Watermark

The busy life behind blogging is definitely a factor in not posting more frequently, and I have to admit some 'relax and smell the flowers' factor as well. But there will be more. Stay put. Oh, and don't you worry, everything is fine; I am not going anywhere. In the mean time, enjoy my recent photo; this is what I am waiting for—the spring.

Also, a few of you had questions about adding a watermark to your photo, so I am including this information in this post. The benefit of watermarks is that you took that beautiful image; it is yours, so put your name on it. Okay, this is not really a benefit, more like a command, but it is true—it is yours. There will always be someone skilled who will take your photo (but good luck finding them on the Internet among billions of sites) and will crop your watermark out anyway, but there are still many of us that don't really know what to do.

There are two options: You can create a logo and place it in the middle of the photo. I find that this method is used more by professional photographers, and a good example is Kathy's blog, Photography by KML. However, if you just want something simple, suppose your blog name, then explore the instructions below, unfortunately for now only for Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements users. To avoid copying my images, I also make them smaller, so they are only good to an extent.

So, there are other useful tools that can let you add a watermark or text to the photo. As per my original post, Powerful Niagara Falls and Something Useful, this online tool can add text to the images, and you can visit Bob's Blackholes and Astrostuff blog for amazing Moon and Sun water reflection images that he has created using this tool. GIMP, a free offline program that can be installed on your computer, was recommended to me by Roger from Idaho Daily Photo and can do the same wonders as Photoshop. If you want some laughs and to see his creations using GIMP, visit Roger. (UPDATE: Roger is gone from blogosphere).

Just to give you a heads up, I will probably set up another blog (resource folder) to provide information such as that. You may say, "Oh no, not another blog." However, I am not planning to use it for socializing but more for providing information. I just don't want to mix my photo experiences with technical information. So don't worry; I don't expect you to go and comment as you do here. Let me know what you think, though. I think knowledge sharing is very important, and I always enjoyed that part. It only makes us all better, and I tell you, it saves time too if many of you ask the same question.

The following are instructions on how to create a simple text watermark for those who don't know and for those who have Adobe Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, so if you don't fall under those categories, don't waste your time and have fun doing something else.

The process is simple, so don't get scared by the amount of writing here.

After you have cropped your photo and the photo is ready for publishing, all you have to do is add Text, for example, Copyright My Only Photo. To do that, look for the vertical Ribbon bar on your left (2 columns of icons), scroll over, and find the button with a T. If you click once on that button and hover over it, it will say horizontal type tool (another way to click T to activate). Once clicked on, click on your photo and start typing. A new type (text) layer will be created. Once finished, go to the Move Tool (click V), the right button on the top of the Ribbon bar, and move your text where desired. If it is not moving, then go to your Layers (click F7) window on the left and ensure that the text is selected (hi-lighted). Note that when the T icon is activated, on the top you will see a menu where you can change the font type, size, alignment, and colour of the text. In order to make changes to the text, you need to first highlight it and then change the characteristics.

If you are happy with your watermark, then you need to save your file. The photo now has two layers, and Photoshop will try to save it with the Photoshop file extension, PSD. So firstly, yes, save as a Photoshop file so you can copy a fully formated watermark in the future. Then save again. Go to File > Save As and save as JPEG (select it in the Format drop-down menu). It will ask you for JPEG quality; level 10 is quite acceptable; the higher you go, the larger the file size.

So you are ready to publish your photo. Remember, only put a watermark on your photos or creations; now someone else's.

Now, instructions on how to copy the watermark from the original to the new photo image.

First, open the original PSD file with the watermark, then open a new photo file. Again, select the original PSD file, go to Layers (click F7), select the watermark layer, hold and drag over the new photo image (don't let go unless you are over the new photo image, and you will see a box over the perimeter of the image), then let go and breathe again. To ensure a smooth copy, place the two open files side by side (just manually size them up). Now, once the new layer shows on the new photo, select the Move Tool (click V), move where desired, and save as a JPEG.

~ Anna