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Archive 2016 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark

  
 
Gyroscope
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


I know the topic of watermarks is polarizing and I think the general consensus is that they detract from the image. I don't use them on any of my website pics or social media posts at the moment but I came across the following service:

http://www.photologo.co/

They did me a very stylish 'signature logo' of which there are some examples on their site. (mine doesn't have any additional text just my name) Do you think this style of logo (as opposed to copyright logo's or websites or large obtrusive graphics) has any use? Would they be acceptable embedded into the corner of a framed print for instance? After all artists working in other media often sign their work.

I may just use the signature on my website header instead.



May 02, 2016 at 06:12 AM
DanBrown
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


Anyone who likes this type of watermark can make it themselves with Photoshop or Lightroom. There are any number of tutorials on the web showing how to make a Photoshop brush or add one to Lightroom.


May 02, 2016 at 07:33 AM
Gyroscope
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


For the small cost of it wasn't worth my time to try and do it myself and they did a better job than I could have. Wasn't my question anyway

DanBrown wrote:
Anyone who likes this type of watermark can make it themselves with Photoshop or Lightroom. There are any number of tutorials on the web showing how to make a Photoshop brush or add one to Lightroom.




May 02, 2016 at 07:35 AM
OntheRez
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


A few thoughts:
1) Do you think anything should "mar" your image? If so, then the answer is no.
2) Assuming you didn't agree with #1 there are many ways to mark (for want of a better word) the provence of an image which is the point. Thinking back at our ancestry (which is painting), it's hard to think of an artist that didn't in some way mark his/her work. Perhaps prideful, but also a statement that takes full credit for both its artistry and/or failure.
3) I use a small script beginning with the copyright mark and an abbreviation of my name. Color, size, and placement vary though I almost always place it lower left corner. I don't mark most work done for papers or magazines as they will have a standardized system.
4) Finally while it would be fiendishly difficult to lift one of De Vinci's works, anything on the Internet is an invitation to steal (at least to some people). I figure to make them at least expend enough effort to get rid of my mark. (And yes, I have found a few of my pix on sites where they weren't licensed.)

Short answer: there are many ways to make a tasteful watermark.

Robert



May 02, 2016 at 09:35 AM
dmcphoto
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


"Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark?"

IMO:

If the purpose of the mark is only to add your name to the photo I'd say the answer is yes. It's sort of like signing a print on the image itself. I don't do that, but I don't particularly object to it either, unless it's done in a distracting way.

If the purpose is to prevent deliberate theft I'd say the answer is no. In order to do this the mark has to be large enough and positioned such that it is not easy to remove by minor cropping, clone tool, content aware fill, etc. Any I've seen that accomplish that make me not want to look at the image in the first place.



May 02, 2016 at 10:49 AM
kylebarendrick
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


I go with the theory that if someone intentionally removes my watermark (which I try to keep unobtrusive) and then uses the image, I have a chance at successful recourse. I could be wrong but it makes me feel better. For me the best protection is posting small enough that it isn't good for much.


May 02, 2016 at 11:40 AM
dmcphoto
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


kylebarendrick wrote:
I go with the theory that if someone intentionally removes my watermark (which I try to keep unobtrusive) and then uses the image, I have a chance at successful recourse. I could be wrong but it makes me feel better. For me the best protection is posting small enough that it isn't good for much.


I think the only practical chance of successful recourse is a copyright registration. With that the image is on file at the U.S. copyright office and the registration entitles you to statutory damages. I agree about "posting small enough that it isn't good for much". That's basically what I do in addition to copyright protection. If someone can't make decent quality printed material from the image then not much damage can occur. It could still be stolen for a website or printed small, but that chance has to be weighed against the damage you can do to yourself by forcing potential customers to look at your images through a giant watermark.

FWIW, I once had a phone call from a company that had stolen several images from the Internet for a software CD cover. The software was specifically intended for religious institutions. Yea, it's a bit ironic. At some point someone felt guilty enough about it to call me. Since the CD was already published I got adequate compensation and that was the end of it. The point is, real theft for commercial use can still occur from small sized posted images.




May 02, 2016 at 12:37 PM
Imagemaster
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


*







May 02, 2016 at 10:27 PM
butchM
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


Gyroscope wrote:
For the small cost of it wasn't worth my time to try and do it myself and they did a better job than I could have. Wasn't my question anyway



$35 per? On a 50% off sale? ... It may not be what you asked ... but it only makes sense to point this out for the benefit of how easy it is to create these yourself for other users of the forum who may read this thread in the future.

It takes a few clicks to select a font, type out your name or the business name, select the scale and placement on the image. Optionally add a drop shadow and/or adjust opacity ... it's that drop dead easy to create a watermark in Lightroom. You create it once and use it forever. Or you can alter it as time and styles change and evolve.

I have about 40 different watermark presets I use for various purposes and apply as needed as part of Export presets from Lightroom which is done seamlessly in the background ... all that cost me a few minutes of my time. Possibly a bit more if you were to create a graphical based watermark in Ps like if you were to scan you very own actual signature and for use as a watermark. Can't get more unique and custom than that.

The resulting watermark can be as 'tasteful' as you wish. Your only limitation is your own imagination.



May 03, 2016 at 09:01 AM
mogud
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


I really think that a watermark is not going to deter anyone from stealing your images posted online. It comes down to how much legal fees are you willing to pay to have the offender stop using your images. If the offender ignores Cease and Desist letters what is your recource? I stopped using watermarks because I felt they detracted from the photograph no matter how unobtrusive the mark might be.

