Watermarking – How I Utilise this Advertising Opportunity
Watermarks are used for various reasons. To protect the copyright of images, to enhance their appearance or purposefully detract from it. Sometimes they blend in, other times obtrusive. Traditionally, water marks were what they say in the name: marks on images which were transparent, a watery resemblance of text overlaid on the image. Now, the term ‘watermark’ is broadened and widely used as a way to describe any form of text or imagery laid on or around an image to let folks know who that image belongs to.
I’ve been through a load of different watermarking methods so far and have been astounded at the lengths people will still go to in order to steal my images. One client even went so far as to take a screen shot of an image from her preview gallery and crop the portion of the image not touched by the massive © so that when I spotted the image on Facebook, only the top half of her daughter’s head remained. It was then that I realised that if a client isn’t going to purchase images from their session, and then proceed to steal the previews for their Facebook, I should at least make the image advertise my business by way of a watermark that clients actually enjoy being part of their image.
As important a function in your workflow as watermarking should be, I’m surprised by the lengths I’ve had to go through to find a way to watermark a batch of images. In Lightroom, the only way I’ve found is in the ’slideshow’ panel but of course, then you have the slide background and other elements to deal with. There are a host of downloadable programs to batch edit images, including adding a watermark, but the ones I’ve found have been rather archaic in their interface and I don’t feel that they have any artistic sense about them which doesn’t help when you’re in the visual arts field.
Finally, I’ve settled on a method which kills the proverbial two birds with one stone. Blogging templates. I’m a fan of The Album Cafe’s ‘Blog-it’ templates. They’re a cheap and customisable way to 1.} Format and resize your images for the web and 2.} Mark your images with text or a logo in an unobtrusive way that actually enhances your images in a way that clients will enjoy sharing with their friends and family (not all the blog-its have a place for a logo so choose carefully).
I’ve found that marking my images in this way and sending a couple choice shots to clients to share with their network of hundreds of friends has been a great way to advertise my business. I regularly get bookings from folks who saw their friends photos on Facebook.
How do you approach the giant that is watermarking?
47 Responses to “Watermarking – How I Utilise this Advertising Opportunity” - Add Yours
February 12th, 2010 at 12:16 am
I don’t watermark my images. When I upload onto Facebook, I put up images in the form a collage. Even if someone steals the image, it’s just in the form of a collage and not the actual image in full size.
February 12th, 2010 at 12:19 am
I’m now using discreet watermarks for pretty much the same reasons as you’ve mentioned.
February 12th, 2010 at 12:52 am
I’m still on the fence about watermarking. As you mentioned if someone wants to steal your image they’re going to. But the typical argument against watermarks is they’re unattractive and I like how yours in unobtrusive. The only universal thing that everyone agrees on is don’t upload the full size image. Could they print your your 1024×768 image? sure. But it’s not going to look good. I’ve seen others use a corner type of watermark and it looks a lot better than plastering (C) 2010, JOHN DOE, http://WWW.EXAMPLE.COM!!!! so it takes up 1/3 of the image.
February 12th, 2010 at 1:14 am
Two things.
1-There is a great plugin for Lightroom called Mogrify (http://www.photographers-toolbox.com/products/lr2mogrify.php) that works really well for adding watermarks to your images. I use it all the time, and it works really well.
2-I too use watermarks to advertise. Whenever I do a shoot, I often times give my clients a “Web Ready” set of the images. These images are usually about 600px wide, and they have a non-obtrusive watermark on them. I want the watermark to be non-obtrusive for a couple of reasons. First, I don’t want it to distract from the image. Second, I don’t want it to be annoying enough for them to want to take the time to remove it from the image. Thus, when they upload it to their their Facebook page, or blog, I get credit. Works great.
February 12th, 2010 at 1:14 am
I also watermark or brand all of my photos. (I recently touched on the reason on a blog post: http://grtaylor2.com/2010/01/hy-watermark-or-brand-your-photos
I too am amazed at the length people will go to steal your work. The key for me with watermarking is to allow the view to know who the photographer is and give them information on how to get in touch with me but balance that with proper placement of the mark so it does not effect the integrity of the photograph.
February 12th, 2010 at 1:17 am
I am not at the stage where I need to watermark my work, but I completely agree that subtle informative watermarking is a good way to go. Especially in the cases you describe where you are dealing with clients who would like to share photos of their event or session with friends. Sure, some will abuse it, but at least you are getting some advertising you would otherwise not get. You may even go to the point of releasing a small sample of the whole session to your client with the caveat that they keep the watermark in view when they post the work. Most clients will be purchasing a larger set of the work later (i.e. the whole wedding).
