Image watermark.

How to watermark an image

1. Choose the picture you want to protect.
2. Pick Text or Logo image. For text, type the wording, then set the font size, colour, opacity and rotation.
3. For a logo, upload a PNG with a transparent background if you have one, then set its size and opacity.
4. Choose a position from the grid of nine, from a corner to the centre.
5. Check the preview and download the marked image.

Making a watermark that works

A good watermark is visible enough to discourage casual copying but quiet enough not to ruin the picture. Around 30 to 50 percent opacity is a common starting point. Placing a mark in the centre is harder to crop out than one in a corner, and a diagonal rotation makes it harder to remove cleanly. For client proofs, a large semi-transparent word such as PROOF across the middle is the usual choice; for credit lines, a small mark in a lower corner is more polite.

Keep the original unmarked file. A watermark is permanent once the image is saved, so work on a copy and store the clean version safely. Remember too that a watermark deters rather than prevents reuse; it cannot stop a determined person from retouching it out.

Your pictures stay private

The text or logo is drawn onto the photo by your browser, in a frame that has no network access. Neither the photo nor your logo is uploaded, which matters when you are marking unreleased work or client images. The adverts on this page sit outside the frame and cannot see inside it.

Tips

• Use a light colour on dark photos and a dark colour on light ones, or pick a mid-tone that reads on both.
• A transparent PNG logo looks cleaner than a logo on a white box.
• Very large photos may take a moment to process; the download keeps the original resolution.