How do you do it? I've submitted a couple of photos, illustrating problems I've had & gotten good feedback by others who have taken those photos & reprocessed them. But, the size of those thumbnails, to my mind, would not lend themselves to reprocessing offline. Obviously, I'm missing something, here. How is this done? It makes me a little apprehensive re: putting my stuff on the Web, if someone can take just a thumbnail & reprocess it.

Don't get me wrong. I trust RetouchPRO users. I'm interested, first, in how a 100 KB image can be reprocessed offline, and second, if putting a photo on the Web, regardless of file size, opens one to predation by unethical users, not that my images are so priceless. Well, some of them I'd like to sell.

It's just that there's software out there that can enlarge image files (add pixels) to enable someone to pirate one's work. This is very effective software. (Again, I trust RetouchPRO users. I can't say that enough.) I'm very impressed by the help I've been getting by RetouchPRO users downloading my thumbnail images & reprocessing. I'm just curious about how they do it & whether my placing images in the Web (sorry, RetouchPRO) exposes them, if I post them on other Websites, to piracy.

You all know the kind of world we now live in. Yeah, "Just don't post your images." Maybe I won't post (I haven't, except in RetouchPRO.) You all get my drift. Maybe it's just my Montana mentality.

One4All,
The 100K low res limit pretty much limits what a thief could do with an image you post here. That being said, there is software that can enhance and enlarge an image so that it might be used for reproduction elsewhere. I'm thinking of stuff like "Genuine Fractals and Blow Up".

There's not much you can do to control people grabbing something of yours off the web. If it shows up on the screen it's fair game. Even a 72 DPI screen shot can be usable under some circumstances.

A professional retoucher over on NAPP discovered his award winning work being used as "before and after" samples by some retouching outfit in India. They just grabbed it off his web site which has copyright notices all over the place on it. (Ironic that the Indian site also had copyright notices all over it, so they must understand the meaning of the term).

The problem with copyright notices, as I understand it, is that the copyright MUST be registered in order for a piece to truly be protected and theft of it be prosecuted. It's a complicated legal area.

To post or not to post is up to you. I know that doesn't help much.

Oneforuall, can't add much to Swampy's advice. Do know that obtaining copyrights to a batch of photos is pretty straight forward.

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#cr

A simple trick that I have heard works but have never tried is the "poor man's copyright"
Burn your photo's to DVD, put it in an envelope and mail it to yourself certafied mail. Now leave the package in a safe place and unopend. Should you ever need it you will have proof positive of possetion on that date.
In the end like Swampy said, your images are for sharing what you've created, if you can't do that then why bother, really? Post, post, post. If your picture ends up on a site in India, be flattered and tell your friends. Or sue.

There is not really enough quality in a 100KB image that can command any real value in todays market place when you can purchase millions of 10MB large quality screened images for $3 on stock photo sites. Even programs like Genuine Fractals require 500K pixels to produce a decent blowup.
If you are still concerned, embed a watermark in rhe images you upload. No one will go to the trouble of trying to clone it out and if they did the result would look pretty crappy.
Regards, Murray

Thanks to all for responding. I guess I'm going to hesitate a lot about posting my images on such Websites as flickr.com, photo.net, etc. Like Swampy indicated, "You put it out there, and it's up for grabs." (Words to that effect). It's incredible to me that so many great images are posted in these Websites, but I guess it's up to the photographer/artist as to the benefit received by posting vs. the risk of being ripped off.

Anyway, how are RetouchPRO users able to reprocess a 100K image offline?

What we post that has ben worked on is 100K...
A lot of the time, preferably, a link to a higher resolution photo is provided to work on.. If the original is 100K or less then it is what it is and you do your best with what you have, just like always

There's no foolproof way to protect your images on your website. All can be beaten by a motivated individual. Use .htaccess to prevent bandwidth stealing (http://www.javascriptkit.com/howto/htaccess10.shtml), and watermark your important images. All the rest will just cause problems, turn people off, or challenge them to beat your system.
I agree with everything Swampy and the others said above with emphasis on...

If someone can see your work on their computer screen then it is already in their system and is available for them to do whatever they want.. which is why some folks only use very low resolution small photos for viewing on a PC screen.. when enlarged or printed out they may be heavily laden with artifacts.. Watermarks help some but as you have probably seen here on this site a lot of things can be changed on a picture and just plain disappear..

It all boils down to.. Do you want your work seen by the masses?

If the answer is yes, then you have to put the Paranoia on the back burner and take the chance that people are basically honest and will not rip you off even though you think there are a multitude of others who are just waiting for an opportunity to use your works without permission. You can always look at it this way.. IF some one does steal your prize photos... It will give your work broader exposure, also, I have found that most people, if they use your work and you have ask them to credit the work to you, will give you the credit you deserve.

Suppose you are an excellent painter and all your work is stored safely in a closet, you are the proud owner of all your work but no one can see it.. If you want to sell, share or just show these wonderful works of art then you have to take the chance that no one will take a photo of your work or copy your idea and put it on a calendar or something.. Copyright and litigation would play a role here.. It seems to me that if you want your work to be seen.. You have to put it out there and if you want it to be seen in the most favorable light possible then you should at least put a few out in High Resolution so every little nuance and intricate detail can be seen to show your expertise and take your chances..

One4Uall, in 100KB you can compress an image that is approx 8" x 6" @ 72ppi. You can do a lot of processing on such an image. You can also size it up further. I assume you are not confusing the thumbnail that appear in the post to the actual image? Some folks have mistakenly right clicked the thumbnail and downloaded it but you actually need to click the thumbnail which will link you to the 100KB larger image and right click the larger one to download it.
Regards, Murray

Hi One4UAll,

If you have your own website, you can disable the right click feature and the IE save image feature.

Hi One4UAll,

If you have your own website, you can disable the right click feature and the IE save image feature.

Can't disable Prnt Scrn

Can't disable Prnt Scrn

Yes and No. I think the topic link below is worth a read.

http://www.dynamicdrive.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-482.html

One4Uall, in 100KB you can compress an image that is approx 8" x 6" @ 72ppi. You can do a lot of processing on such an image.

Regards, Murray

Thanks, Murray. This is all I needed to know re: that part of my OP. I always forget that images on the Web can be processed at lower resolutions than images meant for printing, and I'm more concerned about someone able to print my images than using them on the Web.

In other words, being able to generate a file from the Web of a quality that can be printed to, say, 16x20"+, or for a magazine cover. That's what I'm concerned about. As long as I have the original 200+MB file, I shouldn't be concerned about that. Right? (And like everyone else, I think my prized photos are masterpieces!) :-)) Yes, OlBaldy, I want my images to be seen. They've been "in the closet" too long & I'd like to make some money from them, without getting pirated.

BTW, I may be getting beyond the scope of this Website.

Thanks, again, to everyone for responding.