Watermark too much?

[Dynamic Entertainment]

I did contemplate putting this in the gallery section, but as its not a picture where i want comments on the set-up...

Anyway, is this watermark to "in-your-face"? I wasnt wanting to have a watermark in a corner, because a bit of cropping and it soon disappears :)

[DJWilson]

Thats nice and cool :)

[Starlight]

Thats nice and cool :)
Very pretty! Looks fine.

Neil M.

[Adam_F]

Looks fine mate.

[rob1963]

I also think it looks fine, Steve.

:)

[spin mobile disco]

Yep looks ok to me as well.

[DJMaxG]

At least the picture is viewable, you should try and keep it on the lowest setting, so it's almost invisable.

Here's a better way to do it :)
(Image used it Royalty Free)

[sted]

ya looks fine.

not to but in but how do you watermark?

[notroubleclubber]

id like to know too!! And BTW it looks nice.

[Shaun]

Looks fine Steve. I think you'd get away with lowering the opacity even further if you wished.

[Steve the DJ]

I wasnt wanting to have a watermark in a corner, because a bit of cropping and it soon disappears :)


Here's a better way to do it :)

:confused: :bang:

[Charlie Brown]

Nothing wrong with that. :)

[Corabar Steve]

At least the picture is viewable, you should try and keep it on the lowest setting, so it's almost invisable.

Here's a better way to do it :)
(Image used it Royalty Free)
Of course it is Max:bang: :bang: :bang:

[Shaun]

Here's a better way to do it :)



Max, your way is probably the WORST way to do it.


With your watermarking technique you don't even need to crop it to remove the watermark. It's so small and basic that anyone with very limited photo editing experience can remove it. It took me less than a minute....

Steve's watermark would be near impossible for the average man to remove.

[Marc J]

With your watermarking technique you don't even need to crop it to remove the watermark. It's so small and basic that anyone with very limited photo editing experience can remove it. It took me less than a minute....

Send in the clones? :D

Steve, if these watermarks are for your new website then you don't actually need to worry about watermarking every image....I can make them watermarked (whatever design and opacity you like) automatically by the server...

[Shaun]

Send in the clones? :D



Yes. :d




Steve, if these watermarks are for your new website then you don't actually need to worry about watermarking every image....I can make them watermarked (whatever design and opacity you like) automatically by the server...

Tis true! Marc has already worked that magic with my gallery. :beer1:

[JDB Entertainment]

Looks fine to me also! :D

And yet another great piece of advice from Max again....

[Corabar Steve]

And yet another great piece of advice from Max again....
Well, he's good for comedy moments if nothing else.:sj:

[DJMaxG]

ya looks fine.

not to but in but how do you watermark?


id like to know too!! And BTW it looks nice.

You use Watermarking Software, some of which is Free. Alternatively, If you have some graphics design software, it will be a standard feature of it.


Looks fine Steve. I think you'd get away with lowering the opacity even further if you wished.

Yes, you should lower it so you can just about see the watermark if you look hard enough. It only has to be visable to you, the owner, so you can identify that it is your artwork, should anyone decide to pinch it.

I think you would recognise it anyway though, since you have taken the photograph.


:confused: Don't Be :D


If you resize your images, then nobody would be able to do much with them anyway, because for a website Gallery, you'd want at least a certain amount of pixels.

You can put the text in the middle, and it makes the photograph a lot easier to view than through a watermark.

[DJWilson]

IMAGE: "DO you find it easier to view now?"



NO.
:bang:

[DJWilson]

I did contemplate putting this in the gallery section, but as its not a picture where i want comments on the set-up...

Anyway, is this watermark to "in-your-face"? I wasnt wanting to have a watermark in a corner, because a bit of cropping and it soon disappears :)



What program did you use? I use paint.net software but cant find a fade option on it:(

[Corabar Steve]

Will you please stop giving advice on things you clearly have no idea about Max.


Who approved these nonsensical posts?????

[Tom]

Yes, you should lower it so you can just about see the watermark if you look hard enough. It only has to be visable to you, the owner, so you can identify that it is your artwork, should anyone decide to pinch it.


I'm sure Shaun knows a lot more about this than you Max. ;)

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Thanks for the replies everyones. :beer1:



What program did you use?



