GB2601894A - A secure platform for digital imaging sharing - Google Patents

Abstract

A method and system for sharing digital images to direct to printing by uploading the images into a first repository, encrypting the images, transferring them to a cloud based storage, presenting a low resolution sample in a browser portal, downloading them to a buffer repository, decrypting them and sending them to an authorised printer, where they are accompanied by a metadata file that is generated an monitored by the owner of the image. The metadata and the image may be linked to one or more Non-Fungible Token. A complete decrypted image may be transferred from the repository via a cloud storage and streamed to the printing station with no file footprints left anywhere in the client’s local device. The authorised printer may be registered with the portal and the printer’s details are recorded into the metadata file, such as the IP address, model and serial number of the printer, and only a registered print may receive the data of the full resolution image file.

Description

A SECURE PLATFORM FOR DIGITAL IMAGING SHARING

Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to system and method of a secure platform for digital image sharing. More especially, the invention relates to a secure platform for artists to enable artwork to be purchased and printed on demand in a secure manner and allowing control of copyright.

Background to the Invention 10 Artwork is always in demand.

Many artists do not extract the maximum revenue from their digital assets because of security concerns and reachability issues. Artists are very reluctant to use online selling platforms, which are the dominant form of retail in today's world, due to security concerns. They fear that uploading digital images of their artwork online immediately invites plagiarism to the extent that their reputation can quickly become diluted and any opportunities to maximise revenue are lost. Moreover, they have no way of knowing how much of the artwork is subsequently printed and further distributed.

Meanwhile, the online art market has seen tremendous growth in the past few years. While the fine art industry is often viewed as old-guard and slow to change, technology is quickly taking front seat in its evolution. Today's consumers expect choice and convenience and the art industry needs technology to deliver that experience.

The present invention seeks to meet this demand by providing a web-to-print and art-ondemand solution.

The invention provides cloud service platform on demand with secure streaming services for digital printing of high value digital images.

The platform enables access to Art on Demand (hereafter extensively referred to as AOD) for authorised partners anywhere in the world through a dedicated secure portal. Large publishers, artists or digital image suppliers can offer art on demand via the service to galleries, print service providers and major customers. Royalty and other payments can be calculated and allocated on account with detailed reports and live dashboard access The invention may hereafter be referred to as the platform, AOD or Cloudstore.

The platform can offer the same service via web to public and processing online payment per order. Using this service anyone on the web can access art and order products to be delivered. Publishers or any individual artist, art galleries, print service providers or any online business wishing to offer art on demand to consumers can utilise this service with minimum investment and complexity.

The invention further proposes an embodiment of the invention that uses Non-Fungible Token, NFTs and combining them with conventional means of providing digital artwork via 113 Limited Edition Prints wherein the benefits of NFT and AOD offer a unique solution.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a system for sharing digital images to direct to printing, in a secure manner and allowing control of copyright and copies issued, comprising: An owner portal with a repository for uploading digital images; means to encrypt the images; means to transfer and store the encrypted images in a cloud based storage; a browser portal arranged to present a low resolution sample of the image; a buffer repository arranged to download and store the encrypted images; means to decrypt the images; a client printing portal arranged to operate the sending of the image to an authorised printer; wherein the image file is accompanied by a metadata file, which contains information and controls the number of prints and/or resolution of the print(s), and which metadata file is generated and monitored by an owner of the image in the repository.

Preferably a complete decrypted image is transferred from the repository, via the cloud storage and streamed to the printing station with no file footprints left anywhere in the client's local device.

Preferably the authorised printer is registered with the portal and the printer's details are recorded into the metadata file, such details may be the IP address, model and serial number of the printer and only the registered printer may receive the data of the full resolution image file.

Preferably in the browser and or client portal are arranged to request the modification of the metadata file and the owner receives this requests on the owner portal and may approve or refuse them.

In a further embodiment the metadata and the image are linked to one or more Non-Fungible Token, NFT.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a method for sharing digital images to direct to printing, in a secure manner and allowing control of copyright and copies issued, comprising: uploading digital images into a first repository; encrypting the images; transferring and storing the encrypted images in a cloud based storage; present a low resolution sample of the image in a browser portal; downloading and storing the encrypted images in a buffer repository; decrypting the images; sending the image to an authorised printer; wherein the image file is accompanied by a metadata file, which contains information and controls the number of prints and/or resolution of the print(s); and which metadata file is generated and monitored by an owner of the image in the repository.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a computer system with a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed, perform the method according to any of the above claims 6 to 10.

