Monday, October 13, 2008

How to Watermark an Image (for Free)

JetPhoto Studio is a great little freeware application for Mac and PC for adding a watermark to your images. I spent a great deal of time trying to find a freeware program for my Mac that would add a watermark to a batch of images I wanted to publish on the web. There was plenty on freeware for a PC and plenty of software for a Mac that came with a price, but the program I desired was very elusive. One option that I wasn't too excited about was using Picasa, but you could only add text rather than an image as a watermark. After many failed Google searches, I ended up on download.com and did a search for "watermark" and filtered the results to only show results with free licences. There were four options and none looked too promising. To make a long and boring story short and exciting - I downloaded JetPhoto Studio and it rocks! The following is an illustrated guide to add a watermark to an image with JetPhoto Studio.




Step 1: Open JetPhoto Studio and create a new album, which I called "Watermark Demo".


Step 2: Drag and drop one or more images into the new album.





Step3 : Click on the "Actions" tab, and click on "Web Ready".


Step 4: Click on the "Resize" tab and select what size images you want generated. I only wanted a watermark on my demo image at a size of 1600 X 1200 pixels.


Step 5: Click on the "Watermark" tab and drag and drop your watermark mask into the rectangle. My watermark mask is white so you can't really see it too good. Select where you want the watermark positioned on your image.


Step 6: Click "Export Now!" and a folder will be placed on your desktop with your watermarked image(s).


To my delight, I have once again managed to find and use either freeware or open source software to accomplish what I need. I thank all the people (in this the case JetPhoto Studio authors and supporters) who put so much work into making free and quality software. BTW, I used Inkscape, an amazing open source application for creating professional vector graphics (like Adobe Illustrator) for my watermark. I'll probably be doing more illustrated how-to guides on other freeware and open source software for the Mac in the future.

See also: Photos of Greylag Goose with a different style watermark

Submit Photos to Shutterstock and make $$$!
at

53 comments:

  1. JumperOctober 13, 2008 at 6:51 PM

    Free software: so often the best kind!

    I'd suggest you get an email account for this blog, then people wouldn't clog up your comments section with personal notes... people like me...

    Re: the four-eyed girl and cat: I tried to find the creator of the girl, but no luck in crediting. The cat I did. And yes, the no-cheese year, which was beset by failures, was the only variable I ATTEMPTED to have for the experiment. Around here, scavengers are taking all nonferrous metals they can find or probably steal. One fool tried just the other day to use my backyard to burn the insulation off his copper prior to turning it in for money. I suspect if you try to melt all that copper, you will use more fuel than the copper would then be worth. It would be impressive to have a ten-kilol brick of copper sitting on the coffee table, though...

    ReplyDelete
  2. F CameronDecember 4, 2008 at 6:45 PM

    This is great! I just got a new MacBook and was looking for a watermark free program.

    Thanks!
    Cameron
    (who publishes a LOT of garden photos)

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousFebruary 26, 2009 at 1:12 AM

    I tried to follow your step by step soloution, however, the watermark never appeared.

    Let's say I wanted to watermark the word Canada on my photo you didn't say how to do that...

    Can you help?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tim MolterMarch 1, 2009 at 10:20 AM

    Cameron, Glad it worked for you! Thanks for leaving a message.

    Anonymous, I'm not sure why it didn't work for you, if you followed the steps exactly, it should have worked. If you want to add a word, you need to first use graphic editor software to create an image with the word and export the image as a .png or whatever (.jpeg and .gif will probably also work). Then you just import that watermark as explained in this article. For graphic editing software, I would recommend InkScape, an open source illustrating program available for Mac, Linux, and Windows. For an example of an image with a word watermark go here: Eurasian Coot - Blässhuhn

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousMay 1, 2009 at 10:15 PM

    Excellent! I have a mac, a recently started blog and a new camera burning a hole in my photographic pocket - only thing holding me back from really getting stuck in was a watermark - not that anyone would ever want to pinchy my pictures but still!

    Thanks for the tip :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousJuly 5, 2009 at 11:18 AM

    Thanks for sharing this information. :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousJuly 15, 2009 at 5:22 AM

    Thanks for sharing. Made my life easier working with family who are concerned about pictures being shared on the web. Great steps and thanks for the legwork!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. AnonymousJuly 17, 2009 at 10:54 PM

    THANK YOU SOOOOOO SOOO SO MUCH! Keep it up. I'll def be looking for ur next post.
    Tks.

    ReplyDelete
  9. CharlesSeptember 26, 2009 at 4:37 PM

    Thanks a bunch ! Really helped me out !

    ReplyDelete
  10. EllieOctober 21, 2009 at 12:00 AM

    This is great! So simple. I work in real estate and resize photos all the time. Having just switched from a Toshiba to a Macbook, I have been struggling with the photos and looking for something exactly like JetPhoto. You're a life and time saver!
    Any chance you can recommend a simple program to make text macros for a Mac?
    Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Tim MolterOctober 22, 2009 at 7:58 PM

    Hi Ellie, Thanks for stopping by. I haven't used any text macro programs... BTW, iPhoto can also do resizing, plus lot's of your basic photo editing stuff like cropping, adjusting white balance, exposure, etc. I do everything photo-related in iPhoto, but use JetPhoto just for the Watermark. I wish iPhoto would have watermarking, but I doubt Apple will ever include it because that would be one less reason for people to buy Aperture.

