The Security Of Your Photos Is Important
I was reading Brian’s post on Zero To Three In 90 Days – Thanks Flickr!, but the thing that interested me wasn’t his miraculous PR jump from ‘Zero to Three’. Nope, the thing that interested me was the mention of the term watermark. Watermarks never used to bother me before because I hosted my photos on Photrade and they automatically placed a watermark on all my photos. The problem was that the site has been acting up and many of my photos were no longer showing up on my photo blogs. Naturally that was unacceptable.
I thought about going back to Flickr but I would only do that if I could protect my photos by placing a watermark them. I questioned Brian about that and he put me onto GIMP, he even graciously provided a video on how to use it to place a watermark on my photos. Thanks Brian, but I found that the whole procedure involved to much fart arsing around and I wanted something simpler.
I ended up buying WinWatermark which I found to be exceptional. I didn’t even bother with the free trial version. It also had the extra benefit of saving the photo at a lower resolution of choice which I reckon is great. That way if someone wanted to buy the high quality version they would have to ask me for it.
The photo below shows the watermark at the bottom of the photo. Notice the web address at the bottom. That way if someone uses the photo on a blog or website or something, and forgets to link to it the address is still displayed on the photo itself. Got that idea from Brian.
Another tip I got from Brian was entering the following into the description of each photo.
You may use this photo for your website or blog as long as the watermark remains visible. You are also required to link to Wassup Blog with due photo credit.
The software allows me to past it anywhere on the photo. I can even tile and rotate it so that I get the following effect.
Notice how I even changed the color of the watermark. Everything is so easy with this program. I can put the watermark on a single photo or I can place it on every photo in any folder.
I’ve even listed this program in my Top Software Online Store and you may want to visit it if you are interested in more than just protecting your digital photographs.
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Tagged with: Flickr • GIMP • Watermark
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That’s nice. Another way to do things is to create a self hosted gallery with “coppermine” or “gallery” that have watermarking options and then pull the photos to your blog. But this can work too ;)
stratosg´s Last blog post..The big one: TweetScribe.me
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Sire Reply:
May 6th, 2009 at 8:42 am
I assume those sites to be similar to Photrade. The thing with Winwatermark is that it is more versatile, enabling me to place different watermarks on different photos.
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Your pictures are beautiful, Sire, especially that first one. However, the watermark on the second one is, well, more than just a watermark, as dark as it is. Still, you have to protect your property.
Mitch´s Last blog post..How To Write Articles For Others
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stratosg Reply:
May 6th, 2009 at 8:30 am
Yah i will have to agree. On the second one it kinda makes it not that nice with the watermark. The first one is great! Both pics though are very good!
stratosg´s Last blog post..The big one: TweetScribe.me
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Sire Reply:
May 6th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Actually I left that dark on purpose, just for effect. the program lets you adjust the opaqueness of the watermark so you can have it as light or dark as you want.
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You are really gifted with the camera Sire! That is awesome. My wife is a photographer and we have recently been discussing photo security. I’m e-mailing her this link as we type!
Nice work Mr. Australia!
-B
The Almost Millionaire´s Last blog post..Free Advice (Always worth what you paid for it)
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Sire Reply:
May 7th, 2009 at 3:09 am
It’s all to do with the subject TAM, but thanks for the compliment.
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Nice software you have used Sire, But me, I used some kind of Photoshop action script. We do run this script to some of our photos on our company website(s).
Ron´s Last blog post..Eriuqs Spires Healthy Recreation
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Sire Reply:
May 7th, 2009 at 3:10 am
I actually have Photoshop, but this software is so much easier as it is designed specifically for watermarking photos.
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Ron from Cavitenio Reply:
May 7th, 2009 at 3:54 am
Yeah, its pretty easy also to configure, I think.
Ron´s Last blog post..Eriuqs Spires Healthy Recreation
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You can also use a combination of css and .png image file to add a watermark, which works on all new browsers except i.e.6. I’ve watermarked video and images in the past but always used an alpha channel and if it was for images just batch process in Photoshop, which works out very quickly. Not sure if you are aware that you can record your movements in photoshop as in open file, resize, set watermark, layer opacity, save for web etc. Then you can specify a folder and output folder and photoshop will just zip through all the images and add a watermark. I guess if there is a long way around for doing things I usually end up finding it.
