Watermarking :)

[Biomech]

Weeeyyyy!!
So we were discussing watermarking before and came to the conclusion that too big ruins the photo, too small doesn't help prevent theft. I'm afraid I don't know where the thread went and the big boss is around here somewhere so I'm doing this on the sneak

I've just started using new a watermark on my images and was wondering what you think. It's huge and obtrusive - but you know, I really think it works. As you can see it's not like these aweful embossed COPYRIGHT marks you see on some photos. What I like about it is that I find it visually works, it does a job and more importantly it falls in line with and continues the branding.

There is one thing I'm not a fan off at the moment, I won't mention it just so as to not draw attention to it. If anyone mentions it then I'll get it changed

For your pleasure:

Pics are from this set

[Niresangwa]

I don't mind the graphic itself, but as far as 'preventing theft', its almost like you're giving the thief a perfect place to crop the image

just kidding of course. well, kinda. i dont watermark to prevent theft though, just to advertise.

[Peter Ahrens]

I like what Mitchell Kanashkevich wrote on his latest blog post Changes – New Website and Blog! | Mitchell Kanashkevich Travel and Photography Blog which is about his new website with larger images.

"This could of course mean that more people will steal my images... My answer to this is – I don’t really give a crap. Not that much at least. But if someone will try to make money from my images, that is another story. I will come after you!"

Anyway, back to your question. I do think that your watermark is large, but the examples you have shown don't obstruct the photograph, which is the main thing for viewers.

[autofocus]

If your main concern is to not have your photos stolen this solution is not the best (as noted above by the previous poster) As you can see, it's quite easily done

[Biomech]

Oh yeah it's easy to chop up, but 2 things happen then. The image is a heavily compressed 600px 72dpi photo so you end up with a smaller image which just looks aweful. Those 2 actually worked out quite well, some of the others you would loose parts of peoples faces. I think I'm going to experiment with some of the landscapes and bits tonight and see what happens. I've seen some really nice small, stylish watermarks - but my branding doesn't really fit :P Something like this but alot smaller: http://www.ecphotoblog.com/wp-conten...r-1024x685.jpg

Personally, I can't stand these types, I find that they look cheap, tacky and definately ruin the photo:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/audio-.../watermark.png
http://www.shutterfreaks.com/Actions...leDiagonal.jpg

But that aside, as Niresanga mentioned, alot of "watermarking" is advertising too

[wulf]

I have to say that, with the two images above, I think I prefer the layouts if you crop them (or count the bit under the logo as being outside the picture) than taken as a whole image which could have the "watermark" removed for a fee. I think that what you have here is a good way to brand images but not to protect them.

If I wanted to watermark my images, I would probably use a subtle approach like this:



You have to look to see it and it doesn't significantly detract from viewing the image but it would take a fair amount of work to clone out and the picture would be ruined if you tried to crop it away.

Wulf

[Peter Ahrens]

Wulf, it actually took a few moments to find your watermark! It would be very effective to counter against stolen images and is unobtrusive.

[Jim Bryant]

AS most already mentioned, your watermark doesn't do you any good if it's in an area that folks could crop out. I put mine right across the middle.

[BK553]

It's unobtrusive, but also way too time-intensive. I use a bigass mostly transparent text watermark right across the middle. No complaints thus far, and no theft (that I know of) yet.

[wulf]

If you want to make a watermark that is very adapted to the image (I've seen versions that make mine look garish) then it takes a little more time. However the basic technique is to write in the text and set it to overlay mode (so that it blends with the background) and that could be scripted as easily as any other imposed text. The next stage of moving and distorting it to fit is only a few clicks beyond that.

FWIW, I don't tend to watermark my images - putting them on Flickr is first and foremost a backup for me, although I enjoy the extra conversation that they sometimes spark. Watermarking would lose the backup value.

Wulf

Wulf