Photo sharing isn’t just about sending images to someone else. It’s about keeping your business secure and building trust with potential clients. With the right system, you can stop people from getting images without paying. You’ll also ensure your clients feel confident their photos are safe if they work with you. This guide will walk you through different photo-sharing options and show you how to use them to grow your business.
Whether you’re shooting weddings, corporate photos for trade shows, or product shots for eCommerce, at some point, someone will try to steal your images without paying. Don’t let that happen!
There are plenty of ways to protect your work, including:
- Watermarking
- Low-res samples
- Password protected galleries
- Encrypted links
- Right click prevention
- Small file size images in the code base
The easiest way to protect your photos when delivering them is by using watermarks. When choosing a photo-sharing service, check with customer support to see if they offer automatic watermarking whenever someone views your images in your galleries. Adding a logo isn’t enough since it can easily be cropped out. But if you’re not a fan of watermarks, don’t worry—there are other ways to protect your images!
Next up is right-click prevention. People will often try to right-click and save images for free. Ensure your client galleries have right-click disabled to prevent these unwanted downloads when you share a link.
Some tech-savvy users will dig into the page’s source code or use image extraction tools. However, there are many ways to prevent your work from being borrowed or stolen. First, open your webpage’s source code and look for the name of your image. Now, open the URL with the image and see if your image shows up with a watermark. You can also try downloading it and upscaling it
If all of this sounds overwhelming, don’t worry—there are more options!
Password-protected galleries aren’t just for fine art or commercial shoots—they’re also crucial for portrait photography. Boudoir photography, for example, is a booming market. Having a secure system lets you reassure clients that their most intimate images are well-guarded, which helps you stand out from the competition and could land you more bookings. And let’s not forget family sessions! Keeping holiday and family photos away from unauthorized access is essential. Parents want to ensure their kids’ photos don’t end up online, get turned into memes, or become a source of bullying. Letting families know you take these precautions will earn their trust and build stronger relationships.
Besides security, one other significant factor to consider is ease of use. Once you’ve confirmed that your photo-sharing service offers the privacy and security you need, ensure it’s easy to use. First, see if there’s a mobile app that works on all your devices. Pulling up your images on the go is crucial, especially if your camera or computer fails. Next, ensure the service has a reliable portal for easy access, no matter where you are.
Two-factor authentication and strong password protection are important, but what if you get locked out and recovery is a pain? You’ll want to check with the support team to see what options are available if you need to access your work while traveling or working from different locations. This is especially key for travel, landscape, and workshop photographers—or if you’re editing on-site for a client. The ability to access your work from unknown locations can be the difference between a successful shoot and a wasted trip.
Lastly, consider the speed of the service. If accessing your galleries is slow or complicated, it can frustrate your clients. Test each system thoroughly before committing, using different types of connections, including mobile data. You never know when you might need to rely on your phone’s network to pull up a gallery.
Photo sharing isn’t just about sending images to your clients—it’s about protecting your business. Make sure whoever you use offers top-notch privacy and security, and let your clients know the extra steps you’re taking to safeguard their images. This helps prevent image theft and builds trust, turning leads into paying clients.
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