It’s not my intention to offend fellow photographers, but in my opinion, your watermark should be a reflection of the size of your ego. Big ego, big watermark. Little ego, little watermark.
How can you strike a balance between showcasing your work and preventing someone from stealing it? Here are a few suggestions.
What size should my watermark be?
Look at your image and ask yourself what do you notice first, the image or watermark. If all you see is the watermark, it’s too large. If you have to hunt for the watermark, it’s too small. Your goal is to strike a happy balance. Showcase your image — let the quality of your work speak for itself — and the viewer will be encouraged to look for your watermark.
Showcase on social media or your website
Showcasing your work should be just that. You want the viewer to be in awe of your image without anything distracting their attention. An easy way to do this is to place your watermark at the bottom left or right corner. This will keep the watermark from competing with the image.
Selling digital images
An exception to the “ego” rule is when you offer digital prints. It’s easy to crop out a watermark or logo that’s placed at the bottom corner of an image, so that won’t work. Instead, try placing your watermark in the middle of the image BUT lower the opacity to where it’s just noticeable and doesn’t distract from the image.
Fine art photographs or portraits
Fine art prints or portraits are usually signed. The same “ego” rule applies. If your signature is the first thing the viewer sees, it’s too large. Creating a signature watermark stamp will let you scale your signature to the appropriate size. If you don’t have a signature watermark stamp, it’s easy. Follow these steps in “Create Your Own Signature Watermark as a Brush.”
Do you agree or disagree with the “ego” watermark rule? Leave a comment and share your thoughts and how you watermark your photos.
For Ego no question about it; for others it is showing their work. Regards!
I’m not really sure on this one. After having several photos taken from one of my blog posts (said blog has since been removed) and used without permission on three different Russian websites, it’s debatable whether or not a watermark would’ve made a difference. Sadly I didn’t have a watermark, basically because I didn’t deem the shot worthy I imagine. Funnily enough the photo has been bought by an American production company to use in a documentary. There’s obviously a lesson there for me, Maybe I should create a watermark.👍
Cheers
Laurie Smith.
That’s not cool of them. Add a watermark but lower the opacity so it’s noticeable but doesn’t affect your image.
Gotta disagree with you on this one. Your watermark isn’t anything I would enjoy seeing in a picture, but if you have a professionally done watermark that’s your own custom signature then I say make it big.
For Ego no question about it; for others it is showing their work. Regards!
Gotta disagree with you on this one. Your watermark isn’t anything I would enjoy seeing in a picture, but if you have a professionally done watermark that’s your own custom signature then I say make it big.
I’m not really sure on this one. After having several photos taken from one of my blog posts (said blog has since been removed) and used without permission on three different Russian websites, it’s debatable whether or not a watermark would’ve made a difference. Sadly I didn’t have a watermark, basically because I didn’t deem the shot worthy I imagine. Funnily enough the photo has been bought by an American production company to use in a documentary. There’s obviously a lesson there for me, Maybe I should create a watermark.👍
Cheers
Laurie Smith.
That’s not cool of them. Add a watermark but lower the opacity so it’s noticeable but doesn’t affect your image.
Gotta disagree with you on this one. Your watermark isn’t anything I would enjoy seeing in a picture, but if you have a professionally done watermark that’s your own custom signature then I say make it big.
I’m not really sure on this one. After having several photos taken from one of my blog posts (said blog has since been removed) and used without permission on three different Russian websites, it’s debatable whether or not a watermark would’ve made a difference. Sadly I didn’t have a watermark, basically because I didn’t deem the shot worthy I imagine. Funnily enough the photo has been bought by an American production company to use in a documentary. There’s obviously a lesson there for me, Maybe I should create a watermark.👍
Cheers
Laurie Smith.
That’s not cool of them. Add a watermark but lower the opacity so it’s noticeable but doesn’t affect your image.
For Ego no question about it; for others it is showing their work. Regards!