POLL: Do you Watermark you Images Before Sharing them Online?
As mentioned in our previous post – with the increased use of of photo sharing sites on the web we’re seeing more and more photographers having their work taken and used without the permission – often for commercial purposes.
One technique that many photographers use to curb this practice and get credit for their work is the use of watermarking their images.
Today I thought it’d be interesting to see how many of our readers use watermarking in this way.
After you vote – share a little more about why you do, or don’t use watermarking. Does it work? How do you do it? What do you like or not like about it?
157 Responses to “POLL: Do you Watermark you Images Before Sharing them Online?” - Add Yours
July 20th, 2010 at 5:50 am
After i read a lot of stories about the problems you face when you don`t use the watermark, i decided to put one in my last photos and i will do make that for my future photos. I also put the exif in my photos.
Ps.: Sorry for my English. I`m Portuguese and i don`t write very well in English.
July 20th, 2010 at 5:50 am
Whether I watermark depends upon the photo and where it’s at.
My photo web site is hosted at SmugMug, and with a Pro account, they’re watermarked at the site.
I’ve started watermarking my Flickr photos too, putting a (c) copyright or a (cc) Creative Commons marker on them. The watermarks are subtle, though, and I suppose they could be cropped out, but I’m not that worried. I have my images registered at the copyright office, so if they get used outside of the licensing terms, I’ll prosecute.
July 20th, 2010 at 5:52 am
I share a selection of photos following weddings with clients on Facebook, and always watermark. The way facebook allows clients to tag themselves and share photos to friends, it would be a wasted opportunity not to promote my name to all those friends and family.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:02 am
If they want the image bad enough, they’ll get rid of the watermark.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:04 am
I find if a watermark is prominent enough to not be cropped out, then it is usually detracting from the image. I release all my work with a CC attribution license, so people can use it (even commercially) as long as they include my name or site somewhere. It’s much easier to ask that of somebody than it is to ask for money, and that way if I’m marketing myself for a gig, I can say “My photos have been used by X and Y…”
That’s the plan anyway. I haven’t had the honor of having my work stolen yet, I’ve only thought about the scenario.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:06 am
I don’t bother to watermark my pictures because I compress them and save them strictly for the web resolution and size. If people want to share my images online, I’m not concerned. It’s much like creative commons copyrighting.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:11 am
I voted that I do, but I don’t watermark to prevent theft, I do it for identification. As an example see this image. Yes, it has a watermark but if you really wanted to use that for something you could easily crop it out. It’s so 5 years from now you are looking over past images and see this and wonder what other things that person has been doing lately.
To prevent people actually not using it I do what probably most do and just not link the full size image online. Printers have improved a lot and can probably make a decent print from a 1024×768 image. If people want to steal an image, they’re going to. Only way to prevent that is not have the picture online.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:23 am
I watermark my images more on the side of having the name out there than to protect the images, in fact I’m not all that fond of the watermark because it ruins the image, and not for protection because if I didn’t want an image to be copied to million places or seen then I wouldn’t post it at all.
I’ve moved to the simpler watermark where I only have the domain name on it and have a bigger more colorful watermark for the photos that get posted on the front page of my site. The photos I post on tumblr have the small almost unseen domain name watermark.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:24 am
I voted no, but I WANT to…. I’m still trying to figure out how and I’m experimenting in Photoshop Elements. As soon as I get it down, all images are getting a watermark and will be taken down and re-posted!!
July 20th, 2010 at 6:28 am
I’ve been trying to devise a creative logo of some sort to watermark my images. I don’t like the look of plain text, but see a lot of value in watermarking. So at the moment, I don’t watermark everything…but I am working on a scheme to watermark everything moving forward. I share Todd Eddy’s view – it’s less about theft prevention, more about advertising.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:32 am
Watermarking is such a pain in the butt…. I just don’t do it efficiently, or don’t view some photos I put online as “watermark-worthy” Only the really good ones I am proud of get watermarked. Usually those are the ones I anticipate selling at some point.
Cabin Fever in Vermont
NEK Photography Blog
July 20th, 2010 at 6:52 am
Yes but I keep it pretty simple – mostly so people know where the image comes from.
July 20th, 2010 at 6:55 am
I just put my name at the bottom-right corner (made a photoshop action to put it there for me). It can be cropped out, but I don’t really care.
July 20th, 2010 at 7:09 am
I’ve always felt that watermarking ruined the basic “aesthetics” of an image, even if done in good artistic taste. Still…after having found some of my food images on profit-making food and travel sites – without even a lousy link back to me – I figured it was time to make things a little more obvious for their readers.
July 20th, 2010 at 7:18 am
You should have had a fifth option there
No- but probably should.
I fall into this one. I am just a hobbyist, and not someone making money off the work, but do want to control what I put out there. I have dabbled with personal watermarking and just haven’t found the medium yet.
Since I only share my pics on a wordpress site which is hidden from search engines, I don’t think any would get out there in the wild, but I do copyright them just in case.
I have considered going a plug in route with Wordpress to present them in a manner that is harder to copy (flash), but not found one that I am happy with as yet..
July 20th, 2010 at 7:56 am
Never – no name on the bottom, no watermarks…
)
the watermarks looks like some type of graffiti on photographs…
July 20th, 2010 at 8:23 am
I use. To when I just started out but thought it was cocky and that my stuff wasn’t good enough for the need of watermarking so I stopped. Then about a week ago I was showing some music to a friend on youtube an came across a track where they have used my photo of lasers inside a trance club as the video for the track. It’s not really anything but it still pisses me off because I didn’t even get a fav or a comment on deviantart for it, and as online gallery submitters you know wr all thrive on stats!
