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    Creating a website for the first time, any tips???

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    • Nyrryl  Cadiz
      Nyrryl Cadiz SVS OG @ThisKateCreates last edited by Nyrryl Cadiz

      @ThisKateCreates i think what they meant by watermarks are like those ones stock image websites are using, huge, almost covering the entire image, or small yet repeated like a pattern all throughout. 🙂 Now, Regarding stealing images. If the images are of low resolution they can’t actually do much about it. If they’ll print it on merchandise and stuff, it’ll look unpleasant. I don’t think most images need a watermark but i believe putting your signature or your website is very useful. If they posted it on their own platforms, removed your signature/logo and claim it as theirs, i guess you can’t do much about that other than calling them out and reporting them. However, this is more seldom than we think. Like what @NessIllustration said, most people won’t even know about your website. But if you do want your image to be secured, i guess you can also get a copyright for it.

      Portfolio: nyrrylcadiz.com
      Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nyrryl_cadiz/
      YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbJCF1Im8ZO7hpGWTKOJMuA

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
      • Whitney Simms
        Whitney Simms SVS OG last edited by

        @ThisKateCreates @nyrrylcadiz @NessIllustration

        You guys are great! Thanks for your input! Finally got the resolution that looks right on the page. It’s going much faster. 150 dpi works my images are pretty small so they look nicely on the screen at that resolution

        sigross ThisKateCreates 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • jimsz
          jimsz last edited by

          You have to accept the fact that your images are going to stolen and they may even be sold or used on products without your permission. You can’t stop it.

          Some of my work was being sold online on t-shirts, and used on websites. There is nothing you can do about other than send a C&D letter if you can find an actual address.

          http://www.kidstimestudio.com - http://www.kidstimestudio.com/100days

          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • sigross
            sigross @Whitney Simms last edited by

            @Whitney-Simms Also worth considering tagging the copyright metadata and description in your images then if they do get stolen you can normally find them with a browser images search. Also useful for image search in general. 72 dpi is native resolution for online.

            www.grossiebazaar.com
            www.sigross.com
            www.instagram.com/sigross/

            Whitney Simms 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Whitney Simms
              Whitney Simms SVS OG @sigross last edited by

              @sigross I don’t know what you’re talking about, but I will do that.

              I’m not really worried about things getting stolen. That’s just part of this game these days. I just didn’t know if that was something professional people did. I see some images watermarked and others not.

              I tried 72 dpi, but it made my images tiny. Still trying to work my way around this whole thing. There’s a learning curve for real.

              But the website it up! Not even close to finished or polished. But I got a chunk uploaded today. And something is better than nothing. So for today, I’ll take the steps in this direction as a win!

              The website it:

              www.whitneysimmsstudio.com

              NessIllustration sigross 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • NessIllustration
                NessIllustration Pro @Whitney Simms last edited by

                @Whitney-Simms Looking good! 😃 Be careful though: the first thing I see when I click is a warning that the site isn't secure and asking me if I want to continue anyway. This means your SSL security certificate isn't installed yet. The SSL is what gives a website that green lock in the address bar that tells people it's safe. You should have gotten a free one with SquareSpace, so make sure you look into installing it to secure your website!

                vanessastoilova.com
                instagram.com/vanessa.stoilova/

                Check out my Youtube channel for tips on how to start your career in illustration! www.youtube.com/c/ArtBusinesswithNess

                Whitney Simms 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • Whitney Simms
                  Whitney Simms SVS OG @NessIllustration last edited by

                  @NessIllustration thanks! It’s a work in progress. I did the verification thing a little bit ago. Hopefully that fixed it. If not I’ll look into it. I had to click on something before I went to the website as well. Then i saw something in my email to secure it. Fingers crossed!

                  NessIllustration 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                  • sigross
                    sigross @Whitney Simms last edited by

                    @Whitney-Simms In Photoshop CC when you change resolution just increase the pixel count.

                    imagesize.jpg

                    imageprocessor.jpg

                    or you can do it all in FILE - SCRIPTS - Image Processor
                    if you have a few files to resize and copyright tag and want to do it as a batch command or with added actions

                    www.grossiebazaar.com
                    www.sigross.com
                    www.instagram.com/sigross/

                    Whitney Simms 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • NessIllustration
                      NessIllustration Pro @Whitney Simms last edited by

                      @Whitney-Simms I checked just now and you have the green lock, you're all good!

                      vanessastoilova.com
                      instagram.com/vanessa.stoilova/

                      Check out my Youtube channel for tips on how to start your career in illustration! www.youtube.com/c/ArtBusinesswithNess

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • Whitney Simms
                        Whitney Simms SVS OG @sigross last edited by

                        @sigross magic! That’s awesome! I will totally use that trick! Hey, I bet i can upload a fold instead of regular images too. I’ll check that out. But changing the resolution for the whole folder sounds amazing! So much easier. Thanks for the tips!

                        carriecopadraws 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                        • carriecopadraws
                          carriecopadraws SVS OG @Whitney Simms last edited by

                          @Whitney-Simms

                          Great tips from @sigross ! A standard desktop screen is 1920 pixels wide, so your web images never need to be bigger than that. A great web size is 1080-1350 pixels wide.

                          Carrie Copa
                          https://carriecopadraws.com/

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                          • Nathan
                            Nathan last edited by Nathan

                            When it comes to compression of images, two website I used when I need to change file size quickly are:

                            • http://tinypng.com - good file compression for web-based images
                            • https://bulkresizephotos.com - bulk resizing of images. Great if you are uploading a bunch of images and you want them all to be the same size.

                            Something a little more advanced, but essential if you have a bunch of images on your site is the use of a Content Delivery Network (CDN).

