Learn More About CO2ign Art
What am I buying when I buy CO2ign Art?
The buyer will receive a digital image file they can download directly with a unique signature generated specifically for their purchase. The “signature” is part of the image’s metadata, and will record the artist’s name, buyer’s name, and the carbon reduction project funded by the purchase. Read more about how CO2ign Art works.
What environmental projects do you fund? Can an artist/buyer choose which project to support?
We don’t have a set selection of projects. Evaluating carbon credit projects is complex and intimidating, and projects can be valuable but not glamorous; the carbon credits CO2ign assigns to each purchase have been chosen from projects that meet CORSIA’s high standards for emissions. We will continue to hold carbon credits to high standards as they develop. Every CO2igned image will contain a link to information on the specific project its purchase supports. Read more about carbon credits and how they help the environment.
What resolution will a purchased image be?
Purchased images are the same resolution uploaded by the artist and displayed on the site. Buyers can freely display their purchased art online (with attribution to the artist).
While we know offering high-resolution files on purchase is a common model, we don’t intend CO2ign Art to duplicate or replace other already-existing options, but rather to provide a new avenue for artists to make money without requiring exclusive high-quality versions. What people are buying is a special edition; the CO2ign signature validates the purchase but doesn’t “protect” the file.
How do I display my CO2ign art?
We hope to have public online galleries to show off your purchased art, as well as direct integrations with other services, in the near future. In the meantime, here are some ideas (with instructions) for ways to show off the art you’ve purchased:
Your desktop background can rotate between all art in a folder:
Windows: How to enable wallpaper Slideshow in Windows 10
Mac: Customize the desktop picture on your Mac
Your phone can too:
iPhone: How to change iPhone wallpaper automatically in iOS 15
Android (with Wallpaper Changer): How to Rotate Between Wallpapers on an Android
So can many Smart TV screensavers: How to Make Your TV Display Art
And voice assistants with a display:
Google Nest Hub: How to Use Your Google Nest Hub as a Digital Photo Frame
Echo Show: How to Customize Your Echo Show’s Home Screen
Of course, you can do this with any art you have saved. But if you’re rotating between CO2ign Art you’ve purchased, no matter what amazing art comes up, you know (and can tell everyone else) that image has directly supported the artist and the environment!
How is this different from NFTs?
Unlike NFT-based art marketplaces, we’re not selling a blockchain token and we don’t accept cryptocurrency; each sale will be for an actual image file, the art is created by human artists (sorry robots), and paid for with USD (via Stripe). You can read more on how we feel about NFTs, and how we’re different, on our CO2ign perspective on NFTs page.
Why would someone use this platform, instead of any of the other existing options for supporting digital artists?
This is such an important question to us that we have a whole page about it. Please see What IS CO2ign Art?
What image rights do buyers get when they buy an artist’s work?
A buyer gains a non-exclusive license to use their purchased image for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to the artist. This is the same as the standard for a physical print or commissioned piece. The artist retains all rights to their work. See Terms and Conditions for more information.
What is the payout breakdown/where does the money go?
50% goes directly to the artist; 30% of each sale will go towards funding carbon reduction projects; the remaining 20% goes to our platform. Since there’s no physical product involved, we’re able to offer a higher payout to the artists than some other platforms, and we’re excited to be able to put 30% of our sales towards carbon reduction projects.
That said, the price of carbon credits can fluctuate, and it’s not currently possible to buy partial (fractional) carbon credits. What this means is that, depending on the image’s price, sometimes we can’t actually purchase a full 30% worth of each individual sale in credits. In those cases, we’ll track the leftover funds and keep them in a dedicated pool. At the end of each quarter we’ll highlight a few specific Verra-verified projects we’d like to support and ask the user community to choose where those funds go!
How are you verifying artists/making sure art isn’t stolen?
Currently, anyone who wants to sign up to sell art on CO2ign must request an invitation to do so. We review the artist against their online body of work before sending the invitation out, and if we aren’t certain then may ask the requestor to provide further proof that they’re the original artist.
We also ask artists to link their CO2ign account to their active social media account (which requires them to have that login information), to further establish the connection.
It’s not a perfect method, but we’re very aware that this is an issue in the online art community and will be constantly working to keep on top of this. Any art you suspect has been stolen can be reported by submitting our report a listing form, or by sending an email to support@co2ign.com
How-To Guides
How do I sign up for an account?
- Find the Sign In/Register button at the top right of the page.
