Video - Watermarking your Photos
A few days ago I posed the question to our Photoshop Guys facebook page (click here if you want to join our page), to see what topics people were interested in. I got a lot of good responses so I thought I'd start picking away at them. This time I thought I'd cover watermarking your photos. I'll be the first to admit, it's more or less of a hack in Lightroom, as it's not really meant for this. However, once you get it set up to watermark, Lightroom does offer a good quick alternative over using Photoshop, Batch Processing and Actions, etc... Hope you enjoy!
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November 19th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Mogrify does watermarking brilliantly in a LR export…
November 19th, 2008 at 10:41 am
Hi, first thing : I LOVE THIS! thx:)
now : problem, the black border around, is there any way to make that go away??
November 19th, 2008 at 11:06 am
Thank you!
November 19th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Regarding David’s comment about LR2Mogrify, I use it like this for watermarking web galleries:
http://www.peachpit.com/blogs/blog.aspx?uk=Export-and-add-to-catalog
You can use either a graphical watermark or pull a variety of data from each photo’s metadata (or both at the same time) to display on the exported photos.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
I’ll be the third to say LR Mogrify has solved my watermarking needs. You might want to do a review of this amazing plug-in.
November 19th, 2008 at 12:52 pm
Matt,
Thanks for another great LRKT video. As to that “sticky” leash-thingy - it seems to have something to do with where the logo/watermark is positioned as it is applied to succeeding images that are oriented differently or of a different size.
I could be wrong. I’ve been wrong before.
Bill
November 19th, 2008 at 1:07 pm
It’s about time you post something! Just kidding.
Thanks for this. I’ll have to give it try. -John
November 19th, 2008 at 2:50 pm
Let me be the fourth one to shout “LR2Mogrify”. Watermarking and much more almost free (you can choose yourself how much to pay). I really don’t understand why LR2 has such a lousy built-in watermarking.
Herwig
November 19th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Matt, I used to do what you do for a living for another large software company and I love seeing what you come up with! Very few people come up with ideas that are outside the box (I used to get teased for doing this a ton!), but you do this consistently - finding ways to do things that may not have been intended, but still work really well. This was a great tutorial - I’m sure I’ll be using it from time to time and I really appreciate you sharing it!
Thanks!
Andi
November 19th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
The problem with Matt’s example is that it outputs the images as if they are slideshow frames instead of stand-alone jpeg images. The only real solutions right now are LR/Mogrify or OnOne Photoframe.
November 19th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
Isn’t the problem with LR2Mogrify that it requires another generation of the image. Essentially LR generates an image from the RAW+developing, which is then fed to mogrify, which then saves another version. I haven’t watched the video yet, but I’m assuming if done inside LR that you don’t lose a generation in this workflow. Now whether that extra generation perceptively degrades quality may be up for debate, but just saying…
November 19th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Matt, thanks for sharing! Having people talk about LR2Mogrify plug-in made me think of a suggestion: How about a “Free LR2 Add-on Essentials” type post or video. I’ve looked around the Adobe Exchange, but I think having something where you kind of go through the “best” options would be so helpful. Maybe you could even do something like Terry White’s “iPhone app of the week” but for LR2. I know you’re crazy busy, so adding one more thing to your plate might not be realistic, but thought I’d at least try.
Thanks,
Mike
November 19th, 2008 at 9:49 pm
Hi Matt,
I discovered this technique about a year ago and it seems to work well. As you stated, it’s kind of a hack.
I also discovered that this technique works in the Print Module. Where you can create a jpeg output if desired. ( at least on a PC)
For those interested, I explain how to add your signature to onto an image for printout on my blog- http://camerasview.com/archives/207
Also under my blog Lr prests tab you will find other templates that I have made and use to simulate calendars and framing your image.
As you and I discussed a while back, some people indicate that they have had issues with using the identity plate in this manner on Macs in the print module, yet you do not seem to have an issue in the web module.
Do you know if the issue still exist with the print module on a Mac under Lr 2.0 ?
Thanks for your continuing efforts
November 19th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
BayTaper, it is true that the exported files are edited and then re-saved in the process of applying the watermark, but if you export to TIFF then there is no loss of quality from repeat saves as that is not a lossy format.
That said, I think you’d be hard pressed to find a perceptible difference between the export of a high quality JPG and a TIF after the watermark was applied in this manner.
Granted, I don’t think anyone would disagree that native watermarking functionality in Lightroom would be a nice addition.
November 20th, 2008 at 12:03 am
Thanks Matt!
November 20th, 2008 at 1:54 am
I don’t think BayTaper is worried about loss of quality but loss of diskspace.
November 20th, 2008 at 2:02 am
Ah, perhaps you are correct? Sorry if I read that the wrong way.
Though, the disk space issue exists for saving JPGs from the Slideshow too. You are still making additional copies. In either case, depending upon the reason for watermarking there is no need to keep the copies on disk once you’ve either uploaded them to a web gallery or delivered them in some other fashion as you can always generate more from your source files if the need arose again. So, if disk space is an issue just deliver and then delete.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:44 am
Hi Matt,
You’re right that method you describe is a little clunky. I’ve tried Mogrify and agree with other comments here, it’s good. But the problem with it is that you have to resize it in the dialog box when you have different crops or chip sizes from different cameras. The other method which I now use all the time is the one given in the Under The Loupe feature in the September 2007 issue of Photoshop User. In one click all the selected images are exported to PS and an overlay placed flattened and then re-imported in to Lightroom as a an srgb image with the watermark.
