Thread: How to sell prints and protect digital pictures?

I'd like to know if anyone has tips on ways to display pictures so that they can be viewed, but not downloaded and that they can be purchased, printed, and delivered and I get a fee.

I see some services out there, but short of selling an entire wedding album, which is not what I do, they wouldn't be practical for me.

Any ideas?

Thanks

The truth of the matter is, noting you place on the internet is safe if someone really wants it.

The best advice I can give would be to use an image with less resolution that your print quality picture and even then use a watermark on any image you place on your site for sell.

If someone really wants an image from you, a low-res web image usually gives them enough information about if they really want it or not.

I have a friend that does photography as a freelance business and does very will just using these rule of thumb.

If you want to use your own script to build your "gallery" their are a few steps on that side you can take as well but I don't want to advertise to much so if you would like information on this just PM me. and I'll tell you about some custom scripts I have written that work well for a few clients of mine in the past.

I don't want to code it, I don't want to host it, and I don't want to buy anything. I'm actually pretty good with manipulating photos size, resolution and watermark wise. However, I don't want to handle taking the money and delivering.

I'm looking for pretty much hands off services.

There are a number of sites that sell photo stock and give the photographer a cut for every download.

The one I use all the time for images on sites I build is istockphoto.com

In order to make money there you need volume. Lots of images, and some really good images that appeal to lots of people. I see some photographers have some images that have been downloaded thousands of times.

I'm sure there are many other such sites. Some that might cater more towards art photo rather than stock imagery used in magazines, websites, advertising etc. and would sell actual prints not just digital downloads. But I don't know about them.

I publish at least 75 or more per event. People want the photos for personal use to print. It's not going to make me rich, but it could pad things nicely if I find the right system.

thanks for the input.

Stop the Press!!!

A group of us WTF'rs are working on a brand new site just like this! We will soon blow istockphoto out of the water!!!

istockphoto is a freaking joke - Webmaster Discussion Forums

Originally Posted by Red Hot Mama

Stop the Press!!!

A group of us WTF'rs are working on a brand new site just like this! We will soon blow istockphoto out of the water!!!

istockphoto is a freaking joke - Webmaster Discussion Forums

Wow, that would be awesome seeing a site by WTF'rs! :ssmiley:

Originally Posted by Kalina

Wow, that would be awesome seeing a site by WTF'rs! :ssmiley:

It is going to be awesome! You should see these boys go!

I hope you're whipping them all into shape!

As for putting images online, without losing them to prints.


a_ A nice clear watermark. Have it mid-center, and 100% opacity.
Make sure large chunks of the text cover bits of an image. If you're selling them, try and make sure they cover over anything important, but if they're covering a part, then it should be enough.


Another piece of advice. b_ lower the dpi severely. Something for print should be 150 (300, 900, etc) dpi, so shrink it down to 72 or less. And make sure it's a smaller version, this will make it pretty much unscaleable.

And combined with a hefty watermark, nothing will salvage that preview.