At my old church, we used to host quite a few non-religious {secular} community groups and meetings in our facilities throughout the week. It was part of our community outreach. And, invariably, our Bibles would end up missing from our meeting rooms. Now, this infuriated some church members because they really couldn't get past the whole stealing-at-church-thing. And I get that. And so did our priest's wife who also worked at the church and was always {and still is} full of some powerful wisdom.
And as we were talking about the theft and the reactions to the theft she mentioned that it's just part of our outreach and that if they needed the Bible so badly that they'd steal it, then let them have it for goodness sakes. {She's from Monroe, Louisiana so you should infuse THAT dialect and additional syllables into her words too. Awesome.}
And that particular conversation memory is the exact reason I changed the original title to this blog post from Blogging Genealogy: Stop Image Theft.
And as we were talking about the theft and the reactions to the theft she mentioned that it's just part of our outreach and that if they needed the Bible so badly that they'd steal it, then let them have it for goodness sakes. {She's from Monroe, Louisiana so you should infuse THAT dialect and additional syllables into her words too. Awesome.}
And that particular conversation memory is the exact reason I changed the original title to this blog post from Blogging Genealogy: Stop Image Theft.
Because that's impossible. Folks have been taking things from others for, like, ever. I mean, it's one of the Big Ten No-no's right between adultery and lying.
But for many it can be frustrating when the image of your ancestor which is in your physical possession ends up on someone else's website without any attribution or permission being sought. But? I've encouraged you to use images in your blog posts because no one wants to read all the time. Sometimes they just wanna look at pictures. {And also it's a great way to share your blog posts on image-centric sites like Pinterest and image-centric-wannabe-sites like Facebook.}
Personally, I don't get upset about it. I don't put stuff out on the Internet that I don't expect to be stolen. {And if you Google me, you'll find that I share a lot.} But that doesn't mean I don't do stuff {Occassionally. 'Cause I tend to be busy and don't have the time sometimes to do this when I'm blogging.} to it that labels the image as being different than a typical scan.
{And in case you were wondering, this is NOT another blog post about copyright of images for genealogists for research and blogging. I think Judy does an awesome job on her blog, The Legal Genealogist with it. So check her post out on that.}
But? For those who'd like to deter folks from taking the image, this 'different' that I'm talking about can also serve to deter folks from taking it. Why? Because many times, people just want that perfect scan of an image. So change it. Make it not perfect.
And if they do take it, it's not the end of the world because it's gonna be labeled. {And don't for a minute think we didn't label our Bibles at church with our church's name, address, and phone number. Our priest's wife was smart like that. And still is. =)}
There are many ways to do this. I used to use Photoshop Elements {PSE} all the time {Okay, I still do}, but it's not always quick enough for me. I can certainly use PSE or any other photo editing software to add a watermark to my images, to change the image's appearance, and to add info about the image before uploading to the Internet, like on my blog. And a good example of this would be a collage I made of my husband's maternal Richardson family line on my personal family history blog, Family Stories. It's a collage of folks and then I watermarked a copyright thingy on it.
But? The technique that I'm going to share is much quicker and easier. {Being lazy with an overwhelming technology addiction leads to some great workarounds. ;) }
I use my iPhone and at least 2 photo editing apps to make my images for all my blogs - personal and business.} And instead of searching my gazillion scanned photos, firing up PSE, and editing, I just use this technique.
Now, the one caveat is that this technique only works if you have the original or if you've taken photos of the old photos, or scanned them, with your smartphone. And that may not always be the case. {And, really, you should take Judy's sound advice about copyrights and old images into consideration as well when going through your photo selection/share decision-making process.}
But for many it can be frustrating when the image of your ancestor which is in your physical possession ends up on someone else's website without any attribution or permission being sought. But? I've encouraged you to use images in your blog posts because no one wants to read all the time. Sometimes they just wanna look at pictures. {And also it's a great way to share your blog posts on image-centric sites like Pinterest and image-centric-wannabe-sites like Facebook.}
Personally, I don't get upset about it. I don't put stuff out on the Internet that I don't expect to be stolen. {And if you Google me, you'll find that I share a lot.} But that doesn't mean I don't do stuff {Occassionally. 'Cause I tend to be busy and don't have the time sometimes to do this when I'm blogging.} to it that labels the image as being different than a typical scan.