What’sthe advantage I hear you say. Well, when PS places an image it doesn’t matter how big the watermark is it centres it to the same size as the file irrespective of crop, size or shape of the image. Also as an import in to Lightroom, the srgb jpegs are already in a group for you in the Previous Import box. You simply click the Previous Import box and go to the Web module. This actually sounds more complicated than it is. Where it scores over Mogrify, is that using this system it’s all done automatically and you don’t have to do anything manually or leave Lightroom at all. With Mogrify the images are exported outside of Lightroom.
When I first read the article I dismissed it as being very complicated. It will be for some, but the time I’ve saved and the speed in which I can get watermarked galleries of images of all shapes and sizes out there is very quick indeed.
November 20th, 2008 at 9:48 am
Thats great Matt - I’d been dropping back into PS for all my watermarking.
Kevin
November 20th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
My question is: Where can I find and action for photoshop CS3 to put my logo on to a bunch of photos. Something simple just in the corner. Dose any have any good direction on the?
November 21st, 2008 at 11:31 am
Matt, what software do you use for your tutorials. I am particularly interested in your video screen capture. I’d like to do some tutorials for my real estate business. Thanks!
November 21st, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Nigel, I’m glad you found that article helpful. Props go back to Matt for inspiring it with his tutorial on creating a custom watermark in Photoshop.
Casey, If you are a NAPP member you can find Matt’s watermark tutorial for Photoshop in the April/May 2007 issue of Photoshop User Magazine. He also did a video tutorial for the NAPP member website as a follow up to the magazine article.
December 11th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Thank you so much for this timely post!!!! I was just trying to figure out how to put a watermark on my pics for Facebook and for my blog and I so appreciate the tutorial. You guys are awesome! Thanks for making things simple!
December 17th, 2008 at 4:15 am
It can not add watermark to video.
for mac users:
Here is a tutorial on How to add watermark (Text or image) to videos on Mac?
http://www.moviesmac.com/tutorial/add-text-or-image-watermark-to-video-on-mac.html
December 26th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
There is no excuse for Lightroom not doing this as good as the mogrify plugin. Professional Photographers have been watermarking images before the world went digital. I myself still have my old proof embosser. WHY DONT YOU WIPE THAT L OFF YOUR DEVELOPERS FOREHEADS AND GET IT ADOBE - THIS IS AN IMPORTANT FUNCTION FOR PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS - admitting its clunky is kind of embarrasing for you as the software for photography dont you think?
December 29th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
I have a logo that was created with a white background and it makes it difficult to import into colored backgrounds. How do I remove the white background to make it more transparent to blend in with the background?
January 11th, 2009 at 3:58 pm
Hey guys i can’t find the “photoshop guys” page in facebook, any clue why??
I got a problem with my lightroom’s editing brush. The editing button seems to disappear, and i can’t find it. So everytime i use it i have to make sure i don’t make any errors because i can’t correct them. Any clue why it happen? and how to make it work?
January 12th, 2009 at 2:13 pm
Ariette, you may have found the answer by now, but just in case you are still looking. Press H to show/hide the adjustment brush pin.
February 1st, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Hello. And Bye.
February 16th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
I have Adobe Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom 1.4.1. I am having problems with photos being stolen off my web site and used on Facebook pages. I use the Lightroom watermark on my photos when building the web pages in the web gallery module, however the watermark is small and in the bottom left of the photo. I’ve watched your video tutorial on enlarging watermarks using the slideshow module, but am not sure how that could translate into the web page module.
Basically, is there a way to theft-proof my photos by either batch creating a larger watermark with the software I have, and is there a way to prevent people from being able to drag the proofs off my web site onto their desktops?
Thanks.
February 17th, 2009 at 6:26 pm
p.s. — I use a Mac, and some of the other programs that would batch add copyright watermarks don’t sound like they are compatible with Mac’s.
Laura
March 1st, 2009 at 9:31 am
Watemarking with Lightroom, cant wait to try it, Thx!
March 3rd, 2009 at 7:21 pm
Hey, thanks for the tutorial. But Adobe, WTF? Why is this function not available in Export? I’m not sure, but I believe that the majority of users don’t wish to create a weird slideshow within lightroom, or print photos themselves from lightroom. Anymore pretty much anything is digital and goes through digital formats before it is printed or edited or made into a slideshow.
Why is this feature not included? I actually paid for this program, and you didn’t even add this one single little feature in Lightroom 2, after everyone wanting it in Lightroom 1?
Sorry adobe, but you are suck so bad right now. It’s just like premier pro cs3 for mac. 24fps was basically disfunctional, and you never even bothered to fix that. The issue is solved if you import your video with imovie. imovie for crying out load….
March 15th, 2009 at 10:44 pm
I think you should look at Identity plate to water mark your photos in lightroom.
