Watermark placement

levelbest

Hi folks. I cant believe how long I have been dragging my feet. I know I have salable photos, people have seen them and wanted them. And no not just family types.

I have many questions but the one question I Have for this post is about watermark placement. When I display a picture on the internet I want to do two things, size the picture small enough so that it wont print out that great if anyone takes it and of course, place a water mark on any photo I post to my site. I am only now selecting on online selling agency so watermarking that way will be a whole other question. Still the answer would be the same.

I have gone a little overboard at first, asserting my name and copywrite symbol, and date, all over any picture I Posted. But sometimes I get feedback that this makes my work hard to see and enjoy. Obviously that is good if I don't want them stolen. But just as obviously it is bad if I want people to see how great a picture looks and then look at me with greater respect for my photography and reputation or, buy some pictures.

So what can anyone comment about a "proper" sized watermark on a lower edge vs a watermark across the frame, potentially distracting the viewing?

Thanks.

Angelo

hi and welcome to dgrin

small, low resolution thumbnails are certainly a good way to protect yourself but only against those wanting to print images. they could still be stolen for use on the internet.

a small, highly transluscent watermark, significantly repetitious across the face of your images is a good way to guard against unauthorized use and other members may come along to display examples.

how about a link to your images so we can take a peek at what you're currently doing?

levelbest

Angelo wrote:

... how about a link to your images so we can take a peek at what you're currently doing?

Sure, I have been redesigning it. The new version is not yet launched. There is a bit of a refocus and a widening and an adding of google adsense bits, yet to be approved. Neither have I finalized my choice for a shopping cart but that seems very close at hand. I joined this forum to start to get some feedback on others business practices, and that very much includes preparing my pictures for online sale, as well as selling them.

From a thread I was recently reading where someone found his picture in a magazine and the many related article links on that thread, it seems I am not just being paranoid to ask carefully how to protect my work.

Here is my site: http://thegoldenthread.net/photography_1/

leaforte

Nice site.

Angelo

levelbest wrote:

Sure, I have been redesigning it. The new version is not yet launched. There is a bit of a refocus and a widening and an adding of google adsense bits, yet to be approved. Neither have I finalized my choice for a shopping cart but that seems very close at hand. I joined this forum to start to get some feedback on others business practices, and that very much includes preparing my pictures for online sale, as well as selling them.

From a thread I was recently reading where someone found his picture in a magazine and the many related article links on that thread, it seems I am not just being paranoid to ask carefully how to protect my work.

Here is my site: http://thegoldenthread.net/photography_1/

very nice. some beautiful shots there. and I don't think you are being overly paranoid. theft happens.

you already have examples of smaller, transluscent marks spread over your images.

I would recommend that method but I'd make the rhythm of the imprint more regular and don't change the opacity. make the mark as unintrusive as possible

MichaelKirk

My personal opinion
so take it what it is worth, but the way your watermark is displayed RUINS your images. I have a VERY hard time looking at any of your images just due to the watermark.

My suggestion is if you want to place the watermark in the middle of an image - do it just once. Take a look around and see what everyone else is doing.

Michael

levelbest wrote:

Sure, I have been redesigning it. The new version is not yet launched. There is a bit of a refocus and a widening and an adding of google adsense bits, yet to be approved. Neither have I finalized my choice for a shopping cart but that seems very close at hand. I joined this forum to start to get some feedback on others business practices, and that very much includes preparing my pictures for online sale, as well as selling them.

From a thread I was recently reading where someone found his picture in a magazine and the many related article links on that thread, it seems I am not just being paranoid to ask carefully how to protect my work.

Here is my site: http://thegoldenthread.net/photography_1/

levelbest

Angelo wrote:

... I would recommend that method but I'd make the rhythm of the imprint more regular and don't change the opacity. make the mark as unintrusive as possible

Thanks. Can you say a little more about what good parameters might be for size of text and of opacity? I have played at this from my own sense of it but I would like to know what is practical from actual professional experiences if possible?

