Privacy Policy

• Your name, email address, and phone number (phone is optional on quote requests).
• Details about your order — part description, quantity, material preference, and any file or file link you provide.
• Uploaded files (STL files, photos, or other design references) you submit with a quote request.
• Basic technical information collected automatically through Google Analytics — things like browser type, device, and pages visited. This helps us understand what's working on the site; it doesn't identify you personally.

• To quote, produce, and deliver your order, and to contact you about it (including the backup notification process described in our Return & Warranty Policy).
• To send the newsletter, if you sign up for it — every email includes an unsubscribe link, and you can opt out anytime.
• To improve what we offer — for example, noticing which materials or part types come up often.

• Order and quote details are logged internally (via our own systems, not a third-party CRM).
• Files uploaded with an Order Direct quote request are stored with Vercel (our hosting provider) under private access — not publicly accessible by a direct link.
• Lithophane Studio photos are stored on DuffAM's own server, not with Vercel. See Lithophane Studio Photos below.
• Payment information is handled entirely by Square; we never see or store your card details ourselves.

What the studio collects

• Your photo. Your browser crops and shrinks it before uploading (longest side up to 2,500 pixels), so only that cropped copy ever leaves your device.
• Your design choices: size, orientation, detail level (Fine or Standard), and shroud type (the frame or housing around the print).
• At checkout: your name, email, an optional note, whether you want it shipped or picked up locally in Troutman, NC, and your confirmation that you own the photo or have permission to use it. We save that confirmation with the date and time you checked the box.
• On Square's checkout page: your shipping address and card details. Square collects and holds these, not DuffAM. We see your address in our Square dashboard so we can ship to you; we never see your card number.
• Your order record:order number, designs, quantities, prices, delivery choice, name, email, note, your photo-permission confirmation, and Square's reference numbers and amount paid for the order.

Location and camera details are removed

Phone photos usually carry hidden details: the GPS location where the photo was taken, and the camera or phone that took it. Before we store any photo, our server re-saves it as a plain JPEG, which strips all of that out. What we keep is just the image.

Where your photo goes

• DuffAM's server. Your cleaned photo, the lit preview (a picture of how your lithophane looks backlit), and the 3D print files made from it are stored on a server DuffAM rents from Hetzner, in a US data center. It sits behind a private network and passwords, and Matt is the only person who can see customer designs and orders.
• Our nightly backup.Once a night, that server is backed up to DuffAM's private Google Drive, so a hardware failure doesn't lose your order. When a file is deleted from the server, its backup copy is removed within 30 days.
• Vercel(our website host). Your photo passes through the website's server on its way to ours. Vercel doesn't store it.
• Square(payments). Gets your order's line items (a design ID, not your photo) and your email, so it can fill in checkout for you and send your receipt.
• Our email.When you pay, Matt gets an order email with your name, email, note, order details, and the lit preview. It stays in DuffAM's Microsoft 365 mailbox until Matt deletes it.

That's the full list. Your lithophane is generated on our own server by our own software. No outside service, AI or otherwise, sees your photo. We don't sell it or share it for marketing, and we only show a customer's photo or finished piece in our portfolio or on social media if you've told us that's okay.

How long we keep it

These deletions happen automatically:

• Designs you never order: deleted 30 days after you made them, or 30 days after your last checkout attempt.
• Designs we decline to make: deleted the same night.
• Paid designs we're still making: kept until your piece is printed. We need them to make it.
• Printed designs: deleted 90 days after your piece is printed.
• Checkouts you start but don't pay for: the checkout record is deleted 30 days after it was last changed. Unused Square payment links expire after 7 days.
• Paid order records: kept as needed for our business, accounting, and tax records.
• Backup copies: removed within 30 days of the file being deleted from our server.
• The order email to Matt: kept until Matt deletes it.
• Square's records: kept under Square's own privacy policy.

Don't want to wait? Email us and we'll delete your photo and design by hand. If it's part of a paid order we haven't finished, we'll cancel it first under our Cancellation Policy, then delete it.

Cookies and browser storage the studio uses

• litho_vid:a random ID that lasts 30 days. It's only used to limit how many designs one browser can generate, so the studio isn't overloaded. Our server stores only a scrambled, shortened version of it that can't be turned back into the ID.
• litho_pass: only used while the studio is passcode-protected. It remembers that you entered the passcode, for 30 days.
• Your order in progress:while you build an order, your design choices and quantities are saved in your own browser so you don't lose them. That list stays on your device until you check out, and it's cleared once you've paid.

Photos of other people

Plenty of lithophanes are of kids, grandparents, and friends. That's what they're for. By checking the photo-permission box, you're confirming you have the right to use the photo. Every photo gets the same handling described above: private, deleted on schedule, and never shown publicly without permission.

This site uses Google Analytics to understand how visitors use it, which sets cookies in your browser. We don't use this data for advertising, and we don't share it with anyone outside of Google's standard analytics service. You can opt out of Google Analytics tracking across all websites using Google's browser opt-out tool. Standard, functional cookies (for things like your shopping cart) may also be used to make the site work correctly. Lithophane Studio sets two small cookies of its own and saves your order in progress in your browser; details are in Lithophane Studio Photos above.