watermark.

Also, using a service like Digimark is great! Your client might like to investigate their "spider" feature. In addition to registering each image and marking it with their "digimark", they will also track its electronic presence for you. It tracks the web for your registered images and creates a report identifying the user/bandit, gives the URL of your image's location, etc. This is very useful.