Someone in my Twitter feed asked about adding watermarks to photos. I told her a couple of ways to watermark photos ( which I will tell you at the end).

But let me take a moment to make an argument and a plea. First, an argument against certain types of watermarks.

Try not having watermarks

Watermarks tend to be overhanded and ruin photos. When I see a watermarked photo, I believe that most of the time, it ruins or make a lesser photo. I know some people say that adding a watermark at the corner of a photo ruins it. I don’t believe that. I believe it is the same as a photo credit that you would see in a magazine or a newspaper.

 

If you are going to plaster your website or Twitter handle over each photo you upload, why bother.

Now, I am not saying that you should make your photos Creative Commons. But if you are worried about theft, there are ways to prevent that. You don’t even have to write your name in green or purple over the photo.

My plea: Rethink how you watermark your photos

I have a photoshop file that I made as a template for my Twitter friend I have it here for you to download as well. It’s small, but also let’s people know that you own the photo.

Now my friend is more model than photo editor. But I can walk her through how to add this layer to her photo. We could also do the batch watermark process, but I don’t think she is ready for that yet.

Some people would want it larger and that’s fine. You can adjust to what makes you happy.

My friend will probably have a logo because she releases a weekly photo of herself on Twitter and the watermark would be for those photos. That sounds great (in more ways than one). But the same rules should apply.

Um, what about free

No Photoshop, no problem. Make Use Of has an article for free software that can do the same thing.

There are also online services that they review in this article.

The takeaway: You spend time planning, editing, and selecting your shots. Also think about the how you want to mark your shots.