July 20th, 2010 at 8:23 am
JH and I are in the same boat. I watermark only for identification, not to protect. You can easily crop out mine as I don’t want it to wreck the enjoyment of the image. If someone does take it, they will get to meet me in federal court.
July 20th, 2010 at 8:31 am
Lightroom 3 has good watermarking tools. I have a separate export that resizes images to my web size (long edge of 600px) and adds the appropriate watermark. It’s about 2 clicks.
July 20th, 2010 at 8:52 am
The vast majority of my images which are in webspace are on my own website in flash slideshows where the only way of getting at them is to do a screen capture, which is of little use to anyone seeking to use them commercially.
July 20th, 2010 at 8:53 am
It should be noted (seeing as it’s been mentioned) that “(c)” is not really recognised as a valid copyright notice – you should use the proper copyright symbol of “©” and or the word “Copyright”. This can be typed on a Windows PC by holding down the ALT key and typing 0169 on the number pad.
July 20th, 2010 at 9:01 am
I use a watermark only on pictures I don’t wish people to grab. I they aren’t watermarked, then it’s my own fault if there stolen. I do post pictures to a website which does watermark pictures when you upload them.
http://www.photoartgallery.com/artist/Sprinterjim
It’s a big bad world out there, Photographers should take care to look after their work or suffer the consequences for not doing so. I think once your work goes on a social networking site, such as Facebook. Then you got to be careful what you put up there, cos it’s open slather.
If I have a picture I want published in a magazine, I am careful not to publish it anywhere else, so that others can not steel it from me. Once it has been published for a month, then I may be inclined to send it to Flicker or Facebook..
July 20th, 2010 at 9:09 am
kuvat.fi has automatic watermark stamping available for users
July 20th, 2010 at 9:19 am
i don’t…. because I don’t know how!
July 20th, 2010 at 9:34 am
Four years ago, all I would have done was a frame around the picture with my name and/or website. Then my city’s newspaper ran three or four of my photos without even my name.
Now, I watermark all of my photos because of lots of theft online & locally. I don’t even use a action to watermark my photos — I make sure each one is placed in such a way that it would ruin the photo a bit to have to crop around them. I’ve even recently started my business over (new name, site, flickr, twitter, etc) from scratch because I became aware of someone impersonating me online & stealing my stuff. We eventually figured it had to be someone I used to work with, but still don’t know who.
July 20th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Yeah for 2 reasons – 1) the ego beast loves to see his name in print
2) I only put small files up, so it’s like a business card – take as many as you like…
July 20th, 2010 at 9:52 am
I do on some of my favorite photos. When I post photos online I limit their size. Not sure if making the image smaller is an effective anti piracy tool or not.
July 20th, 2010 at 9:57 am
I watermark my images with name and year for identification only. About 99% of my work is released via a creative commons license, but I want people to know that the work is mine. I also use lower-res images and encourage online sharing, but not print-ready.
Periodically, I release some of my work as higher-res desktop images for free download. Those are more heavily watermarked with my logo and site url, to bring visitors back to my site.
July 20th, 2010 at 10:06 am
Lightroom 3, user so watermarking is a no brainer
July 20th, 2010 at 10:11 am
I use a watermark, but I use Photoshop CS5 capability to use Digimarc to watermark my images. The watermark is electronically embedded in the image, so it doesn’t impact the viewable image. Check it out at https://www.digimarc.com/solutions/dwm.asp. You can check out my website, too, and view the images without the visible watermark.
July 20th, 2010 at 10:14 am
How do you watermark? That would be great to learn!
July 20th, 2010 at 10:14 am
How do you watermark? That would be great to learn!
July 20th, 2010 at 10:31 am
I did mark my photos in the past but I thought it took away from what I was trying to accomplish so I quit, but in the back of my mind I am constantly worrying that my work is being taken with out my approval. Plus when I was marking my photos I would then have 2 files on my computer which just started to get TOO crowded! It’s a catch 22!
July 20th, 2010 at 10:43 am
Any images I send in email are low-res .jpgs that bear only a resemblance to the detailed raw images in my files. They have no more connection to the real photographic images than a quick scanner photocopy of the image. Why bother?
July 20th, 2010 at 11:19 am
I have started watermarking everything. I made a simple action in Photoshop that resizes and watermarks, super simple!
July 20th, 2010 at 11:33 am
I got photoshop because i thought that would be part of it. i guess i should have known it’s a different part. i got a free-bie, but it degrades the images (noticably). so till i get the dough. i take the chance. hell i only have about 300 images out there. compaired to some, it’s not even enough to get noticed.
July 20th, 2010 at 12:09 pm
I usually share every photo with my watermark. These days you can’t be too careful protecting your work.
July 20th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
I don’t see the point. There are better and far more effective options for electronic protection, besides watermarks are ugly. Why would I want to uglify my art?
July 20th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
I have a hard time taking images seriously that have watermarks. For some reason they always come across to me as pretentious. For example when someone posts a photo for critique if it has a watermark, I refrain from commenting because I simply can’t get past the eyesore that is the watermark. To me the watermark seems to scream, “I am such a great artist that scores of people want to steal my work and pass it off as their own.” The watermark annoys me like watching a classic film on television with the channel brand on the bottom.
The only watermark-type thing on an image that I find acceptable is a presentation of the image with a fake frame around the image with the artist’s signature in the bottom corner. It clearly identifies the artist in case the viewer is interested in finding further works by the artist, and doesn’t detract from the image since it’s presented in whole.
