allowing Downloading to clients - is it a way to make money from images?

[matt jones]

I'm looking to sell orders of photos and artwork from a website (print and ship orders) but also wondering about the method of allowing downloading of a photo image or art image. Is this effective as a source of revenue and does it add to or subtract from the (success of) printed orders. I know downloading art and photos is a possible model because I've seen image gallery software sites build it into their web-based applications they are selling. but how effective am yet to know.

If I decide to let visitors download photos:

• How should they be intending to use them and is this use open to abuse. Do I allow download only to clients who are wanting to use the image commercially and therefore I should license/rent the image to them under an organised agreement, or do I allow 'any client' to download and print themselves a poster for their own room. To me it seems the second type - non commercial clients - should not get access to download because they take their printing dollars elsewhere and can get as many copies as they want without paying for more prints, as well as copying the file about the place. So is downloading fatally flawed in this way?
• Do I allow download with a simple one-time payment from the client before they're taken to the download page, after which they have the photo to do what they want with, or under a specific agreement such as a license where client payments include ongoing renewals and royalties and where there are restrictions placed on the client on how to use the image?
• if a license is used, should it only be used for certain types of images or can any image be licensed as seen fit by me?

I want to make it as easy as possible for clients to obtain images and to me the issue of licensing would not want to deter the user too much from acquiring an image for their use, but I want to be covered too and make money if it's there for the taking, and for the more significantly commercial end (ie where a client wants to launch a product containing an image) this would be a kind of license that has contracts sent to them and signed etc before they can acquire the image (download can only happen after this contract is setup) so is not instant download.

it's all quite complicated for my brain. any ideas anyone? should instant download of images be allowed and what kind of agreement should accompany it, can it make you money, or does it give too free access.

[Robert Skeoch]

Basicly what your trying to do is sell stock, but you're reinventing the wheel.

Why not just get your work with an existing stock agency. Getty Images is the largest but there are smaller ones as well. I know that istockphoto is very popular with art directors and designers.... of course you would have to be willing to sell your hi-rez files for a dollar or two, and the purchaser can use it in as many applications as they want.

It helps to look at it like this... there are two professions represented here. Those who take photos and those who market them. It's hard to do both well.
-Rob