Not to but in but how do you watermark?



id like to know too!!
Ive been using Photoshop, but if you just want text then this software works well (its the one thats recommended in the Sticky thread from the Gallery section); http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Multimedia_and_Graphics/Graphics_Editors/Picture_Resize_Genius_Download.html




Steve, if these watermarks are for your new website then you don't actually need to worry about watermarking every image....I can make them watermarked (whatever design and opacity you like) automatically by the server...


Cheers Marc :beer1:, thats saved me work. Do I need to round all the corners on my images, or does your magic server do that to? ;)

[Marc J]

Do I need to round all the corners on my images, or does your magic server do that to? ;)

Actually, yes it does, if you like :)

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Actually, yes it does, if you like :)

:thumbs_up: Quality, saves me having to spend ages with photoshop. Im liking your magic server :D

[Shaun]

You can put the text in the middle, and it makes the photograph a lot easier to view than through a watermark.

Yet it is still easily removed by any moron with photoshop.

Max, please don't take this the wrong way. I'm really not trying to sound condescending, but you are completely clueless on this matter. Please leave tips and help to those that are experienced with the subject matter.

-----------------------------------------

My advise to all the forum members is to try establish the validity of the information coming from our members. We do have members that are clearly offering advice without any real knowledge on the subject matter, where as others are clearly trying to offer advise with some technical background.

Read through previous posts of the posters offering advice, and try draw your own conclusions. That's the best advice I can offer.

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

My advise to all the forum members is to try establish the validity of the information coming from our members. We do have members that are clearly offering advice without any real knowledge on the subject matter, where as others are clearly trying to offer advise with some technical background.

Read through previous posts of the posters offering advice, and try draw your own conclusions. That's the best advice I can offer.

In other words, don't listen to MaxG on any subject apart from 'The videos and giglogs of Ellaskins' :sj:

[Shaun]

I'm glad we're reading from the same page, Daz. :sj:

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

I'm glad we're reading from the same page, Daz. :sj:

Yeah, but I tend to be a bit more subtle than you...:eek: :D

[Shaun]

Yeah, but I tend to be a bit more subtle than you...:eek: :D

:lol:

[Happy Jack]

I think you could certainly make it a little smaller and centre it like you have, and maybe drop the opacity to 20 - 25%. I would actually go as far as saying I echo what Max says here, although his example was ridiculous -

'...you should lower it so you can just about see the watermark if you look hard enough...'

Marc's method sounds very curious! I love the idea of having a little piece of back-end programming that automates the whole process on upload. Fantastic stuff. I presume some sort of spin on the PHP imagecopymerge?

There is a way of automating the process in Photoshop, which I'm sure you're aware of.

My pictures all conform to 2 sizes for both portrait and landscape shots, whether cropped or not. By setting up and recording an 'Action', you can batch process whole files of pictures with a number of tweaks / edits. The two watermarking 'Actions' I call upon resize the image > drop the company logo in > centre it > drop the opacity level > apply a faint drop shadow > apply a soft bevel > adjust the layer mode to 'exclusion'. The end result isn't as intrusive as some examples, and say may argue not intrusive enough! With the bevel and exclusion applied to the layer it effectively just leaves an outline which falls away the brighter it gets. I've had a few people attempt to remove it, and it hasn't been very convincing.

http://www.thegreendivision.co.uk/hire/gallery/whitgift_school_01_08_09/resized_wm/IMGP2722.jpg

http://www.thegreendivision.co.uk/hire/gallery/whitgift_school_01_08_09/resized_wm/IMGP2741.jpg

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Is there even a watermark in there jack? I cant see any :confused:

[Jiggles]

Yes but its soo light its pointless imo.

[sted]

abit like entrapment when your trying to catch people out. i think it should be more noticeable in my opinion!

[Happy Jack]

abit like entrapment when your trying to catch people out. i think it should be more noticeable in my opinion!

I've only had one guy try it and he was completely oblivious - he couldn't spot it and argued that I had no grounds for the accusation. I sent him an email with the logo laid over the top for an A/B. He replied immediately, removed the image and couldn't have be more apologetic. Entrapment is a strong word, but I like to think that the subtlety plays a big factor when pulling people up who believe they have done nothing wrong. Kinda hits them a little harder. Whatever works for you, though...

