How To Make A Photographic Share Chargeable?

[Joe Whodat]

After taking a heap of professional photographs on a tour in Africa, the group I was with want me to share those photographs, but I have told them they will only get them if they pay. So, how do I set up a sharelink where they first have to make a payment in order to obtain copies of my photographs? I have put a great deal of time, and gear expense to take these photographs, so I am not giving away freebies.

Thanks for any tips, help, etc.

[Rich]

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@Joe Whodat wrote:

So, how do I set up a sharelink where they first have to make a payment in order to obtain copies of my photographs?

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Take a look at Dropbox Shop.

• https://www.dropbox.com/shop

[Joe Whodat]

Many thanks for that reply and link.

Appreciate it.

[Joe Whodat]

Additionally, how I can I prevent someone in that Group, paying then downloading once but sharing freely via WhatsApp with others in that Group,as I am certain one of the Group will do that?

[Jay]

Hi @Joe Whodat, there is nothing that can prevent that, unfortunately, since like with anything digital, it's possible to duplicate them freely once they have the copy. DRM generally applies to programs and video games from large companies to prevent piracy, but even then, these systems can be circumvented.

Especially for images, it is nearly impossible to prevent others from copying the data. Even if you created a Dropbox shared link and prevented downloads, people could still take a screenshot of the page for themselves.

While this isn't related to Dropbox, all I can offer is my own personal opinion. Since I'm assuming you shot the images on a nice high quality camera with a great lens, megapixel etc, if you do plan on selling the images to them, offer them a much lower quality version. 

Assuming that the image is at least 1080p in size, you could make a copy of the images and compress them so they're no larger than 1024x768 in resolution. This will reduce the quality and detail of the photo, without sacrificing too much of the overall image, but it would be obvious to the people that you're giving them a poorer quality when they view it on their computers (and it should be advertised that way to them as well). I'm not sure if you are a professional photographer in general, so you might get some bad rep for this. In the end, it's about trust, and the knowledge that even if you sold images to people, others who didn't pay could still get a copy from the purchaser.

As I said, this is my personal opinion, and I'm not a professional photographer, so I have no experience on this matter or how they would feel given the same situation. I hope that this helps you somewhat.

[Joe Whodat]

@ Jay

Many thanks for that superb and elaborate reply. Just the answer I sought. Very helpful.

Will do as you suggest. Yes, a professional that shot with top end DSLRs bodies  and top end lenses ranging from 10-22mm all the way to 600mm

[Jay]

Glad to have helped out, even a little!

Enjoy your week!