- You’ll be asked to sign in. Find “Need an account? Sign up” at the bottom of the sign in form.
- On the next page, enter the email address and password you want to use. Alternatively, you can sign in with your Google or Facebook account.
- You’ll be emailed a confirmation code; enter this code on the next screen and hit submit.
- On the next page you are given the option to select a new display name and upload a user image; by default your display name is the email address you registered with, but this can be changed at any time.
Note that your display name is what will be signed to your image purchases and recorded in Verra’s public registry. - Hit Save Changes.
That’s it, you now have an account!
How do I sign up as an Artist/Can I sell art on CO2ign?
While we’re in our opening stages we’re temporarily restricting the number of artists who can sell on the platform, but we’ll be sending out invites as space becomes available.
Please note that to accept payments you’ll need to be in one of the countries that can accept Stripe Express Payouts, documented here: https://stripe.com/docs/connect/cross-border-payouts#supported-countries
If you’d like to sign up as an artist, please join our waiting list. We’ll reach out to learn a little bit more about you.
Can I have more than one CO2ign account?
Yes, though you’ll need to use a different email address for each account.
How do I report art I suspect is stolen?
Please submit the listing via the Report a Listing form with as much information as possible. We take art theft very seriously, and will work with the reporter and poster of the work to determine ownership.
What name gets “signed” to an image? Can I change what name is shown in an image’s signature?
As a buyer, your site display name will be signed. As a seller, your artist name will be signed. You can change either name at any time from your respective dashboards.
Can I change my display name?
- Navigate to your My Account Dashboard from the drop-down menu at the top right of the screen
- Select “settings” from the left hand menu on your My Account page
- Fill in your new display name (optional: add a first and last name); keep in mind that your display name is what gets signed to an image as the buyer, so you’ll want it to be something you’re comfortable listing in a public registry.
- Hit save changes.
For Artists
Stripe is (currently) our only payment processor, as it allows us to split payment at the time of the transaction, which means no wait times or withdrawal minimums for artists. Without a Stripe account, we have no way to get funds to you.
What countries does Stripe support?
To receive payments, you’ll need to be in the US or one of the 58 countries that can accept Stripe Express payouts from the US. Stripe is however looking to add new countries; you can see the countries in beta on their page, and can request your country be considered for a beta if it isn’t already! We want everyone who’d like to be part of CO2ign to be able to participate, so we’re looking into other payment processing options. We’ll announce it as soon as we’re able to add more options.
Is my data secure?
Yes! Stripe is a certified, internationally recognized payment processor with the highest level of certification possible; CO2ign Art does not store (or even see!) your data.
See more information about Stripe on your Artist Dashboard
If you make at least $600 a year from CO2ign Art, Stripe will provide you with a 1099 form to report with your taxes (in the US – outside the US please check your local tax codes for your reporting requirements.) Your SSN is requested so they can provide you with these documents. Find out more info on Stripe’s website.
Your SSN/personal info is handled entirely by Stripe – we here at CO2ign Art have no access to this information.
Unfortunately, the answer to this question is “it depends”.
Per our Terms of Service, you are responsible for the art you upload, and by uploading it you are representing that it does not infringe any third-party rights, including copyright or trademark. In most if not all cases, the underlying work that the fanart is based on is protected by copyright, or other sorts of legal protection.
Whether fanart is an infringement of copyright in the United States generally hinges on the fair use doctrine, which is a very nebulous area that depends on the specifics of the work and can only be decided for certain in a court of law.
Courts judge fair use based on four factors (17 U.S.C. § 107):
1. the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
2. the nature of the copyrighted work;
3. the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
4. the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
Clearly, CO2ign Art is a commercial use. However, this by itself does not exclude it from fair use – it also depends on how transformative the art is, what the copyrighted work is, how much of the copyrighted work is included in the art, and whether it could affect the copyrighted work’s value, including acting as a direct substitute for the work or other licensed merchandise.
In addition, some copyright holders have policies that explicitly permit fanart for certain uses.
We recommend researching any fanart policies for the work your art is based on, and, because this information is not legal advice, contacting an attorney if you need a legal consultation prior to uploading art to the marketplace.
You do not need a separate account to purchase art. If you’re an artist with an active storefront, your artist name is separate from your display name as a buyer.
We pride ourselves in supporting emerging artists and making sure it’s not just the top sellers getting top billing all the time. On the homepage, artwork is featured at random; on the Browse page and in all subcategories art is displayed newest-upload first.
