Is It Ok Not Use Watermark Photography

Canon versus Nikon. Full frame versus APS-C versus Micro Four Thirds. Sony versus Everyone Else. Original Equipment Manufacturer versus Third Party. We all know the world of photography generates a lot of endless debates that circle the Web. Some other source of passions and opinions is: The Watermark.

Watermarks

How do photographers sign their art? Painters usually paint their signature, initials, or pseudonyms on their canvases as a terminal touch to their paintings. However, photographers never really had a way to "sign" their images, with the exception of a watermark.

Earlier the digital world, publications and organizations would use print stamps on the back of images to identify the sources of the images. Some fifty-fifty used embossing seals to get out raised marks on the print.

Versions of the watermark were also the province of the commercial photographer, who would send a customer watermarked proofs, or prints marked with "PROOF" to select the images he or she wanted as final prints. These watermarks or proof marks were small enough so y'all could still come across the prototype, but y'all wouldn't want to frame the watermarked picture or give ane of the wallet-sized proofs to your friend.

Photographs © Todd Vorenkamp

This is a proof.

Technically originating in the art of papermaking, in photography, the watermark is a superimposed image, logo, or text placed over a photo—usually as a method of identifying the epitome'south creator.

Why watermark?

When digital photography arrived, so did the ability to easily "steal" photographs from websites, as well as by other means. "Wow—that is a beautiful photograph!" Right click. Save to desktop. Or, save as wallpaper. There are occasions where struggling photographers used the fine art of others to promote themselves on their own websites or, given sufficient digital resolution, with printed images. The thought was that the digital watermark would prevent this.

There is also a marketing facet to the watermark. Making your piece of work hands identifiable might help viewers find you and more of your work, especially if it gets shared around the Web.

And, for some, the watermark is simply a style to "sign" their art.

Why non watermark?

For those trying to forestall image theft, the watermark might be a good example of keeping honest people honest. There are so many ways to suck an paradigm off the Web these days that, if someone wants your image, they will find a way to accept information technology. And, if they really want to merits your image as their own, in that location are means, some painstaking, to remove watermarks, or one could but crop out that section of the picture. Ultimately, the watermark offers limited success for theft prevention. If you don't want someone to steal your digital prototype, the best way to prevent that is to not put it on the Web.

I prefer this photo without the watermark, just there are worse examples out in the earth.

Also, as painful every bit it is, there accept been a lot of cases of epitome theft in the recent by where the thieves were brought to courtroom, but non to justice. If the unauthorized use of your photo ends upwards generating financial gain or fame for someone else, yous have every right to be upset and call them out on their inexcusable beliefs, simply if they can convince a estimate that they "repurposed" your fine art nether the Off-white Utilise provision of copyright law, yous will probable be left on the losing finish of the statement with steep legal fees.

The marketing statement is a potent ane. Calculation something to your images to make them speedily identifiable every bit yours may have its advantages. Non all of us are famous and not all of us have photographic styles that are immediately identifiable to the masses. Honestly, with the number of images created in the globe today, we could surmise that fewer and fewer photographers volition create a style so unique that non-artists readily identify their images. More common these days are comments like, "Overnice photograph. That looks like the work of So-And-So." That is crawly if y'all are So-And-And so, but few of the states are.

Watermark advice

At that place are certainly pros and cons to watermarking your images. If you chose to watermark your photographs, hither are some pointers to consider.

1. Give thought to your watermark. Typing your proper noun in the default Photoshop font might not exist advantageous to your piece of work or your brand. Some photographers create logos and some but reproduce their own signatures. The options are endless, but, as you are about to marker up a beautiful photograph that took a lot of try to create, be sure to put some effort into the design of your watermark.

Unless you absolutely adore "common" typefaces, like Comic Sans, you might want to avert them. There are more professional-looking typefaces for your watermark. This i is also a bit large.

ii. Size matters. You want the watermark legible, but not overwhelming. We have all seen watermarks on images (Instagram comes to mind) that are and then pocket-sized they cannot be read—this negates the whole purpose. Many of the states accept also seen watermarks so obnoxiously large that you cannot tell what the image underneath looks like. Pick a conservative size.

No, this isn't the TRVphoto.com Tower. That is a horrible watermark. No i is going to steal this image, but no one is going to like looking at it, either.

3. Does the watermark create a new focal betoken? How exercise you immediately know that an epitome you are viewing has been watermarked? Well, because your center likely went straight toward that ane element that looks like information technology doesn't belong in the photo—the watermark. If you add a watermark, especially if washed poorly, you are adding a focal point to the paradigm. Give that fifty-fifty more thought. You might have carefully composed a pleasing epitome, just the watermark, even a small i, might take the viewer's center on a journey y'all never intended.

Sky, clouds, mountain, and watermark. One of those does non belong.

Will it help your make?

The watermark might aid your brand. It might also ruin your images while trying to protect them. A watermark might be the fashion you choose to sign your art. And, the watermark might be an endeavor to make life more hard for those wanting to use your images for their own purposes.

Some well-known photographers use watermarks. Some do not. In that location is no right or wrong on this upshot. The use of a watermark is completely at the discretion of the creative person.

What are your thoughts on watermarking photographs? Please chime in with a comment, below, to let u.s. know.

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