Isn't this awful. I was googleing around for the barney cakes on day and i am 100 % sure that this page is stealing cake pics as well.
http://call-a-cake.tripod.com/id1.html have a look and check if any of your cakes is not loaded up.

ps the stolen barney cake is from this site
http://www.thecakefairy.co.uk/ and when i checked around i think many other cakes were taken from there.

Ps. i think it would be a really good idea if you finD a site that steals other people cakes you could poste the link. Don't you think so?

When you are building your website you can disable the right click which enable people to copy.

wow kitagrl, i am so sorry this happened to you. i have to admit, your cakes are beautiful and i guess it is tempting for some, i know i wish i could do some of the cakes you have in your pics but i could never imagine stealing them. now trying to do one myself, yes, but stealing a photo and trying to say it was my own, never.

good luck with what ever you decide to do.

Forgot to add--
I think the photo programs that come on your PC even have a way to add text in different types of font/color & then merge or layer them into your photo. Just make sure to save them afterwards.

Unfortunately this is a reality with the internet. It sucks, it's not right but that's how it is. I know that if I were to see one of my cakes on someone else's site and claimed it to be their own that it would irk me to no end. ]

A similar situation occurred with Tracy on her webiste (if you do a search for Sweet Dreams by Tracy you'll find it). She had a picture of a slot machine and she found it on the webiste for another bakery. And yes, she had indeed watermarked the photo however they were able to touch it up and no would have known. She was quite shocked and upset at the situation and even emailed the bakery to remove the photo. I don't know if they ever did though...

Altering photos is actually quite easy. Look at this thread:

http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=131601&osCsid=f082bc8fbf8f6d5d4c03386527359d08#131601

briansbaker was able to take my photo and another from Darra and make a whole new picture. Plus, she was able to remove my watermark, all with free software she downloaded. Please do not misunderstand, I was not upset by this at all, I loved what she came up with. It just illustrates how easy it is to do.

preventing someone from right-licking and copying a photo is a good idea, but let's face it, if they know how to press shift-Printscreen, anyone can copy anything on the screen.

Watermarks have long been used for phtoos and I'd suggest that everyone that has photos here or on their own website do that very thing. Even when I showed vacation photos to a graphics website I belonged to a few years ago, I used watermarks in strategic areas. I got a few complaints because people said they wanted to print them out. I told them fine, print them the way they are with my watermark.

I don't understand why people would even steal a photo though. I mean, that Superman photo on that one site would be difficult to replicate if you are not the true author of the cake. What if a customer wants that cake? They will be sorely disappointed when you can't make it like the photo.

I would not even be tempted to post a pix on my site that I did not do by myself, if nothing else than for fear I could not replicate it. Its hard enough to replicate perfectly one that I HAVE done before!

This is actually illegal to do, any work is protected from this form of copying. This comes up often and you do not have to have your work or site copyright protected as stealing a picture of anyone else's work is within the rules of copyright laws.
Hugs Squirrelly

If someone wants to take (steal) a picture from some one else and have the knowledge how to erase watermarks, logos etc., I think you really can´t do that much. I talked about all the possibilities with my webdesigner and he just said: if you really want to go for it you can have any picture in the world.

I know a shop here in Germany who took a picture of one of my cakes during an exhibiton, it´s on his website (still with my name tag beside the cake ) and I really want to know what he sells to his customers

The idea is that it's too much work to TRULY get rid of a watermark. That's the point behind them. That's why most cake decorators would never attempt to do it sufficiently. Most people aren't "sophisticated" enough to know the difference in shading when a watermark might have been removed.

As a graphic designer before a cake decorator, I'm a firm believer in watermarks.

Cakeman66:

could you please possibly put together a tutorial for all of us that explains how to effectively watermark our photos using free or inexpensive software (ie...i don't want to have to buy photoshop and such...say in the under $50 range for an investment insoftware)?

I'm not a great teacher, but I can certainly try.

Don't get me wrong, I think the idea that people try to watermark in anyway they can is great. I'm used to doing it one way, with Photoshop, because I've used it since it came out, but there are cheap if not free programs certainly that would do the job.

I'll try to have something by tonight.

not expecting great...just workable!

and no rush, but thanks for putting your effort into it.

