I have a website!

[Night Train]

I'm sure I recognise some of the pieces or some very similar. Are you exhibiting some in a small gallery in Clitheroe at the moment?

The Platform Gallery? Yes, I am.
I have the table, chair and cabinet there in cherry wood. The other work is all by my first and second year students.

Good to know that someone has been to see it. :wink:

 

[kityuser]

Just a small point: The furniture section does not have the prompt "click NEXT to continue the slideshow" and the "next" button.


I too don't like the watermarks. There is another way (not that I know how it is done) to protect the pictures as used on the ordnance survey website. You can look at maps but not cut and paste them.

Otherwise a nice little website

Good Luck

Bob

oh yes you can!!!!!!!!! most um "good" browsers let you get around all of those types of copy protection.

Steve

 

[9fingers]

Steve, Where is Seamonkey (derived from nutscrape) on your list of browsers out of interest?

Cheers

Bob

 

[BigShot]

Matt, that's just the kind of thing I was talking about.

Removing watermarks from images really is trivial.



Night Train
I'd be inclined towards the "don't bother" approach mentioned by Matt.
If you really must do something, put your web address on the images in a location that won't allow it to be cut off without removing some of the item too.

Really though - you're probably best off just accepting the fact that someone somewhere WILL download the images and WILL use them for something you didn't intend them for. The music and film industries have spent millions working on copy protection - none of which is unbeatable - most of which was beaten in a matter of weeks or months, not years. A small website for a woodworker is never going to succeed where they have failed - and it wouldn't be worth the effort if they could (unless you want to branch out into the copy protection business, which would be lucrative if you did succeed in developing a method that wasn't trivial to get around).


The really key point to take from my previous post though is this. EVERY method of copy protection you put on your site and images is trivial to get around. Watermarking is probably the most difficult of the lot and Matt has got rid of one from one of your pictures in 10 minutes. Easy stuff really.


The point being - the only method that offers any even vaguely serious obstacle to people using your images is watermarking - and if they want to use them a short bit of work will remove the watermark.
You've got to ask if defacing the images you're presumably relying upon to sell work is really a worthwhile sacrifice to empoly copy protection that is trivial to remove.


I'd be inclined to suggest not.

 

[moz]

Nice site and some great pieces of work. On the subject of copy protection, I can't help thinking you've lost your way a bit on this NT. The pieces are very individual so they are instantly recognisable. If someone has so little resources of their own that they have to resort to stealing pictures, it stretches belief that they would steal yours. What are they going to do if asked to make another, when they would be unlikely to have a clue as to how to go about it? They would struggle to sell something they had little knowledge of in the first place. The way your pics are plastered with logos looks a bit, well, paranoid. On balance, I think most customers would appreciate a decent, uninterrupted view and if that risks a 1/1000,000 chance of some t**t copying your pictures, so what? Best of luck with it anyway.

John

 

[big soft moose]

Nice site and some great pieces of work. On the subject of copy protection, I can't help thinking you've lost your way a bit on this NT. The pieces are very individual so they are instantly recognisable. If someone has so little resources of their own that they have to resort to stealing pictures, it stretches belief that they would steal yours. What are they going to do if asked to make another, when they would be unlikely to have a clue as to how to go about it? They would struggle to sell something they had little knowledge of in the first place. The way your pics are plastered with logos looks a bit, well, paranoid. On balance, I think most customers would appreciate a decent, uninterrupted view and if that risks a 1/1000,000 chance of some t**t copying your pictures, so what? Best of luck with it anyway.

John

i tend to agree with john and the others - watermarking etc is only worth it if the picture is the product and then only on high res copies which i rarely put on my (photography) site anyway. if you keep the resolution to 72dpi 600x800 pix the only thing anyone can do with it is use it on another website

and as has been said in your case while anoying this doesnt really lose you anything and if your work is recognisable (as yours clearly is) you can always threaten to sue in order to get it taken down.

the chance may be somewhat lower than the 1 in a million (vis dan/brad/duncan having his work pics ripped off by the pink p***taker) but its still a lower risk than the risk of potential customers being put off my excessive watermarking.

 

[big soft moose]

other points

1) the site is predominantly written in first person - ie my work , about me etc but under guide price it is in third person "contact alfred ..." to be consistent that should read "contact me... or "contact us" possibly with a hot link to the contact me page

2) " I design and make furniture that is tactile and artistic where every part is hand worked with time honoured methods for that individual touch."

I'm not being funny but what does that actually mean ? If i were a potential client wanting a bespoke peice made what does it mean to me ? - suppose i dont want an "artistic piece" but rather a classic design, after all bespoke implies that you will make it to my requirements.

overall this sounds a bit like puff and doesnt tell a potential client very much - i mean of course it has an individual touch -you've already said that its bespoke.

and what do you mean by "time honoured methods" - using 2x4 and 6 inch nails is a time honoured method in some quarters.

I would suggest a rewrite to something like

" I design and make bespoke items of furniture to my clients' individual requirements, every piece being hand crafted to ensure a truly stunning and unique piece of furniture which will compliement your home"

3) " I have previously gained experience and qualification in mechanical and electrical work and social and supported housing. I enjoy live theatre and am currently supporting my local amateur dramatics society."

And why do we care ? as a potential client I'd be interested in your woodwork skills not whether you have experience in social and supported housing.

Sorry if it sounds a bit harsh but you need to decide whether this is a personal website or one aimed at attracting clients - if its the former by all means mention your previous employment , your theatre work, and anything else that comes to mind , but if its the latter you need to focus more on the services you are selling and not mention irelevancies,

not least because the message your site currently gives is that you spend a certain ammount of time teaching woodwork, a fair bit of time supporting your local am dram and fit in a bit of woodwork here and there as the mood takes you which is not a message which inspires consumer confidence.

 

[Night Train]

Good points there.

I guess I hadn't revisited what I had written from the point of view of what I was selling since the original draft. Unfortunately the 'everything I have ever done and can do' content is a roll over from my temping days when I had to myself sell on everything I could do for a client so that they felt they were getting their money's worth out of me rather then someone else.

I will have a good think about the direction the site is supposed to take and work on rewriting the text as I go.

One thing though is that I really don't have a specific direction overall. I do do a bit of everything mainly to keep money coming in, including transport, plumbing and housing consultancy. I will also continue to teach for about half my week and that will impact on the work I can do for a client. I have been fortunate that most of my current, regular clients know and appreciate this and work with me on my availability and utilise my other skills and knowledge. Clearly new clients will want their commission to be the priority and not my other commitments or work interests.

Also in terms of image protection maybe I am being overly concerned about something I can only have limited affect on. Perhaps good images with my site address on would be better. I will have a look at some options.

Thanks for the comments.