What is a watermark?

RikkiGTR

RikkiGTR

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Rikki
Edit My Images
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Seen it mentioned countless times in the photo sharing and critique sub-forums, but cannot for the life of me work out what it is :shrug:

I'm looking at pictures where it's mentioned, but dunno what I'm supposed to be looking for. Enlighten me please :D
 
Its a mark the photographer puts on so his work is linked to his name, therefore (hopefully) unusuable to anyone else, they are usually fairly transparent so as not to distract from the picture(y).
 
a watermark is basically a logo in on a image with copyright symbol looks like this (c) press alt o 1 6 9 and your name, its used to stop people using your image without your persmission amd if they do you can send them an message asking them why theyve used your image without your consent alon with a invoice for how they can pay for the image they have used. If you did not watermark people can use your image for free and dont have to ask you for consent
 
Thanks for clearing that up for me. I had a few ideas but that wasn't one of them :D

You learn something new everyday...
 
D-pearce92 said:
If you did not watermark people can use your image for free and dont have to ask you for consent
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Umm.. no they can't. People can't come into your house either and carry away your stuff just because you forgot to lock the door.

However watermarking and locking your door is a good way to prove it wasn't accidental theft. And also, if your neighbor doesn't watermark or lock their door, maybe they'll be hit instead ;)

In short, watermarking is not needed to establish copyright and does not strengthen it in any legal sense. (Disclaimer: I don't live in the UK but I'd be very very surprised if I was wrong).
 
vaizki said:
In short, watermarking is not needed to establish copyright and does not strengthen it in any legal sense. (Disclaimer: I don't live in the UK but I'd be very very surprised if I was wrong).
Click to expand...

Thats how I see it. However, If you include your web site/address on your images it gives a link back to you for free advertising and enables you (as owner) to be contacted for usage requests. It can also make it harder for others to pass off your work as their own.
 
So how do I add a watermark to my own images then?

I'm guessing it's stupidly simple and if I just bothered to go look at my PSE9 I'd find out straight away
 
RikkiGTR said:
So how do I add a watermark to my own images then?

I'm guessing it's stupidly simple and if I just bothered to go look at my PSE9 I'd find out straight away
Click to expand...

New layer, add text/image/logo, adjust for size & opacity, merge layer and save*.

*DO NOT overwrite your original, personal, copy. :)
 
vaizki said:
In short, watermarking is not needed to establish copyright and does not strengthen it in any legal sense.
Click to expand...
It makes it harder for someone to steal your image as they have to remove the watermark if they want to pass the work off as not yours. Worth doing if you have a marketable image, particularly given the recent threads on shots shared online ending up in the media.

Chris Primadona said:
Back when I was a lad, the only watermarks we had where on the front of our trousers. And it wasn't water...
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Wait until you're a bit older, they come back :(
 
Also PNG supports transparency and a larger number of colors than GIF so it may work better in some cases.
 
You can add a watermark in Lightroom if you have the software
 
Dont forget to add your derails to the file info too.
 
In the Meta data fields.
 
D-pearce92 said:
a watermark is basically a logo in on a image with copyright symbol looks like this (c) press alt o 1 6 9 and your name, its used to stop people using your image without your persmission amd if they do you can send them an message asking them why theyve used your image without your consent alon with a invoice for how they can pay for the image they have used. If you did not watermark people can use your image for free and dont have to ask you for consent
Click to expand...

Nonsense not having a 'watermark' or for that matter a copyright symbol on an image does not invalidate or negate your copyright in any way shape or form.

Watermarks are used by pretentious people under a total misgnoma trying to show how clever they are. If they are that concenred about having their precious images 'stolen' then they shouldn't display them on sites like these all watermarks do is to spoil a good image they are a complete waste of time and an irritation to any discerning photographer or viewer.

Bill
 
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vaizki said:
Umm.. no they can't. People can't come into your house either and carry away your stuff just because you forgot to lock the door.

However watermarking and locking your door is a good way to prove it wasn't accidental theft. And also, if your neighbor doesn't watermark or lock their door, maybe they'll be hit instead ;)

In short, watermarking is not needed to establish copyright and does not strengthen it in any legal sense. (Disclaimer: I don't live in the UK but I'd be very very surprised if I was wrong).
Click to expand...

(y) You are not wrong
 
Hi guys,

i would like to create a water mark but not sure what to have also how do u design one etc is there anyone on here that could make me one if thats possible etc or give me some idea's

thanks james
 
JD007F said:
anyone help me with awater mark ? lol
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Creating the watermark is about as trivial an operation as you can do with an image editing program, so much so that anyone creating one for you would realise that if you can't do it yourself, you're going to be utterly lost on the (mildly) harder part of applying the watermark to your images.

If you really find it so daunting at this point to create your own, just download and use one of the many freeware programs that automates it all, eg:

http://www.picture-shark.com/watermark_freeware_image_protect_gallery_default.htm

(first result on google)
 
D-pearce92 said:
If you did not watermark people can use your image for free and dont have to ask you for consent
Click to expand...

Completely mis-informed I'm afraid. That is not the case at all.
 
okey dokey cheers guys, well tbh i think its just me being lazy which i know sounds sad, whats the best program to use to make a water mark, i have got the adobe photoshop element 7 is this good enough or do i need another program as i need to kick my own bum and do it for my self lol

thanks for the help guys
 
explora56 said:
Watermarks are used by pretentious people under a total misgnoma trying to show how clever they are. If they are that concenred about having their precious images 'stolen' then they shouldn't display them on sites like these all watermarks do is to spoil a good image they are a complete waste of time and an irritation to any discerning photographer or viewer.

Bill
Click to expand...

I'll bookmark this for when in a couple on months Bill is back on saying some company has stolen his images and how does he go about sending an invoice :LOL::LOL: don't worry Bill you won't be the first on these forums to have done it. :)
 
JD007F said:
anyone help me with awater mark ? lol
Click to expand...

James, I use a small program called FastStone Photo Resizer, which has the function to add text/watermarks as well as re-size your pictures easily.

Hope that helps ? (y)
 
cheers guys i will look that program up when i get 5 mins over the weekend, does it cost much.

cheers
 
In Photoshop you can also save your watermark as a brush , then just use the brush tool to apply it

also you can set up a batch action or droplet to apply it to a whole bunch of files rather than doing each one manually yourself

I have to say though that in 99% of cases i dont bother - if you put it in a discreet area its pointless as the illicit user just crops it off or clones it out, and if you make it big and put it in a detailed area so that can't be done it spoils the look of the image and puts off potential customers

I just only upload small files so they cant be nicked for print, and regularly use the google tool or tineye to search for nicked ones on websites , then send a stiffly worded email and/or invoice (depending on who and what)
 
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