    ReplyDelete
  12. TracieOctober 28, 2009 at 2:17 PM

    Thanks for posting this. It's exactly what I was looking for. Found you via Google search, btw. Thanks a bunch. Oh...LOVE your blog header photo! Sweet!

    ReplyDelete
  13. AnonymousNovember 7, 2009 at 3:55 AM

    Hi Tim,

    This is really a big help for me.

    KUDOS

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anthony PioppiJanuary 23, 2010 at 4:28 PM

    Thanks for this, a fantastic help. Unfortunately, I'm not computer savvy enough to know how to create a watermark for my photos, some of which I'll have for sale online. I've downloaded Inkscape, but that is confusing as well. I just need to get my name and the copyright symbol on all my photos. Is there a way to easily do that?

    ReplyDelete
  15. Tim MolterJanuary 23, 2010 at 11:38 PM

    Hi Anthony, Thanks for stopping by. I don't know of an alternative way to get just some text watermarked on an image. Perhaps there is an online tool that let's you upload an image and enter the text you want as a watermark, and then returns you your watermarked image. Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  16. UnknownMarch 6, 2010 at 2:08 PM

    Hi, the information I found here, was really helpful, but I couldn't make my watermark so dense as yours, mine looks some how a bit destructed, and blurred. Is there something I might be doing wrong? I exported my text (which is black) as png, and added in jetPhoto, and after exporting, the size of the watermark is decreased and the quality also..

    ReplyDelete
  17. Tim MolterMarch 6, 2010 at 10:41 PM

    Hi Rasa,

    I believe what's probably happening is that your watermark image is too small, and when JetPhoto adds the watermark it is stretching the small png image to fill the a corner of the relatively large photo, resulting the blurry pixellated watermark. Try making your watermark image at least 1/5 the width (in pixels) of the photo you want to watermark. So if your photo is 3000 px wide, make the watermark PNG at least 600 px wide.

    ReplyDelete
  18. BJLMarch 15, 2010 at 10:07 PM

    Tim, this software is perfect and exactly what I needed, so thank you! However, my .png watermark is plenty big (1600+ by 700+ pixels), and has a very vibrant color. But, when I add it as a watermark, it comes out as very weak and you can BARELY see it. Is there any way to adjust the density of the overlay? Thanks again, this is tremendously helpful!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Tim MolterMarch 17, 2010 at 7:29 AM

    BJL, Unless there is setting in Jetphoto to change that, you might be out of luck. The only thing I can think of it to make sure you have your alpha channel of you colors in your thumbnail image to 100% if not already.

    ReplyDelete
  20. PMarch 24, 2010 at 5:40 AM

    once i download watermark, can i then open them, watermarked on iphoto so as to upload them on facebook/flickr?

    ReplyDelete
  21. AnonymousJune 5, 2010 at 4:30 AM

    Thank you, this was very useful and the program works great!

    ReplyDelete
  22. MattJune 25, 2010 at 5:13 PM

    We just launched a new free online watermark tool which can be used as a web service.

    Check it out here: http://www.digital-camera.com/free-watermark

    ReplyDelete
  23. september cottageJuly 31, 2010 at 2:55 PM

    HI Tim!

    This really helped me finding a free software , I have downloaded it and it looks so easy in comparison to all the ones I had downloaded so far. I do understand the 'how to do it' - but how do I actually create/make a watermark and where - been looking for ages now at it is driving me MAD! Or is there anywhere where you can find them on the net and just fill in your own text?

    Any tips are greatly appreciated!

    Thanks in advance,

    Nicola

    ReplyDelete
  24. Tim MolterAugust 1, 2010 at 10:16 PM

    Hi Nicola, if all you want to do is add a text watermark, give Google's Picasa a try. I haven't used it for watermarking, but I think it's possible for text watermarks. Otherwise you have to make your own watermark image. Gimp or Inkscape will do the trick.

    ReplyDelete
  25. AnonymousAugust 5, 2010 at 2:39 AM

    Thanks for the great tip on the program and the quick and easy tutorial. Worked perfect.

    ReplyDelete
  26. AnonymousAugust 20, 2010 at 3:06 PM

    Thank you very much. very helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  27. TCSeptember 21, 2010 at 8:16 AM

    If it really works, I will love you forever haha.
    Thanks a lot!!

    ReplyDelete
  28. T.A.PaxtonOctober 10, 2010 at 5:59 PM

    This looked great until I realized there was apparently no way to upload the watermarked to my Picasa ACCOUNT or even photobucket. Flickr has certain TOS for it's images -if they aren't allowed for commercial use, why would you bother watermarking them? and we don't all have control over the server end.
    And Picasa's watermark is so tiny anyone could crop it out!

