I watermark all the images, snapshots that I post on my blogs or social networking sites. What's up with that? Catching up with family and friends via their personal blogs or through Facebook is part of my week and I love seeing pictures of everyone's family and children and following the exciting events in their lives. My business blog is nothing but pictures that I really enjoy being able to share those favorite images with my clients and friends.
However, we live amongst a sea of sick minds and perverts who make it a habit to "steal" pictures of children or families from random blogs or social networking sites and then use them for dastardly purposes.
One example: I was recently alerted to a particular damaging blog through a professional photography forum in which I am a member. The author of that blog routinely stole pictures from random blogs and passed the images off as her own; advertising that the children in the images belonged to her and then she would proceed to fabricate stories about the children in the pictures; as though she was harmlessly sharing the daily goings-on of her personal family. In truth, there were dozens of children in those images who belonged to a dozen different families.
That is a
tame example.
I've also been alerted to foreign pornography sites whose despicable authors routinely frequent blogs and social networking sites to snag images that satisfy their disgusting sexual obsessions and re-host those images on their site to share with their sick-minded audience. The images that appear on those sites are almost always pictures of children.
Somebody's innocent snapshot of their child that they posted on their family blog has now become an image in the criminal world of child pornography. Sadly, most parents have NO idea that their precious son or daughter has become a child-porn-star pin-up because they did not have the knowledge to try and prevent the theft from happening.
Today's post is going to educate you as a parent to protect your family's images from criminals while still allowing you the freedom to share those images on your blogs or social networking sites (although with social networking sites, you have less control over the security of your images--just a head's up!). We'll start with the basic protection plan: Protecting your images using a watermark!A watermark is a symbol or a series of words denoting that a particular graphic or image
belongs to the artist; that the work is copyrighted. "Artist," in this sense, is a very broad term that essentially points it's finger at whoever created the image or graphic. A mom snapping a picture of her child is, in this case, the "artist."
I use Photoshop to watermark my images. Here is how I do it.
First of all, I OPEN a new document, sized 5"x7", white background at 300 pixels/in resolution.
Then I use the text tool to create the wording for my watermark
(some examples of wording: PROPERTY OF..... , Do Not Copy!, blog address, or the copyright line). Use a font that is easy to read and a font size that stretches your text line across the length of your document.
Typically, I use the line: Copyright 2010 CharSee Photography
(or something to that effect)
On my client photos, I include my logo.
Once I have created the type, I click on EDIT--->Define Brush Preset.
You will be prompted to Name your Brush via a pop-up window. Give it a name that you will easily recognize. For example, "Watermark" is an excellent name. :)
Congratulations! You have just created a brush that will enable you to use that watermark over and over again with a simple click of your mouse.
In Photoshop, open the image you wish to post on your blog or on a social networking site.
Choose the brush tool from the tool option palette and click on the the drop downbrush options from the menu at the top of the page. You should be able to scroll through your available brushes until you find the watermark brush you made. One bonus advantage to using a watermark brush is that you can change the size of the brush to meet your needs!
Now, position the brush over your picture and *click.* You've just watermarked your image. I try to use a white or black brush, depending on the picture, so that the watermark is prominent and visible. Save your image to an online folder. DO NOT SAVE your watermarked image over the original!!
Here is an alternate 2nd step:Before you save your watermarked image to an online folder, you should resize it so that there is no full-resolution version of your image available online. To do this, go into your IMAGE menu (top of the page)--->Choose Image Size.
You're going to want to change the pixel size. My rule of thumb is to change the longest side to 600 px. Once you do that, all the other measurements will automatically adjust. Click "OK."
Now you've got a small, watermarked image.
To save this
resized image, go to your FILE menu (top of the page) and choose "Save for Web or Devices." Your image will open in a new window (make sure that it's saved as a jpeg and not a gif) and all you have to do is click "save." You will be prompted to choose a location in which to save your image. Like I mentioned above, create a folder entiled "online" and put all your online images in that folder. Click "OK."
You are now prepared to upload your watermarked image to the internet and you've taken mighty leaps to protect the integrity and ownership of the image. This is an appropriate action for sharing your image on social networking sites and blogs.
But you can do better than that. If you're posting your images to a blog, then there are steps you can take to further protect your images.
The first is called: Disabling Right Click (usually the method someone employs to lift an image from your site).
The remedy is simple and outlined
HERE.
This is a good start, but if someone clicks on your picture, in Blogger, then the image will open in a separate screen and can be copied. Boo, right?! I hear ya.
My final suggestion requires a little working knowledge of HTML and a little extra time each time you publish a post.
The directions to prevent your images from being lifted from your site, after right click has been disabled and your image has been watermarked, can be found
HERE.
I am more than happy to help you with the creation of a watermark, walk you through the directions of creating and using a Photoshop brush, resizing your image for sharing online, and helping you with Blogger html to ensure that your images are PROTECTED! Please let me know if you need help! A "private" blog is a minor deterrent, but remember that if a hacker wants in, they'll find a way to break into your blog and steal your images.
Review your security settings on social networking sites so that ONLY your friends may view the pictures you post. In truth, I have very little faith in the security of social networking sites and STRONGLY ENCOURAGE you to use watermarks on any images you post.
And finally, use common sense when posting pictures of your children or your family. Naturally, the grandparents will delight in silly blog pictures of your children in the bathtub or images of your children running through the sprinkler in only their underpants, but there are "others" out there who may see your pictures and will also "delight" in what they see.
Please use protection!
Clad in his flannel footie pajamas, Brock races around the house, shouting excitedly every time he finds a poorly hidden, plastic egg.
To be fair, most of the eggs are easy to spy:
That clever Easter bunny attached clipart images of itself to cabinets and doors throughout the house. Brock finds this mysterious, but discovers that he must match his Easter Bunny puzzle with the correct image and then open the cabinet to find his Easter basket!
Aha!
The Easter basket theme this year begins with "Star" and ends with "Wars."
Hooray for jelly beans!!!
EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!
Okay, okay. So football isn't the only sport worth playing....
Easter simply would not be complete without the annual egg dying. This year, our egg dye box featured Star Wars (betcha didn't see that one coming!).
Easter also means a long day of fun with Renberg cousins and See cousins and Easter egg hunts and lots of really fabulous food. This year was no exception. We lunched at my parent's house where we had a dutch oven feast and then watched General Conference while the kiddos played and my mom taught me to crochet. After conference, Brock and his cousins Jamin and Travis went on an Easter egg hunt! It was a fast hunt as these 4-year olds are becoming pros at spotting eggs!
