My photos are NOT OK to edit.

[inTempus]

I've actually wondered this myself, Bitter. The 'DO NOT' tag doesn't actually keep people from downloading and editing photos, it just prevents them from re-posting edits. I've downloaded photos numerous times on people who say do not, just to edit and see what I come up with. It's a shame in those instances I can't repost the edited image to help them understand what I might be talking about.

For me, it's far easier for me to understand someone's critique if they can show me.

I've not noticed the flag set by a noob asking for advice in the past. I've edited an image then after posting it noticed the noobs flag was set to "do not edit". I've said "if you don't want me to post this, let me know and I'll remove it"... only to have them make some snide remark about not being able to read.

Silliness. Why come to a forum to ask for help then set the flag to do not edit and get snippy with people that offer opinions or help? I swear, I don't understand people sometimes, they make absolutely no sense.

 

[snaggle]

I have mine set to "do not" but if I want help I will ask for edits simple as that

 

[HikinMike]

So i'm curious..does it hurt your ego if someone edited YOUR photo and oversaturated it? lol

I never understood that either. I've seen people, mostly noobs, get down right snippy about it.

If you were someone famous and you made a living from your reputation in the industry, I could see it. But 99% of the people who have that flag set to "don't edit" aren't anyone famous and their stuff isn't anything spectacular. You would think they would welcome some friendly advice/tips with editing.

But to each their own.

Has nothing to do with ego. Its my work. If somebody suggests a crop or adding a bit of contrast or what ever, I may allow them to post the suggestion....I've done it before. What I don't like if somebody just posts a edit of one of my photos without permission. I just think its rude. But that's just me I guess.

 

[FemFugler]

Well personally i don't really care because im just a beginner and if someone wants to make some suggestions and critiques or edits and so on then im all for it.

I wondered about it at first too, but i can definitely understand now why people don't want their photos edited and have the possibility of their work being stolen, edited and then past off as someone elses or whatever. I mean personally i could care less, my photos are so 'noobish' that i dont think anyone would even bother to think about stealing them and if they did then go right ahead take some beginner crappy picture even though there are tuns of other way better pictures to choose from on here...

About editing i don't really care either, maybe that also ties into the whole 'noob' thing but i dont know, if someone wanted to make one of my pictures into some derogatory image or whatever then i'd probably laugh along with them, not be offended. I mean come on i do have a sense of humour. At the same time though i can sort of understand if someone spent a lot of time and put a lot of work into producing a picture and then have it to be messed around with it can maybe be frustrating but hey, the original poster DOES have the original picture so its not like their one and only picture is ruined.

I don't know, maybe im totally missing the point here, but thats just my views.

 

[FemFugler]

I don't have a problem if someone asks because they want to demonstrate a technique, but just leaving every photo open to play with doesn't really seem necessary.

See, this reason I simply don't understand, because when you post a picture, whether you allow editing or not, you are leaving the photo open to play with. The only thing the allows edit/does not allow edit thing does is prevent people from re-posting something of yours they may have edited.

I can understand your other reason (not wanting people to re-post a bad edit of something you worked hard on), but anytime you post a photo online, anywhere, you're risking "leaving it open to play with."

I also agree with this...

 

[inTempus]

Has nothing to do with ego. Its my work. If somebody suggests a crop or adding a bit of contrast or what ever, I may allow them to post the suggestion....I've done it before. What I don't like if somebody just posts a edit of one of my photos without permission. I just think its rude. But that's just me I guess.

I don't see how it's rude. It's a digital picture. They've made a copy, they're not editing the original. It's not like they came into your house, took your film negative and edited it in a destructive manner causing you to lose your original forever. It's a copy you've posted publicly which, in reality, you've lost all control over once you made the decision to post it.

If you don't want copies of your stuff out there because it bruises your ego if someone crops it, you should probably not post your work on the internet and keep it safe and sound in your personal possession.

 

[inTempus]

See, this reason I simply don't understand, because when you post a picture, whether you allow editing or not, you are leaving the photo open to play with. The only thing the allows edit/does not allow edit thing does is prevent people from re-posting something of yours they may have edited.

