What size for copyright released images?

[l330n]

So when someone pays you for copyrights to their images for example a wedding or engagement session what size/resolution do you typically give them?

[Dennis_Hammer]

If they are buying the copyright then they get the original (maximum) size.

[asysin2leads]

If they are buying the copyright then they get the original (maximum) size.

If the photographer is stupid enough to sell the full copyright, then the buyer deserves full high-res images. There is a HUGE difference between usage rights and copyright rights.

[mflane]

If someone was willing* to pay the price I would set for full rights, then I would deliver them exactly as they came out of the camera... No cropping, adjustments, etc., unless I was paid to edit the images before delivering. These details should be stated in the agreement.

*And when I say willing, I mean:


Rich Enough
Stupid Enough
Desperate Enough

[RDKirk]

So when someone pays you for copyrights to their images for example a wedding or engagement session what size/resolution do you typically give them?

What you probably want to sell is a usage license. If you transfer copyright to someone else (the technical term is "transfer"), you have no remaining right whatsoever to use the image in your own behalf. In the US (which does not recognize "moral copyright"), owning the copyright even allows them to take credit for having created it--that's why that would normally be a significantly more expensive route than licensing usage.

You can license whatever rights you want to negotiate with the client--you can sell them a "Do anything forever" license if you want--yet keep the copyright so that you can use the image yourself.

If you do transfer copyright, that means they have the full right to make any and all possible use of the image for their own purposes, which implies that you would give them an image with full capabilities. That should be whatever maximum size TIFF or least-compressed JPEG your camera delivers.

[JC_Photo]

I think you will find that most photographers don't sell the copyright to their images. You would be more apt to find photographers that would sell usage rights for personal use only but some photographers wont do that either. Just be clear on what it is you are selling so everyone is on the same page and be sure to have it in the contract.

[l330n]

Cool, well the reason i ask is that i hired some photography company to do my wedding and engagement photos, and i paid for the rights so i could edit and print my own copies, but im not sure im happy with the size i recieved. Ill have to wait will i get home to check sizing again. I meant to check last night and forgot. Il also have to check exact wording of the release. Anyways just asking in case i want to print large image for personal use. Also FYI i paid $600 for release which was discounted from $875 since i paid for both engagement and wedding releases. I thought id rather buy the release than pay a sht load for a singe print knowing i would probably print a lot of em. My fiancee likes to print all our pictures we take.

[Karl Johnston]

lol.

[l330n]

lol.

Could you expand on your comment?

[Karl Johnston]

laugh out loud.

[l330n]

laugh out loud.

Wow . . . let me be more clear so you can understand.
What exactly is it that you are laughing out loud for? I was being an adult by PMing you and hoping you would do the same but it seems you lack the chromosome. Jackass. Dont whore people threads, I dont care to check if thats how you got over 6000 posts but dont do it on my threads please.

[RDKirk]

Wow . . . let me be more clear so you can understand.
What exactly is it that you are laughing out loud for? I was being an adult by PMing you and hoping you would do the same but it seems you lack the chromosome. Jackass. Dont whore people threads, I dont care to check if thats how you got over 6000 posts but dont do it on my threads please.

He's probably laughing out loud because we were fooled into assuming you were the photographer.

[Concretin Nik]

Karl, a jackass... ha! If Karl is your definition of jackass, then I don't think you will enjoy your time on this forum. :lol: (Meaning there are much MUCH bigger asses here on POTN.) And I agree with RDKirk.


I'd be surprised if you were given actual copyrights to the photos. And you probably received a smaller file because the photographer wants you to come to him for prints. (Yes, I realize you probably discussed with him beforehand, but he probably doesn't expect you to know what you are doing when it comes to prints, and may be one of the many photographers who hate people wanting to make their own prints...)

Please keep us posted on what you discover with the contract/release.

[mflane]

Could you expand on your comment?

laugh out loud.

Ok, I laughed so hard that it actually hurt!

I'm :rolleyes: because the OP actually has to GO BACK, read, and see what they agreed to. You don't know? Was it not spelled out?

[Karl Johnston]

Wow . . . let me be more clear so you can understand.
What exactly is it that you are laughing out loud for? I was being an adult by PMing you and hoping you would do the same but it seems you lack the chromosome. Jackass. Dont whore people threads, I dont care to check if thats how you got over 6000 posts but dont do it on my threads please.

Well first of all, chromosomes defer what sex you become...male or female, not how old you are.

I figured you were a photographer selling your rights for 600..yet your not a photographer..90% of people that come here are photographers and maybe half of them in business...

I'm a jackass who whores peoples threads...hm okay, I thought I was one of the few career photographers on here making over 5 digits+ giving free real biz advice to people who just can't find it or give away their real potential to make real money (which would be more relevant if you were a photog selling your rights for 600..yet you're not, just a confused client of the photographer you bought the images from. I bet if you contacted them and asked them to give you larger files, if you had doubts, you could get them easily enough)

But i'm a jackass and a whore? Are you sure about your own "chromosomes"??

Lighten up, it was a funny joke.

I think you need to go back too, read what the photographer and you agreed to (you should contact them for a copy of the contract if you didn't get one). I don't think you got the copyrights, there's no reason why anyone would give you them. Maybe the "digital negatives" or the RAW files, or the original files were copied and given to you but you may not have the right to *own them* put them on billboards and sell commercially. By all means most likely you have the rights to print infinitely. File size may be dependant on the camera the photog shot with (maybe it was only 6 mpxs?) so that could explain why they're small.

