Photo sizes and watermark question

mylifeinfocus

I'm interested in offering my photos for sale on my Smugmug site. That being said, should I be uploading fullsize photos (2616 x 3488) in case someone orders a print? Also, if I include a watermark on my photos prior to uploading, it just occurred to me that it may show up on the print that way. Is that true? I still want a watermark, but I have a Power User account, so I'm not sure I have any other watermarking option other than creating my own.

Although now that I look at the Feature comparison on the different Smugmug plans, it appears only Portfolio (previously Pro?) and Business users can use the print ordering. Crap.

Thanks!
Alice

denisegoldberg

You can allow purchasing of your images with a power account but you can't make a profit with any account level other than Business. If you have a power account and you don't want to allow anyone to order prints then set printable to no on your galleries. And you will not know of sales unless you have a Business account.

If you place a watermark on your photos before uploading the watermark will be on the printed image. If you have a Business or Portfolio account, the watermark is placed on only the display copies, not the Original. That way if you (Portfolio account) or your customer (Business account) order a print, the print will not be watermarked. Portfolio and Business accounts also have the ability to place a printmark on the finished product.

If you want to allow purchase of items with a Power account you would need to customize your site to do the selling yourself.

If you want to order prints from your site you should be aware of the minimum resolution requirements for the different print sizes. See http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/93359#minprintres.

--- Denise

mylifeinfocus

Thanks Denise. I appreciate your help. So if I allow purchasing of my photos (Power Account), I can't make a profit, but I can still allow people to order a print (for which I'll be paid)? Or am i paid for sales of my prints only if I'm a Portfolio or Business user?

Maybe my best bet would be to watermark my photos, not offer them for sale through the site, but have people contact me if they want to purchase one. Not the way I'd like to use my site, but I can't currently afford to upgrade to a bigger account.

Thanks for your info.

denisegoldberg wrote: »

You can allow purchasing of your images with a power account but you can't make a profit with any account level other than Business. If you have a power account and you don't want to allow anyone to order prints then set printable to no on your galleries. And you will not know of sales unless you have a Business account.

If you place a watermark on your photos before uploading the watermark will be on the printed image. If you have a Business or Portfolio account, the watermark is placed on only the display copies, not the Original. That way if you (Portfolio account) or your customer (Business account) order a print, the print will not be watermarked. Portfolio and Business accounts also have the ability to place a printmark on the finished product.

If you want to allow purchase of items with a Power account you would need to customize your site to do the selling yourself.

If you want to order prints from your site you should be aware of the minimum resolution requirements for the different print sizes. See http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/93359#minprintres.

--- Denise

denisegoldberg

If you allow purchasing of your photos and your site is a power account no money goes to you; you would be allowing people to buy your photos essentially at cost. You are only paid for sale of your prints if you have a Business account and if you set the prices of your photos to be above the smug base price.

--- Denise