Keep IIIF Rights and Required Credit with a Downloaded Photo
By ImgHeal · Updated
A IIIF rights identifier and a displayed acknowledgment serve different roles. Preserve both when supplied, along with the repository record. An image download that works technically does not settle whether you may upload it to an AI service, modify it, or republish the result.
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Collect the institution's published context
Start with the photo's ordinary record and note its identifier, rights statement, credit wording, and any linked conditions. Keep the exact source links and access date. Distinguish a statement about copyright status from a requested institutional acknowledgment or conditions governing a supplied reproduction. If the photograph includes living people or private family material, consider those sharing decisions separately. Avoid copying a short license-looking label without opening the underlying record and understanding what resource it describes.
Read the manifest properties by purpose
IIIF Presentation API 3 distinguishes a rights URI from requiredStatement text intended for display. Review their actual values and any related source links. The structured rights value does not necessarily reproduce every explanatory sentence from the catalogue. Record both in a small source note linked to the downloaded filename. Do not rewrite an ambiguous statement into a stronger permission claim. When the planned restoration or publication falls outside clearly described use, seek clarification from the responsible source rather than treating the presence of an API as blanket consent.
Carry the context into derivatives
Before making an edited viewing copy, keep the original download and its source note. Put the appropriate credit and derivative disclosure with the file or publication page, and check that a recipient can follow the source links. If permission is uncertain, do not present a generated restoration as unrestricted. Review the credit after resizing, caption editing, or moving files into another publishing system, because explanatory text can become separated from image bytes. A faithful source record is part of the handoff even when a viewing derivative looks substantially different from the institutional scan.
Check this workflow
- Read the full repository rights context.
- Keep rights and acknowledgment roles distinct.
- Carry source and derivative information together.
Sources and further reading
- IIIF: Presentation API 3Defines manifests, canvases, labels, rights properties, and links to related representations.
Questions about this restoration task
Does an accessible IIIF image mean I can use it for anything?
No. Read the source's actual rights and usage information for the intended action; technical access is not blanket permission.
Continue with a related guide
Try a restoration on a copy of your photo
Keep the original scan. Upload a separate digital copy, review ImgHeal’s generated result, and decide whether it suits your needs.
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