How To Effectively Watermark A Photo

As a follow on to jzzr's excellent guide in watermarking photos using photoshop which can be found Here

Here is pictorial step by step guide for using a free program called Watermark V2 which can be found Here

Watermarking your work can be very effective in preventing theft but your photos can easily be cropped making the whole exercise pointless and can also detract from other members enjoyment if done badly.

This may seem like common sense to you guys but I think it's worth pointing out the do's and dont's of how to effectively watermark your photos.

This first watermark is too far from the subject matter
http://www.iimmgg.com/image/6cd63e24...f09425dd49.jpghttp://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...handSniff1.jpg

and because of this can easily be cropped out like so:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...handSniff2.jpg

Obviously any watermark placed either near the top or the bottom
of your photo is liable for this treatment.

The alternative is this kind of watermark:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...handSniff3.jpg
Although this will detract offenders reposting on other sites, it
takes away most of the pleasure for the members.

So try to put a little thought into the placement of your watermark
like so:
http://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...handSniff4.jpg
Not only is it an effective way to cut out cropping, the watermark
itself does not spoil the overall image.

Thereby everyone is happy...

...Apart from any potential stealer of your work!!

Again, all watermarks in these pix were used by the free program that can
be found Here

There may be better programs around but this at least is free, so it is worth having a try as it is really quite simple and effective to use.

The photos above have been posted in this thread for instruction purposes only, this is NOT the way to upload any normal photos into the forum, please use the attachment option provided.
Cheers ;)

For all *Verified Members* that have asked for the forums official copyrighted watermark to use on their material, it would be advantageous to check this thread out.

So I guess what I am trying to put across here is to keep your watermarks hard to edit for any potential reposter but also try not to obscure the "action" ;)
Cheers

great post.

Hi alkie, can't send you a mess in private cause your mailbox is full. It's possible to have a watermmark for our content ?
Thank you !

Great tut. Very informative

Nice post,thank you. I used to make semi-transparent watermark on main part.

Should I use photoshop or illustrator?

Either... probably PS is easier