Please note this page is ancient, It's grammar hell and is in need of being re-written.

And now for the lesson!

Quick disclaimer first. I'm not singling out any artists reference sheets or saying any artists work mentioned is dumb or anything like that at all. I am solely thumbing them for example purposes only.
You also obviously do not need to take what I say as full fact. I am still learning myself and I obviously do not know eveyrthing. So please what I take what I say with a grain of salt.
I notified each artist and asked if I could reference their sheets in this journal.
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE WATERMARK YOUR REFERENCE SHEETS! I CAN'T STRESS THIS ENOUGH!

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Reference Sheets

Reference sheets like these are very quick to be stolen! The transparent or single colored backgrounds make it very easy to edit and change around names. The lack of watermarks or signatures also makes them the first to be stolen. Vectored Images are the most commonly stolen, it's recommend you do a free hand drawing for your reference if you can.
:thumb372281743: :thumb282688461:

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What to do

Make sure you have comments talking about the oc in detail on your refs and make sure they have some kind of indication they are owned and not an adopt like these
< Has a water mark right on top of the pony clearly showing username
:thumb273482440: <- very personalised and clear its more than just an adopt
<-Both watermark on character and heavily detailed reference sheet overal. This would be difficult to claim as an adopt
Gradient background, signature right on pony/ bird in this case
:thumb309943952: Heavily detailed, lots of text, Texured hard to replicate background. (this works despite the fact there is no sig or watermark)
textured background and sig in a spot that would be impossible to crop over due to the placement
Very clear watermark placement

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What not to do

:thumb319431154:
The water mark is in the very corner and could easily be cropped out. Both have either clear background or a single shade background. These are very easy even for the ms paint thieves to cover up and change. Try to use gradient or textured backgrounds to your reference sheets

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Not specific with username or person who owns the artwork despite the watermark

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:thumb360674164: Everything is good but the transparent/flat color background makes it very VERY easy to edit

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Just how easy theft can be

was nice enough to let me use her reference sheet to show just how easy it is to steal
sta.sh/01a9c8rz9rsb
I created an example just using MS Paint for demonstration purposes.
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TLDR To do list

Use textured or gradient backgrounds. Never use transparent backgrounds or flat single colors for the background
Put a watermark or signature right on top of the pony and make sure it clearly shows the user name
Try to stay away from using vectors or flat colors for your refs. Painting and heavy shading styles make it much harder to remove watermarks
Make sure the watermark could not easily get cropped out
Make sure you say clearly in the description that its copyrighted on your name
Make it look personal. Use lots of text and describe the personality right on the sheet. This is a great deterrent for thieves
If you use a high end program like photoshop you can encrypt your information in the coding of the image itself. I do this to all for mine. If you want to know how to do this please go ahead and ask. I may end up making a tutorial