Make a separate public folder
Keep your originals elsewhere. Export smaller copies in your image editor, apply a visible watermark to the pixels and save them in a previews folder. A watermark discourages reuse; it cannot prevent copying. Never upload the original folder by accident.
Make an index.html gallery, a page for each image and a terms page. Put your actual licence names, prices, currency and terms on the image pages, with your contact or payment links. This guide does not supply legal terms.
Choose suitable free hosting
Netlify Drop: check the current Free plan and its usage limits. Unzip your website, then drag the output folder containing index.html into the drop area. Upload the updated folder again when you make changes. Account setup may be required. This follows Netlify’s official drag-and-drop instructions. Read the current plan documentation before choosing a plan.
GitHub Pages: for a portfolio that fits the hosting rules, put only public output files in a public repository. In Settings → Pages choose Deploy from a branch and the root folder. A project address includes the repository name. Public repositories can use GitHub Free. See GitHub’s setup instructions and its limits: sites primarily conducting or directing commercial transactions are restricted.
Tell search engines what the previews are
On every page showing a preview, add schema.org ImageObject data. Use contentUrl for that preview’s actual public URL, license for your terms page and acquireLicensePage for the page explaining how to obtain a licence. Supply creator, creditText and copyrightNotice accurately. Keep the same information visible to visitors.
Use the final HTTPS address, including any project path, in this data and sitemap.xml. Pages and previews must be public and crawlable. Metadata can make images eligible for enhanced search display; it promises no badge or indexing. Follow Google’s official image metadata documentation.
Check before sharing
Open each image page. Follow its terms and acquisition links. Check prices and text against your sheet, and confirm that only reduced previews are in the public folder. Open the hosted preview URL and check it too.
Licence Catalog automates these folder, preview and metadata steps. See Licence Catalog
Official instructions read 3 October 2026. Hosting limits can change.