Using AI to remove school photo watermarks

[marblyarch]

I’m surprised at how many people are doing this. Some school mums were discussing it after I mentioned forking out for DSs photographs (20 pounds for one digital image), sort of in a ‘why would you pay for them when ChatGPT removes the watermarks for free!’ I mentioned it later to my sister who proceeded to show me how she’d done it with my nieces school images! To be fair they looked great! No difference at all and she saved £££. But it just feels a bit off to me? If everyone starts doing it then professional school photos just won’t happen anymore…

Jeremy Vine had a segment on this last week on his radio 2 show. I was shocked to hear how common it is. The consensus seemed to be that it's a dying business.

dumb comment

I was at the park with some school mums the day we got the photos with the watermark on. They were all trying to remove the watermark and none of the AI they were using would do it, so I’m not sure I even believe it

absolutely spot on. those parents must be thick as shit

The companies know this is happening. There will be changes soon enough.

If people continue then the photographers won't be a le to earn a living and will go out of business. Eventually there won't be anyone to take the photos! I imagine mamy photographers are looking at options to get around this, there probably is a way they can do it.

The watermarked copy our school gives us has about 12 pixels. Soon photographers will only share barely visible copies of the pics.

When the work is as shit as the photographer that my daughter's school use then do it. I aren't buying the crap they passed off for a photo! Three of them too!

I’m genuinely shocked that you’re completely unaware of this risk.

then tell the people who want one that if they want one, they must pay for it.

In todays toxic digital environment no kids photos should be put online. That includes submitting photos to AI apps.

Goodness me, you are absolutely clueless.

I wouldn't do it, it's someone's job. If I don't have the money then I won't buy the photo.

Thank god I don’t know any one stupid or immoral enough to do this. Selling the photos is how the photographers earn their living, they don’t get paid for their time taking the photos. Imaging working for 2 days straight and then a bunch of parents coming along and just snatching your pay cheque! Those photographers have their own families to feed.

Why does anyone want soulless, joyless school headshots rather than taking lovely photos of their kids having fun etc? It’s always seemed like mindless conformity to me

Does everything need to go to hell before people wise up to these things? "Don't share it with AI, they'll have your child's data, who knows what they could do?" True but also, don't share it with the noncey companies that run these things in the first place. Who keep your children's photos for 10 years and have had data leaks themselves. Don't let schools photograph your kids, especially when they bring in third party companies and photographers.

It's theft, basically, of someone's product and of someone's work. So really not on. (and they don't simply reproduce the facial features - it's 'as near as they can get it'.)
I have copyright material which I produced and is often 'stolen', and they're stealing money from me.
Up the workers ✊

Good old chat gpt getting one over on small businesses again. Gotta love all the people saying but they cost so much! A small business spends a day at a school photographing a hundred children then has to print off the photos using expensive paper and ink (anyone who has a printer will know the ridiculous cost). Stop justifying stealing.

My sister is a school photographer and a couple of weeks ago she was ready to call it quits, she had written out the email to send to all her schools as her sales had plummeted, before she sent it she had one more stab at seeing what she can do to save her career as she’s been doing it for 22 years now and loves what she does. she’s now found a way that when people screenshot the image it just is a black screen when they go to view the photo in their gallery. For anyone doing this it’s not just a person coming in taking a few photos and sending them off to be printed or edited she does this all herself, she will be up until 1.30am editing hundreds of photos then she has to deal with people emailing her some people being shitty with her because the photos have not been uploaded that night!
she will make sure your child’s hair and face are photo ready and there’s an awful lot of sen children now who are either running around her equipment and pulling at wires and others who sit there sullen and she manages to get at least one pic with them smiling as she prances around and uses props to get that smile. So please before you decide to steal that photo that a photographer has worked their arse off to get please think about the person behind the camera and their livelihood

Really, the photos online should be very low resolution so you can't do this well. They should catch on if sales get lower

Are you?