Granted, I’m a classically trained violist and have had no formal photography training, nor am I employed as a photographer and have never had any of my images stolen. Perhaps I would view things differently, but that’s how I currently view watermarks.
I suppose the bottom line is that for me the art is far more important than the business. The watermark ruins the art, but is good for business.
July 20th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
I don’t add any watermarks to my pictures, but I definitely should do it. I think it’s because I’m not giving them the right importance, I think “why someone should take one of my photos when there are plenty more out there?”.
July 20th, 2010 at 5:06 pm
I started watermarking images for the sake of branding more than prevention of theft
July 20th, 2010 at 5:29 pm
I don’t but probably should start doing so, although I don’t really photograph professionally, it’s just a hobby to me.
July 20th, 2010 at 5:32 pm
I used to make fanart and wallpapers free for people to use with small watermarks. Even then if someone wanted to steal and use for their own use/print and sell they still did, even with a watermark.
Subtle watermarks are too easy to get rid of, while watermarks which take over the whole photo ruin the shot for me, personally. So i dont and never will. Maybe i should, but in the digital age it’s so easy to get around such things.
July 20th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
I don’t watermark most of my stuff but that is because I sell online and I don’t want my art products to be watermarked once they are sold and printed
Anywhere that sells art should have an option to automatically watermark your image for you
At Redbubble.com for instance you upload a high res image (for printing) and they only display it at medium res and automatically water mark it for you
On the sites like Flickr, Picasa etc I watermark and I only post lower res images (large enough not to lose quality or detail on screen but small enough that if you tried to take it and print it , the image wouldn’t look too good)
Last of all I’m soon to be offering wallpapers on my own personal site for free download and these will be set up the same as the Flickr set (large enough they look good on screen but only just and watermarked)
July 20th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
mostly depend where i put the photos and for what i use photos on internet…. so sometime i put watermark and sometime not….
July 20th, 2010 at 7:31 pm
With mines it also depends on the occasion. Is it usefull for promotion? Then yes. Is it likely they can ’steal’ my photo? Then also yes. Mostly I don’t want to use it, but sometimes you can’t go without it or it is very handy (especially when people use their photo of mine at social media).
July 20th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Voted never. Watermarks are easily cropped or annihilated by content aware fill. Either that, or they are so obnoxious as to make the image so much worse that I wouldn’t want it online with my name on it anyway. Yes, it’s a dilemma. And I am not yet in such a position that infringement on any of my copyrights is a clear and present danger.
There are better ways to connect your name to an image. For instance, a Digimarc watermark (invisible), a steganographic message in the image and most important of all: metadata to make referrals possible. Downsampling as low as is viable helps, but there is blowup software to counter that.. All this is the luxury of the hobbyist.
Pros do better by creating scarcities outside of the image data, which can be multiplied with neglegible extra cost. In my humble opinion the copyright business model is still honourable (and infringement is not), but reality bites harder.
July 20th, 2010 at 8:42 pm
I almost always watermark them, not because I think that people who wanna steal my images can’t do so anymore, but also because I try to generate traffic from social network sites towards my personal site. I look at watermarking as an advertisement tool.
July 20th, 2010 at 9:31 pm
Like many people around here, I use to share my pictures under a CC license. Watermarks shouldn’t exist!
July 20th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
I always put watermark. Afterall its ur hard work and skill they u r going to display to the world.
I normally use the Photoshop to use the watermark. They are more creative and easier compare to the other watermark softwares.
July 20th, 2010 at 9:46 pm
I allways watermark my photos. Sometimes in a very obvious way and sometimes I blend it in the composition of the photo. I also ad exif-/metadata to the photo and upload only small size photos. Maany times I crop the photo, so the original is a bit bigger.
It doesn’t really prohibit stealing your photo’s, but it helps to claim the pictures as your own.
July 20th, 2010 at 9:49 pm
I’m a blogger first and a photographer second. I don’t usually watermark quick photos made to illustrate a blog point. But when I’m showing off a serious photo online, I ALWAYS watermark it. I also do NOT share photos on Flickr, where they are likely to be stolen. Instead, I use a small photo gallery web site service that automatically watermarks my images while simplifying the sales process.
July 20th, 2010 at 10:20 pm
I always watermak everything. The people im interested in evaluating my work always see watermarked material.
If you dont know how to ignore the watermark while you evaluate my stuff, then maybe i dont want you evaluating it
July 20th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
I have only recently started watermarking and at present only use a simple “( c ) Jim Robinson” mark. I plan on developing this into something better in the future. My reason for watermarking isn’t so much for prevention of copying as it is to get my name out there for if I ever want to make a little $$$ off of this photography thing.
A few months ago I took some shots of my fiance’s Ultimate frisbee team and they were a hit. The girls were pretty good about giving me props when they posted them on Facebook, etc. So, when I posted some from last week’s tournament I put the new watermark and have actually got a really good response.
I’m thinking of registering a domain name so I can easily put it on a watermark and promote myself a little bit better.
July 20th, 2010 at 11:26 pm
I don’t want to share pictures with ugly watermarks.
July 20th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
I didn’t know about watermarking, so thank you for asking, I will do it in the future. I will do it because sometimes people just need to pause a moment to do the right thing. However, they don’t seem to pause often.
July 20th, 2010 at 11:35 pm
I always watermark. I also check who’s using my images almost daily and find unauthorized postings with my images on them. I’ll send cease and desist e-mails to the website owner to have the images removed.
July 20th, 2010 at 11:41 pm
I don’t. I want to though. I just don’t know how I guess. I also want to create a brand for myself. I just don’t think I am there yet with my photography. Hopefully one day.