Brief Description of the Drawings

The invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 illustrates a flow diagram in accordance with the art-on-demand invention; Figure 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the security details of the invention; Figure 3 illustrates the main subsystems of the invention: upload, encrypt, transfer, store, allocate, decrypt, print; Figure 4 illustrates the process flow of the invention sign up, buy credit, browse, design, print; Figure 5 illustrates the process flow of the invention including subsystems for an image copyright owner securely offering images for sale.; Figure 6 is a screenshot sample of a selection and image order page offered to buyers, in accordance with the invention; Figure 7 is a screenshot sample of a dashboard of image sales, in accordance with the invention; and Figure 8 illustrates a flow diagram of how the images are offered from artists to customers, in accordance with the invention.

Figure 9 illustrates a flow diagram of an embodiment of the invention which employs Non-Fungible Token, NFT.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention relates to system and method of a secure platform for digital image sharing. More especially, the invention relates to a secure platform for artists to enable

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artwork to be purchased and printed on demand in a secured manner and allowing control of copyright.

The art-on-demand system illustrated in Figure 1, also referred to as cloudstore (RIM) has four core objectives.

Firstly, to provide a secure vault to store encrypted digital images behind a firewall.

Secondly, to allow the digital images to be streamed for printing in encrypted form with no file footprint.

Thirdly, to allow the copyright or image owner to set their own use parameters, such as for example without limitation, print sizes, operations and quantities of each image.

Fourthly, to provide a royalty return for images printed by a defined cost for prints per square inch/cm for example.

The system provides full automation of each individual image access, delivery, and printing, therefore providing a complete end-to-end solution using advanced in-house developed tools.

The system includes comprehensive security capabilities to assure the most demanding requirements. These include, high level encryption, secure tunnel streaming and memory band-based printing with no local footprints.

The system has rich controls, auditing, and complete journal and reporting facilities for billing, access, and usage data.

zo The system allows the building of hybrid business models that extend the users existing business and its infrastructure to the cloud to create new revenue channels.

The system allows scaling up and scaling down with ease.

The system can provide a pay-as-you-go model meaning that as user pays in accordance with the services they use without any upfront fees or long-term commitment.

The system utilises recognised cloud infrastructures and deployment services, trusted by the biggest enterprises around the world.

Cross-region replication provides automatic, fast and reliable data availability across multiple data centres worldwide and designed to sustain the concurrent loss of data in two facilities.

Data is stored in highly durable vault using storage infrastructure designed for mission critical and primary data storage in multiple facilities.

An overview of the security details of the system can be seen in Figure 2.

Images are encrypted using Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256-bit symmetric multiple keys for upload.

All data in transit is encrypted and is transferred via SSL-encrypted endpoints using HTTPS protocol tunnels The system utilises a secure private cloud vault with multiple access control mechanism: firewall, multiple access keys, alarm event notification and access logs.

Access to original data is only granted to registered or otherwise approved print stations. Encrypted images are decrypted to memory in bands with no footprints of data in the print domain.

Users can use a customised sophisticated art browser to search and find the required images from the vast library of images. Once selected the user can examine the art in more details and see suggested similar images. The user can then size and optionally frame the art. For final confirmation the user can view the finished art in various room views or use the realistic 3D augmented reality (AR) to view the art as it would actually appear in their environment.

Whilst the description discusses the images in the context of artwork, the system, process and method is suitable for any document captured as a digital image for the intention of being available to an authorised user to print.

Further system details: The system utilises cloud based architecture, such as e.g. Amazon Web Services (AWS) for cloud infrastructure and deployment services. Cross-region replication provides automatic, fast and reliable data availability across multiple data centres worldwide.

The system may sustain the concurrent loss of data in two facilities Data is stored in highly durable vault using storage infrastructure designed for mission critical and primary data storage in multiple facilities; and is designed for 99.9999999999999% durability and 99.99% availability over a given year.

Figure 1 illustrates a flow diagram in accordance with the art-on-demand invention; and Figure 2 is a flow diagram illustrating the security details of the invention.

As an example an image created and/or owned by an artist or owned by an entity is uploaded to an artist repository. The artist further creates a metadata file for the image, containing e.g. numbers of copies allowed to be printed; size or sizes of image allowed to be printed; information on permission to edit; a variety of time stamp informations, such as e.g. time of creation, time of last editing, time expiration of using the image; etc. The image is encrypted in the repository. The metadata file may also be encrypted. The image and the metadata file or metafile are uploaded securely into a cloud based storage.

