Q:Best Way to WaterMark Your Images/Photographs

[BMPhotography]

Hey Guys,Gals.



Not sure I put this in the right forum but couldn't find one addressing what I wanted to ask.

I've done some Google research on Copyrighting your photographs using Watermarks and Digital Signatures...Yet nothing I've looked up Specificly tells me what a DS is..but Besides that.

My question to you as photographers are.

1: What is the best way to Watermark your Photos

2: Would you suggest a Photographer Watermark his photos and put them on his FB profile?

3: What Websites like DeviantArt that allows you to post your work?

4:With a WaterMark in your Image what is the chances of someone taking and using it?



Thank You All!
God Bless & Take Care!
BMPhotography~

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[BMPhotography]

Also to Specify.

I only have GIMP as a Image editing software and I had once Adobe photoshop but the disc broke sent it to Adobe but never heard back or got a replacement.. so is there any tutorials that arn't just text watermarks...which kind of watermark is harder to remove and is there a tutorial for gimp for it?

Thanks!

[filmshooter]

I also use GIMP on Ubuntu 8.04. I saw the light and left Windows behind me in the dust =] Do a search on Google for something like "watermark photos GIMP" without the " " and there are some good pages. Remember, if you watermark, it is easy to use the "clone tool" to take it out, also if it near the edge of a photo, it is easy to just crop that out. Don't rely on watermarking digital photos to keep people from using them without your authorization. If we find one way to secure a photo, people will find 10 ways to steal it.

How to Watermark Digital Art Using GIMP | eHow.com
Leigh's Fiber Journal: How To Watermark Photos With GIMP

[filmshooter]

Also, My girlfriend does portraits for a living and owns her own photography business. She watermarks photos and uses them on her business page on FB for advertisement so potential customers can see the quality of her work. She does family photos, senior pictures, et cetera, so there may be less of a chance of people stealing them but she does amazing work so maybe not! =D

Google things like "post your photography" minus the " " and there are tons of pages like DeviantArt where you can post your photos. Best of luck to you and I hope what little information I provided was of some help.

[filmshooter]

[filmshooter]

[filmshooter]

[filmshooter]

First one is just a quick pic with my cell phone of 2 old cameras I have, in my yard with a quick example GIMP Watermark. The second one is the same photo with the watermark cropped out and the third is a 15 second clone tool attack on the watermark. Some people don't care about quality and will do anything to remove the watermark to pass it off as their own or make it pleasing enough to the eye to use as a wallpaper or whatever. Just thought I would give you a quick example.

[BMPhotography]

Thanks Filmshooter! What about putting a Semi/Transparent Photo over the Center of the Image really big? it'd be hard to clone there way out of that?


but this may not be true...i heard if u edit a image a backup is saved on the image that people can revert back to the Original image....


also what is a Digital Signature?

[filmshooter]

http://www.google.com

[tkruf]

Best way to keep people from stealing it, don't upload it. Next best thing is to upload a low resolution copy with a watermark. Even if they defeat the watermark, they have a low res shot they can't do too much with.

[Gardener]

Have you considered "Steganography" ? : Embedding a text in the picture.
This text can be encrypted and can only be extracted by the creator .
This way you can prove your copyright, but of course not prevent misuse.

[filmshooter]

I would imagine that it could be defeated by say, I bring up am image on my browser, hit the "PrtScr" key and paste that into GIMP image editor, crop the screen shot down to just the image I want, name it and save it as a jpeg, then whammo any encrypted data in the image's encoding would be null and void as it is not an actual copy of the file in the means of copy/paste of the image data right? I'm not trying to steal pictures, I just like to know the ease of how a security feature is defeated as to know whether or not it is worth the time and effort to implement it. Why put a chain on a door when you can open the door and lean on it and it breaks the chain off, not worth the effort of chaining the door, screwing the mount into the door and frame et cetera. This is not any new information by the way so please don't yell at me and say I am giving people ideas. If you are smart enough to do photography, I'm sure you already know about the print screen key =]

[hcnypeter]

With a digital photo, a watermark is a faint logo or word superimposed over the top of the photo.Watermarking photos is a pretty easy process, as long as you have the right software.I standardly use action in PS and all photos are same dimensions after watermark action.

[LokiZ]

Technically there are two questions here.

How do I best protect my images on the net? (This was noted later on via the context of the thread.)

and

How do I best watermark my work?


To answer the first...

The only lock that can not be opened is the lock which has no key.

Loosely translated: If it is super important that an image not be stolen then the only safe bet is to remove the opportunity... Don't show/post/display it. Best way hands down.

To answer the second.

You can't please all of the people all of the time. And if you are trying to put the two questions together, then you can't please anybody any of the time.

Loosely translated: The more you try to use a watermark to protect an image and the more it comes close to doing so... The less likely the image will even be worth looking at. (with the exception of the pricey Digimarc system but that is not 100% successful either.) Edit: The same goes for Steganography it can also be defeated.

So...

Watermarks: They function more for giving your fans/prospective clients a way of tracking YOU down not a way for you to track down criminals.

The best way to watermark images is unobtrusively yet readable using whatever editing software you use. (preferably one utilizing layers)

Obtrusive watermarks turn away more prospective clients then they turn away prospective criminals.

My experience and 2 cents.