As an example, a relative recently had a wedding in Florida (we are from Toronto/Ottawa) and she posted some early shots of the wedding on Facebook. The photos had a simple watermark on the bottom with just the photographers website along the bottom. His blog had all the pictures my relative had posted pictures posted publicly already. I would have never found the site without the watermark. Though I do not plan on getting married in Florida, I may use a similar method to find a local photographer in the near future (hopefully my girlfriend doesn’t read this and spoil next week’s surprise
).
As a person who enjoys looking at good pictures, I find the subtle informative watermark useful because I can use it to find more photos by that photographer. Good advertising works.
February 12th, 2010 at 1:20 am
As an amateur, I never thought I’d have to watermark my images, but I do when I post them to my blog now. I’ve had a HUGE problem with people hotlinking to them, and it’s begun chewing up the bandwidth of my self-hosted site. Watermarking has helped immensely with this problem, and now people are emailing me with requests to use my photos. I don’t mind that a bit, as long as they host them on their server and give me credit for the image.
February 12th, 2010 at 1:34 am
I’ve just begun experimenting with watermarking and have found two ways that I like to apply them quickly:
Coffeeshop has a watermarking action kit and mcp actions also has a Finish It set that has an automatic logo branding action. Both are easy to work with and give you several options for sizing and positioning. I will probably start offering facebook photos free with sessions and put a large watermark on those photos just for advertising purposes….then there’s no need to steal!
February 12th, 2010 at 1:35 am
I watermark my images; I try to keep the watermark visible as an advertising mechanism but not obtrusive. I figure if my clients are happy with my work, they’ll have no objection to posting watermarked images to Facebook and other social sites. When I provide images to clients, I provide a set of Facebook ready (properly sized, sharpened, optimized, and watermarked) images. Many of my clients have, with out prompting or request, posted watermarked images and direct links back to my website.
The problem I keep running into is that, at least on Facebook, when someone chooses your image as a profile photo two things happen: 1) the image is copied into their “Profile Photos” album and 2) they’re given the option to crop the image. Being a web/technical person as my day job, I can see why this happens, but as a photographer it’s frustrating. Speaking to your client who used a heavily cropped an image, it’s possible that it was no work at all and merely using a tool that Facebook provides.
Nothing makes me happier than a client who is happy with their images and wants to use them in multiple places. As people would like to crop in on particular parts of an image for their profile photos, I would prefer if Facebook kept a permanent link back to the original photo and/or the original album they were posted in. I post many photos to my Facebook page that get used as profile photos; I would love to preserve the link back to the rest of my work.
February 12th, 2010 at 2:02 am
After much frustration with Lightroom (and I do love it in so many other ways!), I searched and went with Mogrify to be able to export from Lightroom with a watermark, and without the slideshow stuff. Have only had a few clients so far (just getting started!), but I provide them with a CD that has the watermarked images set at a good web resolution for sharing, and then another copy with good resolution for printing. So far, it’s working out.
http://www.photographers-toolbox.com/products/lr2mogrify.php
February 12th, 2010 at 2:26 am
I also use LR2mogrify, and it is fantastic. Once you set up an export template with it, you don’t have to worry about it again. Every image that you export with that template will have your watermark. I created mine in Photoshop CS4.
February 12th, 2010 at 2:37 am
I’ve yet to watermark my images but the if/how of it all is something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. Since I’m currently just an amateur hobby photographer it feels a bit pretentious which is what has stopped me, but I do have a goal of becoming a professional some day, and in the meantime I have another outside the norm issue that makes me feel like I need to do it. Most of my pictures are of my dogs or other people’s purebreds and backyard breeders often steal images to use for their own advertising. It’s happened to many people I know. I’ve also spoken with people who photograph children and want to protect images for that reason. So I think there are a variety of reasons to use a watermark.
My current dilemma is just how to make one, what it should say, etc. I do love ones like this that have the bonus of being great marketing tools as well.
February 12th, 2010 at 2:43 am
Water mark may not really help to prevent image theft. As many readers rightly pointed out the best way is to upload low resolution photos to the web. I don’t mind people using my images for non-commercial purposes, but getting little bit of credit will not hurt. I watermark my photos in non-obstructive way in the lower left corner of the image using a GIMP script I wrote few years back. Script available here : http://primej.blogspot.com/2009/11/watermarking-photos-using-gimp.html
February 12th, 2010 at 2:47 am
Normally I use Dr. Russel Brown’s 1-2-3 script for all of my images that go to the web. In it, there is the ability to run an action in PS. I have an action that I created, that sharpens for web, and adds a watermark. So a simple click of a checkbox takes care of all of that for me…HOWEVER, I am trying out the Beta of Lightroom 3 and I kind of like their way of adding a watermark…It’s pretty neat.
