Step 2 - Imprint with Digital Fingerprints

You can use any of the advanced invisible barcoding technologies to imprint on your photos. This will produce a sort of digital signature which isn't visible to the human eye.

It's like signing a signature on each of your images but the difference is that you're the only one that knows that it is there. And so you can crawl the internet looking for pictures that match your digital signature. You can also use this technology to create visible patterns that can only be identified by you.

There's a paid service offered by Digimarc which imprints this invisible barcoding on your images. The professional package comes with the ability to trace the barcodes on the internet which can help discover if there has been any theft of your photos?

And if you do not have a budget for this service, you can do it for free through Google. Another advantage of this method is the proof of ownership that it confers on you. If for any reason there's a dispute on the image, the digital imprint acts as proof of ownership.

Step 3 - Upload Lower Quality Photos Online

Avoid uploading original photos or high-resolution images online.

It's the same as giving out the originals of any documents, giving others the power to do whatever they like with your pictures – even going as far as reproducing the pictures for print production.

Giving out the originals also makes it hard for you to prove that you're the true owner of the pictures, because anyone with the originals can also make the same claims unless you include a watermark or digital signature on the picture.

However, always reduce the photos you upload online and ensure they do not exceed 1200px. This way, you will be able to prevent others who are searching for high-resolution photos to use.