Hello and thank you if you can help me with smugmug.

I've done a search here and read the smugmug help and emailed smugmug.... I'm still not sure on how to upload files to sm to look good and still protect from theft.
I just started a smugmug account at the power level for people to look at and with the thought of someday upgrading to pro level for sales.
Most are 5D2 files at over 100 mb aprox 16x24" 240 res
WHAT is the correct step by step process to size and upload for sm display and later possible sales ? What size should the files be ?

Sorry, I know this is probably very simple but your help would be great !
Mike

I upload full original jpeg images, watermarked if necessary. How are you getting 100mb files? I have the 5d2 and don't come anywhere close to that file size. I don't think smugmug will take tiff's and will only do RAWs if you purchase that extra add on.

Tim thanks, what I should have said is that the tif files run about that size. I have been converting them to jpg and they are much smaller when uploaded.
* What got me burning my head is that the guy next door says he goes on smugmug and prints my photos and they look good.
I don't know my way around a computer like most people.
Mike

Mike,
Still learning Smugmug, but a couple of things.
First, there is no foolproof way to prevent unauthorized downloads. You could watermark the image (I personally dont), you can turn on right-click protection (easy to over-ride) and you can limit the max size shown. This may be your best option if you want Smugmug to have large images on file.
I use LR and have installed Jeffrey Friedl's upload tool. I dont constrain dimensions or reduce quality and have the files (RAW or TIFF) converted by LR in upload. Links to upload tools are available on Smugmug or DigitalGrin.

You could decide to upload small jpegs that arent worth printing. You can either have individuals contact you for prints, then upload larger versions to Smugmug to fulfill, or fulfill yourself. With the Pro Acct, you can have a delay built in before photos get fulfilled, enabling you to upload a new size, do more PP work, etc.

Scott

Yes, what Scott says, but also, by uploading full res images, it doubles as off-site storage for me, so at least I can recover all of my full res jpegs.

I add a subtle watermark to images / galleries that I think I may see unauthorized printing. I hate obtrusive watermarks, but sometimes they are necessary and smugmug makes it fairly easy to create your own customized one.

Thanks guys a lot for your help. I kinda thought thats where I'd end up but hoped I was missing something
Mike