March 17th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
THANK YOU I have been pulling my hair out trying to figure how to get watermarks on exported images, instead of just on printed images. Now I get to finally go home and have a St. Patty’s Day beer.
March 22nd, 2009 at 1:08 pm
Nigel, I’m glad you found that article helpful. Props go back to Matt for inspiring it with his tutorial on creating a custom watermark in Photoshop. film indir
Casey, If you are a NAPP member you can find Matt’s watermark tutorial for Photoshop in the April/May 2007 issue of Photoshop User Magazine. He also did a video tutorial for the NAPP member website as a follow up to the magazine article.
March 22nd, 2009 at 3:36 pm
Hi Matt,
I discovered this technique about a year ago and it seems to work well. As you stated, it’s kind of a hack.
I also discovered that this technique works in the Print Module. Where you can create a jpeg output if desired. sikiş videoları ( at least on a PC)
For those interested, I explain how to add your signature to onto an image for printout on my blog- http://camerasview.com/archives/207
Also under my blog Lr prests tab you will find other templates that I have made and use to simulate calendars and framing your image.
As you and I discussed a while back, some people indicate that they have had issues with using the identity plate in this manner on Macs in the print module, yet you do not seem to have an issue in the web module.
Do you know if the issue still exist with the print module on a Mac under Lr 2.0 ?
Thanks for your continuing efforts
March 23rd, 2009 at 8:49 am
Ah, perhaps you are correct? Sorry if I read that the wrong way.
Though, the disk space issue exists for saving JPGs from the Slideshow too. You are still making additional copies. sikiş In either case, depending upon the reason for watermarking there is no need to keep the copies on disk once you’ve either uploaded them to a web gallery or delivered them in some other fashion as you can always generate more from your source files if the need arose again. So, if disk space is an issue just deliver and then delete.
May 13th, 2009 at 8:11 pm
THANK YOU ALL,for the feed back.I myself have spent countless hours trying to figure this out.After thousands of photos,classes,c.d.s,and lots of reading i am at the level where its time to put a watermark on my photos for saftey.But once again I was up till midnight lastnight trying to figure this out.Well here we go,hope it finally workes.
May 21st, 2009 at 10:31 pm
Well, I’m in love! With Lightroom - and with this terrific tut! You can BET that when the trial period is up, I will CHEERFULLY pay for this program!!!
May 25th, 2009 at 2:21 am
Hi,
Well its an interesting and helpful way of doing it but for example if i want my logo as not a watermark, i want logo on every bottom right corner of the image to fit perfectly too ?
I have been using BorderMaker for ever now and you can do borders with it with any information you want…or just noborter but add your own logo
batch processing is lovely too.
Its good to know how to do it in lightroom, but free program bordermaker works fenomenal for me
June 4th, 2009 at 2:14 pm
Hi Guys,
Got a question as I’m new to this watermark business. I want to export around 300 monochrome photos (Jpeg) from LR2 with some form of watermark - this will be for publishers/archives to view the images on CD, and I don’t want to take any chances! Would you recommend the mogrify method?
Eventually, I want to export the completed files as Tiffs with an embedded watermark/ident - would anyone suggest the most reliable method as I’ve heard Digimarc is worth considering?
June 11th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
When you don’t want to spoil your photos with a watermark you can at least add an invisible signature. More details at http://blog.lindusphoto.com/2009/05/watermarking-your-images-with.html
June 20th, 2009 at 3:06 am
Hi Guys,
I look forward to Lightroom having a good customisable watermark function as part of export. I agree with comments above that this should have been part of Lightroom right from the start or at least in ver 2.
I have tried to download LR Mogrify from Timothy Armes web site (www.timothyarmes.com) a number of time over the last week but the site seems to have vanished.
Anybody know what has happened to the site or where else I can go to download the files ?
Thanks
June 24th, 2009 at 10:50 am
Hi all,
I have spent the better part of 3 days on numerous forums trying to figure out this whole exporting out of slideshow from LR with the watermark. Wow - what disaster. I, like many others, are shocked at how time consuming this has all been. And this program was designed for photographers?!
So, after purchasing LR I have to go and donate somewhere to get a plug in to get my photos to my blog with a watermark? I have a mac and I am finding it very difficult to get a clear cut answer on how to do this. I step by step of the easiest way for Mac users would be greatly appreciated so that I can get new photos onto my blog.
Thanks!
July 18th, 2009 at 11:55 am
We are creating proofs in Lightroom 2. We made a template to fit the price list we have printed and we want to put a watermark/identity plate on each of the images. The problem we are having is that you cant move the watermark around in the frame. You can center it or turn it 90 degrees or 180 but not up and down like you can in the slideshow module. the print module doesnt seem to have that capability and the watermark in our head and shoulders portrait go right across the mouth. Can you help?
forever grateful for a fix
July 18th, 2009 at 5:15 pm
Love the watermark. The only problem is I don’t have an export JPEG option . It will only export as pdf. The place where you have “export Jpeg” I just have “add” and “remove”. On the right side of lightroom, I just have one export button and it will only let me export in pdf. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!