Just realized how many digital artists get their work stolen from portfolio sites

I was reading a report from a group called the Digital Art Protection Project last week. They found that over 60% of the artists they talked to had their art taken and used without permission at least once. It happened to me too. I posted a finished piece on my main portfolio page, and a month later a friend sent me a link to a t-shirt site selling it. The site had just right-click saved my high-res file. I never put a watermark on my finished posts because I thought it looked bad. Now I'm going back and adding tiny hidden signatures in the corners of all my layers. Has anyone else found a good way to protect their posted work without making it look messy?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_mia1d ago

Ugh, my watermark game is so bad it's basically an invitation.

noah_rivera571d ago

Honestly, a bad watermark is like a signature that says "please steal this." It's weirdly more tempting than no mark at all.