How to Watermark Photos Without Ruining Them

A watermark is a name, a logo or a copyright line placed on a picture. It tells people who made the photo and makes it harder to pass off as someone else's. A good one does that without getting in the way of the picture.

Text or a logo

• Text is the quickest. Something like "Photo by Your name" or your website address is enough.
• A logo looks more polished and is easier to recognize. Use a PNG with a see-through background so only the shape shows.

The Watermark tool does both, and applies the same mark to a whole batch of photos before packing them into a ZIP.

Where to put it

A corner is easy to ignore, but also easy to crop away. The middle is hard to remove but spoils the view. A good compromise is a corner mark for a gallery you're happy to share, and a repeating mark across the picture for proofs and samples that you don't want used as they are.

Making it readable without shouting

• Set the opacity somewhere around 40 to 60 percent, so it shows without taking over.
• Use white or black text, and keep the shadow on, so it reads on light and dark areas.
• Keep it small. About 4 to 6 percent of the picture width is usually plenty.
• Tilt a repeating mark a little. It's harder to clean up automatically.

What a watermark can't do

It slows people down, but it doesn't stop them. A corner mark can be cropped, and a determined person can edit one out. If a picture is valuable, share a smaller version, or post the full-size file only to people who have agreed to your terms.

Before you share

Photos can hide your location and camera details. The saved copy from the watermark tool has none of that, but you can check any photo with the EXIF Viewer & Remover. A smaller file loads faster for people who view it, so run the finished pictures through the Image Compressor if they're large.