I am new to Zenfolio and this is my first post.  My Zenfolio website (www.chucknelsonphotography.com) is about 5 days old and I've never had a website before so this is all new. 

The purpose of this post is to throw out an idea and get some feedback and advice to see if it is practical.  I was wondering if it would be reasonable to make low resolution (72 PPI) image files of select images and offer them for sale in a "Desktop" gallery.   They would have to be formatted to fit certain standard sized displays.

A potential client would have to download the image file but I don't know if there's a way to set it up through Zenfolio so that they are charged for the download.  I don't think there is.  Is this a good idea for a future enhancement of the Zenfolio website?

Also, do you think it's risky to allow even a 72 PPI download of some of your best files?  If so, perhaps it would be wise to place a logo somewhere on the desktop image to further discourage piracy. 

I would imagine a desktop download would be sold for something like $5.00 max.

I hope my question/suggestion makes sense.  Would desktop images sell?  I don't know but I know people have appreciated some of my desktop images that I have made available.  I look forward to opinions and comments on this idea.  

Chuck

You have some very nice images, Chuck.

We think it is a very good idea, and we have it on our list of features to sell file downloads in different resolutions that you can define. No promises on the dates, but be assured that it is in our queue.

Thank you - on both counts

 As of 11/5/2009, my understanding is that if I create a Digital Download product and specify a particular size, e.g. 640 x 480, Zenfolio will always change the resolution to 72 ppi. Is this correct?

If so, I would also like to see an enhancement that would allow the member to specify the resolution, in addition to the size. This way, I can sell images for download that are for a screen (72 ppi OK) or print (300 ppi best).

Thanks.

actually, ppi and dpi both reference 'printing' size and is calculated by the image width (or height) dimension in pixels, divided by the printed width (or height).

so if you have an image 1000 pixels wide, and print it 1" wide, you are printing 1000 ppi (pixels per inch).  If you print the same image at 10" wide, you are printing at 100 ppi  (1000 / 10).

You have a similar issue with screen display...

(now there are differences in ppi and dpi and others here are more knowledgeable on the subject than I, and could recommend further reading I'm sure, but that is the basic gist of how it works.  regardless, an image 1000 pixels wide is 1000 pixels wide and how you display it is what makes it a certain ppi/dpi)