allow clients to view/order photos online

Do any photographers out there allow your clients to view/order photos

of their wedding/event online through your website? To see low-res or

watermarked version of the photos online and then to choose and order

prints of the chosen photos?

 

TIA

pete

Benjamin Lung recently posted a question on the Sports Forum and I followed the link to his website:

 

http://www.gmcwireimages.com/

 

The site is a bit sluggish, even on DSL, but you can see that he watermarks all of his JPEGs right smack dab in the center. It's not enough to detract from discerning whether it's a good photo, but it should be enough to minimize rip-offs. Anyone who took these JPEGs to Wal-wart or most minilabs would probably have their photos confiscated if the watermark remains visible.

 

BTW, the site, like many, claims that it disables the download feature but that really isn't practical. Heck, it might not even be possible. Adobe claims PDFs can minimize the risk of ripped off photos but I don't know whether that's true either. Some clever person can probably get around anything.

Not through my website. I have a link to a gallery page that is maintained by my lab in California. Much easier than maintaining my own gallery/EOS cart system and I can custom specifiy price lists to match the products I offer. I simply upload, structure the gallery the way I want it, and post it. It's a great sales tool. I'll be uploading two engagement shoots, a wedding and two childrens shoots tonight. Shouldn't take long at all.

 

I'm not worried about watermarking images. I don't like the way heavy watermarks appear on an image. My clients don't like it either. There are ways to disable image theft, but only the most determined of people will try to get around it. They are simply STEALING, and there's not much you can do about that. 99% of the people I deal with are honest, though.

Pete,

I started using eventpix.com back in April to post my wedding, portrait, and event images. They charge a "per-event" fee, and it depends on the # of images you upload. You have the option of watermarking your images using their software. It has been a great decision for my business. I print "announcement cards" and place them at key areas at the reception (bar, guest book, bar, tables, bar), anywhere people frequent. I have averaged 25-100+ emails per wedding for folks requesting the link, and the orders have been great. There are alot of companies that offer the same type of service, so check them out and see which one fits your needs. Best of luck,

 

Duane

I too just started using eventpix.com. So far so good. I place cards on the tables at the reception with the user name and password. I have been getting a lot of hits on this. I don't think I have sold a lot more than I normally would, but a lot of people are looking. That gets my name out more.

<blockquote>BTW, the site, like many, claims that it disables the download feature but that really isn't practical. Heck, it might not even be possible.</blockquote>

<p>If an image is on your screen, getting a copy of it is as easy as pressing "PrtScn".</p>

Prt Scr will work but gives you a horrid copy of what you work with.

It is a nice idea to disable right click over the picture and works well on most sites.

 

 

Will G.

print screen just copies the pixels on your screen. If you have your monitor set up to run at a large resolution (such as 1600x1200), and the image you're viewing is high quality/large size, you can get very good results using print screen and paste to photoshop.

 

disabling right clicking works for people who don't know what to do... but every picture you view on a webpage is stored on your computer, if you know how to get to it.

 

I don't see any better solution than to watermark if you want to leave high resolution photos on the web.

 

Personally, I only upload 600x400 (or thereabouts) images for viewing and no watermark... if someone wants to take the time to try to make that small of an image printable... well, they deserve the crappy result they are going to get.

Sure you can disable right click with a Javascript, but anybody that knows anything about computers, knows that you cannot disable a local copy of the image. If you see it on your screen, it IS saved in a temp directory on the HD. Pulling it out is as easy as "click and drag"... right click disabled or not.

 

I post proofs on my website, usually 400x300, with a 40% opacity, red, diagonal "proof" across the middle. Works great, and if you keep it subtle enough, doesn't step on the image enough to ruin it... but it certainly would be ruined if printed.