How To Protect Your Images Without Being Tacky

Professional photographer Daniel Smith writes about his view on the subject.

Whether you are watermarking your pictures to gain exposure or to prevent theft, there are subtle ways to do so. Or perhaps the intention is to use a watermark that draws attention. What are your thoughts on this one? Do you watermark your images?

What do watermarks do?

You’ve worked very hard  and the last thing you want is for somebody to use your image without your permission; especially if it’s for the their financial gain. You would also like to have control over who uses your image. Many people believe that by adding a watermark to their images it will stop people, or at the very least deter them, from using their images without permission.

However, there is no real proof that a watermark does indeed reduce this from happening at all. It’s now all too easy to crop a watermark out of an image, or for the more savvy, clone it out altogether. Some thieves may not even bother with any of that; they may just simply take the image, with or without a watermark, and use it. The truth that is once your images are online, you cannot stop your images from being used without your permission – watermark or no watermark.

A watermark on your work looks professional

This is a yes, and no answer. A good watermark can, in a very loose sense, look professional. However, the vast majority of watermarks – at least the ones I’ve seen – bring the level of professionalism right down. They are either simply too big, too distracting, have too much going on, or are poorly designed. They can even be a mix of all those things. A bad watermark can quickly degrade even the best image.

Generally, a watermark should:

• Be small and monochromatic– or have very little color. Large, colored watermarks, detract from the image as they can compete with the subject too much.
• Be placed in a descreet area of the imagethat does not interfere with the view of the image, but will make it more difficult to remove or clone out.
• Have limited text
• If the watermark is small, then having text will be all but near impossible to read

Conclusion

I am of the opinion that watermarks are used all too often nowadays, by photographers who want to get their name out there and prevent the theft or unauthorized use of their work, which is perfectly understandable. However, I believe that in most cases, a watermark does not add any significant purpose to your work. A watermark does not stop anyone from stealing your image, nor can it guarantee that your name will gain greater exposure if your images are shared. Rather, watermarks only degrade the quality of your work as they are most often not designed correctly, and are an obstruction to your image.

Read the full article over at Digital Photography School.

Source: Digital Photography School