How do you get a.....

[tink2dw]

Digital signiture on photos??

A friend had her vacation photo's show up in a travel magazine without her permission. Now she wants a digital signiture but doesn't know how to do it.

Can you please help? How do you get a digital signiture on your photo's??

 

[Pea-n-Me]

A friend had her vacation photo's show up in a travel magazine without her permission...

Now she wants a digital signiture but doesn't know how to do it.

This is a hot subject matter around here. It's copyright infringement.

If she can prove their hers, she can demand compensation.

But to answer your question, she can put a watermark on her pictures using an editing program like Photoshop. (It won't completely safeguard her pictures posted online.)

 

[Chikabowa]

The easiest way to create a watermark is to create a new brush. Then she can just quickly stamp her photos with the copyright info when she does a websize on her photos (and making them websize is also a deterrent since the size of the file is too small for a REALLY good print).

It can be something as simple as "First Last Name - Copyright 2009. Do not copy."
Also, she should be able to go into her camera setting and put copyright information attached to her exif data.

And she should go to the magazine and get compensated for their theft. It's wrong wrong wrong wrong!!!

 

[ssanders79]

...Also, she should be able to go into her camera setting and put copyright information attached to her exif data.

I know this can be done with Nikons by setting the Comment field to (c) First Last Name.

Here is an example, scroll down to user comment....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssanders79/3919707831/meta/

This is a good way to hide it where not everyone will think to look. I also have Lightroom add copyright meta data info during import.

I like embedding the data better than an digital stamp. It is too easy to clone stamp or crop out the signature. The only alternative is to put a full image low opacity watermark on the image, but that defeats the purpose of posting online for others to enjoy.

It would be in your friends best intrest to register the image with the US Copyright office if she intends to seek damages. Here is a great interview.
http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2008/archives/1645

 

[maddmike]

Even though she does not have a signature on those pictures they are still legally hers. Printing without her permission is a violation of copyright laws if she can indeed prove they are hers.

 

[Groucho]

I would assume that by "digital signature" they mean something other than a watermark... you can add such data into the IPTC comments but if a company is going to take her pic and put it on the cover of a magazine, they probably wouldn't care if she bothered to put her name in the metadata!

I would also say that she has to be very sure, if they are travel photos, then it's probably likely that many other people have taken very similar photos.

Ultimately - there's no way to completely protect your photos online. Watermarks are OK but can be cropped out or sometimes cleaned-up (especially ones that just apply a darker overlay rather than completely replacing the picture behind them.) The pros often just put very ugly low-resolution versions up and you have to pay to get anything better.

 

[My2Girls66]

I know this can be done with Nikons by setting the Comment field to (c) First Last Name.

Here is an example, scroll down to user comment....
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ssanders79/3919707831/meta/

This is a good way to hide it where not everyone will think to look. I also have Lightroom add copyright meta data info during import.

I like embedding the data better than an digital stamp. It is too easy to clone stamp or crop out the signature. The only alternative is to put a full image low opacity watermark on the image, but that defeats the purpose of posting online for others to enjoy.

It would be in your friends best intrest to register the image with the US Copyright office if she intends to seek damages. Here is a great interview.
http://www.scottkelby.com/blog/2008/archives/1645

Thanks for that tip about the comment field. That is cool. I just input my name into my D80. Though, I can't figure out how to make a space between names or how to go back and change it.

 

[saturndb]

I would also say that she has to be very sure, if they are travel photos, then it's probably likely that many other people have taken very similar photos.

I would agree with that comment, look at this forum as a example. We have seen some pictures that look very similar to what others have taken. The picture in question, is it a highly photographed location?

Dave