Water Mark

[andreahoney]

Hi, I was just wondering if anyone can explain water Marking to me, I know it's used so people cant take copies of your photo's off the internet but are there any pro or cons? Also does anyone know of any good programs to design these that can be downloaded off the net for free? I am not 100% sure what to do - water mark them or not - or is this just for the professional?

[clm738]

Do you do any post processing on your photos now? If so, what do you use? These answers might help you get a better answer. Not just for the professionals.

[mikew09]

Rick had a good post on adding water marks but you need photoshop elements or better.

[Tannin]

Waterrmarking doesn't stop people stealing your pictures, it only makes it more difficult - quite a lot more difficult if you do it properly. No other method is anywhere near as effective. In reality, if you want to show pictures on the web, either you watermark, or else you accept that they can be stolen. There is no third option.

But do you need to watermark?

• Are your pictures of commercial quality?
• Are they of subjects that are in demand?
• Will there be any real cost to you or to your reputation if some pictures are stolen?

If you answered "yes" to all three questions, you need to consider watermarking. If you answered "no" to even one question, then there is no point in it.

I went looking for a free watermarking program a few years ago and couldn't find one that was any good. I wound up buying one, which is a bit clunky but works as advertised and is a lot easier than mucking about trying to do it in Photoshop. Try it here if you like: http://www.watermarker.com/watermark-protector/ They don't seem to be interested in updating it anymore, but it does work effectively enopugh, so it would do if you need one.

[Craftypics]

There are Free watermarking tools like Picture shark which Ive never used.
Some online hosts have non destructive watermarking like Smugmug ( I use them ) but the watermarking is only available on the Pro Plans which are $150USD /year

[bigdazzler]

It takes about 3 seconds to do a simple one in PS ... simply add a text layer, place it on the desired area of the image, and then reduce the opacity of the layer. Viola. Instant watermark

[Lani]

Alternatively, you can make a signature brush in photoshop, which you can change colour and opacity. Also, if you have a wacom tablet for example, you can convert your handwritten signature into a brush to use as a water mark too. Depends which editing software you are using, so if you don't a have PS, just ignore this or file away for future reference.
As far as whether to use them, if you are a happy with your images, why not identify them as your own.

[andreahoney]

Thanks everyone. I have had a play with photoshop but need more practice I think!
Thaks Lani, I always look forward to your comments.

[ricktas]

Here is the watermarking tutorial that people referred to that I did : http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...ad.php?t=40856

[maccaroneski]

In reality, if you want to show pictures on the web, either you watermark, or else you accept that they can be stolen. There is no third option.

Isn't the third option "you watermark and they get stolen anyway?"

[andreahoney]

Thanks heaps Rick, I have had a play with photoshop and done all of the above and works heaps better then when I tried before. Would love to keep all this for future reference, so I am going to try and save the whole page to file away (hopefully it will work)

[Tannin]

Isn't the third option "you watermark and they get stolen anyway?"

Not really. Not if you watermark them properly.

Yes, you can steal a watermarked image. If you do, you have three choices:

(a) Publish it with the watermark intact. Few people do this - it's just too obvious.
(b) Crop it to remove the watermark. This is easy enough if the watermark is in a corner of the picture. To prevent it, simply put the watermark somewhere where it can't sensibly be cropped out.
(c) Clone out the watermark. You can clone out any watermark if you are skilled enough and prepared to put enough time and effort into it. But if the watermark is placed in a difficult-to-clone position, most would-be image thieves won't bother. It is exactly the same, in fact, as locking your house. A thief can get past a good quality deadlock and bolted windows, but chances are that the thief will not bother: he will rob the house down the street with the cheap lock and the unlocked window.

The tricky part, as I see it, is finding a way of watermarking such that the image is difficult to steal, but at the same time is not unpleasant to look at. That's a matter of judgement for each individual image.

[ricktas]

Thanks heaps Rick, I have had a play with photoshop and done all of the above and works heaps better then when I tried before. Would love to keep all this for future reference, so I am going to try and save the whole page to file away (hopefully it will work)

Its easy to find, just go to the 'tutorials' forum.

[sayrajames]

Well...there are many ways to protect images, watermarking is probably the most effective way. Watermarking is more effective, and it's really simple to use. For the watermarking there is so many tools in the marketing....and Adobe photoshop is also a good software using in the editing of the photographs....!!!!
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[kathiemt]

I use Watermark Factory 2 which doesn't cost a lot, is very easy to use and you can batch watermark photos at a time.

[dowden photography]

make a quick little action in photoshop if you want.
Firstly make your watermark, © xyz photography year and a copyright email address is always good.
save as a psd.
Now open a sample image and record a new action.
Go to "File-Place" and select your watermark
click the tick, and set the opacity to 10%, now I also save and close so it makes doing a huge number of files easy.
Stop recording and you now have a simple watermark action.