Computers > Graphics

Infinite Triangle

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ideasguy:
Thanks for the links, and thanks for renewing that offer. Problem is, I dont know exactly what I want.
I usually start off with something and it gets chopped and changed as my ideas evolve.

bossgard:
Laurie:

Don’t blow the whistle on me yet!

I did a lousy job on that last posting on this topic of yours, but I’m going to try again. When I mentioned having George create a Garden Design, I thought that you, as a graphics design person might be well aware that graphic images were the mainstay of a CAD (Computer Assisted Drawing) program.

When George stated he didn’t know what images he wanted, I thought what a combination these two talented people would make. Laurie would furnish the graphic images and George the programming know how for a Garden Design program.

Further explanation, the CAD vegetable software program that I use, has 182 graphic (not photo) images of ‘edibles’ which include vegetables, berries, trees, flowers, etc. My personal plant inventory contains 516 entries. A professional CAD software Landscaping program that I just starting using has a 3,600 plant list. The IG Data Master contains 36,348 entries.

I’m just trying to put a ‘bug in your ear’, as I see a great potential here for you and George to have a working arrangement. The Landscaping software program I have just started to use indicates they use ‘FreeImage.open source image library’ and ‘Ruby open source library’ for its libraries. Perhaps you might Google them, and do a little research.

In a CAD program, its Library also contains other images for constructing pathways, garden furniture, garden art, etc. It all depends on how far George goes with the program as to what images he will need.

The object to the whole CAD procedure is that you ‘Copy and Drag and Release’ these images into garden beds, on your terrain, or on your deck or patio, driveway, etc. Where ever you want the image to appear.

Perhaps ErikP might give us the name, author, publisher, etc. of that book he mentioned. You will probably want it, and I think I might too.

If you feel that I’m sticking my nose into your business, just delete this posting, I’ll understand.

-Toby

ideasguy:
Your posting is just fine Toby, and you are spot on about the type of graphics we need for such a venture.
I don't think we'll need an exact image for each of the 36,348 plants in the Master Database  :o
The graphics are usually a representation of the plant, and certainly never a true image. We have photos for that. We can continue that theme in the new topic I posted on the Garden Design Project.
It will be fun when we get to the stage of needing those graphics :D

NightHawk:
Thanks for your posting Toby, I completely agree with George.

As this topic is graphic-related, and it is relevant here, I just want to qualify the point you have just raised about the use of third-party graphics.  (Further discussion on George's garden design module can continue in the Garden Design Project section).

Using your examples Toby of the CAD software you have for your vegetables and landscaping, they do indeed come with a set of graphics for completing your specific gardening project/s.  Some third-party graphics designers create images that are compatible with those types of programs, and they may offer them royalty free.  However, there's a caveat to that.  Usually they are only to be used for your own personal needs.  You sit at your computer over a cup of coffee, design your garden, then go out and buy the materials to actually build your masterpiece in your garden.

For this particular purpose, you are not gaining any financial rewards from the use of the graphics you've downloaded for free. 

In the case of George's Garden Design Module, and George will be aware of this, those FREE graphics could not be used. 

Although they are not being offered for sale as stand-alone designs, they would be used in software (IG, IG Pro, Flower Genie) that IS being sold to people.
Unless the designers specifically state that the graphics can be used for this purpose, then it is illegal.

In my experience, if you want to use someone else's designs you must carefully read the usage policy on the web site offering them.
Usually they are offered for personal use on your own web site for illustration purposes only, and they may just ask you to link back to their web site to credit their work.  You may also be allowed to use them on a commercial web site as long as the images themselves are not being offered for sale.  For example, you could use an image of a flower on a gardening web site that sells equipment - lawnmowers, spades, hoses, etc., so no financial gain is being made from the flower graphic.

You also need to be wary of web sites that are offering lots of free graphics.  I have known cases where unscrupulous people have downloaded graphics from the rightful owners web site and then offered them for free download on their own web site.  This is completely disregarding the true owners intellectual property rights, so although the 'thief' may not be making any money from this, they are infringing the copyright of the true owner.
We may just be talking about a simple black-and-white clip-art design, right through to a fairly complex design.  Either way, time and effort has been put into that project for which the designer may be quite happy to just have a textual acknowledgement on a users' web site.  They are being denied that satisfaction too.  The problem is then perpetuated when more and more people download these graphics as they get 'passed around' from web site to web site.

Research is required to try to weed out the doubtful sources of 'legal' graphics.  Established companies and sites recommended to you as legitimate are the best choices, but it's still a minefield out there.  If you use a 'FREE' graphic on your own web site where a credit in return is not asked for, either avoid using them or at the very least put a link back to the web site you downloaded it from.  If any problems arise at a later date regarding the use of said graphics, then at least you've taken reasonable steps to credit who you thought had the rights to them.
 
On a more extreme case, I have known whole web sites being cloned by some low-lifes who literally duplicate the whole thing and place it on their own web site, then claim it to be all their own work.  Apart from changing contact links from the true owner to themselves, nothing else is different.  It sounds unbelieveable, and you may wonder what they get out of doing such a thing.
I don't think anyone has an answer to that one.  The original web site owner did start legal proceedings in one particular case I'm aware of, but I don't know what the outcome was.
 
I think we're all aware of  the problems of protecting ownership of anything we put on the Internet.  Graphics and photos are a particular concern.  Unless you are a big company who can afford to copyright your designs in legal documents, and have a barrage of lawyers on hand to sue any infringement of your copyright, then you've not got a leg to stand on.  Even if you could prove ownership, the cost of legal proceedings are beyond most of us, and there's no guarantee you'd win the case anyway.

Copyright law is a big topic on its own, full of its own pitfalls, so I'm not going to get into that.  This subject has been, and continues to be, discussed at length in many places - Internet, the media, books, etc., so check it out if you're interested.

For most of us, all we can do to anyone using our images wrongly is to nicely point out to the transgressors the error of their ways, and ask them to stop doing it.  Reasonable and law-abiding people will respect that and rectify the situation.

Sorry if I appear to have rambled on a bit here about this subject, but it's so easy to fall foul of using someone else's work incorrectly, and I at least want our members to be aware of the dangers and hopefully avoid them.

ideasguy:
Frightening, depressing and soul destroying - but absolutely true Laurie and a very well composed posting.

We will be able to do this without resorting to those foul tactics.

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