Where’d You Get that Graphic?Written by Rosalind Gardner on May 26, 2008 · Comments (3) |
“Hmmm…” thinks I when I saw the site. “This has a very familiar look and feel”.
“Hmmm…” I thought again as I saw Betty’s list of blog categories in the first navigation bar along the right side of the page. OK, so it’s not unusual for category names to be similar across same-topic sites. For instance, almost every Internet dating blog is going to have relatively generic categories named Dating Tips and Internet Dating.
However, one not-so-generic category name that Betty’s blog shared with mine struck me as way beyond coincidental.
Sure enough, when I searched the wording on Google, my site showed up second in the natural listings (after a site that included the phrase within the body text of an article) and Betty’s showed up in 9th place for the same term.
“Hmmm… I best investigate a little more” I concluded and wouldn’t you know it… smack dab in the middle of her newsletter signup form there was a graphic that I created.
Sheesh.
I responded to Betty and explained that because NPT guest bloggers link out to their own sites, I couldn’t possibly link out to hers what with there being STOLEN CONTENT on her site. (OK, I didn’t say STOLEN CONTENT in my response to her… and although she didn’t respond to my email, she has changed her site considerably since then — so, message obviously received.)
Folks, copyright infringement is a serious matter and many webmasters and companies aren’t quite as forgiving when they find their work displayed without approval on other sites. You could easily get slapped with a fine or lawsuit and, if the aggrieved party is angry enough, they could easily run a campaign that damages your reputation to the extent that it’s not worth promoting your site anymore.
Using someone else’s work without their permission or purchasing the rights is just not worth the risk.
So, as far as graphic images go, I …
- Make my own graphics using Paint Shop Pro - available through Corel and which is considerably less expensive than PhotoShop.
- Use pictures taken with my Sony digital camera (example on Rosology).
- Use images of products supplied by merchants (example on Roamsters).
- Buy photo CD’s from ComstockComplete.com. (The little guy on the Sage-Hearts.com homepage and each of the photos shown at the top-left hand corner of every dating category.)
- Have an iStockPhoto.com account. (The car image here on Rosology)
- Have a Clipart.com subscription. (Examples all over NPT, but here’s one of which I’m especially fond.
ClipArt.com is a division of Jupiterimages.com and the yearly subscription fee includes a subscription to the Graphics.com newsletter and a magazine subscription to Dynamic Graphics magazine.
Clipart.com offers a HUGE variety of art that you can put on your site. Everything from clip art, web graphics, line drawings, and photos to fonts, frames and sound clips. What you won’t get at ClipArt.com are animated graphics and flash animation images. You’ll find those at AnimationFactory.com.
Another downside to ClipArt.com is that many of the photo objects offered are from bygone eras. For example, if you want a picture of a radio, you’re likely to find something that looks like the graphic shown here to the left. So if you need more than what ClipArt.com offers, then check out Photos.com for royalty-free photos by subscription.
At $499.95, a Photos.com subscription is decidedly more expensive than ClipArt.com’s. However, if you are running a site in a very specific niche, there’s nothing to stop you from getting a 1-month subscription and you’ll have access to over 360,000 professional quality stock photos and photo objects, from which you can download up to 250 photos per day.
Here is a list of JupiterImages’ sites and services:
- AnimationFactory.com
- Clipart.com
- ClipartConnection.com
- ComstockComplete.com
- Photos.com
- Stockxpert.com
In summary, there are so many good options available for getting graphic images on the cheap, that there is no need to ever risk your online business reputation - or your chances of becoming an NPT guest blogger.
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Comments
3 Responses to “Where’d You Get that Graphic?”
Hethir on May 27th, 2008 20:43 pm
I just found out someone copied one of my articles and submitted it to ezinearticles.com with their contact info on the bottom. I found out because they forgot to take out the links when they copied and pasted it. Talk about frustration…
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Jane on May 29th, 2008 6:06 am
Wow! That Betty has some gall to copy and steal your stuff then ask you to link to her. I almost had to laugh at the stupidity of it all…but I’m sure it wasn’t funny at all to you.
Fotolia has some really great graphics too. You have to pay a small price for them-usually just $1 for the xs ones, but they have a great selection for just about anything you can think of. You can even set up an account for $10 at a time so I recommend using them when you’re really stuck.
P.S. I like your blog…can I steal the format (just kidding of course!)
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iearnmoneywhileisleep on May 29th, 2008 18:35 pm
Its amazing how much better a blog post looks when a photo is added… it also helps with the message.
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