Watermarking

I have had several questions about watermarking, so I thought I would share the easiest way I know of to put a watermark on your photos. There are other ways, of course but this is the easy way. 

We like easy.

As you know, I use Picnik as my quick and easy editor. I also use Photoshop, but if a photo just needs a little something or just a watermark, I find it faster to just upload it to Picnik and be done. (You do not need a membership to do this.)

Here is what I do.

  Simply upload your photo.

In this case, the picture is a little overexposed, so I will adjust it first.

Here's what it looks like now.

Now click on the tab that says CREATE.

Under that heading, click TEXT in the link bar.

Now, in the left-hand column you will see a box where you can type in your text. Below that are tons of font choices. Go ahead and type in your text and then click ADD. 

The text image will appear in white in the center of your photo. Then click around on the fonts to see which one you like. 

After choosing the font you want,drag the text to wherever you want it. In the pop-up box that appears to the left, you can adjust the size or color of the text, if you'd like. You could also adjust the size by dragging the little box that appears around the text when you click it. This same box offers a tilt feature. Just play around and see what you like.

In, my case, I want to adjust the size first. Then I like to fade the text into the picture to create a true watermark. Depending on the photo, sometimes I make it brighter so it is more visible on the web.

Here is a shot of a true watermark style, which does not distract the eye from the subject:

This was faded to 70%. In fact, I often fade these to 80 or even 85%. It is just enough to deter someone from copying the photo and claiming it as their own. Some people like a larger watermark that is very faded. You decide what works for you.

If I am more interested in getting my name on the photo, I might do something like this:

Whatever you chose is up to you.

Be sure to save your work back to your computer because Picnik does not automatically save your edits.

When I save photos for my blog, I also compress the file to a 7 or an 8. This makes it quicker to upload. and it also makes the photo less desirable for someone to print out. You can go to an even lower number if you want, but be sure to save your original because you may not be happy with the quality.

If you want to save both the original and the edited for the web copy, just change the file name to something like flowers_web.jpg

I hope that helps answer some of your questions. If you can think of anything else, just leave me a comment.

Have a great weekend.