I enjoy Tumblr. I’ve learned many things -some of which I wish I had not- I’ve seen many things- again, some which I am laboring to unsee- and I’ve made a few friends, all of whom I am happy to have met.

But one thing, more than anything else, really bothers me. When people I like, who run blogs I enjoy repost photos and artwork without attribution, my enjoyment of Tumblr is lessened, because they post dozens of adorable or beautiful photos that I cannot reblog because they have been snatched from somewhere on the internet and posted without attribution.

If you are new to Tumblr, it is possible that you do this not realize that what you are doing is wrong, but after some time, you must have seen posts discussing this deplorable practice. If you haven’t, here is that post.

Finding images on the internet and placing them on your blog without attribution is theft. Period. If you find an image you want to repost, use one of the many tools available to determine the source of the image. I use Tineye, but there are many others. They are free. There is no excuse not to properly attribute an image to the creator. And stating that you “don’t own the images you use,” that “credit goes to the creator,” does not absolve you of responsibility. It’s a lazy shortcut by which you attempt to resolve yourself of the responsibility to properly credit the creator of the image. That’s just tacky.

There are so many posts on this subject which do a great job of explaining the effects of your theft on artists and photographers, and if you believe that your reposting is harmless, please look them up. But even without understanding how you injure content creators by not crediting them for their work, you are able to understand that reposting an image without attribution is taking something that isn’t yours and letting everyone know that you don’t care whose it is.

Just give credit for the images you use. I see that many big blogs thrive on image theft, racking up notes on other people’s work. These blogs don’t care, but if you aren’t a troglodyte, you should. Don’t repost images without attribution. And don’t support blogs that habitually post images with no attribution.

Sometimes I come across people on Instagram who are just… infuriating to put it best. This one user, whose name I’ve left in this screenshot, has been uploading images of Kyoto, including a bunch with maiko and geiko. Now, normally that wouldn’t really be a problem, except that the images that they’ve uploaded are stolen; that is, they’re none of those images actually belong to them and it’s likely that they’ve never even been to Gion or Kyoto. They’ve repeatedly uploaded more and more images to the point where my eyes roll when I see them and I await the day that they upload a copy written image that will get them a DMC, but last night I kinda got fed up with their nonsense. It’s one thing to Google “maiko and geiko” and steal the work of photographers, but it’s a whole different level of pathetic when the image in question is from Wikipedia. Somehow, the user didn’t even bother to read the Wikipedia article that it came from (which admittedly has some errors, but isn’t too bad overall) and made some “guesses” as to what they “saw” while “walking in Gion” during their trip.

The only way that people will stop stealing images is if they’re called out on it.

The Problem: Online Images Are Dangerously Easy to Steal

Right-click. Save as. It takes less than a second to steal an image online. For photographers, e-commerce brands, media agencies, and creative professionals, unauthorised image use is an everyday reality — costing businesses lost revenue, damaged brand integrity, and complex legal disputes.

Traditional watermarks are trivially removed. Reverse image searches are reactive, not preventive. Most businesses simply have no reliable way to stop theft before it happens.

aFFirmFirst was built to change that.

What Is aFFirmFirst?

aFFirmFirst is an enterprise-grade image protection and security platform, headquartered in Cheshire, United Kingdom. It delivers eight simultaneous layers of protection that make image theft technically impractical and economically irrational.

Instead of loading images as standard <img> tags — which anyone can right-click and download — aFFirmFirst uses canvas-based rendering. Encrypted pixel streams are painted directly onto an HTML5 Canvas element. No download prompt. No "Save image as." Nothing for scrapers to grab.

How It Works: Eight Layers of Protection

aFFirmFirst runs eight distinct security mechanisms simultaneously, each targeting a different attack vector:

Canvas-Based Rendering: Images are served as encrypted pixel streams and painted onto HTML5 Canvas — invisible to scrapers and inaccessible via right-click menus.

Domain Locking: Assets are cryptographically bound to authorised domains. Copied embed codes automatically fail when used on any other site.