                            A content delivery network (CDN) refers to a geographically distributed group of servers which work together to provide fast delivery of Internet content. A CDN allows for the quick transfer of assets needed for loading Internet content including HTML pages, javascript files, stylesheets, images, and videos.

                            I believe Squarespace has their own CDN options.

                            For SEO benefits, and also if you are considering an online store in the future, I would install an SSL certificate.

                            SSL certificates are small data files that encrypt data packets as they are sent through the Internet. SSL is often used to transfer data logins and credit card information online.

                            It's what makes an HTTPS an HTTPS instead of HTTP 🙂

                            Again, I believe Squarespace offers this as an option.

                            Lastly, install Google Analytics. This provides data on people who have come to your website and the actions they have taken. This helps measure your personal marketing efforts online and can help you make a decision about what is the most effective use of your time.

                            Also, regarding watermarking - watermark with your website URL or social media tag (eg I could watermark with @nathan_creates - maybe even include the Instagram icon to make it extra clear). If people do post your stuff online without permission, at least the URL will lead people back to you 😉

                            Hope that helps 🙂

                            Check out my latest drawings: https://www.instagram.com/nathan_creates/

                            Whitney Simms 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • Whitney Simms
                              Whitney Simms SVS OG @Nathan last edited by

                              @Nathan dude, that’s so much information. But good stuff I have no clue about. I do remember google analytics from my blog a hundred years ago. I’ll check on that again. I saw an SEO (or whatever the acronym is) as a tab on square space. I’ll check into that as well. I know I paid for the business package. I hope that means I got that option. I know I got the option of selling things on the website. I don’t remember seeing CDN, but that could be because I didn’t know what that was either.

                              This is all extremely helpful information! The goal is to look more professional, but I may end up being professional so I better make sure I have my ducks in a row.

                              Nathan 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • Nathan
                                Nathan @Whitney Simms last edited by

                                @Whitney-Simms No worries. Those are things I always recommend. They aren't essential to get a site up and running. However, later down the track when you get some traction, installing those things when you have site with heaps of images, and multiple pages can be a pain in the arse.

                                Better to get it in early, set and forget 😉

                                Check out my latest drawings: https://www.instagram.com/nathan_creates/

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • ThisKateCreates
                                  ThisKateCreates @Whitney Simms last edited by

                                  @Whitney-Simms Congrats on getting the site up! Ship happens. Lol
                                  Lots of good knowledge here too!

                                  https://www.instagram.com/thiskatecreates

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                  • Whitney Simms
                                    Whitney Simms SVS OG last edited by

                                    The website is live! Most of my work is on it. I might have two more collections to add. I even got my friend to edit my “about me” page. Although, I think I still missed a few things in editing.
                                    What do you think? Any glaring eye sores? Or things i could tweak?
                                    www.whitneysimmsstudio.com
                                    link text

                                    NessIllustration Judy Elizabeth Wilson rachy 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 6
                                    • NessIllustration
                                      NessIllustration Pro @Whitney Simms last edited by

                                      @Whitney-Simms It's SOOOO lovely!! Congrats on your hard work, it really paid off! My favorite part is how after scrolling through one of your lovely collections (which are full of high wuality content so it can take a while to scroll) the collections menu is right there at the bottom so you don't have to go all the way back up or hit the back button to see the other collections! I love this streamlined navigation experience!

                                      vanessastoilova.com
                                      instagram.com/vanessa.stoilova/

                                      Check out my Youtube channel for tips on how to start your career in illustration! www.youtube.com/c/ArtBusinesswithNess

                                      Whitney Simms 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • Whitney Simms
                                        Whitney Simms SVS OG @NessIllustration last edited by

                                        @NessIllustration thanks for checking it out! I really had no idea what to do about the website. Squarespace had an awesome template. All i really knew was I wanted it crisp and clean. It was funny about the scrolling, I totally wanted to be a click slide show. I was working on it on the computer and scrolling was a pain. Then... on my phone I scrolled and was like “ah ha, that’s why it scrolls.” Is glad you saw how easy it was to continue looking at different collections. Still, not my template, but so stoked they had one that knew what i would want better than I did. Totally worth the money. Now, if I could only learn to write those darn descriptions. I wonder who actually reads those anyways.

                                        NessIllustration 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                        • NessIllustration
                                          NessIllustration Pro @Whitney Simms last edited by

                                          @Whitney-Simms My guess is not many people! I have to admit I skipped them myself because they seem a bit long and mostly emotion-based (I felt like drawing pretty pink blush butterflies, etc.) I myself prefer short and to the point description that give the important info (client if there was one, goal, year made...) and leaves out flowery descriptions. That's just me though, there may be a lot of people who actually like the descriptions? And they can always skip them if they're not into them. To me it just feels like a lot of words without much purpose, but I'm an overly "straight to the point" kind of person haha...

                                          vanessastoilova.com
                                          instagram.com/vanessa.stoilova/

                                          Check out my Youtube channel for tips on how to start your career in illustration! www.youtube.com/c/ArtBusinesswithNess

                                          Whitney Simms 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                          • Whitney Simms
                                            Whitney Simms SVS OG @NessIllustration last edited by

                                            @NessIllustration honestly, that makes me feel so much better!!!. I’ve starting listening to a lot of these other “calming voice” surface design podcasts. They sound like yoga instructors. I wish I wasn’t so current with 3 point. I wish I had a back log of their stuff to listen to as I clean. The people are always like “each collection has a story to tell.” Blah. Blah. I think I will try the condensed discription of the literal pieces and color palette. Although. Half of them aren’t even done.

                                            NessIllustration Chip Valecek 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
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