How to set free digital downloads.

Clixphoto · May 27, 2009

I just returned from shooting an event. I was paid a large

flat fee to shoot the five day event. The customer wanted for all of the attendees to be able to download the images from the site at no cost. I understand if you enter a zero in the column when you set your prices, that product will not be available. How do you allow digital downloads for free?

By the way, the event was in the Bay area. Sausalito to be exact. I didn't realize until my return that Smug Mug was based in the Bay area. Small world huh.

Thanks,
Wes
Clix Photo
http://www.clix-photo.com/

Andy · May 27, 2009

Set the file size to Original and turn of protection. Folks can then just download the files they want.

$0 items don't go through our shopping cart.

jfriend · May 28, 2009

After you enable originals, you can also add a Download Image... button to your galleries if you want. See this post for how to do that. The download button will automatically appear for any galleries that you enable originals for.

Andy · May 28, 2009

jfriend wrote:

After you enable originals, you can also add a Download Image... button to your galleries if you want. See this post for how to do that. The download button will automatically appear for any galleries that you enable originals for.

Yes! I always for get this trick. Thanks John!

Clixphoto · May 28, 2009

Thank you.

jfriend · May 28, 2009

Andy wrote:

Yes! I always for get this trick. Thanks John!

When I make originals available, I now frequently get comments about how easy it is to download the originals and what an easy site it is to use.

Before I added that button, I had to include instructions for how to get originals in every email and I still got questions about how to download images.

ShepsMom · May 28, 2009

Wouldn't it be much easier to select the size, and just right click and "save as"?

Sledhed · May 28, 2009

Thank you for this little tip, that's pretty cool.

jfriend · May 28, 2009

ShepsMom wrote:

Wouldn't it be much easier to select the size, and just right click and "save as"?

If you want a screen-size version, right-clicking is fine.

If you want the original, people not familiar with Smugmug have little idea how to access and save the original (I know they have no idea because they ask me about it or tell me they had no idea that they could even have originals).

The download button is right there on screen and is just one-click. Hard to get simpler than that. I get complements on how easy it is.

Andy · May 28, 2009

jfriend wrote:

If you want a screen-size version, right-clicking is fine.

If you want the original, people not familiar with Smugmug have little idea how to access and save the original (I know they have no idea because they ask me about it or tell me they had no idea that they could even have originals).

The download button is right there on screen and is just one-click. Hard to get simpler than that. I get complements on how easy it is.

It's funny - I know you love this and there are folks using your button hack as well. But I can't really think of any complaints we get at the help desk about this. I've made sure our designers have seen this again, though, for whenever we re-do things

Thanks.

darryl · May 28, 2009

Andy wrote:

It's funny - I know you love this and there are folks using your button hack as well. But I can't really think of any complaints we get at the help desk about this. I've made sure our designers have seen this again, though, for whenever we re-do things

Thanks.

I love that it's one-click. No hovering and waiting for the fly-out toolbar and then visually searching for the Save Photo button.

I also love that in Safari and Chrome, it starts the download immediately in the background. I guess Firefox can be configured to do this too, but it's not set by default.

jfriend · May 28, 2009

Andy wrote:

It's funny - I know you love this and there are folks using your button hack as well. But I can't really think of any complaints we get at the help desk about this. I've made sure our designers have seen this again, though, for whenever we re-do things

Thanks.

I'm sure there are lots of possible usability enhancements for viewers that you never hear of on the help desk. I'm struggling to think of any of my viewers that have ever actually contacted Smugmug. But some of them do talk to me. And, I KNOW that until I put this button in, they just didn't know they could download originals. And now, I get people telling me how easy it is.

Remember, these are viewers that don't regularly visit Smugmug. They don't know it at all. This may be their first time visiting a Smugmug site. Many don't even know you can click on the main image to see a larger version of the image. There is nothing in the UI to tell someone that's possible. You'd have to just use your intuition to guess something might happen if you click.

The flyout that has "save photo" in it has to be discovered by accident and then you have to remember you saw "save photo" in there sometime later when you actually want that function. There is no visual indication in the page at all that the flyout or save photo is there, until you accidentally make it come up and you then pay attention to it.

The download button has neither of these speed bumps. It advertises it's presence from the moment you see the first gallery.

Obviously this only matters if you're intending to share originals for free with your viewers. I do this when I'm shooting school events (talent shows, plays, fund raisers, school sports) as a community service.

Andy · May 28, 2009

jfriend wrote:

I'm sure there are lots of possible usability enhancements for viewers that you never hear of on the help desk.

Could be, but we're getting 5-6000 emails a week

And many of those are from your visitors who ask questions all the time. But like I said, I gave Wade the link to your download button and he's saved it for when we change things up again

Thanks!

termina3 · May 28, 2009

I'm glad that the Smug help desk is able to help out so many pro customers... knowing the response times and care that go into that, it gives a great impression of both Smug and our companies.