It's rather simple... out of sight out of mind. If I don't see it, I can pretend it never happened.

I'm with you, if you're that much of a control freak, don't post your work on the internet.

 

[Craig G]

I just noticed I don't have either.

 

[Sirashley]

I've been curious to the reasons why people set their profile in that manner. So, what are your reasons for doing so, or NOT doing so, for that matter?

Me, I figure what better way to see what people are talking about than to let them show it directly.

I never understood that either. I've seen people, mostly noobs, get down right snippy about it.

If you were someone famous and you made a living from your reputation in the industry, I could see it. But 99% of the people who have that flag set to "don't edit" aren't anyone famous and their stuff isn't anything spectacular. You would think they would welcome some friendly advice/tips with editing.

But to each their own.

Damn Tempus, you totally beat me to that answer... Its funny because when I jumped on this morning, I thought about starting this very thread. 90% of the photos posted on this forum are not worthy of publication, and this includes every single image I have ever posted. So I kinda feel like "what's the big deal?" I mean, I have had people do poor edits of my photos, and what usually ends up happening is that I do another edit, and that person does another edit, and we both walk away learning something. The one thing that really cracks me up, is watermarks on snapshots... I mean, really!!! who do you think is stealing that image??? If you really have concerns about your work being stolen, take a look at a stock photography website, such as Stock Photos | Shutterstock: Royalty-Free Subscription Stock Photography & Vector Art If your work is at this level, then maybe you should be concerned and you should also be creating an account there because there is some money to be made. The point is, to get work on a stock site, your work has to be flawless... and I mean flawless!!! So if you think people are surfing sites like this to steal photos, fuhhgettabooout it!

If you want to say that it is your property, and you don't want anyone messing with your work. I suppose I can accept that answer, but remember this, you are missing out on the chance to learn something valuable. It may be how someone perceives your image, it may be a new editing technique, or it may be something as simple as a different crop. By setting your photos to DO NOT, you are closing the door on an opportunity to improve the quality of your work. That... to me... is a waste

 

[Shockey]

I am always open to new ideas or a different view, so if someone wants to edit my photos I say have at it.

 

[Dominantly]

I also see an issue with the fact that if you edit a photo of mine, you re-host it on one of your sites, giving me no control to take it down. Lets say that after a few months I have had a dozen or more people edit photos of mine, then something has come up where I would like to have, or need to have those photos taken offline.... Instead of just taking them down, I would have to go back through all the threads and track all the people down who are hosting it and request for them to remove it as well....

 

[Pugs]

I also see an issue with the fact that if you edit a photo of mine, you re-host it on one of your sites, giving me no control to take it down. Lets say that after a few months I have had a dozen or more people edit photos of mine, then something has come up where I would like to have, or need to have those photos taken offline.... Instead of just taking them down, I would have to go back through all the threads and track all the people down who are hosting it and request for them to remove it as well....

This right here is one of the most cogent arguments that I've seen for my stance on this topic.

Yes, there is ego involved. I have an ego and it bothers the crap out of me to see other people manipulating my pics in a way that I may dislike. I'm not a National Geographic caliber photographer. I'm not a professional photographer. I'm not anything special in the photography world. I do have a very well defined sense of what I do and don't like in photography, especially with regard to my own images.

I'm also a control freak. I host my pics off of my own server and not Flickr or PhotoBucket or any other service. I like knowing that if I ever need to, I can kill a pic by deleting it off of my server or if I ever leave TPF, I can simply kill that entire directory on the server.

So, there is ego involved. There's control issues involved. Go ahead be judgemental and mocking (as the tone of some of the posts condemning the "not okay" camp have been). It doesn't change the fact that I'm more comfortable with having the flag set to not edit and I'm glad that TPF allows that preference to be set.

Hm... that's about as defensive as I've ever gotten on TPF. This thread must really strike a nerve with me for some reason.

 

[inTempus]

Hm... that's about as defensive as I've ever gotten on TPF. This thread must really strike a nerve with me for some reason.

Because we're challenging your control freakishness and you hate having to admit your problem.

I'm thankful I'm not so anal that I have to go through life worrying about organizing my images by directory/website I post to and thinking about the day I leave then out of spite nuking every picture I ever posted.

