An example of how a SmartFrame image could look. For a working example of the image, visit the demo page[1] Image credit: SmartFrame
SmartFrame Technologies Ltd, a London-based start-up, wants to replace jpeg images with an interactive format that makes them easier to track, easier to monetize, and harder to steal. Users can't simply right-click images and save them. They may still be able to share photos online or by email, but only if the image owner allows that.
Wildlife photographer David Yarrow is already using the system. Prints of Yarrow's Mankind[2], taken in South Sudan, start at £10,000, and last year a large framed print sold at Sotheby's for £60,000[3] ($78,000). Panoramic Images[4], an online marketplace for photographs for commercial use, and Pixelrights[5], "a thriving community of photographers from all skill levels and disciplines" are also using SmartFrames.
In fact, Pixelrights - co-founded by Shaun Curry and Patryk Krupa in 2013[6] - developed the original system. It obviously had the potential to be used more widely, and the company raised a £1 million investment[7] to pursue that goal.
Ultimately this has resulted in two separate companies, with each inheriting one of the original co-founders.
SmartFrame Technologies Ltd[8] registered at Companies House in February this year, with Krupa on the board of directors, listing Pixelrights Ltd under "previous company names". Pixelrights Ltd[9], with Curry on the board of directors, operates the Pixelrights website.
While the idea of replacing jpegs is a simple attention-grabber, SmartFrame's system is a lot more complicated than posting a smartphone snapshot to Facebook, Instagram or Snapchat. There are several parts to the system.
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