*** From the Archives ***

This article is from March 7, 2008, and is no longer current.

PhotoShelter Launches Flickr Import Tool

PhotoShelter Inc., a trusted provider of state-of-the-art online archiving and e-commerce solutions to a growing community of more than 20,000 professional and amateur photographers, today announced its Flickr Import Tool which enables photographers currently relying on Flickr for their photo sharing needs to quickly and easily upload their images to the PhotoShelter Personal Archive.
The new tool makes copying images from a Flickr Pro-level account simple for photographers interested in having complete control over image storage, protection, distribution and sales. PhotoShelter Personal Archive offers state-of-the-art image security that prevents unauthorized viewing, downloads, and image theft, in addition to bulletproof storage and ecommerce capabilities.
“There have been several well-publicized cases of image theft on the Internet. The deployment of our Flickr Import Tool helps photographers that wish to protect their most valued images to easily migrate them to PhotoShelter’s secure archive system and distribute these images for commercial purposes,” said Allen Murabayashi, CEO of PhotoShelter Inc.
“While user-generated content continues to be an enormously popular source of entertainment, people need to realize any photo posted on an unprotected site is vulnerable to theft and misuse. Corporations are actively seeking photos from real people doing real things, and as such, everyone needs to be more aware of their intellectual property rights and the tools available to protect and share their content.”
To transfer a copy of their images to the PhotoShelter database, users simply log into their PhotoShelter Personal Archive account, select ‘Import from Flickr’ from the pull down menu and the Import Tool will upload the selected images to their PhotoShelter Personal Archive. Photographers can then create public, password-protected or private galleries to share with contacts.
In addition to preventing unauthorized downloads, photographers can upload their personal watermark to overlay each image. Furthermore, photographers can keyword and price images for print, royalty-free and rights-managed sales. Any keywords or descriptions previously assigned to an image in Flickr will be automatically transferred with the image making it simple to graduate to selling images online. The Import Tool also enables reverse transfer of images from a PhotoShelter database, back into Flickr for users wishing to use Flickr’s photo sharing and community features.
“The online photographic community has been continually frustrated by the unauthorized use of images. In some cases, the images have been used in advertising campaigns without any sort of permission from the photographer,” said Christopher Chute, research manager with IDC’s Worldwide Digital Imaging Solutions group. “As digital imaging and online social networks have made photography accessible to all consumers, users need to fully understand their rights and the risks associated with storing images online.”
“PhotoShelter is supportive of Flickr as a community of photographers and a resource for sharing photos. Many of our customers love using Flickr and we do too,” added Murabayashi. “A PhotoShelter Personal Archive is a complimentary resource for the photo community, where photographers looking to take their images to the next level can archive, protect, and sell in a professional venue. We’re looking forward to more involvement between the Flickr and PhotoShelter communities and we’re excited that our 20,000 members can now also send selected images directly to their Flickr Pro Accounts.”
In addition to image protection, the PhotoShelter Personal Archive system offers users a complete “business-in-a-box” solution. Key features include inexpensive storage add-ons from 10GB up to multiple terabyte options, no file size limits, geographically and locally redundant backup, support for RAW files, ecommerce functionality, and the ability to integrate a Personal Archive to power the gallery and sales on a photographer’s own website.
To educate enthusiasts new to the business of photography, PhotoShelter offers users a Learning Center covering topics including copyright infringement, Creative Commons and licensing.
PhotoShelter Personal Archive subscribers can also apply for acceptance to the PhotoShelter Collection, an open-but-edited stock photo marketplace that provides professional and amateur photographers with a transparent sales system that gives the photographer an unprecedented 70% of every sale.
PhotoShelter editors are constantly seeking new talent to bring their fresh perspective to the Collection. PhotoShelter executives have committed $1 million in 2008 to promoting the Collection to image buyers in the advertising, graphic design, and publishing industries.
About PhotoShelter
Created by photographers in 2005, PhotoShelter has quickly become a trusted partner to the professional photography industry. More than 20,000 working photographers rely on PhotoShelter’s Personal Archive system every day to host their online archives, power their websites and manage their businesses.
With the launch of The PhotoShelter Collection, photographers of all levels can now benefit from a worldwide image-selling marketplace that returns commercial and creative independence back into the hands of the artist.
The PhotoShelter Collection aims to offer commercial buyers a fresh, editorialized collection with a broad selection of imagery. With hundreds of new members joining daily, PhotoShelter is a thriving creative community where advanced technology combines with a native understanding of photographers to power the future of photography online. To become a part of our community, visit https://www.photoshelter.com/.

David Blatner and Anne-Marie Concepción are the co-hosts of InDesignSecrets.com, publishers of InDesign Magazine, and producers of The InDesign Conference.
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