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03-27-2014, 06:30 PM   #1
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Photo sales: SmugMug, Zenfolio, or PhotoShelter?

I've been looking at these three sites in particular, trying to find one that I'd like to sell my photography through. I'm not satisfied with my current Flickr and WordPress setup; I'd like an all-in-one solution that also handles the e-commerce. However, I want these specific features:
  • I want to be able to sell prints AND digital photos, i.e. digital downloads.
  • I want to set my own photo/download prices.
  • I want to keep the rights to my photos.
  • I want right-click protection and possibly also drag-and-drop protection.
  • I like the idea of having public and private galleries with private users needing to sign in.
So with these specifics in mind, which of the three sites mentioned would be the best? If there a site/service that is better than these three? I would prefer responses from people who have actually been users for some time of one/more of the above. Also, please list the one thing you like BEST about the service you use and the one thing you like LEAST about it, the one thing you'd change. Thanks.

03-27-2014, 06:41 PM   #2
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I chose Smugmug because it did these things better for me. Zenfolio wasn't going to cut it, somehow.

Now Smugmug is even bettered than a couple of years ago.
03-27-2014, 06:41 PM   #3
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Smugmug meets your requirements. I like that it is family owned and hasn't sold out to both advertising and the social photography model favored by Flickr, Goigle Plus, and others. I don't like that I wasn't able to import cleanly some branding graphics on my site from the old days during the recent technical revision. The one change I wanted they finally made, which was expanding the number of cataloging levels. It is now up to seven.

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03-27-2014, 08:53 PM   #4
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QuoteOriginally posted by enoxatnep Quote
I want right-click protection and possibly also drag-and-drop protection
This is only going to annoy the people who aren't interested in stealing your images, and only slow down those that do. If you want to show an image on the internet, there is no way of doing it without making the image 'downloadable'.

Disabling features of your visitors' browsers is rude.

03-27-2014, 09:02 PM   #5
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QuoteOriginally posted by johnyates Quote
This is only going to annoy the people who aren't interested in stealing your images, and only slow down those that do. If you want to show an image on the internet, there is no way of doing it without making the image 'downloadable'.
Actually, I've read that right-click protection blocks unauthorized downloading, or that only a blank image gets downloaded after a copyright window pops up. I'm just wondering which of the sites/services in question does this most effectively and in what manner.

QuoteOriginally posted by johnyates Quote
Disabling features of your visitors' browsers is rude.
Not in my mind if they're prevented from stealing and using my images, which I know is happening to several of my most popular Flickr images. It's time for me to plug the drain, so to speak.

Last edited by enoxatnep; 03-28-2014 at 05:43 PM.
03-27-2014, 09:53 PM - 1 Like   #6
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QuoteOriginally posted by enoxatnep Quote
Actually, I've read that right-click protection blocks unauthorized downloading, or that only a blank image gets downloaded after a copyright window pops up. I'm just wondering which of the sites/services in question does this most effectively and in what manner.

Not in my mind if they're prevented from stealing and using my images, which I know is happening to several of my most popular Flickr images. It's time for me to plug the drain, so to speak.
When the image is on someone's screen, it is also on their hard drive in a cache of data. It can't get to the screen without being saved to the hard drive. Nobody needs to right-click to steal it. They already have it saved before attempting to right click. Thieves know this and don't bother to right-click.

Watermarks might discourage some people.
03-27-2014, 10:07 PM   #7
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QuoteOriginally posted by enoxatnep Quote
Actually, I've read that right-click protection blocks unauthorized downloading, or that only a blank image gets downloaded after a copyright window pops up. I'm just wondering which of the sites/services in question does this most effectively and in what manner.
Though I use right-click protection on some of my shots, I view it as a placebo and maybe a reminder to some that all you see shouldn't be free for the taking. I think the solution is to have a low-res image (900 pixels long) that looks good enough on the screen and then manage digital downloads of the more valuable larger files. But it is imperfect--the economic value of much photography is peanuts today unless you are doing commissioned or salaried work.

M

03-27-2014, 10:11 PM   #8
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QuoteOriginally posted by AquaDome Quote
When the image is on someone's screen, it is also on their hard drive in a cache of data. It can't get to the screen without being saved to the hard drive. Nobody needs to right-click to steal it. They already have it saved before attempting to right click. Thieves know this and don't bother to right-click.

