Lesson 12: How to Create Proper Footers and Credits

Lesson 12: How to Create Proper Footers and Credits
Melissa Olivero; Cathy Poage & Terri Hopkin

Let’s stop for a minute and think, why we all enjoy this hobby of creating Email Stationery and Signature Tags? The majority of us do it to share with others, and like most creators, I am sure you will all agree, it gives you a real sense of accomplishment and pride when one of YOUR creations is shared and enjoyed by others.

One question we are often asked is "Why must I complete all the information in the footer of a letter. I have already written for permission, I have watermarked my creations, I know my work is legal – why is that not enough?"

The answer is very simple, the person who "snags" your work; the person who shares your work in "Legal Only" groups; and the owners and moderators of the "Legal Only" groups all want to know that you have permission to use the art in your wonderful creations and they want the reassurance that you have produced totally legal creations. This legality has to be transparent to all and the best and simplest way, of achieving this is by utilizing the footers section of the stationery we make.

There are many ways of doing this, and there can be many variations on the wording, we have detailed below are our suggestions and the reasoning behind it, but the ultimate decision of how you word your own creations is down to you.

Note: - Most Creators who use a logo or trademark insert it at the top of the footer box. This logo is your identification as the creator, it is your stamp that says I did this, I accept full responsibility for this work and it is my mark that guarantees you 100% authenticity. It should not be confused with the lined footer credits that we are just going to look at :O).

In our humble opinion, the very first person to receive credit is, and should always be the artist or photographer. Would you have a creation at all if you did not have use of their fabulous images? We firmly believe that the artist or photographer should ALWAYS get top billing; they are the real star of the production!

Next you need to tell your "snaggers" why you have used this artist’s work. Did you ask and receive permission? Did you "snap" the photograph yourself? Is it a family photograph? Does it come from the Public Domain? Is it from a website with published terms and conditions ……….. Your public want to know J.

Now it is time for you to stand up and take credit for your fabulous work. This is your opportunity to promote not only this creation but your own personal webspace (if you have one) and your always list (again, only if you have one). Whether you link to your website or to your email address doesn’t legally matter, the choice is yours – but there should always be a contact link. If you are reluctant to give out your main email address to the world, then set up a free Yahoo; Gmail or Hotmail account, use that address to link with your creations.

In our opinion – you really should date your creations. There are many advantages to this and we will give you a few:-

· If an artist changes his posted Terms of Use on his website, how do you prove that you acted in good faith by creating with his work before he changed his mind? A simple date answers all questions.

· If and artist joins Licensing Company and withdraws all permissions, how do you prove that you acted legally and worked with his images at the time when you did have permission? Again a simple date answers all questions.

· You make a fabulous letter and an artist wants to contact you but the email link you provide does not work. What has gone wrong? Are you an illegal creator? Have you given wrong information? Or is it an older stat with an older address? Once again a date gives the reader the opportunity to logically work out potential grey areas :O)

· Finally, dating gives you a fabulous visual of how far you have come in your own creating skills. All of us that have been playing in PSP for some time look back at our work from years ago and smile with fond memories.

Many creators enter the name of the font they use and if it is a non standard windows font, they provide a link to the website where the font can be downloaded. This is totally optional and does not impact on the legality of your creation. The legality of some fonts themselves is very much a grey area – it is fair to say the jury is still out on that one, so for just now we are not entering the whole legal debate.

Finally, many creators now provide links to any tutorial that they use in their creating. This not only promotes the excellent work of the tutorial writers, it also provides others with links to fabulous ideas and it gives you a fast link back to the tutorials you love working with.

So how does this all look in practice? Let’s look at a few examples of good footers.

1. For your own images

Image © I did It ( linked to your personal addy or website)
Photograph from My Personal Collection
Letter by I did it ( linked to your personal addy or website)
Today’s Date
Font Used ( linked to the font download website)
Tutorial Used ( linked to the tutorial you used)

2. For images from friends and family who do not want you to give their addresses to the world

Image © I did It
Used with Permission, Link withheld on request
Letter by I did it ( linked to your personal addy or website)
Today’s Date
Font Used ( linked to the font download website)
Tutorial Used ( linked to the tutorial you used)

3. Where you have an artist’s or photographer’s written permission

Image © The Artist ( linked to the artist’s website)
Used with written permission
Letter by I did it ( linked to your personal addy or website)
Today’s Date
Font Used ( linked to the font download website)
Tutorial Used ( linked to the tutorial you used)

4. Where you belong to a Group that uses Group Permissions

Image © The Artist ( linked to the artist’s website)
Used with Group Permission (Check your Group Rules )
Letter by I did it ( linked to your personal addy or website)
Today’s Date
Font Used ( linked to the font download website)
Tutorial Used ( linked to the tutorial you used)

5. For images in the Public Domain and you hold the Derivative Copyright

Mona Lisa by Leonardo DaVinci (Give as much information about the original as you have)
Digital Reproduction and Derivative Copyright © I did It (linked to your personal addy or website)
Today’s Date
Font Used ( linked to the font download website)
Tutorial Used ( linked to the tutorial you used)

6. Finally, for images in the Public Domain or that are available under a Creative Commons License

Image Title (Normally a file name on the website)
EITHER - Used under Creative Commons License OR Public Domain Image (Always link to the website where you found image)
Today’s Date
Font Used ( linked to the font download website)
Tutorial Used ( linked to the tutorial you used)