It’s all too easy for stolen images to find their way onto the internet, so as a photographer you know how important it is to protect the work you’ve created. If you have an online portfolio website, anyone can right-click and download any image you put there, and there’s no guarantee they’ll credit you when they decide to republish or reuse that image. A watermark on a photo can help ensure that anyone viewing the image can easily see who created it and find you and the rest of your work.
If you’re wondering how to make a watermark to protect your photos and mark your work, you’ve come to the right place! Fortunately, there are many different programs and tools available to help you add a watermark to your photos, and you definitely don’t have to be a master graphic designer to do so.
We’ll walk you through exactly what it is. a photo watermark, why you might want to watermark your photos (and what some of the drawbacks might be), the basics of watermark design, and how to create a watermark with software free watermark apps, or programs you might have.
What is a watermark and why should I use it?
A watermark is a type of stamp, usually low opacity, that is placed over digital images . The stamp usually consists of a name, logo, or signature that identifies who created the watermark image, but is sometimes intentionally large and obtrusive. There are times when each type of watermark is appropriate; It all depends on why you choose to watermark images in the first place! Watermarks on photos can discourage people from using your images without permission in the first place. (Psst: It never hurts to check your photo’s copyright law.)
There are a few different reasons a professional photographer might want to watermark a photo, including:
- To add a signature to a photo, the same way a painter would sign their work to indicate who created it.
- As a branding exercise, it gives you another chance to use your logo and brand colors, keeping the branding of your photographs in line with your artist business card and any other marketing materials you have.
- To allow your client to review the image and provide feedback if necessary, without sending you a photo they can use without paying.
These are all totally justified reasons to add a watermark, but whether you use one or not is entirely up to you. How you choose to design your watermark can vary a bit depending on which of these three purposes you have in mind, so let’s get into those photography watermark design considerations!
Watermark Design Basics
While you may not consider adding a watermark as an exercise in brand, it’s something your current and potential customers will likely see again and again. again, so it’s a good idea to make sure those watermarked images do, in fact, reflect your brand. When you’re working on your watermark design, ask yourself if it’s something you’ll be happy with for a long time, as changing it over and over again can be confusing for your clients. The way to watermark will vary slightly depending on the three different reasons for watermarking a photo that we listed above.
Designing a Unique Watermark
If you want to know how To make a watermark as a signature for your photos, the most important thing to keep in mind is an identifiable signature. You’ll probably want your watermark design to include your name, your brand or company name, or your website address. That way, when people see your signature, they can easily search for you and find more of your work.
Choose a clean, simple font and a color that won’t be too distracting from the rest of the photo. You could even have the same watermark design in two different colors, one light and one dark, to use for different types of photos. You also don’t want this watermark to be too large, so it can easily fit on any image without being distracting.
Designing a Brand Watermark
If you’re more interested In how to watermark photos for branding purposes, it’s very important that you go back to those brand identity guidelines of yours and make sure your watermark design is in line with the colors, fonts, and layouts of logos you’re currently using elsewhere to represent your brand.
When designing this type of watermark, you’ll definitely want to stick to using the assets you’ve already chosen in your brand guidelines. Again, the key is to make sure your watermark is readable and not too opaque.It’s usually best to stick to gray or white tones, but if you have a different brand color you want to use, you can as long as you add some transparency to blend in with your image a bit.
Designing a Test Watermark
If the purpose of watermarking your photo is more to let a client see a test before sending them the final image, the watermark information and the signature are slightly less important. In that case, the design should be very opaque so that they can still see the image well and provide feedback, but visible enough that the image cannot be used if they wanted to post it online or place it in a frame.
In general, when designing a watermark to identify a test, you can use the word “test” in large text, in a clear font. Unlike signature or mark watermarks, a proof watermark is intended to render the photo unusable as-is. Here, the key is to increase the transparency quite a bit. You don’t want to make it difficult for your client to see the details of the image.
Digital Watermark
Create a Watermark in Photoshop
If you already have Photoshop and You want to know how to make a watermark, it’s pretty simple to do. When it comes to Lightroom vs. Photoshop Photoshop is the most useful for adding a watermark. Since Photoshop is such a versatile program, there are many different ways to do it. We’ll focus on the easiest and most popular method, which is to create a custom Photoshop brush. That way, you only have to do the job once, and you can reuse the brush each time you want to add a watermark.