July 20th, 2010 at 11:50 pm
I only watermark the images that I post on Flickr (I also post in smaller resolution). I let SmugMug handle the protection for my other images, which I upload in full resolution but have SmugMug limit on the display size, disable right-clicking, etc.
July 21st, 2010 at 12:00 am
I always use a watermark. No sense in giving my work away. This way if you find your photo has been pirated you have a basis to demand payment or enjoin them for continued use. If however, you regularly post without a watermark it may be tougher to prove that you have not voluntarily relinquished your rights and put the photo out in the public domain.
Even more important, if links to the photo are forwarded to other potentially interested parties, they know who took the photo and how to get in touch with me. So While I do it to protect my property rights in the photo, I do it more for marketing and getting my name out.
JK
July 21st, 2010 at 12:17 am
I have a blog, FLICKR and regular web site. For FLICKR and the blog I generally watermark the images since those are ones I might eventually sell online and would rather have visitors buy them than have to go to the trouble of editing out the watermark. For the regular web the ones that I expect to sell are in password protected SmugMug folders. The ones on the blog and on Flickr are also are fairly low resolution so if anyone wanted a higher quality one they’d need to either contact me or have the skills and software to reformat it.
July 21st, 2010 at 1:01 am
yes, I watermark. After reading here, on Scott Kelby’s blog and a few other places, I settled on a compromise solution: in one of 4 corners, opacity down around 10-20% depending on the image. So, I ensure the image is associated with my brand and name, as well as minimizing the aesthetic impact.
It’s a compromise and since aesthetics plays a role, no two people will feel the same about impact.
In a gallery for client image selection, the images are watermarked. When I supply an image or print to the client, there is no watermark. I however, do include licensing details on their invoice. For competitions: no watermark. Facebook and home to other ‘we own your images’ thieving sites? Watermark more obviously.
I use Aperture, so watermarking is super easy. Most times I go with default settings I’ve chosen. If still an impact (and worth the effort), I’ll convert to greyscale or change opacity.
An example of not much aesthetic impact. http://2hphotography.ca/promo/printing-is-a-part-of-photography/
An example of borderline impact http://2hphotography.ca/promo/spaces-of-wonder/
July 21st, 2010 at 1:20 am
How do you watermark a photo?
thanks
July 21st, 2010 at 1:21 am
I used to watermark my photos with exposure information. It seemed really cool at the time but now I don’t bother.
July 21st, 2010 at 1:21 am
I’ll use the exif field to mark the images due to the idea that most of the thieves don’t bother, they just cut and paste.
My biggest irk is with entertainment blogs. They tend to take images or video provided to them from the studios and watermark them with their info. Seems… well, odd, since it’s not their material to begin with, yet it’s almost understandable, from a ‘protective mindset’ sort of way.
If I have a very special scenario where I have the scoop or exclusive, I’ll modify a very tiny section of an image that might have been provided by a studio. It’s a wonderful way to say, hey, check that out, you took my image and you’re busted! it’s already come in handy for me a few times with content thieves who pretend that they’ve found their article sources elsewhere. LOL.
The big issue is that if you deal with a lot of images, it gets tedious to try watermarking all the time. (Of course, if I found an automated process, I might change my mind. I’m a manual / hands-on sort of guy.)
July 21st, 2010 at 1:24 am
First I am hearing of watermarking. How is it done. I use alot of photos in my research and really would like more protection and exposure.
Thanks
July 21st, 2010 at 3:01 am
I don’t watermark, mainly because I don’t think the majority of my photos are worth stealing, but I still make sure you can only access a small version of them and never a hi-res one.
July 21st, 2010 at 3:19 am
Digimarc doesn’t show in the photo but it protects you from theft and they have tracking tools. It’s 50 bucks for a thousand images so I dunno (kinda pricey for an amateur). Seems like there ought to be a way to do that for yourself. A little trackable snippet of code in the exif or something. Anyone got any ideas?
July 21st, 2010 at 4:29 am
This was a big dilemma for me. I never watermarked, but then people were taking my stuff. Like other people, I think the watermark takes away from the photo. But it seems to be the only way to go in order to keep your stuff (or at least try). I know that if you can see a photo online, you can get it. I won’t post my good photos on facebook, because there is no protection at all. As ugly as they are, I think I’ll watermark my best shots from now on, whenever I post them. Even to my own photography website, which is coming soon.
July 21st, 2010 at 4:46 am
I wish digimarc was cheaper. I didn’t want to just mark it with my name and I came up with a logo just in case but I haven’t made it digital or applied it yet. And replacing all those photos with a new logo photo is going to be a pain…
July 21st, 2010 at 5:09 am
I watermark my images that are placed on facebook and my blog. I do this more for promotional purposes than a fear of theft. The images that I place on my main website I do not watermark because this is intended to be a portfolio and I want the work to be as high quality as possible and not have the distractions of a watermark.
July 21st, 2010 at 5:16 am
I usually watermark images posted at sites not directly associated with me, and is for promoting my work only. It is not iintended to protect my work.
My web images are low res small format. Watermarks can be removed by a savy user anyways. Thus I don’t show my best work on the web either. I have a philosphy that if it goes on the web there is a chance of it being approriated by someone who has a very low standard of ethics, and I need to be willing to not waste a bunch of time worrying about it.
How ever if I do see an image being use commercially I will notify the user of a violation. Acompanying the notice is an initial bill for the usage, if they don’t want to pay then a DCMA notice is sent via e-mail and registered standard mail and is accompanied with a final bill which is substantially larger. If I don’t see a change within 24-48 then it can escalate, but usually doesn’t.
Typically if you find someone using your image you can work out a deal and maybe even do additional work for them on future projects.