Steganographic Watermarks: Invisible session IDs are embedded into every pixel. If an image leaks as a screenshot, it can be traced back to the exact session responsible.

AES-256 Encryption: Military-grade encryption is applied at Cloudflare's global edge network, with sub-50ms latency and no egress fees.

Geo-Fencing: Access can be restricted by country or region — ideal for territorial licensing agreements and compliance requirements.

One-Time Expiry Tokens: Every image request is issued a cryptographically signed token with a 5-second expiry window. Tokens are single-use and cannot be replayed.

Global Kill Switch: Any image can be instantly revoked across every website simultaneously with a single click. Changes propagate in real time.

Framework Components: A drop-in component is available for React, Vue, and vanilla JavaScript — full protection delivered in a single line of code.

Who Is aFFirmFirst For?

aFFirmFirst is designed for any business or professional whose revenue depends on visual assets, including:

Photographers and creative studios protecting portfolios and commercial shoots from unauthorised use.

E-commerce brands safeguarding product imagery from competitors and counterfeit sellers.

Media publishers and news agencies enforcing territorial image licensing across regions.

Marketing and creative agencies managing and protecting client visual assets at scale.

Legal and compliance teams requiring verifiable, traceable proof of image ownership and access.

Deployment: Protected in Under 60 Seconds

Getting started with aFFirmFirst requires no complex infrastructure setup and no deep technical expertise. The entire process from upload to active protection takes under 60 seconds:

Upload: Drag and drop images into the Secure Vault. The platform processes, encrypts, and optimises them automatically.

Encrypt and protect: AES-256 encryption is applied at rest, steganographic watermarks are embedded, and canvas-ready streams are generated at Cloudflare's edge.

Embed: Drop the component into your site. Domain-locked, token-validated, and right-click-proof from day one.

Monitor and enforce: Access real-time analytics, threat detection dashboards, and the instant kill switch from a central control panel.

Performance and Trust at Scale

aFFirmFirst is built for enterprise demands without compromising on performance:

2 million+ images currently protected worldwide

99.9% uptime SLA — enterprise-grade reliability

Sub-50ms global edge latency via Cloudflare — no impact on page load speed

Zero egress fees — protection does not add to bandwidth costs

GDPR compliant and SOC 2 ready

Trusted by partners including GB Leisure, Pep Europe, and Revelation Tattoo Studio

Pricing: Start Free, Scale as You Grow

aFFirmFirst operates on a freemium model. A free plan is available with no credit card required, allowing businesses to experience the platform before committing. Paid plans unlock higher volume, advanced analytics, and enterprise features. An affiliate programme is also available for those who want to earn by referring others.

The Bottom Line

Most image protection tools are reactive — they help you discover stolen images after the damage is done. aFFirmFirst is fundamentally preventive. By layering canvas rendering, cryptographic domain binding, steganographic watermarks, and one-time access tokens into a single platform, it raises the technical cost of image theft to a level that renders most attempts futile.

For businesses where images are revenue-generating assets, that is not a nice-to-have feature. It is essential infrastructure.

This bot is using an image from this youtuber - Neoshe Williams.

Pornbotters steal images from real women and use them as bait. I doubt that Ms. Williams agreed to have her image used to sell porn. 

This is a great benefit for members of The Professional Photographers of America.

Unfortunately, image theft is rampant these days, but this should help a lot of photographers. Hopefully, you’ve never been a victim of image theft before. It’s a horrible ordeal to go through, and in many cases, it can be hard to win any case you might have. Especially if your images are not copyrighted. Sharing on social media has just made the problem worse because it’s just so easy for…

Free Watermark Pro for WooCommerce – WPCroc.com

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Add custom watermarks to your WooCommerce images to prevent image theft!

With Watermark Pro for WooCommerce you can customize product images with your brand logo, custom text, and also combine them with cool striped lines. This provides the opportunity to prevent your competitors from stealing your product images without giving you due credit.

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