To add a watermark to images in Photoshop:
Open a new file and set the dimensions to the same size as your web image. 72 DPI is usually a sufficient resolution for web purposes. Select the font you want to use or paste your existing logo into the document. Err on the side of making it bigger as it’s easy to shrink, but if you start out too small you could end up with a pixelated watermark if you end up using it on a larger file in the future. Draw a rectangle around your watermark with the marquee tool. Open the Edit menu and select “Define Brush Preset”. Give your brush a name that you can easily recognize in the future.
That’s it! Now your brush will be available in the brush catalog the next time you need to watermark an image. You can always play around with the opacity and color of the brush to work with the image you’re watermarking.
Create a Watermark in Lightroom
If you’re getting Wondering how to watermark photos in Lightroom, there’s a little less flexibility than Photoshop, but you can still easily watermark images as long as they’re JPEG, PSD, or TIFF. Although there are tons of benefits to shooting RAW, you’ll need to convert those files before putting a watermark on your images. Here’s how you do it:
With the photo open, open the export window. Make all your usual export selections, and then look for the watermark checkbox at the bottom of the dialog. You will see a dropdown menu, where you can select “Edit Watermarks”. In the new window, find “Watermark Style”. Here you can choose “Text” or “Graphic”. If you chose “Text”, choose the font you want to display your watermark in and type your name, your website, or whatever text you’re using to watermark your image. If you chose “Graphic”, select the file that contains your logo or watermark. You will see some effect options that allow you to adjust the opacity, size, and position of your watermark. Note that if you choose the Graphic option, there’s no way to add additional text, so any text you want to include must be part of the file you’re using as your watermark.
There are tons There are a number of useful Lightroom plugins that can help you, including ones that will help you add a watermark in bulk.
Photo Watermark Apps
Even if you don’t use Photoshop or Lightroom, there are plenty of free watermark makers and photo watermark apps that make it easy to create watermarks online, even if you are on the move. .
Watermark Apps for iPhone
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Shortcuts – This is an amazing watermark app for iOS users. It’s great for batch watermarking because it allows you to automate a single function on a bunch of photos. So once you’ve created the shortcut, it’s easy to apply it to an entire photo album – a huge time saver!
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Photomarks – Here’s another great photomark maker! watermarks you may want. search in. If you don’t know how to make a watermark and don’t want to spend a lot of time learning, this app will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you and is a great way to create a watermark online.You can save a bunch of different marks, which is great if you want one for testing and one as a signature. It’s also not destructive, so your files won’t be compromised by running them through the watermark maker.
Watermark Apps for Android
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Photo Watermark – Another way to create your own watermark online for free on Android device is this handy app; You can use different types of text, date and time, and logo stamps right from the app, and it’s also very easy to adjust the location and opacity of the watermark.
Salt – Android users will love this free watermark software – you can insert your own logo, which is great if you’re using your watermark for branding purposes, and you can also easily add text marks using the built-in fonts. You can also share images directly from the app to a bunch of different social media channels, which really saves time, making this one of the best watermark apps available…
Put in place a great testing process
Now that you have tons of photo watermark ideas to help you protect those images, you should also put in place a good testing process for the client. Look for an online photography portfolio builder that has built-in client proofs, so your clients can easily view those watermarked images, provide feedback, and make their selections. If you’re not sure which client testing workflow will work best for you, find a website builder that offers a free trial so you can make sure you’re going to check all the boxes for your client’s needs.
If you sell prints of your photos online, it’s also a good idea to look for a website builder that has a built-in online store. That way, you don’t have to worry about trying to integrate a third-party eCommerce platform with your portfolio. You will be able to set up a gallery of watermark images that are for sale, so your customers and fans can support you right from your own website!
Ready to create a portfolio of photos on line that will be the kick-start of your photographic career? We’ve got you covered. Start your free trial with Format today!
Now that you know how to watermark photos, you can take one more step to protect your work and make sure you’re fairly compensated for it. . anyone who wants to use it. That’s a super important step for any photographer who wants to make a living from their work, so you can give yourself a pat on the back and get back to taking those amazing photos!
Want more information on how to protect your work?The Artist’s Guide to Avoiding Copyright InfringementHow to Write a Contract: A Freelancer’s Guide to Protecting Your RightsHow to License an Image: A Beginner’s Guide
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