February 12th, 2010 at 2:50 am
sjlarue -
I’ve been trying Lightroom 3 as well (a long time LR2 user.) While the watermarking is a marked improvement over LR2, I find my watermarks change size depending on if I’m exporting a vertical or horizontal photo. Have you found a way around it? I’ve looked a few times with no success, so I’m still watermarking in PS.
Thanks!
February 12th, 2010 at 2:53 am
I also vouch for mogrify in LR. I use text only, but graphical ones are possible.
February 12th, 2010 at 3:20 am
I’ve been really impressed with Lightroom 3 Beta and its watermarking capabilities. I’m looking forward to when the full release comes.
February 12th, 2010 at 3:23 am
I’ve had to watermark my work. In my experience, ppl have stolen, “retouched”, cropped, and reuploaded my work as there own. Not cool. I’m working on a no name just image logo. But I most def need one.
February 12th, 2010 at 3:26 am
Also, I use FastStone Photo Resizer to resize and watermark and add border. In under 5 minutes 300 photos.
It’s a Godsend.
February 12th, 2010 at 3:42 am
“How do you approach the giant that is watermarking?”
Pretty simple… I don’t. Stealers gonna steal…
February 12th, 2010 at 4:03 am
This raises a great point, I’ve only really thought of watermarking for protection purposes but it is a great way of marketing. The trick would be to make the watermark subtle and attractive enough to not take away from the photo and hence people will be less inclined to try to crop it out.
Now, how you do that is another matter – I do like your framed pics with the watermark bottom left but I assume that fits with a logo you use and text would be a little more obtrusive (especially if you wanted to batch a set of pics). I’ll have a good think about this the next couple of days before we do out next wedding shoot!
February 12th, 2010 at 4:13 am
The ONLY way to prevent people from using or “stealing” your images is NOT let them leave your computer – period. No emails, no posting online, none of that. The moment you hit SEND and email a photo to a friend or relative, or the moment you post an image online, SOMEONE s going to snake it. No two ways around it.
February 12th, 2010 at 4:28 am
I do watermark some of my photos and am pretty pleased with my method (it takes a few extra steps but that helps me make sure I’m only posting the best of the best)
I took my logo and turned into a brush in photoshop (there are a lot of tutorials for that)
I then set it to either dodge or burn depending on the image and set it somewhere between 40 and 60% opacity and use it as a stamp somewhere on the image. I try to find an artistic place to put them and I think it works pretty well.
February 12th, 2010 at 5:29 am
I have a simple solution that’s free, I keep Google Picasa 3 on my machine expressly for resizing images and watermarking them.
Before posting or sending to any clients, I use the export feature in Picasa 3 to sample them down from full size (my default output size in lightroom) to a 1024 long edge with a simple text watermark.
Picasa’s smart enough to switch between white or black text on the watermark, and tucks it away in the corner of the image. Using this method, I can mark and resize hundreds at a time with no extra effort.
It even saves these settings so you don’t have to re-do them each time you export.
February 12th, 2010 at 5:41 am
Hi I would like to find out if anyone uses a simple watermarking tool that is good for beginners such as myself who cant afford these wonderul progrms. There are some out there that resize pics but don’t allow you to put on watermark.
February 12th, 2010 at 6:42 am
I watermark for both protection and marketing. I only allow clients to post watermarked, reduced sized (800px) images to their Facebook pages, etc. On my own site’s blog, every image is watermarked just to provide a little security and I feel it also adds a touch of professionalism by watermarking your images.
I’d like to know a good batch way to watermark images too. Sometimes the lower right corner is not always best for every image so I usually end up just doing it manually in Photoshop.
February 12th, 2010 at 7:20 am
Great templates! Just what I was looking for, bought one to start, might be the beginning of a collection! Thanks for sharing!
February 12th, 2010 at 8:55 am
Just create an action in photoshop and use the script process to do a batch. I let people use web size images and even give wedding and portrait clients a set on disc, but then I guess my clients feel like they are getting value for money and don’t mind paying for prints, I have never had someone not buy prints and just use the low res images. I have seen people do this and get really crappy prints from web size images their reason was that the portraits they were able to purchase were very expensive (a travelling company doing one size fits all glamour).