{And in case you were wondering, this is NOT another blog post about copyright of images for genealogists for research and blogging. I think Judy does an awesome job on her blog, The Legal Genealogist with it. So check her post out on that.}
But? For those who'd like to deter folks from taking the image, this 'different' that I'm talking about can also serve to deter folks from taking it. Why? Because many times, people just want that perfect scan of an image. So change it. Make it not perfect.
And if they do take it, it's not the end of the world because it's gonna be labeled. {And don't for a minute think we didn't label our Bibles at church with our church's name, address, and phone number. Our priest's wife was smart like that. And still is. =)}
There are many ways to do this. I used to use Photoshop Elements {PSE} all the time {Okay, I still do}, but it's not always quick enough for me. I can certainly use PSE or any other photo editing software to add a watermark to my images, to change the image's appearance, and to add info about the image before uploading to the Internet, like on my blog. And a good example of this would be a collage I made of my husband's maternal Richardson family line on my personal family history blog, Family Stories. It's a collage of folks and then I watermarked a copyright thingy on it.
But? The technique that I'm going to share is much quicker and easier. {Being lazy with an overwhelming technology addiction leads to some great workarounds. ;) }
I use my iPhone and at least 2 photo editing apps to make my images for all my blogs - personal and business.} And instead of searching my gazillion scanned photos, firing up PSE, and editing, I just use this technique.
Now, the one caveat is that this technique only works if you have the original or if you've taken photos of the old photos, or scanned them, with your smartphone. And that may not always be the case. {And, really, you should take Judy's sound advice about copyrights and old images into consideration as well when going through your photo selection/share decision-making process.}
To the right is a good example of one I did with an image of my Big Paw Paw. I just took his photo, snapped a picture of it with my iPhone {And might I add a non-perfect-angled picture snap?}, then ran the image through the Etchings iPhone App where I applied the 1854 filter on it. {Because why not take a photo from ca.1940s and give it an 1854-old-newsprint feel?}
Then I saved that image to my iPhone and then ran that image through the Phonto app where I added the word "Secrets" and 4YourFamilyStory.com's URL. And then I emailed it to myself, saved it to my hard drive, and then uploaded it to my blog. {And there are multiple ways you could add an image from your smartphone to your blog. This is just one of the ways I do it. It depends on a lot of variables. And my mood. Sometimes it depends on my mood. ;)}
Then I saved that image to my iPhone and then ran that image through the Phonto app where I added the word "Secrets" and 4YourFamilyStory.com's URL. And then I emailed it to myself, saved it to my hard drive, and then uploaded it to my blog. {And there are multiple ways you could add an image from your smartphone to your blog. This is just one of the ways I do it. It depends on a lot of variables. And my mood. Sometimes it depends on my mood. ;)}
Click on the image for a larger version.
As another example, here's an image I scanned back in 2009. In PSE, I cleaned it up digitally, made a digital design with it, and then identified the image of my husband's great-grandparents on his mother's Richardson line. {Click on the image for a larger version of the image.}
Today in 2012-almost-2013, this might be how I'd share that photo online. And not as a deterrent from someone taking it, but as a time-saver, if anything. Plus, my inner artist really loves those photo editing apps.} An added bonus of this particular image is that it shows I have multiple photos of John & Belle Richardson so maybe a potential cousin might contact me...for a better scan, for info, to meet, or something. {Who knows? Stranger things have happened.} But? I think it can make a good cousin-catcher technique. A bait-laced trap, if you will.
Steps for this sharing/deterring technique:
All I'm saying, really, is that sharing your old photos online in this manner might deter someone from taking it. And if not, at least it's labeled with the image info and URL back to your blog or website.
And when {not if} someone takes it? Well, you can do whatever. I'm not going to tell you how you should or should not react.
But me? I consider it my Family History Outreach Program {FHOP}.
~Caroline
- Snap a photo of an old image with a smartphone or use one you've already taken from your smartphone's photo library.
- Use a photo editing app {or 2 or 3} for your smartphone to do something different with it.
- Use a photo editing app for your smartphone that allows you to add text to the image and add photo info and your blog's URL address and/or copyright info.
- Upload to your blog.
All I'm saying, really, is that sharing your old photos online in this manner might deter someone from taking it. And if not, at least it's labeled with the image info and URL back to your blog or website.
And when {not if} someone takes it? Well, you can do whatever. I'm not going to tell you how you should or should not react.
But me? I consider it my Family History Outreach Program {FHOP}.
~Caroline
