Noob Question: Photostamp

[chrisburke]

Hey, I don't exactley know what it's called, maybe a photostamp, maybe a watermark? In peoples picture, they put a stamp in the corner, so people know who it's done by.

I'm wondering how big it should be. Mine is currently size 18, it seems small when i compare it to other photos that have a stamp on them.

Any ideas?

 

[motcon]

Any ideas?

post an example of one of your watermarked images and you'll get replies. this is a visual medium, after all.

 

[chrisburke]

sample

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/254/515551386_2425fd988a.jpg?v=0

 

[Digital Matt]

It took me a few seconds to even find it. I'm not a fan of watermarks, at least these kind. They do nothing to protect your work, and just get in the way. Unless you have a tried and true logo and are promoting something, it's really useless.

 

[fotogenik]

Logo's on pictures or watermarks or whatever you wish to call them are IMHO purely for advertising purposes. They are not going to stop someone from stealing your image and using it in any manner they choose.

Resolution is king when it comes to this. Most public photo kiosk's will not print a picture with it's dimensions scaled down to the point that the longest side is below 600px so setting your image to 599 px is one way to stop that sort of printing. Lowering your resolution to 72ppi is another way cause printing an image that is 599px on it's longest side at 72ppi is going to yield a seriously small print and should they attempt o blow the image up in order to print it, it will pixelate beyond belief.

If someone wants your stuff bad enough, they are going to get it. I myself am guilty of print screening an image and pasting it into ps to crop the outer edges off to save to my hard drive. I don't use these images for anything more than personal inspirational reference and would never attempt to pass one off as my own work, but there are unscrupulous individuals who will do just that, and short of not posting your images anywhere you cannot stop them.