Bottom line is if you are not willing to have your work abused don’t put it on the WWW.
July 21st, 2010 at 5:18 am
A followup to my last post. My understanding is that unless you actually send in your photos and register them with the copyright office you don’t really have a legal leg to stand on any way. If this is incorrect let me know.
July 21st, 2010 at 5:40 am
I used to, but not anymore. With CS5’s content aware fill, it’s become far too easy to take them off anyways, so why bother?
July 21st, 2010 at 5:50 am
I post my photos at a low resolution so stealing them is useless but you can still view them.
July 21st, 2010 at 5:56 am
I use Picasa’s ‘text’ feature to ’sign’ my photos….but only the photos that I think someone else might want to copy. Recently, those have included floral images and rodeo action shots. Before this year, I didn’t consider that, but have found my rodeo photos to be very popular downloads on Webshots. I might as well identify them as mine! Also, this year, I was lucky enough to capture a hummingbird hovering at a feeder. I put my name on that one before posting on Facebook and Flickr.
July 21st, 2010 at 7:13 am
I dont watermark because I am hoping that people will be as honest as me in their usage. And I hope that will be enough. But…
July 21st, 2010 at 8:15 am
I currently only share low res pics, but I have the project to create a hi res gallery, then I will certainly watermark my pics.
July 21st, 2010 at 9:55 am
I always watermark. However I make sure the watermark is unobtrusive and doesn’t take away from the photo. It’s really just there so that when people copy it and send it around to all their friends, my name gets out there a little bit more. My mentality is, if you don’t want it stolen, don’t put it on the Internet.
July 21st, 2010 at 10:47 am
I always watermark and add the EXIF data. Whether it actually works to protect the images – that’s been the matter of some debate over the years. And, even if you have a case to prosecute, doing so successfully is yet another matter. However, one thing that drives me to do all this is what I learned long ago while working in software development – if you do not at least make the effort to mark your territory, you may lose your own rights to the image (not justr to that low res copy, but to the image itself even though you created it). That may no longer be relevant, but it is such a simple task to copyright and watermark that there is really not a good reason not to.
My 2 cents.
July 21st, 2010 at 11:06 am
After finding some of my photos on my blog had been used in other websites without my knowledge, I started to use watermarks.
July 21st, 2010 at 11:42 am
There are better ways to protect yourself than by detracting from your work with a watermark. Most ‘togs simply stamp a watermark at the bottom where it is easily cropped off anyway…what’s the point in that?
July 21st, 2010 at 1:04 pm
I use Facebook to get my ability some opportunity to be seen by friends. Getting the word out. I am going to start watermarking those, maybe. It ruins the experience I think for those who like to view my pics. I am unsure if I will carry through there. Anything on my website is watermarked. As I grow in the art I will be watermarking more and more and be chosier bout what I show.
July 21st, 2010 at 4:04 pm
I didn’t used to watermark my pictures because I was unsure about my craft, but now I see myself evolving into a better photographer and taking better pictures so I designed myself a nice watermark that I will be using from my on.
But on second thought, if you are pro photographer, which I am not I am a graphic designer/hobbie photographer, you should watermark and upload low resolution files of your pictures. Because back when I was studying from my graphic design major I found myself downloading images out of flickr to use them for my projects, and I am sure I wasn’t the only one doing it.
July 21st, 2010 at 5:39 pm
here’s a question . . for those that have had your images stolen . . .how did you find out? I’d be pretty surpirsed to one day just stumble across an image of mine on the internet or otherwise. Like a needle in a VERY large haystack.
July 21st, 2010 at 6:50 pm
3 words. Content Aware Fill.
Your watermarks have now been rendered useless by Adobe Photoshop CS5. If people want to steal your image bad enough they will find a way.
In my opinion, they simply detract from the artistic integrity of your image.
July 21st, 2010 at 8:05 pm
I do watermark in LR3 when I post to websites that are not my own. I also fill in the metadata as I import into LR3. My own website is on Smugmug and I use a different watermark there-I created it. and they add it to the photos online, but obviously don’t when the photos are purchased through them.
July 21st, 2010 at 9:28 pm
sometimes but not always… sometimes I’m too lazy to put a watermark if there’s so many of them. watermarking the images doesn’t really help against piracy.
July 21st, 2010 at 10:43 pm
I have my work in sites where I sell it and use their watermarks, not all good though… I just hope not too much of my stuff gets stolen. I dont use Flickr etc where most of these things happen
July 22nd, 2010 at 1:18 am
Visible Watermarking is a good preventive measure. I don’t think any solution out there is totally foolproof.
Prevention is the best you can do.
Visible watermarking can save you a lot of headache in the long run. And visible watermarking isn’t that tough.
July 22nd, 2010 at 3:20 am
I did for a very long time, it was just my website I’d put on my images. This was because my pictures weren’t just on my blog, but other places where people could then easily find my website.
Now I don’t, just because where my images are people can easily find my website if they want… the watermark just cluttered the images!
July 22nd, 2010 at 7:39 am
I really want to watermark my photos but I don’t know how.
Please? Any info?
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:03 am
I never do it and will not in the future. I think it devalues my pictures and I rather deal with someone stealing them (and I don’t see blogging about them as stealing) than destroying them.
July 22nd, 2010 at 8:41 am
I never watermark. Almost all of my images are released under Creative Commons.
July 22nd, 2010 at 11:18 am
Just sharing for fun, don’t anybody will use it for commercial anyway… However, this survey give me a second though to put watermark as Lightroom 3 give simple way to do that…
July 22nd, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I don’t watermark, because I am really not worried about it being stolen. My images are CC anyways. Just a few days ago I started adding my name to the corner of my photos, but that is just so that if people like it they can find my other work; it is nothing that couldn’t be easily cropped out.
