Licensing images with Backlight 3.x

Backlight 4 & 5 Support
#1

I currently have a web site where I license (Royalty Free) my images using WordPress and a no-longer-supported set of plugins. The site also has a set of blog posts which I’d like to keep (and add to over time)

I think that Backlight 3.x will work for me, although it will not match function for function, but I want to ensure I’ve understood what I’ve read before I purchase & switch things over.

If I buy Backlight 3 and the WP Theme & Cart add-ons, what I’m hoping to get is galleries as lovely as Rod Barbee’s (such as this example: https://barbeephoto.com/galleries/3-wildlife/) but with the cart icon so people can license the work.

I’m also hoping that I can have watermarked images in the galleries which are smaller than the full size images, but license the full size un-watermarked (sales volume will be low, so it’d be OK if it wasn’t completely automated).

Am I on the right track to expect this to work? If not, do I need an extra add-on or is there a problem I have overlooked?

#2

Hi Joann,

Thanks for the kind words!

I think you can do what you want with the Cart. It probably depends on how you’re going about licensing your images.
What sort of system are you currently using to determine pricing?

In the TTG cart you create Products.
These products have Attributes and the Attributes have Options.

You can create as many products as you want.

You then create Pricing Schemes and add as many Products as you like to the Scheme. The Pricing Scheme is where you can set pricing as well as put the Products in the order that they’ll appear in a drop-down.

There are already some basic Products and Pricing Schemes included to give you an idea of how they’re constructed.

If you want to offer automated digital downloads you can prepare several sets of differently sized images and make them available.
I’ve got a post on doing just that here: https://ttg-tips-and-tricks.barbeephoto.com/selling-different-sizes-of-digital-downloads-in-the-ttg-cart/
It should give you an idea of how the cart works.

If you create a written license, I think you’d have to do that manually and send it separately.

On watermarks, that somewhat depends on if you’re using Lightroom Classic or not.
Using the TTG Publisher plugin for Lightroom, you can have watermarks added to uploaded renditions and you can separately choose to have watermarks on thumbnails, large display images, and images for download. Or not.
If you’re going to offer multiple sizes of digital downloads, Lightroom can only create one rendition for digital download, the rest you’d need to create.

If you’re not using Lightroom, the Backlight Publisher can add watermarks, but it’s currently an all or none proposition.

Like I said, I think you can do what you want but we’d be better able to advise if you can tell us what you need out of the cart and where you might be willing to compromise.

I believe some users have used the Cart for licensing images. If I can find any of those I’ll post them here.

1 Like
#3

Rod,

Thanks for the detailed reply. Right now I’m licensing royalty free and by size - so none of the complexities of rights managed licenses where you need details of the usage or geography. I’m thinking of switching to just one size - because many of the stock image agencies have already gone that way so buyers are getting used to that.

My current plugin makes the needed sizes on the fly, but I’m not going to make multiple sizes for 2,000+ images!

With my current site, the licenses (Standard and Extended) are available to read and for the buyer to copy if they want to, but do not need to be delivered along with the digital file when there’s a purchase. So I think I’m good there

I have Lightroom Classic but I use Capture One for most things now so I’d prefer using Backlight Publisher and let it do the watermarks.

Ideally, “no” on (large) thumbnails, “yes” on large display images and “no” on a full size image for download would work for my purposes. The video showing Publisher watermarking in 3.1.x appeared to show the ability to select thumbnails separately from the larger images. If I needed to use Lightroom to access that functionality, I could.

The prices would be the same for all images; one price for a standard license and one for extended license. The digital download is the same for both; you can do more things - like print on physical items for sale - with the extended license.

Here’s an example of an image page from the current site (just for reference; I know I can’t get to that with Backlight and that’s fine)

One of your example galleries (with cart enabled) didn’t look as appealing (to me) as your other sleek layouts (like the wildlife gallery). I just wanted to be sure that adding the cart option didn’t restrict gallery layouts in any way (I can’t imagine why it would, but…)

#4

I made a mistake earlier. I was thinking of the new Master Image option with the Lightroom Publisher plugin.

I’m not sure if Watermarking applies to photos generated for purchase. So I think you’ll be able to use Backlight Publisher for watermarks on the large display images only.
If it does apply watermarks to the images for purchase, you can always disable the images being rendered and create and upload them manually.

Gallery layout isn’t restricted by the cart. Here’s a test album using the Justified layout I use on my main site: https://backlight-2-100.barbeephoto.com/galleries/bl-3-1-tests/second-test-with-13-images-backlight-renditions/

It sounds to me that you should be able to use the cart to do what you need to do.

#5

The example album looks great. Thanks.

By the way, your site is a great advertisement for Backlight - clean & polished.

1 Like
#6

thanks!

#7

Rod’s done an excellent job here, so I don’t have much to add. But I do want to offer some clarification about the cart imposing restrictions on gallery design. You can use the cart with our “pangolin album” module, so no restrictions in that regard. That’s built into the core of Backlight, and we have some examples showing the different types of grids you can use as the base for your design.

The cart is not supported by the Galleria or Theater add-ons, so cannot be used with those styles.

#8

Matthew, Thank you for clarifying. I like the Justified grid and won’t need the Galleria or Theater options, so the restriction won’t be an issue for me.

I need to think through how to knit together the bits of WordPress I want to keep (blogs, license details and such) with a collection of Backlight galleries. I appreciate the pre-sales support from both of you - very helpful

#9

WordPress shouldn’t be an issue. The WordPress add-on will create a new theme that you can assign to your blog.

#10

I just tested it and this is exactly how it works.
I set it up for no watermarks on thumbnails, watermarks on large display images, watermarks on medium res images for download (via download link attached to the large image), and no watermarks on the hi-res images available for purchase/licensing through the Cart.

1 Like