watermarking questions

I have fallen into the deep dark hole of IP, FTP, HTML and I am finally setting up a website for my images. This is a HUGE undertaking for me which I have put off forever because I am a tech-idiot so I apologize for the following questions.

I am completely confused by the term "watermarking" but know I need to protect my images before they appear on my site. So, do I put my name (or logo) on the image in Photoshop (can't someone just take that off if they really want to?). I find that REALLY annoying when I'm looking at someone's gallery. What about invisible watermarks? What does that mean and how does it protect me? I know how to put the copyright info in the meta data but is that going to stop a thief? I think not. The images in the galleries are 717x475 at 100dpi.

If you are so kind to reply to my question, please dumb it down like you're talking to your great Granny, not a six year old. Kids get this. I don't!

Karen

You pretty much got it. There is a trade-off. It's like the Louvre spraying red Krylon over the Mona Lisa so no one will steal it.

Your images can be stolen if they are on the internet. Everything you do is simply a deterrent. A big transparent "C" with your name, transparent, beveled and embossed, will certainly deter a thief, but as guessed, no one wants to look at your photos. Make it small and put it in the corner so the thief can crop it easier, I mean, so it won't deter viewing.

Sure, put the info in the meta data. That will require the thief to add one more step to his process.

Invisible watermarks allow the image to look clean, but it really won't stop the thief, but may make it easier to prove the theft.

Pick the level of obnoxiousness for your watermark and go with it. You can make it a PS action if you like. Most thieves are bad at it. They don't even erase the copyright holders' name. I have e-mailed original owners with links to their stolen stuff.

Thanks! I think all the "jargon" confused me. I'm going with the suble copyright info in the corner.

K

Essentially you can create any watermark using levels in photoshop. I usually open a PSD with the watermark and drag and drop that layer to the photo I'm working on. So you can make it as obnoxious or as inoccuous as you like. I'm like you and choose the more subtle look of a corner. Yeah they can always crop it but I too hate to see images with a huge embossed copyright across them. But then again, I'm not much good anyway so theft might not be an issue. An idea I like is to make it small enough that no one can see it. A thief will likely not see it either thus making it easier to prove it is yours if they do steal it.

Another vote for subtle and in the corner.

I absolutely hate ginourmous watermarks. Kind of defeats the purpose of sharing your photographs with someone for me.

If you post your images to a website in a flash gallery then someone can't just click and save them...You would have to save the images to your FTP site so the flash file has the images to reference. You can then put a small, unobtrusive watermark in the corners of the photo or not watermark them at all. Adobe Lightroom has some preset flash gallery options and is very intuitive to use...

cheers!

- MDP

I am also just starting toward the website thing. I am considering Smugmug and they claim to be able to add a subtle watermark that will not appear in purchased prints. They also claim you can copy protect your images there as well. As to how good that protection is, I have no idea. I only know what they write in their sales talk so far.

Are there other/better sites for similar service?

Are there other/better sites for similar service?

Dave

I ordered a template from BluDomain. They have alot of options for photographers starting as low as $50!

Karen

Karen,

I went through the same thing some months ago. One thing that really helped me was that my ISP -- the people I got my internet domain from -- provided a bunch of different tools that were easily installed. I looked at a lot of the photo gallery tools and settled on "ZenPhoto". It was straightforward to customize.

Take a look: http://www.dangehlhaar.com/gallery

Significantly, it took care of the whole "watermarking" thing for me. I uploaded a watermark and ZenPhoto applies it dynamically when the picture is viewed. That "Dan Gehlhaar Photography" image is stuck on there by the gallery software (so I didn't have to edit each image!).

Before diving into this too deeply I suggest looking at your gallery software. This might be a "solved problem".

Regards,

Dan

You don't say whether you are on a Mac or Pc, but if a Mac here is this, which I hope you find helpful,

http://www.kenstone.net/fcp_homepage/water...cp_douglas.html

Steve

I know copyright notices are distracting but please make sure you put one somewhere. The big © across the image is somewhat annoying, for both the legitimate viewer and the thief. Do not use a logo, or a company name as this implies the rights to the image are owned by someone else and unless you have a written contract to the contrary, you own the rights. I use "© Simon Brown. All rights reserved" in the lower left or right corner. Its a simple reminder that can be as large or subtle as you like. It is a criminal offense to remove copyright information from any digital medium (inc images) here in the UK. You won't stop the determined infringer, but you will slow them down.

And make sure you add your copyright notice and contact details to the metadata in the file. Let me know what software you use to convert/manage and I can give advice if required.

Its a shame that most see the internet as a "I found it, I can use it" place. With a visible copyright notice and embedded metadata you stand a good chance of not only finding unlicensed use, but recovering damages from the infringer.

Good luck