Share Images the Right Way
It is so easy to hit “share” on social media.
But you may not have permission to do that as a congregation, a nonprofit, or individually.
It happens every year during Holy Week; a flood of powerful digital art images are shared among my friends and colleagues on social media, but often it is clear they don’t have permission.
Sharing images that don’t belong to you is actually stealing.
Digital art is still art. It takes time and resources for artists to create it. In the image here you can see an artist using a digital tool called Procreate to make a new piece. It is no less time-consuming or valuable to create art in this manner. It takes a great deal of time and training to develop the skills necessary to create art worth sharing.
Use this concise toolkit to help ensure you have permission to share the art you are sharing.
Tips and Tricks for Sharing Images Legally and Appropriately
AVOID IMAGES WITH WATERMARKS
Images with watermarks may say something like Shutterfly or iStock randomly across the image. These are actually companies that pay royalties to the artists for their work once you purchase a license to use the image for specific purposes.
You may scroll through their website and even download watermarked images to audition on your website or in a publication, but the watermark remains until you purchase the rights for use.
This can be expensive for congregations or nonprofits, but there are places to get FREE photos for sharing legally. One place to look is Unsplash. As long as you are not reprinting or making money off the images (again, check the licensing agreement), you may use these for your personal or nonprofit social media posts.
NOTE: This means, if you see someone from your congregation share or post an image with a watermark, you should not share it on your page.
AVOID SHARING SCREENSHOTS OF ART FROM AN ARTIST’S WEBSITE
Artists go back and forth about watermarking their images on their websites. Often their goal is to sell the art directly to individuals or to work with companies like Hallmark, Target, Gap, etc. They want sell their art in a licensed marketing agreement.
When you go shopping and find fun prints on shirts, water bottles, and home decor, an artist actually designed that as a way of making a living. Watermarks detract from the feeling of the image and can minimize the artist’s ability to sell the art. Without the watermark though, anyone can screenshot the image and share it on their own website or social media account with or without giving credit to the artist.
If you see an image of a canvas painting, a digital painting, a photograph, a doodle, clip art, an illustration, line art, etc. in a post on social media and the person who posted it simply refers to it because they think it is cool or they use it to say something meaningful about their congregation, an event, or nonprofit, they may or may not have permission to share that image. Avoid forwarding it on or posting in this manner yourself.
INSTEAD, search for the original art and share the link to the artist’s website so the image comes up on your social media with the artist’s metadata and others can discover them. Even better, purchase the art from the artist.
AVOID RIGHT-CLICKING AND SAVING IMAGES FROM THE WEB FOR YOUR OWN USE
It is never okay to right-click an image on the internet and save it for your own use. Those images do not belong to you. Websites have copyrights at the bottom for this very purpose.
Instead, purchase the image of the art to share. If you don’t have the funds for this, try using programs like Canva to help you create social media images or Unsplash. Canva has built-in images for use in your posts and publications.
WEBSITE IMAGES: Most of the basic website platforms like Squarespace and Wix have built-in image banks for your use. When you use these images on your website, you can feel confident that you are doing it legally.
If an artist creates something that moves you, honor that feeling with credit or a purchase.
Interested in a Communications Audit?
A communications audit is an excellent way to have an outsider evaluate the effectiveness of your current communication methods.
The audit includes the last three months of print, social media, website, and email communications. I’ll review your copy and images.
After the review, clients receive a comprehensive report on all findings and recommendations related to fundraising success, as well as, program and/or evangelism success.
All the images on this website were used with permission through my Squarespace account. This will give you a taste of the types of images you can find. These are the same images available on Unsplash.