This also has to do with workflow and setting a way to consistently watermark every time with a template instead of doing it one - by one. The question also arises, once I finalize my choice for shopping cart I also have to understand that those selling sites also have a watermark placement system installed as well as a "fair use, no copy write infringement" letter the customer must agree to before purchasing any of my photos. (Thinking this is a smug mug site so I probably shouldn't say to much about that if I don't go with Smug mug)

MichaelKirk wrote:

so take it what it is worth, but the way your watermark is displayed RUINS your images. I have a VERY hard time looking at any of your images just due to the watermark.

My suggestion is if you want to place the watermark in the middle of an image - do it just once. Take a look around and see what everyone else is doing.

Michael

Yes, I agree. And that is why I started this topic. I Want to know better how I need to do this. I have heard too much how people like my photos very much but the way I have them watermarked online really does bother folks, as you said. That's why I was asking if I should watermark on a lower edge as some do (looks best IMHO). On the other hand it also makes cropping out the watermark easy. I ask myself, am I setting up a viewing library for the publics enjoyment, or am I showing protected photos as a commodity that if you like one, you can buy one?

Or as I just posted, perhaps I need to learn to watermark more unobtrusively across the photo?

Thanks again, all.

J.T.

MichaelKirk wrote:

so take it what it is worth, but the way your watermark is displayed RUINS your images. I have a VERY hard time looking at any of your images just due to the watermark.

My suggestion is if you want to place the watermark in the middle of an image - do it just once. Take a look around and see what everyone else is doing.

Michael

I'd have to agree with MichaelKirk that the watermarks seem to ruin the images. Even though the WM is fairly small, having it more than once really ruins the image. There's nothing wrong with being paranoid, because theft happens, but going overboard is something different. I tried with a rather translucent WM across the middle of my images and it worked to prevent someone from getting access to a usable image, but most people said it took away from the image.

In the end I opted for a WM across the bottom, obviously it can be cropped out, but I also kept the image display sizes not too big on my site, turned off originals, and right clicked images; you could even put passwords on galleries to prevent the general public from looking.

Good luck!

bham

You might want to look at these threads about photos being stolen and watermarks.

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=80509

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=52450

http://www.dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=62279


I settle on using this, I think its a balance of enough protection but I can change lower opacity more if needed to make it less obtrusive to the photo.

denisegoldberg

levelbest wrote:

Sure, I have been redesigning it. The new version is not yet launched. There is a bit of a refocus and a widening and an adding of google adsense bits, yet to be approved. Neither have I finalized my choice for a shopping cart but that seems very close at hand. I joined this forum to start to get some feedback on others business practices, and that very much includes preparing my pictures for online sale, as well as selling them.

From a thread I was recently reading where someone found his picture in a magazine and the many related article links on that thread, it seems I am not just being paranoid to ask carefully how to protect my work.

Here is my site: http://thegoldenthread.net/photography_1/

You are definitely not being paranoid. Unfortunately, while watermarks do protect your images, they also may stop people from viewing the images. If I find that a watermark is distracting from the image, I won't bother to look at the photos - which means I also won't purchase anything. Your current watermarks fit into the "get in my way" category for me.

Do you have some potential customers who would be willing to look at your photos with the watermarks and provide some feedback (as to whether they will continue to look at and potentially purchase the watermarked photos)?

--- Denise

saurora

This is always a very debatable subject. You have a very nice gallery and just the type of images I can imagine people 'borrowing' without paying for. The images shown on your homepage would make wonderful prints or screen-savers. Yes, the heavy-handed use of watermarks ruins it for pleasurable viewing purposes. But as a fellow photographer, I can relate to why you are doing this business-wise. If I were looking for a certain type image to purchase, watermarks would not deter me from doing so. But, if I wanted to spend time looking through your entire gallery just to view your work, it might turn me off and I might give up and go to another site. I feel you need to watermark, but find one that is as unobtrusive as possible and use it in each frame in a similar fashion, so that after awhile, I become oblivious to it. When I jump from shot to shot and you have changed the size, placement, color and opacity, it becomes the most noticeable thing about your work and is very annoying. For wedding and portrait photographers, I would encourage multiple watermarks (such as Scott's above).