Preventing image "theft"

marmle · Nov 28, 2019

I have been into photography for quite a while and am at a point where I would like to try and make some money out of it. I am looking for suggestions for image hosting where it is very difficult for someone to steal your images. I am aware I would probably have to pay for such hosting, I have paid for such hosting before, and it passed the "right click- save image as" test, but a friend pointed out to me that one could easily get the images by just locating the image source and copying the link into a new tab, so I quickly cancelled my subscription.

tirediron · Nov 28, 2019

The simple answer is: You can't. All you can do is make it difficult. IMO, the best method is to simply post small images (no more than 800 pixels on the long edge) at 72 ppi. A low-opacity watermark in a prominent spot can also help, but at the end of the day, if someone decides to steal your work, they can. That said, with the trillions of images on-line, the chances of any one person being targeted are pretty slim, and as long as they don't use it for gain... it's probably not worth the fight even if they do take it.

Ysarex · Nov 28, 2019

Entirely agree with Tirediron -- you can't. However making it difficult goes a long way as it will deter the great majority of casual thefts and thefts by those who don't know what's possible. Bottom line: If you image displays on my monitor then I have it, and that's a period.

Joe

Sharpshooterr · Dec 4, 2019

Marmle, has already been pointed out, it’s impossible to protect against theft. You can make it undesirable such as with watermarks but not hard, since you can skip the right click thing and simply do a “screen shot”! NOTHING can prevent a screen shot.
Like identity theft, it’s impossible to prevent other than never exposing your images to the internet!!
But the U.K. May have different laws than most of us are familiar with. Good luck
John

DarkShadow · Dec 4, 2019

No internet connection is the only way I know, outside of that there is no way.

Derrel · Dec 4, 2019

I uploaded about 50 shots of the University of Oregon cheerleaders from the 2005,2006 and 2007 football seasons , and I have found them stolen on web pages from across the United States. Let me say this: once you put an image up on the web,it is no longer yours. If it is a good photo, you can be almost 100% certain that somebody will appropriate it.

wfooshee · Dec 5, 2019

Just to clarify Derrel's remark, technically and legally it is your image, still, but unless you post it in a way to make it useless, i.e. too small, low-re, and watermarked, if it can be linked or even screen-grabbed, it will be taken. posting it does not actually surrender ownership.

Original katomi · Dec 6, 2019

Post 5 sad but true.
These days I only post pics here, I trust members because we are all photographers. I feel the peeps here would say
Oh wow I like that image, can I have a copy
and not just swipe it. As you see my images here carry no marks, symbols that say
Hay this is mine keep your grubby hands off.

snowbear · Dec 6, 2019

Original katomi said:
Post 5 sad but true.
These days I only post pics here, I trust members because we are all photographers. I feel the peeps here would say
Oh wow I like that image, can I have a copy
and not just swipe it. As you see my images here carry no marks, symbols that say
Hay this is mine keep your grubby hands off.

True, the regular members aren't the ones that will grab them, but people (and bots) just travelling through ...

Original katomi · Dec 7, 2019

i know it’s a different world, at one time as long as you gave no one the film,negs then you had a good chance of not having your photos splashed everywhere.
With the internet it’s so different, In a few moments a pic can be seen on the other side of the world

zombiesniper · Dec 7, 2019

I'm no internet genius but if you post an image even I can swipe it. All it takes is inspecting the html code, get the direct image link. Any other website protection is bypassed. This also works for sites like mine that have a repository in the background. However you would still need a password to use the link to my repository or images within.

As posted above you can only deter people.
I know these replies aren't what you wanted to hear but it is the world we live in.

Now that this has been said, there are ways to deliver images to customers that are less likely to be stolen.

My site has a background proofing section that I email a link that takes the customer to their own password protected section where they can proof and download images. I never provide the password via email, text etc. It's always provided to them on paper the day of the shoot. It's still not foolproof but it does provide more security than disabling a right click.

marmle · Dec 8, 2019

Thank you for all your responses, I think I will apply a semi-transparent watermark to my images and reduce the size and resolution to at least deter people.

zombiesniper · Jan 7, 2020

Really the wrong thread for this.

This thread was discussing ways to prevent theft.

I would recommend going through the beginners section and see if your issues have already been addressed (Hint....they have)

Then if you are still having issues. Post a new thread in the beginners section detailing the specifics of what you are having issues with.

dennybeall · Jan 16, 2020

I saw an interesting method for proving ownership. You have an overlay with single pixel dots in a specific pattern and overlay it on the photo. The dots are not noticeable but if you lay a template over the photo you can prove it was a copy of your photo.
This is done to ID printers also.