I did use a variant on the above for a while, but it never really sat well with me.

http://www.thegreendivision.co.uk/hire/gallery/whitgift_school_01_08_09/resized_wm/IMGP2722_wm2.jpg

[Jiggles]

If you used that swishy bit as the watermark but have it like its imbossed on the photo.

[rob1963]

I was always quite good at "Where's Wally" but I've been rubbish at playing "Where's Watermark" in this thread.

The effects of the laser surgery must be wearing off.

:cry:

[Dynamic Entertainment]

Personally i like your second one Jack. Its there and can be easily seen, but not on the way, if you get what I mean :)

[Danno13]

I've always thought the idea was to stop people nicking the pictures in the first place, rather than having to actually catch them out and reveal your fancy watermark to prove it's your photo.

What about any companies that have used it and you've never found them? Or people who've used your photos it for printed litrature and not put them on the net?

[Happy Jack]

I've always thought the idea was to stop people nicking the pictures in the first place

Bringing it out a bit more, like Dynamic's, and adding text would act as a stronger deterrent, no doubt.


What about any companies that have used it and you've never found them?

Watermark or not, I'd never know unless I happened to chance upon it. What I presume your getting at is that without the clarity or any text there is no way I'd get any return if someone wished to report it, as such. I'll admit the subtlety does seem a little contrived and I'll probably include the text again in light of this.

:beer1:

I haven't really had any serious encounters with anyone passing our images off as their own, at least not with any intent. I know a few on here have...

The one guy who I speak of pulled a picture of our dimmer rack, purely because Google threw up the image when he searched it. I was flattered, initially, that he deemed it credible enough to 'borrow'. What give him up is that he hotlinked the image, so he was there when we had a look at our webstats. I'd be more concerned with someone stealing our bandwidth than our images, but that's another topic entirely...

[Danno13]

What I was getting at, is that if your watermark is so blatant.. people just won't take the image in the first place, as using it will make them look like a theif and/or advertise your company.

I love it when people hotlink, a local-ish (Birmingham) DJ did it to me a few years back and I replaced the file on the server with and image containing text along the lines of "Image stolen from Revolution-discos.co.uk" :D:D:D

[rob1963]

I've always thought the idea was to stop people nicking the pictures in the first place, rather than having to actually catch them out and reveal your fancy watermark to prove it's your photo.


:agree:

[Tony Scott]

........you should lower it so you can just about see the watermark if you look hard enough. It only has to be visable to you, the owner, so you can identify that it is your artwork, should anyone decide to pinch it.....

.....I think you would recognise it anyway though, since you have taken the photograph.

......If you resize your images, then nobody would be able to do much with them anyway, because for a website Gallery, you'd want at least a certain amount of pixels.......

.....You can put the text in the middle, and it makes the photograph a lot easier to view than through a watermark.....

Nuggets of pure gold! :D

[Solitaire Events Ltd]

:lol:

[Marc J]

Marc's method sounds very curious! I love the idea of having a little piece of back-end programming that automates the whole process on upload. Fantastic stuff. I presume some sort of spin on the PHP imagecopymerge?
It uses PHP along with some htaccess trickery. See the "The Best Thing Since Bubble Wrap" article at http://www.devpapers.com/article/323.

I use a modified version of it which applies the watermark in the middle of the image. Also, the watermark is scaled to the image, and is not applied at all if the requested images is below a certain size.


I love it when people hotlink, a local-ish (Birmingham) DJ did it to me a few years back and I replaced the file on the server with and image containing text along the lines of "Image stolen from Revolution-discos.co.uk" :D:D:D

You can actually automate this process, again using htaccess. Details at http://altlab.com/htaccess_tutorial.html :D

[JDB Entertainment]

Nuggets of pure gold! :D

Lol! Tony, Great Picture!!

:p

[Happy Jack]

I use a modified version of it which applies the watermark in the middle of the image.


Excellent stuff. I'm aware of the htaccess file and a few of basic functions associated with it like passwording and custom error messages. I had no idea at how much more it can actually be used for!

Time I move everything across to an Apache server I think, and rid myself of this shared Windows nonsense.