Use Watermarks To Avoid Getting Scammed!

Watermarks and how they can stop you getting scammed

I recently noticed some people were getting scammed by customers running off without paying. So I'm going to put my advice for protecting your own work, and hopefully this will be stickied or reviewed in order to help the selling of graphics on Sythe.

An example of a bad trade is below.
Person A: I'd like a signature. *proper requests*
Person B: Sure, I'll get it done.
Person B: Here you go: (link)
Person A: Is offline.

How can you prevent yourself getting scammed? The answer is, use a watermark. When you're watermarking an image, think of it as a preview of the image with your name (or copyright symbol such as ©).

Here's what I mean (image was never paid for/used):

(notice the start of my name in the middle of the image)

How do you do this? Simply write your name, or use the copyright © symbol on a low opacity. Remember, you want the work to be seen, and not have the watermark covering the whole image. View this visual guide on watermarking: http://oi44.tinypic.com/10y2hbq.jpg if you are confused.

After you have done this, show the image to your client. If they like it and accept to pay, ask them to kindly send the money to you. After this, you are free to take off the watermark and present them with the final piece of work.

Congratulations, you've avoided being scammed. Follow these guidelines if you want to have a successful experience here at the graphics sales forum.​

 

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