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Censor files and sell the originals

A clean preview is a free download. Censoring the unpaid view (blur, bars, samples, short clips) lets someone judge the work without walking away with the deliverable. Payment is what lifts the censor.

Tobias Lindén

Linköping3 min read

"Censor files and sell" sounds harsh. In practice it is how every serious gallery already works. You do not email print-ready JPEGs "just to look." You show a version that is useful for a decision and useless as a steal. Spike builds that into the share: the unpaid page is treated. The paid page is not.

This is wider than photography. A designer censors unfinished type. A teacher shows three slides, not the deck. A filmmaker plays ten seconds, not the master. The blur and watermark guide is the stills version. This piece is the selling rule that sits on top.

Bars and mosaic on the unpaid view. Payment lifts them. The originals were in the folder the whole time.

What to hide, and what to leave

Hide whatever would let someone skip the purchase: full-resolution faces, readable body copy, a complete track, a finished logo lockup. Leave whatever they need to say yes: composition, colour, a hook, a crop. If they cannot tell what they are buying, you over-censored. If they can print it, you under-censored.

  • Stills: blur or a strong watermark, not a tiny corner logo.
  • Video: a short clip on the unpaid view. The download is the master.
  • Audio: a tagged preview. The WAV stays behind checkout.
  • PDFs: sample pages. The full file unlocks after pay.

Censor plus password

Censoring decides what a visitor can take. A password decides who gets in. A client gallery often wants both: only the couple opens the page, and even then the unpaid view is not print-ready. That is not two products. It is a door and a veil.

Censor, then charge on the same link

The mistake is sending a censored ZIP, then a clean ZIP after the invoice. Two packs, two chances to send the wrong one. Keep one folder. The share shows the treated preview. Payment unlocks the files you uploaded. You never "uncensor" by hand.

What you getTwo sendsOne priced folder
Unpaid viewA separate preview ZIPTreated preview on the page
Paid viewA second transferSame URL, originals unlock
Re-downloadYou pack it againThe folder is still there
Mix-up riskEasy to attach the clean set earlyCheckout is the switch

The censor is for the window. The product is behind the till.

Do not censor a page you want to rank

When the set is a proof sheet rather than a public sample, send proofs and get paid is the sequence. When the unit is the whole pack, sell the folder.

Screenshots will always exist. The job of a censor is not to defeat a determined thief with a camera pointed at a laptop. It is to stop the unpaid page from being a usable export. That is enough for almost every client gallery and almost every template preview. If the work is truly secret, use a password as well, and do not put the page on a storefront.

Questions

Good to know

A watermark marks the file as yours. Censoring hides part of it: blur, bars, a short clip, sample pages. Use a mark when you want the image readable. Use censoring when a clean still would replace the purchase.

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Try the workflow in the article.

Upload a folder, protect the preview, share or sell from one link.

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