Your artwork deserves protection
Putting your work online is how people find it and buy it. It's also why many artists worry about copying, unlicensed reuse and AI. Those worries are fair.
Showplace is designed to help you share your work with confidence. Your site has to stay visible to the search engines and customers who discover you, so protection is about balance: making misuse harder without hiding your art from the people you want to reach.
How Showplace protects your artwork
Protection works in layers. No single measure does everything, but together they make copying harder.
On your website
What visitors see and can do.
- Right-click protection makes saving artwork through the browser menu more difficult.
- Drag-and-drop protection discourages dragging images onto the desktop.
- Copyright notice and terms. Every site shows a copyright notice and a Terms page on how artwork may be used. They state your rights clearly but can't physically stop copying.
On the image
What visitors are shown.
- Web-sized images. Visitors see web-optimised versions, not your full-resolution files.
- Watermarks. With Pro, you can add a visible watermark to your artwork images. It appears only once you've turned it on, and your original file stays untouched. Set one up.
Behind the scenes
Quiet limits on automated copying.
- Direct image access protection discourages opening and downloading images outside your website.
- Hotlink protection stops other websites embedding your images from Showplace.
- Scraping protection identifies and restricts common automated downloading tools.
- Rate limiting restricts unusually high volumes of image requests, discouraging bulk copying.
Protecting your artwork from AI training
Not every automated visitor is the same, and the difference matters. Some help people find you. Others collect images to train AI models. Showplace treats them differently.
Search discovery
Allowed PurposeHelps people find your work ExamplesGoogle, Bing Showplace's approachWelcomed, because visibility brings buyersAI-assisted discovery
Generally allowed PurposeAnswers someone's question about artists ExamplesChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity Showplace's approachPermitted, because it can bring interest and visits; monitored to prevent misuseAI model training
Restricted PurposeCollects images to teach AI models ExamplesDedicated training crawlers Showplace's approachBlocked before anything gets to your siteSearch engines: helpful
Search engines like Google and Bing discover and index your artwork, so potential customers can find it through web and image searches. Showplace deliberately allows legitimate search crawling, because visibility is essential for attracting buyers.
AI search and assistants: potentially helpful
Services like ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity can help people discover artists. Someone might ask an assistant to recommend contemporary landscape painters, or artists selling original paintings in Australia. Being discoverable this way can bring interest, website visits and sales.
Retrieving information to answer a person's question is different from collecting images to train a model, although the boundary isn't always clear-cut.
AI model training: restricted
Some crawlers collect online content, potentially including copyrighted artwork, to train AI models. Showplace uses intelligent control systems to restrict identified training crawlers while allowing search and discovery services.
AI helping someone find an artist can bring you customers. AI learning from an artist's work without permission is what Showplace works to discourage.
What about Nightshade, Glaze and "digital poisoning"?
"Digital poisoning" is deliberately altering images to interfere with AI training. This is done by changing the original image in ways that are hard for humans to see, but will confuse AI training bots.
Nightshade is one tool for doing this. Glaze is another tool, related but different: it's designed to make it harder for AI models to imitate an artist's style. Both work on the image itself, rather than controlling who can access it.
Showplace doesn't currently offer automated Nightshade or Glaze processing - because we can't! Access to these tools is tightly controlled by the authors, to avoid AI companies getting hold of them to understanding how they work. If you'd like to use these tools, process your images with the tools' own desktop software before uploading to Showplace.
- Keep your originalStore the full-resolution file safely.
- "Poison" itRun Glaze or Nightshade on your computer.
- Check the resultMake sure the image still looks right, then upload.
- Showplace takes overIts protections apply as usual.
- Processing is your responsibility. Follow each tool's instructions and check image quality afterwards.
- These technologies are evolving, and their effectiveness isn't guaranteed. Showplace doesn't check processed images or guarantee how well they work.
- They complement Showplace's protections rather than replacing them.
- Keep your original, unprocessed high-resolution files, especially if you sell prints.
Can artwork ever be completely protected?
Honestly, no. No website can fully prevent someone taking a screenshot or photographing artwork that is shown publicly.
Showplace's aim is practical: to make casual copying, unauthorised reuse and automated collection more difficult, while keeping your art accessible to genuine visitors and buyers. The protections work together, each adding a layer of deterrence.
What you can do yourself
- Enable watermarking where available. Open watermark settings.
- Keep your original files stored securely.
- Consider Nightshade or Glaze before uploading if AI training concerns you. They're optional, and you don't need them to benefit from Showplace's protections.
- Include copyright information and clear usage terms when you share your work elsewhere.
- Share and promote your website so search and AI discovery can work for you. Our guide to selling art online has ideas.
Share and sell with confidence
You shouldn't have to choose between being seen and being protected. With layered protection, open doors for the discovery that brings buyers, and honesty about the limits, you can share and sell your work, including prints, with confidence.
Ready to publish your portfolio?
Build your artist website on Showplace, with layered protection for your artwork and a copyright notice on every page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can people still copy my artwork from my Showplace website?
Showplace makes casual copying and automated collection harder, but no website can stop someone taking a screenshot or photographing publicly displayed artwork. The protections work as layers of deterrence, not a guarantee.
Do I have to use a watermark?
No. Watermarks are optional and part of the Pro plan. When you turn one on, it is applied to a copy of each artwork image, and your original file is not changed.
Does Showplace stop AI training on my artwork?
Showplace restricts known AI training crawlers while still allowing search engines and AI assistants that help people discover your work. These controls cannot guarantee that artwork will never be collected though.
Do I need Nightshade or Glaze to protect my artwork?
No. They are optional external tools that you run on your own images before uploading them. Showplace does not offer or verify this processing, and its protections work with or without it.