The logo overlaps many things – like the railings and bridge tower, so is challenging and time-consuming to remove.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nWhilst you can photoshop this logo out, it will take time – would the malicious photo thief want to take time doing this, or just move on to a different image?<\/p>\n
Make it hard for people to steal, and they are less likely to do so.<\/p>\n
If you upload at low res, they are no use to anyone anyway<\/h2>\n
It is true that a low-quality, low-resolution jpg file will look terrible in print. It’ll be pixellated and look horrible.<\/p>\n
So this argument holds for things like weddings, where people want prints, but don’t want to pay you for them.<\/p>\n
It also holds for flyers, magazines and anything else in print – where the low resolution will not look good.<\/p>\n
However, most businesses use images online – for any number of uses. Any image you upload can potentially be used – no matter what resolution you use. If you upload anything, you want it to look good (otherwise, what’s the point?), so it will look just as good on an image thief’s site as it does on yours.<\/p>\n
So should you add photo watermarks?<\/h1>\n
If the photo has any “potential future value<\/strong>“, then I\u00a0would always watermark it.<\/p>\nIf it’s a photo of my family around the dinner table at Xmas, then I’d not really be bothered – but the images above may all have some commercial use.<\/p>\n
For example, the ironmongers shop may want a photo for a flyer. If they see that image and like it, but there is no watermark, then they don’t know who to contact for a high-resolution print version.<\/p>\n
\n- They lose – they can’t use that image as it’s too low res<\/li>\n
- You lose – you could have negotiated (say) a \u00a3100 fee<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Which watermarks should you use?<\/h2>\n
Logos are better than text – they sell your brand and build familiarity.<\/p>\n
If you don’t have a logo, then text will do – but make it interesting, use a nice font, place it cleverly.<\/p>\n
How to I apply watermarks?<\/h2>\n
![\"watermark\"](\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/watermark.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lightroom’s “export” process has a “watermarks” section at the bottom. This allows you to choose:-<\/p>\n
\n- the logo file (use png if you can)<\/li>\n
- size<\/li>\n
- placement<\/li>\n
- opacity<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Then you can save those settings for future use. Very powerful.<\/p>\n
So why do people get so upset?<\/h2>\n
Who knows – photography appeals to an unusually wide range of people, from teenage girls making beautiful floral images of their friends to pensioners photographing puffins on the north sea islands.<\/p>\n
More than any hobby, you’ll find hugely polarised opinions on just about every subject!<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
![\"leeds](\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/leeds-river-2015_12-HDR-105_6_7.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"CT2A4202\"](\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/CT2A4202.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/New-Dock-Leeds-WY-8-2.jpg\")
If you are posting images like this, then I think\u00a0anyone would agree that you are looking firstly at the logo, and secondly, struggling to see the actual photo<\/p>\n![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/New-Dock-Leeds-WY-8.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"leeds](\"https:\/\/www.mcfade.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/leeds-city-dec-2015-HDR-199_200_201-Edit.jpg\")
<\/p>\n