February 12th, 2010 at 9:02 am
I watermark some pictures and to do that I use an amateur level program, ACDC Pro2.5 (I know it’s named Pro). When I email proofs to a client, I send them at a resolution of 72 dpi. Otherwise, like many have said, you can only do so much.
February 12th, 2010 at 10:55 am
Currently I do not watermark, however, I typically resize all of my images to 1024 or less and I use a filter that puts 70 pixel rounded corners on most of my images to 1) set them apart from other photos and 2) reduce the usability of the photo beyond my posting. I have been doing different mockups of watermarks to use, but as of yet have not found the one that just feels right.
February 12th, 2010 at 1:52 pm
I’m with Wired on this one. Seriously.
http://www.wired.com/rawfile/2009/08/black-hole/
February 12th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
I don’t use watermarks. I’m not a professional or claim to be the world’s greatest photographer but I have had images show up on other people’s web pages. It just doesn’t bother me all that much.
I upload low size, low resolution photos which look fine on a monitor but are not printable. True, someone can steal them for a web page. But if you put them on the internet, that’s the risk you run. I have to agree with Liz.
Next, I disable right click. That will discourage a few who don’t know how to get around it.
For the really skilled photoshop users, watermarks can be cloned out. Unless you plaster them all over the entire photo.
February 13th, 2010 at 1:00 am
One must admit that watermarking makes pictures aesthetically spoiled, while theft is always possible.
On the other hand, though, I agree with Elizabeth, definitely: watermarks are a powerful way to advertise yourself. No matter how your name appears on the pictures (see here for some examples) there is some “social” added value in them.
February 13th, 2010 at 3:11 am
I agree with Elizabeth that it seems to be a good advertising tool. And I like the logo much more than a watermark.
And I have worried it is pretentious…
But in the last 24 hours two companies have asked me for photos of mine that they have seen. And so I wonder about pricing (and there was a good DPS post about that not too long ago), and also began to think about adding that little logo/branding.
But I have a question – to post a small size on the web, is wordpress’s “large” size, 497 px by whatever, small enough? Or should they be smaller? I want my blog to look good, but I don’t want theft.
February 13th, 2010 at 3:16 am
photokunstler, that’s plenty small. Even at 1024px on the long side, a thief will only be able to print at 3.5″ x whatever (300ppi) or 7″ x whatever (150ppi). Web use is a different story.
February 13th, 2010 at 3:19 am
Thanks B – I got a tad worried when I asked the company’s person who had enquired about the photos to email me, and she wrote back “thanks for the photos.”
I figured they might be too small to do much with, other than perhaps their website.
February 13th, 2010 at 3:54 am
I watermark everything. With over 3000 images on Flickr, I need as much protection as possible. For those who don’t think their images are worth watermarking, wait until someone steals an image – and doesn’t pay for it, or even give you credit – that ends up on a pay site that has the potential to turn big bucks for them. This changed my entire point of view.
Even if you consider yourself an ‘amateur’ or otherwise feel the quality of your images doesn’t justify watermarking – remember images on the web last FOREVER. When you do start selling images, you may want to sell those images – I have sold several images that are over five plus years old – and you don’t want to make proving your copyright on those old images any more difficult than necessary. Watermarks helps make sure people know an image is copyrighted.
When you sell an image, make sure that whatever web use the image is licensed for is clearly spelled out in the license you sell to the end user. Never give anyone an image that can be used on the web, until after they have paid for it and signed an agreement as to what they can and can’t do with the image. Giving people images to use on the web without paying for them is a license to steal – they will use them and won’t, necessarily, pay you for anything. Watermark or no watermark. Allowing people to use your images for anything without paying for them devalues your image and your art. [I am reminded of a story I once read about a family that used to pay a sitting charge for pictures of their children, then photograph the proofs when the photographer sent them, rather than pay for prints. This was before digital, but you get the idea.]
I enforce copyrights vigorously. If I find an image of mine on the web, I have a stock letter I send to the poster and the website host that makes my position perfectly clear. I do not let any image be used on Facebook, or any other social networking site, as most people on these sites have no qualms about using and re-using copyrighted works without paying for them. If you buy an image from me and want the rights to use it on Facebook, et al, you are going to pay a heavy price for it, (like buying the copyright). Allowing your images on these sites is like giving someone a license to steal your work. I don’t do it. If I were ever to find one of my images on one of these sites, this is the only time I would consider legal action – against Facebook, the primary thief and all subsequent users. Although Facebook is, probably, the only one you are going to get money from.
