Many photographers of weddings, etc. allow their customers to borrow proofs to make picture selections. The customers thus have a bunch of pictures that need to be kept in order and protected from damage, while at the same time they need to go through considerable hassle selecting pictures and marking their selections. Additionally, the 3.5"x5" proofs may be hard to see by people with poor eyesight. The photographer, meanwhile, runs the risk of having a customer illegally scan the proofs and copy them.

I would suggest that for a modest deposit ($300 or so, about the same deposit photographers charge for a set of proofs) the photographer lend the customer a portable device with a color touch-screen LCD display on which the customer may view and select pictures. The device would allow customers' friends to place orders for their own picture selections as well (using an on-screen keyboard to type name/address/CC#). A 5x7" LCD screen would be larger than a 3.5"x5" print and easier to see; in addition, software could allow the image to be magnified. Additionally, unlike prints, the LCD screen image could not be scanned and copied.
-- supercat, Feb 03 2001

Collages.net http://www.collages.net
Online wedding & event proofing [Bonarein, Feb 03 2001, last modified Oct 05 2004]

Some photographers put proofs on the Web. Nothing prevents people from copying the images, but the quality doesn't even come close to the actual print, so that's OK.
-- egnor, Feb 03 2001


The problem with simply posting lo-res pictures is that it can sometimes be hard to tell whether a picture is really good from a lo-res proof. Indeed, sometimes two or more pictures will look fine in 3.5"x5" except for some small detail which wouldn't be noticeable in small or lo-res pictures but would be glaringly obvious in e.g. an 8x10. The portable proof machine would allow for close-up examination of pictures without the copyright risks.

On a related note, it might be nice if photographers gave or sold at reasonable cost permission to reproduce lo-resolution electonic or printed copies of pictures while retaining exclusive rights to the full-resolution ones.
-- supercat, Feb 03 2001, last modified Feb 04 2001


Check out www.videochip.com They have small digital picture viewer, that with some modification could hold the removeable media securely so that the person reviewing it couldn't download the original pictures. I just got married and I have to tell you this makes a lot of sense.
-- marc1919, Mar 15 2001



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