A low resolution or watermarked sample or snapshot of the image is presented into a browser portal to potential buyers. Information on the metadata may also be presented in the browser. A browser portal is presented in Figure 6.

In a scenario wherein a potential client may select an image and accept the metadata limitations, the system informs the cloud to download a high resolution copy of the image onto buffer repository, for example in the client's/buyer's computer. The metadata file is also downloaded into the buffer repository. The client is unable to view the image or download it outside of the buffer repository into e.g. a drive as a standard image file. The original image remains in the buffer repository encrypted. The information of metafile is presented on the client/printing portal, which may contain the buffer repository, together with a low resolution or watermarked sample shot of the image. A printer is registered with the portal and the printer's details are recorded into the metadata file. Printer details may be the IP address, model and serial number of the printer etc. Only the registered printer may receive the data of the full resolution image file.

In accordance with the information of the metadata file, the image is decrypted and sent to the printer directly for printing. The printer with receive a number of printouts and resolution in accordance with the metadata file.

Spooling and printing information, such as time and number of copies printed is logged into the metadata file and sent back to the artist/owner. The metadata at the client's portal is updated continuously, and the information is also sent via the internet to the artist's portal. Thus the artis has always control of the image. The artist may withdraw and or modify the rights to print to the client at any moment. This is done by updating the metadata file at the Artist's portal. Control of the image or images can be on a dashboard portal as shown in Figure 7.

In another embodiment, in the browser and or client portal the client may make an offer and or bid to offer and request the modification of the metadata file. For example, request more copies, different resolutions, different pricing etc. The artist/owner receives this requests on the artist portal and may approve or refuse them.

In a further embodiment the image/s downloaded in the buffer repository may contain time stamp or time limiter information, therefore prohibiting the description and print of the image if time has passed beyond a defined time limit, even if the image was purchased in the correct manner.

The metadata may log the printer's details and further prohibit the printing procedure on an unapproved printer.

Figure 3 illustrates the main subsystems of the invention: upload, encrypt, transfer, store, allocate, decrypt, print.

Figure 4 illustrates the process flow of the invention. A buyer signs up; buys credit and browses the images available. The buyer may also browse and purchase on the spot. The portal offers design manipulation tools that may be used to edit the image. Image project files and artists issued metadata file will converge to create an approved for printer new metadata file. Approved images/ designs may thus be printed.

Figure 5 illustrates the process flow of the invention including subsystems for an image copyright owner securely offering images for sale.

Figure 8 illustrates a flow diagram of how the images are offered from artists to customers, in accordance with the invention.

All images are stored encrypted within online secure Vault or cloud storage and streamed to printing station with no file footprints left anywhere in the system.

Artist, Publishers or any high value digital image right owners can offer their assets via our Art-on-Demand service to anyone around the world safely and receive royalty calculated by area of prints as defined by the owner. Print streaming technology transfers encoded files via secure tunnel to printing with full control over printers for the print output. This ensure the image cannot be used for reprint and correct royalty is calculated for the size and type of media printed.

With a myriad of built-in controls, the image right owner stays in total charge of the whole process, ensuring top security, high quality and appropriate revenues. New clients for access to images can be added anywhere in the world with a click of a button and the whole operation is monitored from a central online dashboard.

Business solution of Art on Demand service enables access to art on demand for authorised partners anywhere in the world through a dedicated secure portal. Large publishers, artists or digital image suppliers can offer art on demand via this service to galleries, print service providers and major customers. Royalty and other payments are calculated and allocated on account with detailed reports and live dashboard access.

Consumer solution of Art on Demand involves offering the same service via web to public and processing online payment per order. Using this service anyone on the web can access art and order products to be delivered. Publishers or any individual Artist, Art galleries, Print Service Providers or any online business wishing to offer art on demand to consumers can utilise this service with minimum investment and complexity.

Features: * Rich advance client app suit for art market applications o Full control over pricing based on size, media, features o Full control over product offering and features o Full branding and inclusion on your website o Total security and image right protection o Fully end-to-end automatic operation o High quality print and colour management o Complete job accounting and logging in cloud o Sophisticated information management dashboard o Full royalty and remuneration control 30 Publishers Publishers and rights owner of digital images from artists and other sources can utilise our online solutions to offer printing access to a variety of target clients worldwide, securely and with total control.

The royalties and cost of the use is determined by the publisher and the clients are restricted in the use of images per controls setup for the whole library or individual images.

Images are streamed for printing and original image is never passed on to target system ensuring image rights managements.

