Philippines Ethnographic Weapons Museum

[vampire]

hai
david
i think you made a very good point
realy very good
i did not think about that and there are already
to many fakes on ebay and more
but how to protect the photo
also there is a negatieve
grt jan
the vampire

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by David

Before we all start uploading detailed images of our collection up to any website we should all think about how to make the images secure. Your actual weapons are not going to walk out this virtual door, but unless you want to see all of our nice toys ending up as fake auctions on eBay we must be sure that software is in place that prevents the images from being easily lifted off the site or we will see someone trying to take advantage of our good work somewhere. The image below was a simple click-and-drag off Miguel's site.

David, many thanks also for your comments

For sure that's everybody's concern (but on second thoughts, wouldn't that be the greatest compliment, one's piece being peddled by somebody else on eBay, assuming of course the scammer has good taste ... just kidding).

Seriously speaking, it's actually a very tough issue and I think there'll be no 100% safe solution.

I googled the subject. And one article after rattling through the (technical) solutions concluded with this --

"If your image is so valuable that you want to be sure no one ever steals it, then don't post it online. That is the securest and safest method of protecting your digital images."

On the other hand, one must keep on trying of course (see options below).

The best solution so far is via a subscription service with Digimarc.

The service allows one to invisibly put a signature on the images. And then the most expensive option will give one a periodic report of where the image is being used elsewhere in the Internet.

Obviously the main disadvantage of this service is that it's very expen$ive!

PixID is a similar service and I'm sure it will also cost an arm and a leg.

So where does this leave us?

I think the good old watermark will still be it. And we can add to that our own respective style when we take pics. Like Oriental Arms always has that blue background, on top of watermark. Erik's Edge would have that brown background always.

In my case, I always use as backdrop that ethnic weaving (though I'm struggling with this, as I know that the background I use is a distraction, as you also pointed out earlier).

And I guess more importantly, the "community" will just have to be vigilant.

That's all I can think of at the moment ...

[David]

Well, there is one particular Bali keris on Eriksedge.com that i have personally seen for sale on eBay 3 different times.
That said i don't think watermarks or tracking is the answer. I know i have been on sites that simply do not allow me to click-an-drag images to my desktop. I don't know what software they use, but it can't be that expensive to set up.

[Rick]

That's what I was thinking also David .
I have encountered that feature myself .

Any one know about this software ?

[migueldiaz]

Originally Posted by David

Well, there is one particular Bali keris on Eriksedge.com that i have personally seen for sale on eBay 3 different times.

Man, they are relentless aren't they? And considering that one is born every minute, I guess they'll never run out of 'customers'.

Originally Posted by David

That said i don't think watermarks or tracking is the answer. I know i have been on sites that simply do not allow me to click-an-drag images to my desktop. I don't know what software they use, but it can't be that expensive to set up.

Originally Posted by Rick

That's what I was thinking also David. I have encountered that feature myself.Any one know about this software ?

They can prevent the click-and-dragging of the pic for sure. But that really won't prevent the pic from being copied

It just takes 2 to 3 seconds more, to copy the pic --

[1] if pic can be clicked-and-dragged, in one second or less it's done;

[2] if the above technique or right-clicking the pic has been disabled, then it takes me just 2 to 3 seconds more to copy the pic (and it's no secret: the technique is via screen capture, which takes just a few keystrokes).

But as said, the effort to make it difficult for would-be scammers must still be made.

So here's the long and short of it according to this website:

:: How To Copy-Protect Images ::.

Most people know that they can steal an image from the web by right-clicking on it and selecting "save image as." Be forewarned though - You may be downloading an image that contains a watermark and might be confronted if you use it on your site. If you would like to protect your own images, this article explains a few measures you can take.

There are three main methods that you can use to protect your images on the web:

JavaScript Method

This method essentially captures the "right-click" mouse event and runs a JavaScript that informs the person that the images on the page are copyrighted and not available for download. This method would not prevent the person from doing a "screen capture" to get the image.

Watermark Method

This method allows you to add a digital watermark or signature to each of your images. The watermark is invisible to the naked eye, but can quickly be retrieved using a watermark reader. Additionally, some services (like Digimarc) will search the web for your images and generate a report for you so that you can confront the offender. Watermarking doesn't prevent someone from copying an image, it simply makes tracking down the offenders possible.

Adobe ImageReady (that ships with Photoshop) includes a filter to watermark your images (after you register and get a PIN number from Digimarc).

Software Method

Specialized software that walks you through protecting your images. Weblock Pro will even protect your web page source code.

And here's another primer. But at the end of the day though, it's all in vain

If anybody can show me a website where he/she thinks the image cannot be copied, then I'd gladly point out how it can be easily circumvented (via the screen capture method, that is).

[Bill M]

Originally Posted by David

Well, there is one particular Bali keris on Eriksedge.com that i have personally seen for sale on eBay 3 different times.
That said i don't think watermarks or tracking is the answer. I know i have been on sites that simply do not allow me to click-an-drag images to my desktop. I don't know what software they use, but it can't be that expensive to set up.

If you are talking about the one you click on to see other keris, that Bali keris is mine. Really a neat one with a large gold mendak. I have also seen it on eBay! The first time it happened, I ran to see if it was still in my drawer. It was, so I called Erik. We got eBay to pull it.

[Bill M]

Having emailed with Nonoy earlier, I also really like the idea of a virtual, online museum. Does anyone have an idea about the cost of setting up a website? I can contribute a few pictures of PI weaponry.

[David]

Originally Posted by Bill Marsh

I can contribute a few pictures of PI weaponry.

A few? I would think that you could probably carry the entire museum collection.