Samples or Proofs for customers

[chucklyman]

We just finished shooting some photos for a customer and we have about 200 photos that we want her to see. We hate to print 200 photos for proofs but yet we would like her to see all the photos. Is there a way to put photos on a disk and have them safe from being printed? Is there software out there that would protect our photos from being copied? Please help!

[zero rc]

unfortunately, if they can see it on their screen, there is a way to steal it. what would be best for proofing is to first use low res images so they wouldent be able to get good prints out of them. slide shows are good, but what i use for a lot of digital proofing are pdf's. they are quick to make using PS, there is an option to disable printing (you set a password to unlock) and most people today can open pdf's. there are ways around this too, but for the casual user all they will do is try hitting "print". they can always screen shot your proofs, but then we are back at thumb nail sized images, not suitable for printing.

[Take12]

If you make your image files no larger than 800x600 they would need to be printed at 25% to get true photo quality (300dpi), i.o.w.: they're useless to wannabe image thieves.

[sqw]

They really don't need to see all 200. I know I'm always showing too many pictures.

Here's a truth - only show your best work.

Also, the client just gets confused when you show so many - 50 would still be more than enough.

[rafdaz]

We always used to invite clients back to the studio, to see the images. We would project them on a wall and help them to whittle the number down to the amount of prints they could afford. This has the disadvantage of using studio time you could be shooting, but because they can only see the images during this sitting, they often feel under 'pressure' to buy a few more than if they could go through them at home!

[dzdale]

Hi

1) You could save them @ 72dpi @ 800x600, This would render them useless for printing but perfect for screen viewing.
2)You could display them on a website
3) you could project, this is a very succesfull way of selling images, I highly recommend it. Check out software called Pro Select from timeexposure.com

Dale

[Take12]

Originally Posted by dzdale

Hi

2)You could display them on a website

...at 72dpi @ 800x600 if you want 'm useless for printing!

[NetJohn]

Contact sheet/proof book, maybe?

John

[Arved]

How about a slideshow you can put either on VCD or DVD? I use ProShow Gold to do it myself, or use eMotion Media when I don't have the time. eMotion has a digital proofing option that's pretty darn cool. I wish I could do that part myself the way they do - an interactive presentation.

Another option is you can print the files to a PDF, and password protect the PDF. Can it be hacked? Sure. But it's a pretty good option. You can do this through PSCS3 - I think PSCS2 had the same capability.

I just did a proof book at WHCC from a Navy retirement ceremony. 13 8-1/2x11 pages with 12 thumbnails per page = 156 images culled from over 300 images taken. It was my first Navy retirement ceremony (booked another next month from this gig!), and so I wasn't entirely sure what the most memorable and important parts are. But anyway, they do from 4 to 20 thumbnails per page, 10 page minimum, and I think a 60 page maximum per book.

With video capture software, yeah, if you can put it on a screen, they can take it off. Your only hope is that your client wants your services and your products more than he wants to rip you off.

All the best,

[Rodeoshooter]

Use a program called pix2exe and you will be able to make a slide show from which nothing can be printed or copied. It makes an exe that will play on any computer (don't know about MACs since they are not computers but MACs) any where without special software.

I would cull them down and get rid of the obviously bad photos first. Otherwise have them come back to you to view them.

[Arved]

Originally Posted by Take12

...at 72dpi @ 800x600 if you want 'm useless for printing!

You can get a pretty decent 4x6 from that, actually, and for most people, that's fine for the fridge or their office. Having the 800x600 file for their computer (e-mail, MySpace/Facebook, etc) is a lot of value over having the print.