Protect AND Share Your Photos – Free Invite from Photrade and bub.blicio.us

by Michelle Lentz

Have you noticed that there are a lot blogs, this one included, that pull Creative Commons licensed photos from Flickr for their blog posts? Most of the photographers behind those photos aren’t even aware that their work is being used, let alone what content the photos might be illustrating.

Photrade aims to change the situation and protect the photographer, whether a hobbyist or a professional. Photrade still allows you to share your photos, just as you can on the other photo sites out there, but it also lets you monetize your photos and protect them.

When you first log into Photrade, there is an easy to use – and speedy – uploader that does not require any desktop installation. Once your photos are uploaded, you can apply a custom watermark to your images, assign different levels of permissions, and of course, share with your friends and family. In addition, you can monetize your photos with everything from turning them into Amazon ads to making money from printing the photos.

Photrade lets you share photos, acquire friends, and uses a modified ShareThis link to easily post directly to your blog or email. Perhaps my favorite feature is the custom watermark. If I could host my photos on Photrade to acquire that watermark, and then somehow share them out to Flickr as well, where my friends currently are, I’d be in heaven – or if I could just get all my friends over to Photrade. The Custom Watermark feature, located in the Preferences panel, is incredibly easy to use.

Photrade lets you set your own prices for sales of your photos. If someone wants an 8×10 print of your photo, you can set the percentage over the Photrade minimum price. Not good with this sort of thing or just want to sell to your family/friends? That’s fine too. Photrade helps you out with a minimum and recommended price, which you can then modify. Photrade also offers an advertising network, which allows you to use your photos as part of an Amazon.com link.

Like Flickr, Photrade will be offering a pro level and a free level, with the cost of the pro level around $25. Both levels have the same functionality, however the number of uploads will be limited. Bub.blicio.us readers can get this free, with the invite code “cincinnati.”

I know that the folks at Photrade have a lot of passion. When they start talking about their application, they become very animated and excited, and that’s fantastic. They really believe there is a need for this (and stories such as this attest to that need). They don’t want to hold your photos hostage. They don’t even want to convince you to monetize your photos. But they do believe that whether it’s a photo of your kid or of the Grand Canyon, your photo should be protected and shared.

PhoTrade has some great ideas that will be implemented within the next few months, and it’s a really exciting time for them. Like with ShareThis, I had a hard time convincing all the coolness into one post.

I know you want to go play around with Photrade. They’re currently in private beta, but they are issuing invites. We’re thrilled they’ve given some to bub.blicio.us. When registering, use the invite code “cincinnati” to get not just access to the site, but a free 1-year pro level membership.

Check out this video for a tour of the site:

Site Tour from photrade on Vimeo.

Cheers!
–
Events, news, apps, and more – let me know at michelle[at]writetech[dot]net, via Twitter, or via Pownce.