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Sire Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 12:47 am
Actually, I thought I had Photoshop but it was Paint Shop Pro. I don’t know what I was thinking. Anyway, I’m happy with this program as it does all I want it to and it was less than fifty bucks to buy.
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I use visualiser to resize and watermark hundreds of photos at a time – taking just seconds. Google it and download it if you have loads of pics to resize, especially if you are displaying thumbnails.
The Van Man´s Last blog post..LDV Use Another Life
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Sire Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 12:56 am
No need Van Man, as this program will resize, crop, rotate and a whole lot of other stuff, but all I was interested in was the watermarking aspect of it.
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Thanks for all the credit Sire, you are too kind. That sounds like a cool tool. I didn’t know there was a watermark program like that. I just added you as my Flickr friend :) You have some fantastic shots.
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Sire Reply:
May 8th, 2009 at 12:59 am
No worries Brian, it’s good to give credit where credit is due mate. I reckon you must be my first Flickr friend, thanks mate.
I’m actually saving up for a digital SLR so I can improve on the quality, with some luck I may catch up to you.
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I should probably do this with mine, especially the ones I’m considering publishing. Thanks for sharing the program you use, and reminding photographers how important it is to protect their work.
~ Kristi
Kikolani´s Last blog post..Butterflies at the Desert Botanical Gardens
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Sire Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
No worries Kristi. Man, if I wasn’t trying to help others by offering ideas and solutions to problems I reckon I’d be leading a unproductive life.
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I’ve had photos taken before as you might recall for a comment months ago, but haven’t gone the watermark route yet. The plugin I’m using has it too. I’m still mixed on whether or not I want the look aesthetically.
Gennaro´s Last blog post..Pushkar Ghats Through The Lens
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Sire Reply:
May 11th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
I’ve made mine stand out a bit as I’m also using it to advertise my blogs, but you can adjust the size and opaqueness if you so desire.
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Gennaro Reply:
May 12th, 2009 at 10:12 am
I like the idea of using it to advertise your blog. That makes a lot of sense.
Gennaro´s Last blog post..Pushkar Ghats Through The Lens
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Sire Reply:
May 13th, 2009 at 2:09 am
Yeah, especially if someone with good traffic decides to use it on their blog :D
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This is a good idea for those with no software like Photoshop. You definitely need to protect yourself on a site like Flickr from people stealing your photos.
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Sire Reply:
May 20th, 2009 at 11:09 pm
Yep, and while PhotoShop can set you back quite a bit this software is relatively cheap and well worth the few bucks it will set you back.
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I don’t know, I use flicker without any problems. It’s like 20 seconds in Photoshop to add a watermark so it’s not a problem.
Stancje´s Last blog post..Wrocław 31.05.2009: Mam do wynajęcia
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That may be true, I don’t have Photoshop, and I find WinWatermark to be excellent, especially considering the small outlay.
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Personally, I use photoshop to watermark my work. This tool does however look very interesting. Another thing I like to do is tag the EXIF information in any JPEG files I create. This allows you to verify whether a suspected copyright violation really pertains to your work.
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Hi Gareth, not that I’ve used it but WinWatermark will allow you to adjust certain EXIF information like, artist, copyright, description, title, keywords etc. I reckon some of that stuff may come in handy.
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I personally dislike watermarks. It spoils my photos. I just make sure the public only get to view the low-res photos.
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Sire Reply:
July 11th, 2009 at 6:16 pm
That’s fine Leon, but that does not stop the public from using those photos and using it on their website or blogs without giving you the recognition that you deserve. Still, they are your photos to do with as you will. Thanks for putting forth your welcomed opinion.
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Its a nice way to protect your pics but i don’t like to place a watermark on my pics. But its a good tool for those who like to protect their pics.
I prefer to release the low res images without watermark.
John @Bollywood Actress´s last blog ..Deepika Padukone Hot and sexy Photos
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Sire Reply:
February 28th, 2010 at 3:37 am
That’s not a problem for those who don’t mind people stealing their pictures but it’s a good tool for those who want to protect them.
Sire´s last blog ..Perception Is Important To Your Blogging Career
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John from Bollywood Actress Reply:
March 23rd, 2010 at 7:54 pm
Absolutely right Sire.
Its a nice thing to place a watermark though.
If watermark is placed in a creative way then it looks like a authority photograph.
I will give it a second thought to place marks on my photographs.
John @Bollywood Actress´s last blog ..Vidya Balan see thru
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