Within the B2B environment a host of target clients associated with the publisher can get access to W2P/A0D service for printing. These can get access under the control of the publisher from a dedicated online portal anywhere in the world.

Additionally a B2C service can also be offered by hosting a W2P/A0D enabled website with full payment and order processing. The Website can be branded under publisher, Galleries, print provider or a third party.

Publishers also have the opportunity to offer their images via cloudstore to our other AOD customers and increase the reach of their content worldwide.

You can be sure that the images are secure and the rights are protected and any royalties as a result of printing the images are appropriated correctly. By going online via our VV2P/A0D service you can break the geographic barrier of local printing/supply and gain customers worldwide with minimum effort.

The images can be made available through any of these channels: B2B: Galleries, Print Service Providers (PSP), Design Houses, Major Customers B2C: Publisher Website, Gallery Website, PSP Website, Third Party Website AOD: Any other cloudstore AOD customer Artists / Photographers Independent Artists and photographers can utilise our online solutions to offer printing access to a variety of target clients worldwide, securely and with total control.

The royalties and cost of the use is determined by the image owner and the clients are restricted in the use of images per controls setup for the whole library or individual images.

Artists/Photographers wishing to publish their own library of digital images can either have a personally branded bespoke VV2P/A0D solution or make their images available to other AOD customers as part of our online image store library.

With a personal solution the image owner uploads the images into a private cloud vault storage and have it available to a host of VV2P/A0D customers via the cloudstore services.

The clients can be B2B such as Galleries, Design Houses, Print Service Providers (PSP) or any major customer.

Additionally a 620 solution directly from artist/photographer website or any of its 626 customers can be setup to offer the images to consumers online with full payment and order processing.

Alternatively the images can be added to our own image store library which categorises various sources and offer the content to a variety of VV2P/A0D customers worldwide.

The images are secure and the rights are protected and any royalties as a result of printing the images are appropriated correctly. By going online via our VV2P/A0D service you can break the geographic barrier of local printing/supply and gain customers worldwide with minimum effort.

The images can be made available through any of these channels: 626: Galleries, Print Service Providers (PSP), Design Houses, Major Customers 620: Artist Website, Gallery Website, PSP Website, Third Party Website AOD: Image store Library, Any other cloudstore AOD customer Galleries / Design Houses Galleries, Design Houses and any printed art suppliers can get access to online art from publishers of digital images, independent artists and our own image store library and pay per print.

Through cloudstore VV2P/A0D services you will have access to unique catalogue of digital arts and can get image streams for printing in-house or send for fulfilment at third-party print houses.

Images are streamed for printing and original image is never passed on to target system ensuring image rights managements.

Royalties for use of the images are calculated as specified by mage owner and you will pay for what you print without getting access to the original image.

Our advanced printing software ensures highest quality and perfect colour matching for best output as is used by major galleries and art suppliers.

You can also additionally offer a B2C service via your own website to your customers by offering prints and art online. Any private library of images can also be added online and have the opportunity to offer these images to our other W2P/A0D clients.

Print Service Providers Print Service Providers (PSP) or any major customer can get access to online content from publishers of digital images, independent artists and our own image store library and pay per print.

Through cloudstore VV2P/A0D services you will have access to unique catalogue of digital images as well as locally uploaded images and can get image streams for printing in-house or send for fulfilment at third-party print houses.

Images are streamed for printing and original image is never passed on to target system ensuring image rights managements.

Royalties for use of the catalogue images are calculated as specified by mage owner and you will pay for what you print without getting access to the original image.

Our advanced printing software ensures highest quality and perfect colour matching for best output as is used by major galleries and art suppliers.

You can also additionally offer a B2C service via your own website to your customers by offering prints online. Any private library of images can also be added online and have the opportunity to offer these images to our other W2P/A0D clients.

Non-Fungible Token -NFT Rare digital art, also known as crypto-art, is limited-edition collectible art cryptographically registered with a token on a blockchain. Tokens represent transparent, auditable origin and provenance for a piece of digital art. Blockchain technology allows tokens to be held and securely traded from one collector to another Blockchain technology is still comparatively new and its potential for application in the NFT space is still emerging and evolving. Availability of the technology does not necessarily guarantee that potential users who could benefit from its use will immediately start to do so. The use-cases for it need to emerge and be adopted gradually. Many of these will almost certainly intersect and overlap with conventional channels.