Oh my, for sure she was asking both of us! I actually thought that was very kind of her! She even PM'ed me in advance! So brainsbaker if you see this, all is well! I just wanted to show how easy it is for others with to claim something as their 'own'.

I don't have any software other than what came with my computer, I just use the Paint feature. For those that are interested here is a link to a good tutorial. It's where I learned how to watermark my photos:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/265808017/1265847730051689275uQQffS

For those who do have Print Shop, here is another link:

http://community.webshots.com/photo/265808017/1265829408051689275Dqqnov

It's a start until Cakeman can perhaps put something together for us here at CC?

http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/photoshop/qt/wpgwatermark.htm
Here is an article on placing watermarks on your photo.
I have Print Artist and just used the lightest gray to write my name on my cake picture.

I find it so amusing that on her website theres a button that says LEGAL....i dont think she knows the word!!!!

Not that I know a darn thing about this subject, but I am copying part of a post a good pal, Labrat, made on this topic on www.r-bdesigns.com
Her hubby is a bit of a computer whiz and I thought all of you likewise wizkids, might have comments.
Here it is:
Quote:
I notice that most people mark their pictures now, and I thought I would shamelessly plug the software I use to mark my photos....It's called iWatermark and my hubby downloaded it from the internet (http://www.scriptsoftware.com/iwatermark).

I think it cost $20 US and it is so easy to use....it even resizes the picture for me!! And it is a non-editable watermark (flattened image) so saving my pic to your hardrive and opening it with a photo editing software won't allow for the watermark to be removed (not easily anyway). It is so easy to use, I can use it all by myself too! And once you have your settings saved, the watermark is the same on all your pictures.
End of Quote

well it almost seems pointless to me, after so many links to how to do watermarks, but in 15-20 minutes I came up with a small .pdf file (112k)

That you all can download if you want it still.

I did remember after looking at it, that I didn't even watermark or put my copywrite on it though! go figure! hehehe

http://dayoffconfections.com/wmark.pdf

Cakeman, I don't think it would be pointless at all! This topic has come up before and the links have been posted before as well. However not everyone is comfortable with search functions and the like so it would be wonderful if CC had its own version of watermarking to add to the other tutorials.

If it proves to be one that people like, then I may submit it as such.

It seems to me that at one time, perhaps through a post, Cali4Dawn had a link to a tutorial on her own personal site for just such a thing, or perhaps it was to a tutorial she made on Ladycakes', I cannot remember. But having one right on the site, if approved, would be an excellent contribution.
Hugs Squirrelly

Just a PC novice here, but if the watermark program is free, is there a chance of spyware and/or adware? I'm still fighting that battle from previous "free" downloads someone put on our PC even though I'm up to my neck in anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware, etc!!! Oh yeah, and the scans, it seems like I'm always scanning this thing.

yes there's always a chance that "free" software could have such bad stuff with it, i.e.- ad's etc.

Generally if you pay for it, it's not, but that's not always the case. Sometimes even those (the cheap ones) have ad's etc.

Lots of programs have "spyware" even the most pricey ones. A version is built into Windows XP, to keep people from using illegal copies. Thus the reason most have to call or use an internet connection to get it to fully function.

Not trying to scare you, but the only way not to have this stuff, is not to have internet among other things, like sharing discs, CD's etc. that are written on home computers.

Thanks for the tutorial Cakeman66! this is one more thing I need to do when I re-write my site!

I just watermarked my photos with photoshop in about 15 minutes. Thanks cakeman!!

As a novice graphic designer (VERY novice) I say it is really really hard to edit something out of the middle of a photo! I did a picture once where I had a little girl with a feeding tube in her nose and I edited the tube out. It took like four times to get it right, and even then it was not perfect. I'd have to want to steal a photo awfully bad to want to edit it. It'd be easier to just make my own cake!

I don't mind people posting or displaying my work at all. Its when they start saying its "their own cake" that they offer to the public that it becomes bad, in my opinion.

I know others might be even more protective of their work than I am. I really am flattered by pretty much all other attention to my cakes, whether wanting to display my cakes or wanting to copy them...but to say "I made this cake" while displaying a stolen photo is pretty low down and lazy and deceitful.