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:29 am
Watermark or no watermark, if someone likes my photos enough to “pirate” them, that’s awesome.
They are getting out there, regardless.
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:38 am
I use photoshop actions that i created to watermark my images, and resize them to 640×480 (or vice versa for portrait) and then save them in a “Watermarked” folder that i create in the folder of the originals. it works really well, when i upload to Social sites, i just upload the low resolution version with the watermark instead of the high-res originals. It works for me, along with Adobe Photoshop’s Batch command.
July 23rd, 2010 at 1:43 am
My main subject are musicians and bands, and a few photographer mentors suggested I start watermarking my photos when they started being used on websites promoting the musicians/bands. Now it has become a habit of mine to watermark everything.
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:01 am
I’d like information on how to access
FREE programs to “watermark” my photos before publishing
or sharing them.
Thank You,
Dennis
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:07 am
My pictures are not usually good enough to worry about.
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:23 am
I don’t watermark, but I make the photos so ridiculously low resolution they are useless to anyone. If someone wants your photos bad enough, they will find a way to steal them. If someone wants one of our photos, I bet we can come to an easy arrangement if they ask.
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:31 am
In a few cases I have taken pictures that I want to protect mainly due to the positive comments I have received and have allowed some people to post them on websites.
I don’t claim even to be a high end amateur photographer but I would hate to see someone else take credit by stealing the pics.
Thanks for listening
Rix
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:38 am
I don’t because I don’t know how to…..and I don’t think most of my pictures are that good that someone would want it anyway
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:47 am
Okay, I may be way behind the gun on this one, but can any of you, or all of you suggest HOW you add 1)watermarks 2) C symbols etc to your photos? Thanks for your help with this novice request. Al
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:54 am
On all my photos that I think are good enough that someone would want to use them I watermark them. I use aperture 3.0 (apple) so easy to do when you set it up correctly. I took my logo and took out the background using preview or photoshop and created a psd file with alpha channel. I shrunk it down to 150 wide and saved it. Then in aperture, I created an export process adding in my image with a little opacity and placed it in the bottom left hand corner. So if someone wants to use my image with watermark, go ahead, great advertising for me.
http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-2010-07-04/qacetmHAAFJganpJDGpymvgplvnxFugItlbrbnqksGcwgdirtdDkwChudrEa/Gold_Fork_Hot_Springs_7-3-2010_14.jpg.scaled1000.jpg
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:55 am
Didn’t write this, but i found it and it is pretty useful:
http://digital-photography-school.com/how-to-automate-your-watermarking
I would suggest toning down the opacity of your watermark to make it less aesthetically impacting.
Hope this helps, once again i didn’t write that post.
-John
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:56 am
Yes, I add a watermark to my photos because most people don’t follow through with adding the credit when you offer your pics for sharing. But on the new site pixosphere.com you can not only add your own watermark, but the system adds one as well so you know your photos will always have your credit added automatically.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:19 am
As a portrait photographer I watermark everything. Moms are sneaky, I have had a mom take iphone pictures from my blog, crop them and then post them on her Facebook page. I don’t mind people sharing them at all, I just want people to know where they got them taken. Watermarks are ugly, a pain in the butt and do detract from the overall quality of a photo but I would rather have them and get paid for my work by having my clients actually purchase a photo, then have them stolen and not get paid.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:41 am
I watermark any image I care about, especially for FLICKR or other websites, and when I email a good image off to a friend. Ya never know where its gonna end up! The only thing I don’t understand is, unless there is a copyright mark on the face of the image, do people bother to see what the watermark contact info is? And if they don’t have the program to do so, how do they know. So what am I left with, just hunting up each image myself to see if it is being used somewhere?
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:42 am
I voted “Sometimes”. This is out of pure laziness though. I have now created a custom shape in PS now that can easily be applied to any photo in less then 2 seconds that makes a wonderful Watermark.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:48 am
I think if you have an attractive logo/watermark, that you should use it to protect yourself from the clients who are dishonest and download your work. Many of these people do not have, or don’t know how to use, CS5 and will be deterred by a watermark. In this day and age, it is necessary to use the web to sell work to clients (at least it is for portrait photographers), so not using the web just isn’t a solution. As my business grows, I love to see my images posted on people’s Facebook pages, and my watermark helps to bring new clients my way.
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:59 am
I voted no, but I WANT to…. I’m still trying to figure out how and I’m experimenting in Paint Shop Pro. Plus, I’m not a prof. so I have no clue what to put as an watermark or how to make one and apply it to my photos.
July 23rd, 2010 at 7:31 am
I do watermark most of my images because of that very reason
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:06 am
I used to watermark my images on flickr though have come to the conclusion that it is rather pointless. If somebody wants to steal your work they will, whether it be by photoshopping the watermark out or cropping. That and i believe it degrades the image (or at least i know i dislike images with watermarks).
To combat the whole image theft thing i only upload lower resolution images (1024 or under at 72dpi) and retain all copyright. That includes opting out of CC as it is basically a scam. It lowers the worth of your work in the eyes of the law and if somebody does in fact steal your image and you prosecute you wont be getting much out of it as you have been willing to let people use your work for credit only. That being said, i like people using my own images and am willing to let people do it for free etc, they just have to ask me. It’s important to retain all control over your images people.
just my two cents.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:13 am
I voted “no”…
I am new-ish to all this and have yet to figure out how to create a watermark.