That said, hopefully Smug will eventually become invisible, and even if the Smug help desk is answering a question, our clients won't know it's someone from Smug

. I know this is in the works, and look forward to its implementation.

timgangloff · June 10, 2009

Button is way cooler
Just saw this button hack. Not doubt it is much cooler and easier than a right click and save as. I think a lot of the folks here forget that not all of our customers are as computer savvy as they are. Some not even close and some not even in the same decade. One of my customers last night told me she does not have a computer or email address and does not have access to one at work either. So, don't assume that folks even know what a right click is.

Anyway, I am going to start implementing it now. Many of my "family share" galleries need it. While some regular smugmugers and computer users may figure out that by clicking on an image, you can make it larger (and then smaller again), but I know many of my customers don't.

And just think that if Andy and his crew are getting thousands of emails a week, don't you think the photogs are getting a fair number too. I put my name, number and email address on the site to encourage folks to contact me directly for issues. So, I am guessing that the support heroes are not seeing it all, not by a long shot.

Darling · June 14, 2009

Scary Download feature
Been trying allow someone to download certain files and tried the recommended site Smugtug. I tried it myself first on a gallery that is watermarked and set for xl max size. The whole gallery downloads stripped of watermarking and copyright metadata. This program appears to completely negate Smugmug security? Can this program be blocked or something or what measures to I need to take to block this?

www.janewaddick.com

KellyJohnson · June 14, 2009

1mpix files
Is there a way to make 1mpix files available to download for free but the 4mpix & originals available for a fee? I would really like to do this.

jfriend · June 14, 2009

Darling wrote:

Been trying allow someone to download certain files and tried the recommended site Smugtug. I tried it myself first on a gallery that is watermarked and set for xl max size. The whole gallery downloads stripped of watermarking and copyright metadata. This program appears to completely negate Smugmug security? Can this program be blocked or something or what measures to I need to take to block this?

www.janewaddick.com

In order to offer any help, we would need a link to the gallery where you have watermarks and copyright metadata and max size set to XL. And, we would need to know what "program" you are talking about that is doing the download?

jfriend · June 14, 2009

KellyJohnson wrote:

Is there a way to make 1mpix files available to download for free but the 4mpix & originals available for a fee? I would really like to do this.

You can turn off right-click protection, set max size to the size you'd like them to have access to and allow them to do right-click save for free. Then, you can price the 4MP download.

Darling · June 14, 2009

jfriend wrote:

In order to offer any help, we would need a link to the gallery where you have watermarks and copyright metadata and max size set to XL. And, we would need to know what "program" you are talking about that is doing the download?

The program is Smugtug.com on the Smugmug Wiki site Hacks and Apps. All my galleries are watermarked and copyright metadata is included with the file when I upload, although I think Smugmug strips this off? Here is one gallery: http://www.janewaddick.com/gallery/7783203_q9gmJ#548124757_YfyVA

I just changed all my galleries to medium size, but no matter as the program will download med, small, original, whatever is available.

KellyJohnson · June 14, 2009

jfriend wrote:

You can turn off right-click protection, set max size to the size you'd like them to have access to and allow them to do right-click save for free. Then, you can price the 4MP download.

Wow that was a quick reply thank you.

jfriend · June 14, 2009

Darling wrote:

The program is Smugtug.com on the Smugmug Wiki site Hacks and Apps. All my galleries are watermarked and copyright metadata is included with the file when I upload, although I think Smugmug strips this off? Here is one gallery: http://www.janewaddick.com/gallery/7783203_q9gmJ#548124757_YfyVA

I just changed all my galleries to medium size, but no matter as the program will download med, small, original, whatever is available.

It is absolutely normal for any program to be able to download the sizes that are available. If you set your images to a max size of Medium, then all sizes from Medium and smaller will be downloadable by any app. It has to be this way or the browser couldn't download them to display them - that's just the way the internet works.

If you think this program can download sizes large than you have allowed on the web, that would be a bug somewhere and Smugmug would probably like a more concrete example so they could track it down.

The lack of metadata on the smaller sizes is something that many of us have asked Smugmug to fix. They have said they are thinking about it, but we have no idea if they are actually going to change that or not and this was first requested several years ago.

Darling · June 14, 2009

jfriend wrote:

It is absolutely normal for any program to be able to download the sizes that are available. If you set your images to a max size of Medium, then all sizes from Medium and smaller will be downloadable by any app. It has to be this way or the browser couldn't download them to display them - that's just the way the internet works.

If you think this program can download sizes large than you have allowed on the web, that would be a bug somewhere and Smugmug would probably like a more concrete example so they could track it down.

The lack of metadata on the smaller sizes is something that many of us have asked Smugmug to fix. They have said they are thinking about it, but we have no idea if they are actually going to change that or not and this was first requested several years ago.

Thanks for the reply. It's disappointing news, because basically disabling right-click to save and having the watermark feature are both useless if it's normal that people can download anything that Smugmug is displaying on the browser. Mind you, the downloaded files had no watermark. Charging for downloads and prints is useless as well because the quality uploaded is generally 300 DPI and that makes for a nice print. Stripping out copyright data equals zero protection for the artist on Smugmug. Now I am really concerned. How exactly does Smugmug protect their clients images?

jfriend · June 14, 2009

Darling wrote:

Thanks for the reply. It's disappointing news, because basically disabling right-click to save and having the watermark feature are both useless if it's normal that people can download anything that Smugmug is displaying on the browser. Mind you, the downloaded files had no watermark. Charging for downloads and prints is useless as well because the quality uploaded is generally 300 DPI and that makes for a nice print. Stripping out copyright data equals zero protection for the artist on Smugmug. Now I am really concerned. How exactly does Smugmug protect their clients images?

