There are basically two reasons to watermark a picture.  To try and discourage others from claiming ownership of an image you rightfully own, or to try and gain evidence of such behavior.  In the first instance you usually add a noticeable image on top of the original, with some sort of personal identifier.  How intrusive your watermark is (the more it distorts the original image), is up to you.  In the second instance, you usually try to add a small unnoticed watermark that can only be found if you know where to look.  In this way, if you see the image elsewhere you can point to the watermark as proof of ownership, discrediting the re-poster.

Adding a watermark does not prevent copying and/or re-posting, and is not suitable for protecting the identity of the subject.

In this guide I will show you how to make a watermark using Adobe Photoshop.  The particular version I am using is from Creative Suites 5, but the instructions are the same for all recent versions.  The program is very expensive, but however you obtain it, I highly recommend it.  You can batch process this using Adobe Bridge if you want, but I will only be explaining how to apply your watermark to individual pictures.

In the instructions I will be referencing the photos at the end of this tutorial.  There are many ways of doing this with Adobe Photoshop, some of which may be simpler, but these instructions will provide flexibility if you want to experiment.

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Open a sample picture in Adobe Photoshop.  Resize the picture to the size you normally post on this forum using IMAGE/IMAGE SIZE… (Alt+Ctrl+I)  I recommend no bigger than 800x600.

Create a new layer by clicking the New Layer icon [Screen 1 – 1], or LAYER/NEW/LAYER… (Shift+Ctrl+N).  Make sure the new layer is highlighted [Screen 1 – 2].  For this example I will only use text, but you can use a graphic image if you want.  The process is basically the same.

Select the Horizontal Type Tool (T) [Screen 1 – 3], and an obvious color so you can see what you are doing [Screen 1 – 4].  We will change it later.  Click somewhere inside your picture and enter the text you want [Screen 1 – 5].  Don’t worry too much about size or location.

Once you have created your text/logo/graphic, click EDIT/FREE TRANSFORM (Ctrl+T) [Screen 2 – 1].  A box will appear around your text/logo/graphic with dragable “handles” all around [Screen 2 – 2].  Click and hold any of these handles to change the object size.  Hold Shift while doing this to scale the object.  Click and hold inside the box to move the object around.  Double click inside the box to set the image [Screen 3].  You can repeat this process over and over until it is perfect.

You can select the Horizontal Type Tool (T) [Screen 4 – 1] again and add more text I you want.  New layers will be created automatically each time you do this [Screen 4 – 2].  Try to keep track of what layer you are working on.  You can also see what layer you are on at the top of the screen [Screen 4 – 3].  You can manipulate each layer using Free Transform (Ctrl+T) I you want.  For this example I have added only one more layer of text [Screen 4 – 4].

Now we are going to change the opacity and color of the various text/logo/graphic objects we placed.  We will do each layer separately.  For this example I liked the red color, so making sure the “KALEU” layer was highlighted [Screen 5 – 1] I only changed the opacity to 25% [Screen 5 – 2].  I wanted to change the color of the “K” so making sure that layer was selected [Screen 5 – 3] I clicked on the Horizontal Type Tool (T) [Screen 5 – 4] and then on the “K.”  Then I clicked the color box [Screen 5 – 5] and chose white (there are several ways of doing this step).  I also changed the opacity o the “K” to 10% since it is so big [Screen 5 – 2].  Play with each layer until everything is the way you want.

When you are finished you need to save your watermark so you can easily add it to each picture.  First, remove the sample image by clicking and dragging the layer [Screen 6 – 1] and dropping it on the trashcan [Screen 6 – 2].  Or select the picture layer [Screen 6 – 1] and click LAYER/DELETE/LAYER.  Next merge all the remaining layers into one layer by clicking LAYER/MERGE VISIBLE (Shit+Ctrl+E) [Screen 6 – 3].  You should end up with only one layer [Screen 6 – 4].  Save this by clicking FILE/SAVE AS… (Shit+Ctrl+S).  Make sure the format remains PHOTOSHOP (*.PSD;*.PDD) and that LAYERS is checked.

To use your new watermark just open it in Photoshop along with the picture you want to use it on [Screen 7 – 1,2].  Using the Move Tool (V) [Screen 7 – 3] click anywhere on your watermark [Screen 7 – 4] and drag and drop it onto your picture [Screen 7 – 5].  You should see two layers [Screen 7 – 6].  You can then click on your picture and move the watermark around to position where you want.  Combine the two layers using LAYER/FLATTEN IMAGE.  Save your watermarked image by clicking FILE/SAVE FOR WEB & DEVICES… (Alt+Shit+Ctrl+S).

Below are the instruction screens and three examples of the watermark on pictures.  It is the exact same watermark on all three pictures.

Uhmmm... Nice info... But uhmm.... What's this got to do with mongering? Maybe better in veggie cafe?

~UD