Kevin Spradlin | PeeDeePost.com
Taylor Parrish’s complete-game victory over Anson on May 13 in the Southeastern Middle School Athletic Conference championship in Rockingham was the first to include watermarks in the accompany photo gallery.
Staff report
ROCKINGHAM — The Pee Dee Post celebrated its one-year mark on April 28 and since the 2014 launch has published nearly 100,000 photos.
On May 13, about 54 weeks into Richmond County’s only locally owned and operated daily news source, began putting a watermark on its photos that are uploaded into the PDP’s SmugMug photo galleries.
The first story to include such a gallery was the 775-photo gallery highlighting the Rockingham Rockets’ 8-7 win over the Anson Bearcats in the middle school softball conference championship. Rockets hurler Taylor Parrish is featured on the gallery’s cover.
“All the photos were free for more than a year, but the hope was that people would help share where they photos had originated,” said Kevin Spradlin, managing editor. “That didn’t happen. I think this measure best protects the PDP brand while continuing to provide tens of thousands of photos for the PDP readership to enjoy.”
Photos with watermarks can still be downloaded at no cost. Plus, the PDP is working to offer a wide-ranging spectrum of gifts such as coffee mugs, canvas prints, desktop organizers, photo puzzles, mousepads, refrigerator magnets, playing cards and more — all featuring your favorite PDP photos.
It works like this: Photos are uploaded a certain size and resolution. Whatever products are available to purchase based on the size of each image’s file is made available to the consumer.
“This might take more time on certain stories and photo galleries,” Spradlin said, “because the larger the file size, the longer upload time. I’m working to find a balance between time needed to create the galleries and the demand readers have for certain products.”
The PDP is attempting to use the photos as a path towards generating a new and relatively modest revenue stream. Along with display and classified advertising, it’s hoped that an increase in revenue can lead to additional manpower for PeeDeePost.com — which will allow the daily digital newspaper to cover even more stories in and around Richmond County.
“The pricing structure of the photos now in place is subject to change,” Spradlin said. “Right now I’m using the default pricing system but I’ll modify those prices as time passes.”
Please call 910-331-4130 or send an email with any questions.
Discussion