However, I only upload images whether to my blog or to FB or anywhere else … at 314×210 or thereabouts. If someone wants to steal my image they aren’t going to get a big file size or a decent print.
If they want/like it that bad they have to contact me.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:17 am
I recently began doing some photography for the local rugby club. I decided to watermark those photos because they go on their website, strictly for recognition. I designed my own as a photoshop action. It a very small watermark in the bottom corner.
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:40 am
Thank you for bringing this matter to my attention, I havent watermarked images because I simply do not know how. Shall get to check out all details when I return home. Thank you for great web site and tutorials. JB
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:17 am
Several years ago I was standing in a store and I overheard a man taking about how he & his brand new wife went online & copied ALL of the images from their photographers website! He bragged about how he saved $1000’s. I then decided if they steal my image they also get the watermark. My watermark is stretched over the entire image. I use a program that allows me to reduce the image & apply the watermark at the same time. I believe it’s by Faststone? It is an awesome little program.
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:28 am
It always depends and where the picture is being shared. and it depends on the size I share. small jpg’s are seldom marked although it’s not a rule.
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:28 am
I do add the watermark to most of my published images, but primarily as a means of increasing my visibility rather than protection. I don’t have any ‘pro’ accounts anywhere, so can’t publish full res originals that people can download anyway (nor anything big enough to be ’stolen’ and used as a wallpaper – though secretly I think I’d be quite chuffed if someone thought any of my images were worth ’stealing’.)
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:40 am
I normally use a watermark with my website URL on it, rather than just my name or logo. I also mainly use it to get my name out there and draw people to my website. Most of the time it is transparent and not in an area where it ruins the viewing of the image. If someone wants to use an image without paying for it or getting permission from the artist, they will. I’ve had my images used illegally more than once, even in print, watermark and all. Go figure.
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:47 am
I don´t know how to do it. Hope I´ll learn now.
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:55 am
I watermark all my photos. I started after finding out that pictures of my friend’s children were being stolen from their blogs and were being used on other people’s blogs (sometimes claiming them as their own kids!). I’ve done various types of watermarking but finally settled on a small “Mommy’s Camera” in the corner. It can be easily cropped out but at least you have to work a little bit. I think watermarks do detract some people from stealing photos. It’s a small reminder that someone else took the picture and doesn’t want you to use it. I find unwatermarked photos and sometimes feel they are free game to use in presentations and such if there’s nothing to tell me otherwise. I know for sure NOT to use a photo if it’s watermarked. Still, even the best watermarks can be removed with a little cropping or masking if someone is desparate enough to use your photo.
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:07 am
I definitely do watermark. I also resize my online images..Even though I may not have the most awesome work in comparison to some, it is just that, MY WORK.
If someone wants to steal it, they will figure out a way… I do it for advertising. Someone else stated they only watermark on work they are proud of…I don’t post anything I’m not proud of. I may not delete it.. but I don’t put it on public display.
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:15 am
I do – although I guess it is an ego thing to think that anyone would want to copy my photos! Easy to do in photobucket and I put my name (almost ghosted) across the middle of the image so that it can’t be cropped out. Guess I never have liked sharing
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:25 am
I never watermark my photos since i don’t know how to. I usually just put some text on the left corner of my photos. I guess it can be easily removed or cropped out if someone steal them, but it never bother me..b’coz I do still kept all the pics that resembles the pics that might been stolen..so, I think that would be an undeniable proof that the pics are mine…=)
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:34 am
Patrick,
there is a program called TinEye – it is a reverse image search engine.
July 23rd, 2010 at 11:54 am
not watermarking is well and good if you don’t want to profit from your images, because you won’t. But if you make a living at it like I do, you best watermark it or web size it. If they really like it let them send the money and will be glad to send a clean high res image. It’s all about the value and use.
July 23rd, 2010 at 2:04 pm
I do not watermark the images as I am not a professional photographer and moreover right now I am still in learning phase.
July 23rd, 2010 at 3:47 pm
I do watermark. I realise that they can be fairly easily removed but someone has to deliberately go to that trouble and they know that they are doing something wrong. It is like locking the door of your home. A determined burglar can still get in but there is no way he can deny that he is on the premises illegally.
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:29 pm
I definitely do watermark , the intension is very clear to get appricated work done. Still now I have’nt share my snaps to any publice sites as I am still in working phase…
July 23rd, 2010 at 5:33 pm
…putting watermark will lessen my time for shooting!
July 23rd, 2010 at 8:15 pm
putting a watermark on your images at export from Lightroom 3 is now such a doddle that it simply isn’t a time factor anymore
July 23rd, 2010 at 9:41 pm
I take a lot of pics of my grandsons sports teams and share them with the family members through different methods on line. I have never watermarked them simply because I do not know how. I would like to know how to watermark them even though I have never seen any used for other purposes.
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:27 pm
When I do watermark a photo it is because I feel it is a really good pic. But most of the time I don’t. I am new in the field and most of my work is in need of a lot of work.
July 23rd, 2010 at 10:46 pm
i am new to in this area and i have always wanted to do watermark but did’nt know how to do.
now that this topic is up i hope to learn something
i have come across pictures like these and did’nt quite understand how its done.
i really like to know
July 24th, 2010 at 3:06 am
I do, mostly, now with clients, other shots I don’t really care. I do it so if a client wants to use a photo as their profile picture on facebook it has my name there. Doesn’t always work but there you go. I plan to do a little more collages.
July 24th, 2010 at 3:55 am
I put my name and logo on the photographs I upload onto Facebook but reduce the opacity so that it doesn’t distract from the image, I tend not to do this if I am posting ’snapshots’ but always mark my professional shots in some way. I enjoy sharing and showcasing my work on the net but do worry about getting some of it stolen, it’s a risk we all take when using photo and social networking sites.
