Stop Battling watermark removal Bandits and nip the real issue in the bud
Image by: @towfiqu999999
This issue is a hot topic at the moment, with evolving AI technology that has the ability to remove watermarks easily. But to me it feels like a game of whack-a-mole. As soon as you whack one, another pops up. Photographers are funneling a lot of time and energy into complicated watermarks that will thwart AI, and AI comes back with an enhanced version because it learns how to work around the challenge. And when our energy is defensive then it triggers more of the same energy, and the time spent on over-the-top watermarks takes time away from positive things such as finding ways to serve our clients better and making more money.
In my opinion, our clients suffer for the sins of the few. If you have one client who tried to remove a watermark, is it right to punish all those who come after that person, even if they have zero intention of every trying to remove a watermark? Guilty until proven innocent. You may have never even experienced this yet if you’re a newer photographer, but in creating a super-complicated watermark that prevents a client from being able to fully view an image in order to make a purchase, you are pre-punishing them based on an outcome that might never happen. And eroding the client’s experience and service at the same time by implying no client is trustworthy and you must build a fortress around yourself for protection from them.
Here at ShineSparkL I am against fortresses, bootcamps and battles. These constructs create an us/ them mentality and that someone must win while someone else must lose. Is this the way we want to run businesses? Can we find a better way?
The real issue that underpins watermark removal
By the time you reach the screenshotting or watermark removal phase, you've already almost fully served someone who is capable and willing to do this. But the real issue is not that they are trying to remove a watermark to steal an image and we must close down that act. It is that they are the kind of person who is inclined to remove a watermark to steal an image, combined with stepping into an environment in which they feel they can get away with it.
A sub-set of the public has tendencies to take things that don’t belong to them or skirt/bend rules, and they will justify it in their minds: it’s a faceless business and they already make big bucks, no one will miss this, I already paid a pretty penny and deserve more, I’ve been screwed before so may as well take liberties, I’m struggling and others aren’t. In photographers putting so much energy to prevent theft — to the point where clients are disrupted by the watermark to see the image clearly (or worse be pre-accused through language like “if you can see this, it’s been stolen”) — you are assuming that you will serve people that will try to do exactly this. That assumption primes our brains to seek the transgression we hope to neutralize. The psychological principle goes like this: I tell you to look for red cars. All of a sudden you see red cars everywhere because your brain has focussed attention on red cars and works to hunt them out. The spiritual principle goes like this: what you pay attention to, grows.
Complicated watermarks could fall under this concept. Look for thieves, you see thieves. And we do often see this in online groups. Photographers only post when someone has done something wrong so it stands out and looks like a problem bigger than it actually is, in the context of thousands of other photographers not experiencing it.
So what about using this psychological principle in a healthier and more constructive way: look for amazing clients who would never dream of stealing or screenshotting and image and all of a sudden you see them everywhere? Same with the spiritual principle: give attention to the dream clients and grow that audience?
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Prevention, not reaction
I believe to firmly address the issue, we must be selective in who we let into our business to begin with. To close the door to the kind of person who is inclined to remove a watermark to steal an image. And that begins with imagining the business environment we wish to work with. I suggest three ways to accomplish this:
Price
The more we pay for something, the more preciously we treat it and the person or business behind it. When you decide to invest in a product or service with hard-earned money and a lot of it, you are looking for someone to be rewarded by that payment to provide something exceptional for you. That’s the expectation that a significant investment carries. Thus, the high-paying client rewards through money to obtain a desired result and has no reason to want to harm or undermine the delivery of that result.
Solid client profile
If a client is defined as being one who values and trusts your work as a professional and is invested in you and your business, then a natural by-product is that they would not feel any inkling of wanting to transgress that transaction, or you, in any way. The more iron-clad our vision of the ideal is, the better we are at speaking to her through our marketing, and the more we repel the others. That psychological principle of attention is key here: be very specific and attentive to know the characteristics of the person you wish to work with. Find the red cars. In doing so, your brain dismisses any other colour car.
I can hear you asking: but don’t we all want people who value and trust our work? I don’t ever define my client as a screenshotter. Often what happens when we define a client, we assume certain characteristics to the point of not addressing them in our marketing. For example, if I just assume that my ideal client trusts me, then I may not ever communicate anything about trust in my website or in consults. We have to be concrete. My ideal client trusts me. What does that mean? How does one act when they trust? How do they speak when they trust? Really get into the nitty gritty, write it down, craft it out, and get that out into your marketing channels.
A ShineSparkLing Brand
Our brand will function the same as the ideal client, as they are linked. Your brand is the energy of your business. So you take the client profile and the communication around that, and you take your business model and you transform those ideas into energy that affects how you communicate (words you use) and how you design (the process of working with you).
I focus on excellence in service as a business aspect. How did I transform that into my brand? I have crafted an excellence statement that I offer to clients at the consulting phase. When a business has such a document, it's an instant deterrent of poor behaviour because it's a strong signal that a breach of integrity is not tolerated. The business has set the stage and the rules, and someone looking to break a rule won't find it a hospitable or easy place to do so.
Think of a high end boutique where you feel you might have to straighten your shoulders/ posture to even walk in, and the environment is very open with fewer items on display where it would be very apparent if you tried to slip a scarf into your pocket. The design of the space and the brand encourages and reinforces a level of comportment. What about walking into a messy nightmare of a discount store where no one would notice if ten items were squirrelled away into a bag? Bad behaviour would be less noticeable and the brand doesn’t hold the client to a particular standard through its messy and chaotic environment. They don’t care, and so you might not either. Think also of a high-end restaurant. You’ll likely place your napkin in your lap and use your cutlery in proper order, because that’s the behaviour framed by the environment. At the local chicken place, they don’t give forks but give loads of wet wipes. Create your environment to cater to the behaviour you wish to see and encourage.
Removal of watermarks is something our industry does contend with. But it’s not a new problem; it existed well before these newest AI tools took it to a new level. I watermark my proof images as well, although it’s a small watermark that doesn’t obscure. It’s simply there as a guide to clients to let them know where they are at in their journey within my business - in the selection stage. It’s a marker for them to know they are moving towards a final purchase, rather than a deterrent to theft, because I operate only from a place where I know clients hire me to buy something. And why do I operate that way? Because I have put some gatekeepers like price, ideal client definition and brand in place to assure the entry of those looking for purchase.
Note: If you operate in a photography niche where gatekeepers are hard, like marathon public minis, and volume school or sports photos, greater measures may have to be taken as you have less control over presenting brand and controlling a client profile. In this case, the suggestion is for a pre-payment of services to avoid the watermark removal process. And perhaps it is warranted in these cases to be more thoughtful about a watermark immune from AI. But most of us aren’t in this space and do have control over the pre-emptive elements. Are you willing to try this shift?
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