Just what I do and my opinion.




May 03, 2016 at 09:05 AM
Gyroscope
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


butchM wrote:
$35 per? On a 50% off sale? ... It may not be what you asked ... but it only makes sense to point this out for the benefit of how easy it is to create these yourself for other users of the forum who may read this thread in the future.

It takes a few clicks to select a font, type out your name or the business name, select the scale and placement on the image. Optionally add a drop shadow and/or adjust opacity ... it's that drop dead easy to create a watermark in Lightroom. You create it once and
...Show more

Dude I can make a watermark in 10 seconds flat I don't need you to tell me how to do that. What I paid for was not a "font" that I can just choose it is a hand drawn 'signature'. My handwriting skills are shite and my actual signature is just a scribble. For me to try and get nice looking elegant signature written out, scanned etc etc would have taken me ages. I've got better things to do with that time - like work. I spend all day on a computer CAD modelling I do the bare minimum computer time I have to on photography.




May 03, 2016 at 09:09 AM
finnianp
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


Would they be acceptable embedded into the corner of a framed print for instance?

To be honest, it feels weird to me to use a "fake" signature to sign a print. People value the artist's actual signature feeling the it ads value to the work. I much prefer to sign the matte if it's going to be framed.

As a deterrent watermark, as said above, it also doesn't make it very hard to rip off online.



May 03, 2016 at 12:27 PM
Imagemaster
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


Many people prefer the signature on the image, not the mat, just as has been done with most paintings for hundred of years. Should the image and mat ever be separated, the signature is lost.

My digital signature is not fake, it is a copy of my real signature. I have never had a single complaint about my signature being digitally embedded into the image.



May 03, 2016 at 01:34 PM
dmcphoto
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


Ansel Adams signed his prints on the mat. Some do that and also sign the print border under the mat. That way if the mat and print are separated the print can be re-matted with the border showing and the signature is not lost.


May 03, 2016 at 02:16 PM
dmcphoto
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


Imagemaster wrote:
Many people prefer the signature on the image, not the mat, just as has been done with most paintings for hundred of years. Should the image and mat ever be separated, the signature is lost.

My digital signature is not fake, it is a copy of my real signature. I have never had a single complaint about my signature being digitally embedded into the image.


FWIW, if you weren't around, anyone with the file could still print the image with your digitized signature on it. People typically sign by hand because if they aren't around to do the signing their hand written signature can't appear on their work unless it's a forgery, and handwriting experts can usually tell the difference.



May 03, 2016 at 06:05 PM
Gyroscope
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


Some good points here.

The fact that the signature is not my own does mean I probably should consider it more a logo.

I don't like seeing signatures on the matt.

dmcphoto: yes that is true but any image on the net with my digital signature would only be small and couldn't be printed anywhere near gallery size.

I don't mind seeing a hand drawn signature on a print but I wouldn't do it myself as my 'real' signature is an indecipherable scribble. Anyway I would be worried about messing it up and ruining a $200 900x1200 print (for example). I'm going to have to think further about where I use it...



May 03, 2016 at 06:35 PM
Imagemaster
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


dmcphoto wrote:
FWIW, if you weren't around, anyone with the file could still print the image with your digitized signature on it.


That is good because if my widow needed the additional income, she could still sell my signed prints.

People typically sign by hand because if they aren't around to do the signing their hand written signature can't appear on their work unless it's a forgery, and handwriting experts can usually tell the difference.

It is not likely that any of MY work would be worth enough to forge my signature. And handwriting experts have been fooled many times on some of the most valuable paintings in the world.



May 03, 2016 at 07:19 PM
butchM
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


Gyroscope wrote:
Dude I can make a watermark in 10 seconds flat I don't need you to tell me how to do that. What I paid for was not a "font" that I can just choose it is a hand drawn 'signature'. My handwriting skills are shite and my actual signature is just a scribble. For me to try and get nice looking elegant signature written out, scanned etc etc would have taken me ages. I've got better things to do with that time - like work. I spend all day on a computer CAD modelling I do the bare minimum computer
...Show more

Dude ... I clearly pointed out in my comment it wasn't offered just for your consideration. Secondly I don't have a problem with you outsourcing a watermark ... I simply offered a point of view that the task could be easily performed by the end user themselves with little time and effort.



May 04, 2016 at 07:53 AM
Imagemaster
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


Easy way to make your own copyright mark:

1. Use your own signature by writing it on a drawing tablet, or just use a mouse with your computer if you are able to. Or just use a font of your choosing.

2. Make the image large enough to be the suitable size for your full-sized image. I use white text on a black background, which can easily be changed to any color.

3. Save that image where it can easily be accessed with Photoshop. I also make 5 smaller sizes of that same image to paste into smaller images.

4. Now when your image is ready, select the text, change the color if desired, then copy and paste it into your image. Move it to the most pleasing area of the image. Now fade the opacity to where it can still be seen, but is not too intrusive. Flatten your image.

It only takes a couple of minutes to put the copyright onto your image once you have the template made and saved.






















May 04, 2016 at 09:06 AM
Shutterbug2006
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Is there any such thing as tasteful watermark


What is the value of a photograph, if the signature is not real?


Jun 15, 2016 at 01:02 AM
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