    ReplyDelete
  29. CraigDecember 2, 2010 at 1:36 AM

    Thanks so much! I was looking for a quick way to watermark photos I upload to Facebook and the Indie Travel Podcast Community. You are a lifesaver :)

    ReplyDelete
  30. Katie JoyDecember 15, 2010 at 9:39 PM

    Thank You! I've been looking for a mac freeware program specifically to watermark (and easy to do) for a long time.. Appreciate this article :)

    ReplyDelete
  31. Carole BrownDecember 29, 2010 at 3:15 AM

    Thank you very much for the time you took to find this and to then add 'how to use' notes.
    Wishing you a very prosperous New Year in 2011

    ReplyDelete
  32. Tiff FirthJanuary 30, 2011 at 12:30 PM

    found you via a Facebook friend.

    thank you. this is exactly what I was looking for!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. AnonymousFebruary 25, 2011 at 12:04 PM

    Thank you for sharing this knowledge with all of us.

    ReplyDelete
  34. AnonymousFebruary 25, 2011 at 7:32 PM

    For those of you that use a MAC check out this iPhoto plug in.

    http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/imaging_3d/impressionforiphoto.html

    ReplyDelete
  35. Apple FansApril 4, 2011 at 5:41 PM

    If you are looking for a free batch photo watermarking software for MAC OS X. I suggest Star Watermark for Mac software.
    Official website: Star Watermark for Mac

    ReplyDelete
  36. AnonymousApril 21, 2011 at 5:36 PM

    Amazing! I've been looking for watermarking software for Mac and I landed on your page! Thanks a lot for the tutorial too!

    -Ingrid

    ReplyDelete
  37. Rachat de creditMay 10, 2011 at 10:26 PM

    Thanks a lot it was a wonderful guide, now to watermark an image (for free) is without a doubt easy with your recommendation. Kudos

    ReplyDelete
  38. LindaJune 8, 2011 at 11:44 AM

    Hi there :)

    Thank you very much for sharing this info. I have been searching for 1 forever... And I am so lucky to find 1 for my Mac.

    Thank you so very much.

    ~Linda~
    Sorry I do not have website, only want to watermark my photos to put in FB.

    ReplyDelete
  39. AnonymousAugust 20, 2011 at 9:17 PM

    thank you for the step by step easy way to watermark on a MAC and free. MY problem is that while I have my pictures all watermarked on my desktop , when I try to drop them on facebook or my website, the watermark does not appear on the photos. could you please suggest why and if there is something I 'can do' that will watermark paintings and be able to place on web? Thanks again

    ReplyDelete
  40. Tim MolterAugust 21, 2011 at 2:04 PM

    Anonymous, if the images that your saved on your desktop contain a watermark, and you upload those images to Facebook, they will still have a watermark. The only possible explanation is that you are mistakenly uploading the original images and not the watermarked ones.

    ReplyDelete
  41. Me!February 29, 2012 at 5:57 AM

    I LOVE YOU FOR THIS! You seriously are a life saver. If I could kiss you right now I would, but since I can't a cyber kiss will have to do. MWWWAAAAAHHHHH!!! There ya go! Enjoy it in moderation! lol :-)

    ReplyDelete
  42. alanMarch 4, 2012 at 4:12 PM

    thanks for the program and your great explanation. Can you type text for your water mark? I want to put my website thebarbecuemaster I only saw the ability to do a design on the bottom half

    thanks alan

    ReplyDelete
  43. Tim MolterMarch 4, 2012 at 4:34 PM

    alan, no. While it is possible with other software, in this case, you need an image.

    ReplyDelete
  44. heeweeApril 6, 2012 at 9:05 PM

    No matter how big I make my image in Gimp, it still shows up tiny on my images in Jetphoto. HELP!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  45. Tim MolterApril 6, 2012 at 10:16 PM

    heewee, that's the limitation of Jetphoto. It scales the watermark down, not giving you any control over that.

    ReplyDelete
  46. CoffeeholicJuly 1, 2012 at 2:46 AM

    I was just looking for a simple watermark application for my Mac and found it here so THANK YOU! :)

    ReplyDelete
  47. just somebodyJuly 10, 2012 at 3:20 AM

    Thank you very much for taking the time to point others in the right direction.

    ReplyDelete
  48. AnonymousOctober 25, 2012 at 7:31 PM

    THANK YOU!!!! GREAT software!

    ReplyDelete
  49. LenaNovember 27, 2012 at 10:35 AM

    Thank you so much for the post! I will be bookmarking this page :)

    ReplyDelete
  50. billpDecember 13, 2012 at 8:26 PM

    Thanks much for the post. It was very helpful.

    ReplyDelete
  51. aidsasisFebruary 26, 2013 at 10:10 PM

    thank you so much! very helpful!!!

    ReplyDelete
  52. UnknownApril 6, 2013 at 9:41 PM

    It did not work. I have to upgrade to Premium. Instead of giving me my watermarked photos, it gave me html files of originals, not even with the watermark. They're htmls, not jpgs, and I can't upload htmls :P lol

    ReplyDelete
  53. AnonymousJuly 4, 2014 at 5:36 PM

    This is a great article regarding watermarking image, just what I was looking for. Thank you so much!

    ReplyDelete