Yes, you have a linkable storefront! You can view your storefront by going to your artist dashboard and clicking either your avatar or artist name on the left. This will take you to your storefront URL.
When you register as an artist you’re prompted to set a name for your storefront, which is separate from your buyer display name–however, you can use the same name for both fields if you’d like your storefront to be your artist name/pseud.
You can update your artist name at any time from the Settings menu of your artist dashboard.
1. From your seller dashboard navigate to your Artwork tab. Select the button that says Add New Artwork.
2. Upload your image by selecting the Upload Artwork Image button. You have the option of adding gallery images if there are other views you’d like to display, but the primary image should be the full size file you intend to sell.
3. FIll out the rest of the required info, such as title, price, description, and choose a few categories to help people find it.
4. Once finished, select either “Create Artwork” to return to your dashboard, or “Create & Add Another” to upload another work.
The minimum size requirements for any piece is 500×500 px, 72DPI.
Because buyers are purchasing digital works, there is no need for images to be print quality. We generally leave this to you as the artist, however. If you prefer to upload print-ready images you certainly can!
Category tags are the main way for buyers to navigate through the site and find the art they’re most interested in. You should add as many tags as you feel describe your piece. There’s no limit to the number of tags you can place on your art.
You select the relevant categories for your image at the time of upload by selecting them from the drop-down menu. Use ctrl/cmd+ to select more than one category.
You can also edit the category tags after the fact by navigating to your Artwork tab, and selecting the listing you want to edit.
When it comes to pricing art, we know there are a lot of factors to consider: the artist’s experience, time spent, and perceived value to a buyer are just a few examples.
While it’s completely up to you how you’d like to price your work, we suggest a minimum of $50 for a finished work. Although that might sound high for a non-commissioned piece, based on our customer survey data we’re confident it’s the right starting point. We’ve also seen a pattern of art being under-valued, even among artists, so we encourage you to aim a bit higher! Prices can always be updated later.
The reason we set the minimum price at $20 for digital art is that the portion of the sale going to carbon credits otherwise wouldn’t be sufficient to retire a single credit.
This is very much on our to do list! We’d love to allow our artists the ability to promote and sell their art at whatever discount they want for whatever event/holiday they want. But as of now, this is not possible.
This is in the pipeline to be completed. We would love to allow our artists to list their digital artwork at different sizes and price points. At this time, product variations are not yet available though.
Sales information for individual pieces will be on your artist dashboard. Go to Payouts to be directed to your Stripe dashboard for information on payouts.
Currently we don’t have a way for you to see what projects your art supports directly from your CO2ign account. However, we’re planning to build this feature in the future! Meanwhile, you can view all credits ever retired by CO2ign Art on our public Verra sub-account (11543 if you’re asked to search by account ID)
For Buyers
You’ll need to create an account, or sign in with your Google/Facebook account, in order to make purchases.
All purchases are made in USD via Stripe.
Since we’re in our early stages, it may take up to 3 business days for your image to be processed and delivered to your email. We’re super grateful for your patience while we get going!
Before we can deliver your image, we need to first affix the CO2ign signature and retire the set amount of carbon credits in your name. When that’s done, we’ll send you an email with your full-size, CO2igned image attached; along with the signature, your image’s metadata will contain your name, the artist, and a link to where you can read more about the project your purchase funded.
You can find your purchase history on the Orders page in your user account. Click your user icon (top right) from any page to be taken to your dashboard. From there, select Orders to view more information about each purchase.
We currently don’t have a way to display information about your funded projects directly from your user dashboard. However, we’re planning to build this feature in the future! In the meantime, you can find this information for each individual purchase in your images’ metadata, as well as in the delivery email you received. See below for instructions on how to read your image’s signature and metadata.
Your image’s signature is contained in the file’s metadata. The basic info is available in the image description, which you can view in many programs. For example, in Windows, you can right click the file, go to Properties, then Details. The more technical aspects of the signature can be viewed via any metadata-reading tool that shows full XMP metadata, like https://exifdata.com/
Online: https://www.metadata2go.com/ will show you the metadata of any image you upload
Photoshop: File > File Info. Raw Data will give you all the information about your signature.
Windows: Right Click your image file and select “Properties”, then “Details”
note: we’re noticed Windows does not read png images the same way. You’ll need to use one of the methods above to view the image’s metadata.
Mac: in Photos command+I will bring up File Info and you can view your digital signature.