Such overlaps may be the means by which usage and take-up increases, as more and more people see the potential of NFTs on blockchain and understand its potential applications. The use of NFTs in conjunction with a conventional means of marketing and selling digital artwork via Limited Edition Prints is a good example of such a use. How quickly this grows, remains to be tested but certainly great potential exists.

NFTs are tokens that can be used to represent ownership of unique items. They allow tokenisation of things like art, collectibles, even real estate. They can only have one official owner at a time, and they are secured by the Ethereum blockchain -no one can modify the record of ownership or copy/paste a new NET into existence.

Blockchain tokens can be sorted into two distinct types of assets: fungible and non-fungible.

Fungible Tokens are identical and replaceable by another identical token; they are mutually interchangeable. They can represent anything from cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and coins used in a video game to tokenized versions of real-world assets like crude oil or gold. For example, ETH or dollars are fungible because 1 ETH / $1 USD is exchangeable for another 1 ETH / $1 USD.

NFT stands for Non-Fungible Token. Non-fungible is an economic term that you could use to describe things like your furniture, a song file, or your computer. These things are not interchangeable for other items because they have unique properties. Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique, and thus not interchangeable.

A digital art piece created, an ownership certificate of a car, or a character in a game are examples of non-fungible assets-they are unique and not directly interchangeable.

Referring now to Figure 9 a dataflow diagram of how Crypto-AOD works: 1. The creator deposits digital artwork securely with Cloudsto.re vaults.

2. The creator decides how many limited-edition Prints' they wish to offer of a particular artwork creation -for example, a limited edition of 10 prints of the digital artwork.

3. An NET is minted on the partner exchange platform for each of the limited-edition prints (so, 10 NFTs) 4. Each NFT is offered for sale as a separate token (1 of 10, 2 of 10 and so-on), listed to explicitly state that the ownership of the NFT entitles the owner to a numbered and authenticated physical print of the artwork as well as the NFT recording it as original.

5. Once the NFT sells, ownership transfers to the buyer (and is recorded on the blockchain) -the smart contract associated with the NFT confirms this transfer and writes it to the NFT's record.

6. The owner can decide the production of the physical artwork as and when it suits them for these to be produced and supplied. The new owner might want this to be done immediately if they want to display the artwork, or it may suit them to hold-off if they bought the artwork as a speculative investment.

7. The Limited-edition print will have embedded security signature guaranteeing the authenticity of the artwork and identify the associated NFT.

8. Artwork can be printed anywhere in the world through Cloudsto.re AOD secure streaming keeping the original digital assets protected.

Fractional Ownership - NET creators can also create "shares" for their NFT. This gives investors and fans the opportunity to own a part of an NFT without having to buy the whole thing. This adds even more opportunities for NFT minters and collectors alike.

* Fracfionalised NFTs can be traded on DEXs like Uniswap, not just NET marketplaces. That means more buyers and sellers.

* An NFT's overall price can be defined by the price of its fractions.

* You have more of an opportunity to own and profit from items you care about. It is harder to be priced out of owning NFTs.

In theory, this would unlock the possibility to do things like own a piece of a Picasso. You 30 would become a shareholder in a Picasso NFT, meaning you would have a say in things like revenue sharing. It's very likely that one day soon owning a fraction of an NFT will enter you into a Decentralised Autonomous Organisation (DAO) for managing that asset.

The biggest use of NFTs today is in the digital content realm. That is because that industry today is broken. Content creators see their profits and earning potential swallowed by platforms. An artist publishing work on a social network makes money for the platform who sell ads to the artists followers. They get exposure in return, but exposure does not pay the bills.

NFTs power a new creator economy where creators don't hand ownership of their content over to the platforms, they use to publicise it. Ownership is baked into the content itself. When they sell their content, funds go directly to them. If the new owner, then sells the NFT, the original creator can even automatically receive royalties. This is guaranteed every time it is sold because the creator's address is part of the token's metadata -metadata which can't be modified.

But digital art is only one way to use NFTs. Really, they can be used to represent ownership of any unique asset, like a deed for an item in the digital or physical realm.

NFT Key Points - NFTs have some special properties: * Each token minted has a unique identifier.

* They are not directly interchangeable with other tokens 1:1. For example 1 ETH is exactly the same as another ETH. This is not the case with NFTs.

* Each token has an owner, and this information is easily verifiable.

* They live on Ethereum and can be bought and sold on any Ethereum-based NFT market.

In other words if you own an NFT: * You can easily prove you own it.

* No one can manipulate it in any way.

* You can sell it, and in some cases, this will earn the original creator resale royalties.