Life is way too short for stuff like that.

If I ever want to shut off my images, I'll change the settings on my Photobucket account or SmugMug account. But I know that will never happen. It's not like I'm posting naked pictures of my wife or something.

 

[Josh66]

First of all, I think NOT OK to edit is the forum default for new members.

I have NOT OK to edit, because frankly, I don't really want to see what 'just anybody' thinks is 'better'.
-EDIT-> Just wanted to add - Often (for the kind of photography I usually do), there is very little room for alternative edits. Just minor tweaks that would be easy enough to describe in words. <-EDIT-

I know I can't stop you from right-clicking it and doing all kinds of weird things to it, but don't post it here. I don't want to see it unless I ask for it.

If someone said "Hey, I think this would be better if you did this, this, and this. I took the liberty of doing those things. Do you mind if I post it?", I might say yes, I might say no... Just depends. It depends on what they thought needed fixing, and who it is we're talking about here.

Sorry, but there are some people that I DO NOT want editing my pictures, lol.
If it's somebody that I think has a pretty good idea of what they're doing, I would probably say go ahead and post it.


And (hope I don't offend anyone here...), the whole idea of OK to edit seems kinda silly to me. Let me explain myself... I understand if you don't care if people edit your work. What I don't understand is the idea that everybody thinks they have the right to just edit your stuff without being asked and post it.
-EDIT-> The fact that we have to say OK, or NOT OK is what bugs me. It wasn't always like that, but it got so bad that the powers that be felt that we needed a tag on the side of every post reminding people not to **** with other people's work. <-EDIT-

You:
<posts picture in new thread...>
"Here's a new picture. I think this one is really great."

Them:
"Cool picture. Here's my edit."

WTF?! And yes, that happens. A lot.

Some people just assume that everybody wants to see what they can do with a low-res web copy of somebody else's picture.

Sometimes the results are absolutely horrible.

Me, I figure what better way to see what people are talking about than to let them show it directly.

I agree. Sometimes.

I would rather see a screenshot with the bad area circled or something than an edited image. Let me do the work - just show me where to do it.
I'll have to do it anyway in the end (if I agree with you) on the RAW.

If I need help editing something I will ask for it - and in that case, obviously I don't mind if you edit my stuff. Hell, I would even e-mail you the RAW.

I have it because I don't post pictures and I find that ironically humorous.

And btw...every time someone posts a picture that no ones supposed to edit, I save it to my computer and I completely **** with it in photoshop.

:lmao:

Sorry, but that's funny as hell, lol.

 

[Pugs]

Because we're challenging your control freakishness and you hate having to admit your problem.

Maybe. Or maybe I just don't like having a valid point of view and have others are be AWFULLY judgemental about it... "judge not, lest ye be judged" and all that. But, I'd be a hypocrite if I denied my tendency to judge others, too.

I don't see my actions as a problem. I live an ordered life and it works for me. May not work for you, but that's all good, too. My wife, not so ordered. Together, we balance each other nicely.

I'm thankful I'm not so anal that I have to go through life worrying about organizing my images by directory/website I post to and thinking about the day I leave then out of spite nuking every picture I ever posted.

This, too, is the application of your assumptions to my motives. My motives are that I organize things by nature and organizing directories by forum/purpose on my server is second-nature to me. No thought went into it which is part of why I had so much trouble articulating my reasons for choosing "not okay to edit".

I don't worry about doing it, but the fact that organize things by nature means that I have the ability to nuke the directory or individual files if I ever need to. Reasons for needing to do so could be things like selling a print or a digital copy of a pic, getting into a flame war with a vindictive individual who is messin' with and posting my pics, some copyright issue, or whatever.

It doesn't cost me anything to organize the pics as I organize things as a matter of course. It does give me some peace of mind knowing that I'm covered in certain eventualities by that simple act.

Life is way too short for stuff like that.

If I ever want to shut off my images, I'll change the settings on my Photobucket account or SmugMug account. But I know that will never happen. It's not like I'm posting naked pictures of my wife or something.

And that works for you. So... why do you feel the need to condemn/mock/judge what works for someone else?