ArTips©-The newsletter dedicated to the business of art.

Sometimes practical, sometimes techy, always helpful.

You have your own web site, congratulations! You can announce upcoming shows, publicize awards you've won, and display your latest works. One day you're surfing the 'net and see your own images being used on someone else's site. You're surprised and angry, and attempt to correct the situation, but your e-mails go unanswered. More than any other business, your images are you life's blood, so what can you do to prevent this?

There is no sure fired way to keep your images from being stolen, but Chris Mahar of Selling Your Art Online offers tips to help deter unauthorized use. These methods involve using a graphics program. If you did your site yourself, you probably already have something like Photoshop. If your site is maintained by someone else ask them to make the appropriate changes.

The easiest way by far is to simply watermark your images with your URL. Use an easy to read font, like Verdana, and make sure there's enough contrast against the background. If your image has a mix of dark and light, use the graphic program to create a block for the text to rest against. This turns every image into an advertisement for your art.

Slice your images into smaller pieces, and put them in a table. When done correctly, the images will appear to be one, but anyone trying to copy it will only get one section.

Disable the right mouse click with JavaScript. While this won't stop the sophisticated thief, the most common way to download images is with the right mouse click. You or your web designer can get free javascript code at places like Dynamic Drive or The JavaScript Source.

Next time, three more tips to protect your on-line images.