It won't matter though, at 6 mpx you can probably get a 20x30" without too much loss of resolution. You can also try to photoshop the image larger (Adjustments >increase image size) but that is disputed to be counter productive to the resolution...still you may trick printing companies to give you larger prints. The larger they are the further back you have to stand.

A 13x19" needs to be about 3-4 feet away, a 20x30" about 5-6, a 32x40 that I have yet to ship out ...well Ideally I would think I'd like about 8-9 feet if not 10-12 to appreciate it.

[l330n]

Well first of all, chromosomes defer what sex you become...male or female, not how old you are.

I figured you were a photographer selling your rights for 600..yet your not a photographer..90% of people that come here are photographers and maybe half of them in business...

I'm a jackass who whores peoples threads...hm okay, I thought I was one of the few career photographers on here making over 5 digits+ giving free real biz advice to people who just can't find it or give away their real potential to make real money (which would be more relevant if you were a photog selling your rights for 600..yet you're not, just a confused client of the photographer you bought the images from. I bet if you contacted them and asked them to give you larger files, if you had doubts, you could get them easily enough)

But i'm a jackass and a whore? Are you sure about your own "chromosomes"??

Lighten up, it was a funny joke.

I think you need to go back too, read what the photographer and you agreed to (you should contact them for a copy of the contract if you didn't get one). I don't think you got the copyrights, there's no reason why anyone would give you them. Maybe the "digital negatives" or the RAW files, or the original files were copied and given to you but you may not have the right to *own them* put them on billboards and sell commercially. By all means most likely you have the rights to print infinitely. File size may be dependant on the camera the photog shot with (maybe it was only 6 mpxs?) so that could explain why they're small.

It won't matter though, at 6 mpx you can probably get a 20x30" without too much loss of resolution. You can also try to photoshop the image larger (Adjustments >increase image size) but that is disputed to be counter productive to the resolution...still you may trick printing companies to give you larger prints. The larger they are the further back you have to stand.

A 13x19" needs to be about 3-4 feet away, a 20x30" about 5-6, a 32x40 that I have yet to ship out ...well Ideally I would think I'd like about 8-9 feet if not 10-12 to appreciate it.


First of all, i wasnt trying to fool anyone, second of all was it thar hard to give an explaination? Had you given me this explaination instead of telling me "lol means laugh out loud in net speak" i would have never inclined to say anything about you, but if you read my signature it says "noob," why would you think i was a professional photographer? As you said there are many pro photographers here so i was asking a simple question to clear things up for my self. I was under the impression i had copyright to images to all i asked is about the size. Now that we are on the same page, this is what my release says. . .

______ photography & video inc. is releasing the photo images and copyrights to (my name) for the images taken by ______. Please allow them to reproduce these images at their discretion.

If your ok with giving free biz advice can you tell me whether this would be full rights or usage rights?

[l330n]

18x24 I guess would be a decent size. I dont need the picture to cover my wall or anything, but from what i see the images i was given were about 9x14. Atleast that what i see on photoshop. So your telling me i can resizee this a bit and not lose much resolution somehow? As i said im fairly new to this stuff and I thought i may have been given smaller images than i expected.

[sandpiper]

from what i see the images i was given were about 9x14. Atleast that what i see on photoshop.

The images aren't 9x14 until you choose to print them that size. As digital files they have NO physical dimension, simply a pixel x pixel dimension. The physical size is a combination of pixels in each dimension x output resolution. You could print the same files 3x2 inches, or sized for a billboard.

At what output are you getting 9x14? That is likely to be your photoshop settings and nothing that came with the files.

Although 300dpi is a typical good quality printing resolution, the bigger the print, the lower you can take that as the viewing distance will be greater.

[RDKirk]

Although 300dpi is a typical good quality printing resolution, the bigger the print, the lower you can take that as the viewing distance will be greater.

Only if you physically restrain the viewers. When people become engaged by a photograph, they will usually move up to reading distance for at least part of the time they spend viewing it.

[l330n]

So basically i can go bigger but with lower dpi, which wouldnt look bad from a distance?

[Nightstalker]

I may have missed it but what are the pixel dimensions and typical file size of the images you have been given?

[Box Brownie]

I may have missed it but what are the pixel dimensions and typical file size of the images you have been given?

Good question and surely subject to the answer the OP's need for support is more about the PPing required to produce a print ready image than if he has cause to be concerned as to whether the "business" agreement is in question???

[l330n]

2848 x 4288
300dpi

[Frugal]

Hmm... 12.2 MP ...What camera is listed in the EXIF data?

300dpi has no meaning in the context of a digital file. It all depends on the size you print it at.

[Box Brownie]

If I understood correctly the OP was supplied with "print ready" image files i.e. ready to send to a printer @ 300dpi resolution.

As the aspect ratio of the files are 1:1.5 this may help to understand the usage of resizing if required using a lower limit of 105dpi output

1.50:1 Aspect Prints
Product Minimum Quality (150 DPI) Excellent Quality (300 DPI)
4 x 6 600 x 900 1200 x 1800
8 x 12 1200 x 1800 2400 x 3600
10 x 15 1500 x 2250 3000 x 4500
12 x 18 1800 x 2700 3600 x 5400
16 x 24 2400 x 3600 4800 x 7200
20 x 30 3000 x 4500 6000 x 9000
24 x 36 3600 x 5400 7200 x 10800

Oops! the table format has been lost so here is the full page I like to use when needed:-
http://www.dpcprints.com/help.php?faq_id=61

HTH maybe :)