Protecting Online Images
- Thread starter PiKe
- Start date
There's a hundred different ways to dissuade people from doing so, but ultimately they can all be circumvented in some way. Usually with the method above.
Instead of asking yourself how you can protect your work, ask yourself why you'd want to do it in the first place. It's very, very rare that I see images posted on a photographer's website that would be of a resolution and quality that would be of any use to another person. Sure they could pass the work off as their own, but do you really care about that?
Ultimately a small, unique watermark that will direct people back to your site should be all that you need. If someone does steal your work then they'll either have to display the name of your site or remove the watermark, thereby probably ruining the overall feel of the photo.
I've had a system on one of my sites whereby anyone viewing the pictures that hasn't registered on my site and provided their contact details will get a subtle watermark across the middle of the image. Sign-up and sign-in and the watermark is moved to the bottom right corner.
Should someone take an 800 x 600 image off the site and wants to parade it around as their own work - good luck to them. It's only of any value on the web as you certainly can't print the damn thing out and they'll have to crop a lot off the image off, and unbalance the shot, to claim that it's actually their own.