Water mark/Signature for the average joe?

[Sonya Natasha]

Hello everybody,
I'm brand new to the DPS forums (I have been getting the newsletter for about a year now and loved the ideas and advice from them) and I figure that I would be brave and ask a question that has bugged me for a while.

With the advent of websites like flickr and facebook there are a sea of people claiming to be photographers and many of them are using water marks/signatures on pretty average or poor pictures.

I take pictures as a hobby and have no intentions of becoming a pro. So, a watermark/signature seems silly for me (I don't feel 'worthy' enough). BUT, there are times that I take pictures that I love, and the thought of someone ripping them from my flickr account without credit bugs me too.

Does anyone else feel that way? At what level/point is it considered acceptable to have a signature or watermark and not look silly? Or do think too much?


My apologies if this is already answered somewhere else, I searched and couldn't find a similar question....

[Saralonde]

I don't use watermarks, mostly because I can't be bothered . But you do need to know that they won't protect your image from being stolen. A little time in photoshop can erase that watermark and images are easily lifted from flickr or other sites.

[Sime]

I'd suggest the first thing you could do would be to stop people downloading the original size of your images from Flickr :-)

Sime

Flickr Photo Download: Sidney

Nice kitty!

[Sonya Natasha]

I did not know that a watermark could be photoshopped out (but again, what I don't know about photoshop could fill a boat)!

I've also changed the settings on flickr

[JanN]

That's been bothering me for a while now .. watermark or not to watermark. Tried watermarking a few pics.. gave up after a few attempts.

One question, how do you change the flickr settings? I'm a 100% flickr newbie

[Sonya Natasha]

If you go to the bottom of the flickr page and hit 'My Account' you will get to a page called 'Your account'. There are 4 tabs, you click on the second one 'Privacy and Permissions'.

Or that is how I did it....There could be a much easier way....

[Saralonde]

Just so you know: It is still easy to download an image even if you change the Privacy and Permissions. There is a flickr hack script called AllSizes+ that will allow you to download any size but the original.

Believe me, if someone wants your image, they can get it.

[RustySterling]

I do add a watermark but not so much to protect the image as to identify myself. I also down-size and down-rez my images to a point that they are ridiculously small if someone downloads it -- about 1" at the widest.

Still, that would not stop someone from doing a screen capture and editing in Photoshop to get a fairly decent faux download. And if you have the right software up sizing and up rezing can also be done.

[JonZenor]

I add a signature to my pictures as more of a way to show that I took it and to identify myself. Then again I'm not in the business of selling my pictures since I'm still new at this, and I do not know if I ever will sell.

If you are worried about it getting stolen the only way to protect it is to never put it on the internet.

[Raoul Isidro]

I guess a signature (not watermark) may provide that extra chance that an entity interested in your original full resolution image will be led to you.
The simple illustration of a cartoon by an unknown graphic designer elicited the interest of big wigs on Twitter and the company used this image whenever Twitter was down or overloaded. Lucky gal! She's doing great now!