July 24th, 2010 at 7:07 am
You never know when someone decides they like your photo and crop out your little copyright in the bottom left hand corner. Using Lightroom, I apply my own watermark(created in photoshop) in the print mode. My watermark is a transparent text image that just pulls the colors of the image i am working with to the surface so it looks like the text is just raised off of the image. you can adjust the opacity of the watermark so it doesn’t obstruct the photo too much. It is important to cover a part of the image that is the main focus of the shot, otherwise, someone can just crop out what they want, and put their own watermark on it.
This is very important when using social media sites, as most of them clearly state in the fine print that they possess all right to any uploaded images.
to learn how to watermark, Youtube has some great instructional videos. In the search field on Youtube, type watermarking in photoshop and look for a video by tuvid. the name of the video is Watermark your photos fast! : Photoshop Tutorial :
feel free to send me any questions!
thanks,
Jeff Greenhouse
Photographer
Photos Like This
jeff@photoslikethis.com
http://photoslikethis.com
July 24th, 2010 at 7:32 am
Always use a watermark! unless you don’t mind if people use your photo without your permission. The watermark should cover at least part of the main focal point of the image, as one can easily crop out the subject if the copyright or watermark is only in the corner of the photo.
I use Lightroom and under the print mode, i watermark my image and have the opacity set high enough to see, but still keep enough transparency to prevent my logo from obstructing the image. Instead of exporting my file, still in the print mode, i choose to print to file. This allows me to save the image, with the watermark, to anywhere i want on my computer.
Jeff Greenhouse
Photographer
Photos Like This
July 24th, 2010 at 9:33 am
I watermark the photos I upload to ebay,to show my products
July 24th, 2010 at 10:39 am
99% I do a simple watermark.
I do not have the pro version of the photo sharing site which will automatically put a “watermark” on what is viewable, but not on a photo someone buys. I have had “friends” say they downloaded my pics (if they would ask, most of the time I would say yes). If they do it, then who else is doing it?
Some day, I wish to be able to earn some “mad” money or some income, so I do watermark. Also, what I put on facebook I do small sizes, so they can’t be enlarged; but on my site, I don’t put the smaller sizes.
July 25th, 2010 at 2:59 am
I find water marking time consuming as it can be only possible with photoshop as far as i know. Most of the time I dont get time and patience to do the tedious exercise.
July 25th, 2010 at 4:49 am
I have been trusting the websites I’ve been posting to but lately I’m beginning to wonder it would be a good practice to watermakk my photos. I think I’ll start watermarking. I’d love to catch someone using my photos without mu permission.
Bill
July 25th, 2010 at 6:32 pm
When I had my own little photography website I watermarked all my images, but since I stopped doing the site and started just uploading them to Facebook I’ve gotten lazy about it.
July 25th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
I do it 100% of the times now-a-days….. too many times I’ve had my pics illegally used by the commercial media…. its not a fully secured system, but its for sure that illegal use has gone down significantly since watermarking….. ppl can remove those, but not everyone goes into that much trouble with it….
I just wish the world was much better than this…..
July 26th, 2010 at 8:05 am
I often scout websites for inspiration and save images that catch my eye. I think it’s great when the images are watermarked, as this way I know where I got them from as its quite tedious to note down the photographer each time. This way I can return to this persons website and see what they have been up to.
I personally don’t watermark my images, as like some of the other comments, I don’t feel they are that good, but I think I will look into it in the future.
July 26th, 2010 at 12:24 pm
I don’t worry about watermarking because I’m not that good a photographer.
July 28th, 2010 at 2:45 am
I don’t believe in watermarking. It does not guarantee in any way that my pictures won’t be used without permission. But the main reason is that effective watermarking affects the quality of the image. And when the watermark is not all over the picture, it can easily be cut off.
So, instead of watermarking and trying to make unauthorized third party use impossible by making my photos look ugly, I publish my pictures under a Creative Commons Attribution license.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:50 am
I dont really put my pictures up…
but when I do, I nearly always atermark them.
August 8th, 2010 at 3:08 am
most people have been saying “no, its too easy to crop it out anyways”. i only water mark to get my name out, so if my picture spreads people know who i am. i also try to make my mark as invisible as possible so as to not ruin the image. im also hoping to get digimarc so i can track all my photos
August 12th, 2010 at 9:35 pm
i guess it’s ok to put watermarks if it’s your own pictures, but if it’s not, it’s surely is unethical…
August 16th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
i tend to use just text over laid on photo i use elements 7 hand they dont have a watermark function ?
any ideas
August 20th, 2010 at 5:19 am
Watermarking might stop someone from stealing my work, but the people who steal will NEVER pay for a licence to use the shot legally. I do know that watermarks are ugly. Some more than others, but they’re all ugly. So if my work is stolen by someone that never would have paid anything in the first place, I’m not really loosing anything. If anything, my work is getting more exposure because it’s more easily shared.
August 20th, 2010 at 6:00 am
I do watermark most of my images, say about 80%, most of the time I go upon the character they had at the shoot. I just try and watermark the ones that I think would be possible that they would steal them.
August 20th, 2010 at 6:53 am
I use flickr, while I have it set for copyright by me I do not watermark my images. I can’t stand to look at someone images and a big fat watermark is in the middle of it. I don’t care how good the image might have been you just ruined it with ugle water mark. I do have some friends that water mark, but they have found a tasteful way to do it that does not affect the beauty of their image. Now that I can appreciate.
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