Being a digital photographer can be a very lucrative and enriching career. If you are just starting out in this career field and are in the process of creating a website, you may be wondering how to include examples of your photos on the website without others attempting to steal them and use them for unintended purposes.
This is a dilemma faced by many photographers but there are now many easy solutions to help you upload your photos and make them visible to potential clients. A few of those solutions are listed below.
Use Watermarking Features
As digital photographer, you have likely already purchased high end photo editing software. If not, this is a worthwhile investment once your budget allows for the purchase. Most photo editing software programs include a feature allowing you to watermark the photos you plan to list on your website. This will help deter anyone from stealing the photo because your copyright information will be clearly displayed.
Another useful option is to reduce the resolution of each image you plan to list on the website. While the photos will still look great in the online environment, those who attempt to steal and save them will be disappointed with the quality when attempting to use the images for other purposes.
Catch the Thieves
If you already have pictures on your website that aren’t protected from photo thieves, you may be concerned about the possibility of these images already being taken without your permission. If this is the case, try using photo search engines to determine if the images are being used illegally elsewhere on the Internet. Several photo search engines are currently available and most are valuable tools to use for this purpose.
Becoming a professional digital photographer can be a great career move. However, as with any creative career field, you must be proactive in protecting your creations from those who wish to use them illegally.