The JUST A CARD guide to crediting artists when using their work
Here at JUST A CARD we love providing you with free images to ensure that you can spread the JUST A CARD message and the importance of shopping independent far and wide. We’d like to say a big THANK YOU! for sharing our free images, but please, before you do, take a few moments to review the JUST A CARD definitive guide to crediting artists when using their work. It’s so important to get it right and, when it comes down to it, there are just three golden rules to follow:
It’s a sad fact that too many images are posted without credit. That can stop right here, right now. It starts with you, but pass it on, won’t you? Remember, it’s easy to make mistakes if you don’t know the rules, so be kind and keep sharing.
1 - Art Is Not Free
Images don’t just appear by magic – someone, somewhere will have spent many hours making them. When artists, makers, photographers, illustrators and writers have gone to all that trouble, it’s only right that their efforts should be recognised. So, it’s really important to credit the originator of the work when you use it on social media, e.g. @justacard. Crediting helps our work to be seen: it’s supportive, respectful and polite.
2 - Always Credit, Never Edit
When using an image created by someone else, you should never forget that it remains their idea, their concept, their design. Show the originators the respect they deserve by giving them a credit not an edit! By that we mean don’t change their image in any way – no cropping, no recolouring, no resizing, no embellishing, no substituting a maker’s logo with your own, no removing of an artist’s name. Basically, no defacing of any kind!
3 - Use the @ tag, Not the # tag
Make your credit count by doing it right. And here’s the really important bit – always use the @ tag. If you use a # tag, you are just inviting someone to be part of a conversation about an idea or a topic – useful maybe, but it won’t bring them to the originator’s door. Clicking on an @ tag provides a direct link to a specific account – a personal recommendation, if you like, for a business, an artist or a campaign! It’s important not to hide your @ tag credit at the end of your # tag list, otherwise it will just get lost in the ‘chat’. Choose a picture, write your caption, leave a gap, then give your credit following our helpful example here:
Great image by @justacard @jjillustrates
#just a card #wearethe makers #support the makers #smallbusiness #shoplocal #shopindependent
You’ll see from the above that sometimes more than one credit is required (here the artist who made our artwork gets a credit too!). Remember to leave a gap before and after the @ tag, but don’t leave a space between the @ tag and the credit name, or the link won’t work!
Got it? Good. Let’s get sharing!