It can be extremely frustrating when you have spent a lot of time and energy creating your art, simply for someone to copy and paste it and claim it as their own. 

While you still own the copyright to your art, if you are placing photographs online such as on your website, without a watermark – they can be easily stolen and passed off, not as yours! 

This means you don’t get the credit for your hard work.

So how do you add a watermark to your photos to solve the problem?

It depends on what device you will be using, but ultimately you will be using digital software to watermark your photos. 

So, if you’re wondering how you can do this – read our guide below for more information. 

What Is A Watermark?

It’s perhaps best that we fully explain what a watermark is.

A watermark is a picture, signature or word(s) that appear superimposed through an image. 

The idea behind watermarking imagery is to prevent people stealing the image digitally and replicating it.

Many photography companies for example will send you preview images of your recent photoshoot with a list of prices.

It would not be in the best interest of the photographer not to watermark these previews, because you could simply save the image on your computer and print them on photograph paper, or get them printed for a much cheaper price. 

You could even simply use the image online for free.

When it comes to artists, especially professional photographers, their website is always going to be at risk of intellectual property theft and that is why it is so essential to watermark the photographs. 

How Do You Watermark Your Photographs?

As we mentioned earlier, the way to watermark your photographs will be done through software.

However, it depends on what device you are using as to what type of software you will opt for. 

Below, we will show what you can use for different devices when it comes to watermarking your photographs. 

Watermark Your Photographs Using Desktop 

If you are going to watermark your photographs using your desktop, it’s a pretty simple and straightforward process but you will need to have the right software. 

Consider using one of the following:

Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop is gold when it comes to watermarking.

All you will need to do is select the “type” tool and place the “text string” through the image and edit your text accordingly. 

Consider writing your name or your company’s name through the image as a way of identifying it as your own work.

Microsoft Paint 3D

The steps using Microsoft Paint 3D are pretty much the same as using Adobe Photoshop.

Once again, select the text tool and then choose a color.

Type what you wish to type into the text box and then save it. 

You may need to drag the text box around to a specific area after you have typed, rather than before (like with Photoshop). 

EasyBatchPhoto 

EasyBatchPhoto is an app for your Mac and it allows you to edit photographs using the basics such as crop and filters etc.

However, more crucially it allows you to create your own watermark and place it through the image. 

Plum Amaxing’s iWatermark Pro For Windows

This is a similar app to EasyBatchPhoto but it has a strong focus on creating watermarks for images, so you may find it a little more complicated to use – but you can be sure it gets everything right! 

Watermark Your Photographs Using Your Phone 

Now we will look at some apps you can download for your phone which allow you to create a watermark for your photographs! 

Marksta (Android) 

This app is ideal for android users and has all the features you can expect for photograph editing, including watermarks.

A+ Signature Life (Apple) 

This app for Apple users is one of the easiest to use including adding borders and watermarks to your images – making them ideal for web use.

iWatermark (Apple And Android) 

As you can imagine from the name, this app is designed for watermarking and despite the “i” in its name, it is also available for Android users. 

How To Place A Watermark On Your Images 

Now that you are aware of what you can use to watermark your images, it’s a good idea to now know how you place a watermark on your images. 

Select The Photographs 

You will only really need to watermark the photographs that you plan to use online.

Any that will only remain on your desktop or gallery do not require watermarks. 

Additionally, you should focus your efforts on images that you absolutely do not want others using.

If you are not too worried about some images, then only do your most prized images. 

Create Copies Before Watermarking 

This should go without saying, but you will need to create copies of the original image before you start to edit the photograph with a watermark.

Otherwise, you risk ruining the photograph altogether and you cannot replicate the original image for sale or other use! 

Don’t Overdo The Watermark 

You will still want other people to view the photograph to a point where they can still appreciate its artistic merit without stealing your imagery. 

So you do not want to place a watermark that ruins the entire integrity of the image, but you want enough of it there so other people cannot use your image without first purchasing it. 

Some watermark softwares allow for watermarks only to appear when they have been saved, meaning the original image can be viewed, but if they are fraudulently saved – a watermark will appear on the copy. 

Did you know Art Storefronts have an Image Security Feature which disables the “right-click” and “save-as” to each image uploaded. Here’s the link to read more. 

Final Thoughts 

Watermarks can really help to protect your artistic creations, so be sure to follow some of our guidance and keep your work free from unauthorized users!