If your files are watermarked, then the only way anyone can get a non-watermarked image is if you enable originals for display/download. No browser or program can get to the original if you don't have it enabled without your login credentials. If you think that's not the case, please provide more details (provide a link to the gallery where you think his happens) and we'll either help you get the right settings to avoid that or file a bug that Smugmug will fix.

Right-click protection is a mild deterrent that can be bypassed in seconds (even in the browser) by someone who knows how.

But, setting the largest viewing size and watermarking are strong protections if you have the settings right. That's how the thousands of pros on Smugmug protect their images and profit from their sale. It works if you have the right gallery settings.

Darling · June 15, 2009

jfriend wrote:

If your files are watermarked, then the only way anyone can get a non-watermarked image is if you enable originals for display/download. No browser or program can get to the original if you don't have it enabled without your login credentials. If you think that's not the case, please provide more details (provide a link to the gallery where you think his happens) and we'll either help you get the right settings to avoid that or file a bug that Smugmug will fix.

Right-click protection is a mild deterrent that can be bypassed in seconds (even in the browser) by someone who knows how.

But, setting the largest viewing size and watermarking are strong protections if you have the settings right. That's how the thousands of pros on Smugmug protect their images and profit from their sale. It works if you have the right gallery settings.

Thanks again for the reply. You're correct that the watermark does appear on the downloaded files at medium size.

I don't how understand "setting the largest viewing size..." is a strong protection. Does the copyright meta data stick with the file at different sizes? Also I have followed the directions on the pro instructions for my gallery settings, are these the correct settings you are mentioning?

Thanks much for your patience.

Darling · June 15, 2009

Just one note here, I don't mean to imply anything surreptitious regarding Smugtug the program. This is an great program that does its job well using acceptable means to download data. But I am amazed this is possible.

jfriend · June 16, 2009

Darling wrote:

Thanks again for the reply. You're correct that the watermark does appear on the downloaded files at medium size.

I don't how understand "setting the largest viewing size..." is a strong protection. Does the copyright meta data stick with the file at different sizes? Also I have followed the directions on the pro instructions for my gallery settings, are these the correct settings you are mentioning?

Thanks much for your patience.

The largest viewing size tells Smugmug's servers what the largest size that ANY agent (browser, program, hacker, anything) who isn't logged in as the site owner is allowed access to. Because the security is enforced on the server-side of things, it's solid.

The copyright metadata is only on the original. When Smugmug creates the smaller web versions (thumbnails, S, M, L, XL, etc...), they don't bring the metadata along with it onto those files. A number of us believe they should and Smugmug sounds like they generally agree, but we've been asking for a long time and just haven't seen it happen.

Darling · June 16, 2009

jfriend wrote:

The largest viewing size tells Smugmug's servers what the largest size that ANY agent (browser, program, hacker, anything) who isn't logged in as the site owner is allowed access to. Because the security is enforced on the server-side of things, it's solid.

The copyright metadata is only on the original. When Smugmug creates the smaller web versions (thumbnails, S, M, L, XL, etc...), they don't bring the metadata along with it onto those files. A number of us believe they should and Smugmug sounds like they generally agree, but we've been asking for a long time and just haven't seen it happen.

Thank You, John. Your help is very much appreciated.

timgangloff · June 17, 2009

Stripping of meta data
If this is true and someone were to steal images from smugmug and use them illegally, would smugmug be culpable and could they be charged with aiding and abetting if they know they are actively removing copyright information? In addition to criminal charges, would they be liable for any civil damages? Just wondering aloud. Maybe their lawyer will tell them it is OK, or maybe tell them to fix it ASAP.

The copyright metadata is only on the original. When Smugmug creates the smaller web versions (thumbnails, S, M, L, XL, etc...), they don't bring the metadata along with it onto those files. A number of us believe they should and Smugmug sounds like they generally agree, but we've been asking for a long time and just haven't seen it happen.

Darling wrote:

Thank You, John. Your help is very much appreciated.

termina3 · June 17, 2009

When you sign up you agree to hold smug harmless for just about everything.

neurospike · July 29, 2009

Batch downloading
Its interesting, but to me the ability for a user to batch download a whole set is the most important feature I am looking for. If a client pays a fixed fee for the job (which is the case in all my photographic work) and needs to access all the photo's, telling them to click and download each of possibly hundreds of images is not particularly useful (i.e client generally don't want to spend an hour clicking through and downloading individual images) The open source gallery2 software for example implements this very well and lets users download a zip archive of their cart selection. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on supporting this kind of feature where users could batch download that was not related to the other commerce offered, eg prints etc? I am surprised this is not a more broadly sort after feature.

any thoughts appreciated.

regards

Alex

How to set free digital downloads.

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