Watermarks might discourage some people.
Couldn't have said it better.
03-27-2014, 10:57 PM   #9
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QuoteOriginally posted by enoxatnep Quote
I've been looking at these three sites in particular, trying to find one that I'd like to sell my photography through. I'm not satisfied with my current Flickr and WordPress setup; I'd like an all-in-one solution that also handles the e-commerce. However, I want these specific features:
  • I want to be able to sell prints AND digital photos, i.e. digital downloads.
  • I want to set my own photo/download prices.
  • I want to keep the rights to my photos.
  • I want right-click protection and possibly also drag-and-drop protection.
  • I like the idea of having public and private galleries with private users needing to sign in.
So with these specifics in mind, which of the three sites mentioned would be the best? If there a site/service that is better than these three? I would prefer responses from people who have actually been users for some time of one/more of the above. Also, please list the one thing you like BEST about the service you use and the one thing you like LEAST about it, the one thing you'd change. Thanks.
For a lot of reasons, I use PhotoShelter for event and proof hosting. I self fulfill prints while most of my volume is Downloads. Been using it since 2011. Here's what my site looks like BrookeMeyer.net. I also have a Portal Site on PhotoBiz and a Word Press Blog.
03-28-2014, 04:15 AM   #10
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QuoteOriginally posted by enoxatnep Quote
<snip>
  • I want to be able to sell prints AND digital photos, i.e. digital downloads.
  • I want to set my own photo/download prices.
  • I want to keep the rights to my photos.
  • I want right-click protection and possibly also drag-and-drop protection.
  • I like the idea of having public and private galleries with private users needing to sign in.
<snip> Also, please list the one thing you like BEST about the service you use and the one thing you like LEAST about it, the one thing you'd change. Thanks.
Zenfolio does all this also. Their right click protection, as AquaDome pointed out, is a bandaid -- but that's true of all sites.

You can also add your own custom-fulfilled products, and either review each other manually and fulfill it yourself or send it direct to the 3rd party printer you choose. In the US, that's basically MPix.

What I like best, is that their system is really easy to use to manage your site, and the site builder is quite good.
What I like least, is when they recently upgraded their site options, they modified at least one of the existing skeleton templates, which modified my site in a way I found very unaesthetic. I was not able to customize around it. The site still works and no one probably notices but me.
03-28-2014, 05:17 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by AquaDome Quote
When the image is on someone's screen, it is also on their hard drive in a cache of data. It can't get to the screen without being saved to the hard drive. Nobody needs to right-click to steal it. They already have it saved before attempting to right click. Thieves know this and don't bother to right-click.

Watermarks might discourage some people.
Thanks for explaining this for me in a way that I can finally understand. Since this is the case, then with whichever service I choose, I'm going to create a super-annoying watermark that would make my images the last ones a person would want to use for something. And even if they do, there's no mistaking who took the photo. I personally like the two translucent diagonal lines with the logo in the middle, or even the translucent logo at all four corners and one in the center.
03-28-2014, 05:43 PM   #12
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Another thing I've since thought about: Can any Canadian SmugMuggers or Zenfolioites comment on the service of the print labs? I've read, for example, that WHCC is pretty reasonable and reliable for Canadian customers ordering through SmugMug, but I'd like some comments about others' experiences.
03-30-2014, 02:56 PM   #13
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We use SmugMug and are really pleased with it, and I'd say it meets all your requirements. They have a lot of different options for security settings, such as making individual galleries public, private with password protection, or unlisted, and there is an option to automatically apply a watermark. As for print ordering, we use the Bay Photo option and the service has been very reliable. No issues with customs or anything of that sort. They do an excellent job of packing the prints too.

One thing that could be improved is the option to select colour correction on your prints. It would be nice to be able to assign it by gallery, where at the moment it seems to be a site-wide setting.
03-30-2014, 07:54 PM   #14
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Well, thanks for your input everyone. I signed up for 1 year with SmugMug last night and I'll see how that goes; uploading photos as I write. Even though some of the navigation is sort of clunky, like choosing what image to use for a watermark, it was better to me than Zenfolio, and I just didn't like the pricing for PhotoShelter. So yeah, I'll see how this new adventure/direction goes.
03-30-2014, 09:28 PM   #15
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QuoteOriginally posted by polachekphotography Quote
One thing that could be improved is the option to select colour correction on your prints. It would be nice to be able to assign it by gallery, where at the moment it seems to be a site-wide setting.
You can set color correction per each gallery. Select the gallery in the organizer, choose Gallery Settings, go to the Shopping section, and then pick the color correction drop down. Not very intuitive being under Shopping, but now it can be told.

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