* Or you can hold it forever, resting comfortably knowing your asset is secured by your wallet on Ethereum And if you create an NFT: * You can easily prove you are the creator.

* You determine the scarcity.

* You can earn royalties every time it is sold.

* You can sell it on any NFT market or peer-to-peer. You are not locked into any platform and you don't need anyone to intermediate.

* You get to decide the scarcity of their asset.

Limited-Edition Print NFTs -The current use of an NFT for a digital image does not prevent the image file itself from being copied, reproduced, and printed many times by its owner and others who decide to create their own copies. Limited-edition prints attempt to overcome the problem of unlicensed reproduction, but the question of authenticity and proof of purchase for buyers remains unresolved. Blending NFTs with ADD offer a unique combinatory solution to the problem, let's term that 'Crypto-AOD' for now.

Crypto-AOD offer a means of controlling the issue of official copies and tracking the ownership and movement of limited-edition prints of artwork, as they are traded by collectors and investors on the open market. The use of NFTs enables monetisation of the original artwork, as well as possible royalty payment from future resales, and their blockchain records immutably verify the ownership rights. The Crypto-AOD can ensure the original digital assets are secured and certify the artwork against the NFT using a unique embedded authentication signature in the physical artwork print.

Crypto-AOD would be a collaboration with an existing NET trading exchange to manage the sale and management of NFTs whilst Cloudsto.re with its secure streaming and unique authentication technology, handle the image security and limited-edition prints.

Advantages for Creator - * Easy access to a wider market for monetising the digital art whilst keeping its value through scarcity element.

* Peace of mind that the original artwork is safe and controlled and unofficial copies cannot be made outside the limited-edition print run.

* Ability to benefit from resales through NFT smart contracts.

Advantages for Buyer * Investing in artwork is guaranteed through NET record and authenticated print.

* value of investment in the artwork is preserved and can easily be traded in open market in future.

* The artwork can be kept as digital asset or obtain the physical print anytime. Both the digital or printed form can be traded in future using the NFT.

Claims (11)

1. CLAIMS: 1. A system for sharing digital images to direct to printing, in a secure manner and allowing control of copyright and copies issued, comprising: An owner portal with a repository for uploading digital images; means to encrypt the images; means to transfer and store the encrypted images in a cloud based storage; a browser portal arranged to present a low resolution sample of the image; a buffer repository arranged to download and store the encrypted images; means to decrypt the images; a client printing portal arranged to operate the sending of the image to an authorised printer; wherein the image file is accompanied by a metadata file, which contains information and controls the number of prints and/or resolution of the print(s); and which metadata file is generated and monitored by an owner of the image in the repository.
2. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein a complete decrypted image is transferred from the repository, via the cloud storage and streamed to the printing station with no file footprints left anywhere in the client's local device.zo
3. 3. The system of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the authorised printer is registered with the portal and the printer's details are recorded into the metadata file, such details may be the IP address, model and serial number of the printer and only the registered printer may receive the data of the full resolution image file.
4. 4. The system of any of the above claims, wherein in the browser and or client portal are arranged to request the modification of the metadata file and the owner receives this requests on the owner portal and may approve or refuse them.
5. 5. The system of any of the above claims, wherein the metadata and the image are linked to one or more Non-Fungible Token, NFT.
6. 6. A method for sharing digital images to direct to printing, in a secure manner and allowing control of copyright and copies issued, comprising: uploading digital images into a first repository; encrypting the images; transferring and storing the encrypted images in a cloud based storage; present a low resolution sample of the image in a browser portal; downloading and storing the encrypted images in a buffer repository; decrypting the images; sending the image to an authorised printer; wherein the image file is accompanied by a metadata file, which contains information and controls the number of prints and/or resolution of the print(s); and which metadata file is generated and monitored by an owner of the image in the repository.
7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein a complete decrypted image is transferred from the repository, via the cloud storage and streamed to the printing station with no file footprints left anywhere in the client's local device.
8. 8. The method of claim 6 or claim 7, wherein the authorised printer is registered with the portal and the printer's details are recorded into the metadata file, such details may be the IP address, model and serial number of the printer and only the registered printer may receive the data of the full resolution image file.
9. 9. The method of any of the above claims, wherein in the browser and or client portal are arranged to request the modification of the metadata file and the owner receives this requests on the owner portal and may approve or refuse them.
10. 10. The method of any of the above claims, wherein the metadata and the image are linked to one or more Non-Fungible Token, NFT.
11. 11. A computer system with a computer readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed, perform the method according to any of the above claims 6 to 10.