I have had people hot link to my images on my web server, so I read server logs when large amounts of bandwidth start being used. I block the users who do this and they get a letter. Either the links are removed or else I block them. I never post anything over 72dpi, which prevents printing anything that is stolen from being printed. I always disable right click, (screen shots will get around this, but hey, you have to try…). And I watermark everything – although my watermark isn’t obtrusive.
February 13th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
Personally I find the value of copyright in our current society a bit overrated. Unless you make living out of photography, what does it matter that someone copies or prints your photo? Getting credit is nice, sure. Most people will do that anyway. So why would you prevent others from using your creative work? It’s not you who create a great masterpiece after all, it only happens when you step aside and let it happen. Think of how identified you are with your work. Think of all the ego centric people around. Is it really worth worrying that someone steels your work? If hotlinking is an issue use technical measures to prevent it. For the rest, why don’t you practice being generous? Creative Commons licences are a good start in my opinion.
Photography is my hobby and all photos and panoramas on my website are available in full size and without watermarking.
February 13th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
@Kerri – A good way to overcome your problem with people cropping for their facebook profile picture is to provide them with a pre-cropped profile picture, with your watermark in the crop. You could even label it “profile picture” so they know what its for.
@Elizabeth – I like that you’ve had a problem where they cropped around the water mark and instead of thinking “I need a bigger watermark” you’ve gotten creative and used it all to your advantage.
It seems to me that there could be a problem if someone did print your small sample-size images, complete with watermark in a large size. The crummy looking expansion could make people who look at it think you’re a cheapo photographer. Have you considered watermarking those smaller images with “sample” or “web size”, perhaps incorporated into the current watermark.
If you had sample on it, they might be ashamed to stick it up on facebook though, so they might go back to cutting.
February 14th, 2010 at 3:21 am
Another reason for a watermark on the theft angle is enforcement.
1) having a WM on an image (if formatted right) serves the notification need in copyright law.
2) there are services that you can use to search for your images. If you standardize your logo WM, it’s easy to search for that image signature on any image you put up.
3) if a thief removes your WM, then you get extra $$$$ when you sue for wilful removal of your copyright notice.
February 14th, 2010 at 4:15 am
Umm, it’s called a “watermark” because they used to be made by a printer with water on their paper, not because they look watery. A carved, damp block of wood was pressed lightly against each page staining the pattern gently on the surface.
The watermark image was visible if you held the paper up to the light, but did not interfere with the readability of the page once printed or typed upon. The original intent was to brand a particular brand of paper so people know what kind of quality they were getting.
IMHO, Mogrify is the right way to go for LR plugins. Much less work that blogging tools.
The idea of a value-add brand on images as opposed to a subtle (or unsubtle) watermark is very nice. Thanks for the good suggestion, it’s something that I will use immediately in my own work.
Michael
February 15th, 2010 at 2:28 am
Great Article.
The comments also have given me a lot to think about as well. I actually got an email from visitor of my website asking if I was worried about my images getting stolen. My response was like many on here. I either share it or keep it on my hard drive.
I am an amateur and would love to make some money from my work but at the same time I enjoy taking pictures and listening to the comments from an audience. If I keep photos on my hard drive I lose the audience.
So, I post small images with a watermark in the corner like a lot of other posters on here. I never thought about advertising. So my watermark might change now from my name to my website.
I use Apple’s Aperture 2 and export using Border FX where I can chose size of image and my watermark. It is pretty simple and not a chore to do.
Again great article and thanks for the food for thought!
February 15th, 2010 at 5:29 am
Perfect, Chris! Just downloaded Border FX and will give it a whirl!
Thanks!
February 17th, 2010 at 6:02 am
Excellent idea Elizabeth! Thanks for the link too.
February 25th, 2010 at 4:23 pm
People buy the copyright for all the photos I take when they get my services. Why? Becasue digital photos, and even printed photos will end up on the net and sent around the world regardless of what you have written into your contract. So why fight it.
So, I do provide a full set of watermarked photos for the net – resized to fit inside 600×600px, and quailty reduced to 10. Completely unusable if someone wants to print it. But a great marketing opportunity. I even upload some of them myself (once they’re paid for) on my facebook fan page (they are going to end up on fb, trust me.)
I created an action in Photoshop to do the watermarking, which does everything except the actual placement of the watermark. It takes a while to large batches of photos, but I do find that there are the odd times when the watermark really does need to be placed somewhere else.
February 25th, 2010 at 4:25 pm
I’ve seen some great watermarks and think that they add to the image. Need to do some work on mine though.
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:15 pm
Perfect!I like this blog .. All the photos must have their photo rights for its protection i think!
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