Watermarking Photographs in Photoshop CS3

A Photoshop Tutorial On Creating Digital Watermarks

© Caroline Thompson

Oct 5, 2009

Image watermarking is simple with Photoshop. Although there are many watermarking software applications available on the market today, most photographers already use Photoshop and can make a copyright watermark without purchasing another product.

Background Layer

• First, open a new file in Photoshop. Hold down Ctrl N for the keyboard shortcut or File > New in the Menu bar. In the dialog box that opens, put in the average size you use for images. Select Transparent in the Background Contents drop down menu, RGB in the Color Mode drop down menu and 8 bit in the next drop down menu. Name the file Watermark. (Figure 1)
• Next, select a background color. Any color will do, red works well with this process. Click on the Foreground Color box and when the dialog box opens, select a color for the copyright outline color. Click OK. From the Tools Palette, select the Paint Bucket tool and click on the background layer to fill the layer with the chosen color. (Figure 2)

Watermark Layer Setup

Now that the background layer is created and filled with color, the watermark layer needs to be created.

• From the Tools Palette, select the Text tool and choose the font type from the options drop down menu. Any font can be used, but keep in mind that this watermark will be semi-transparent and 3D. It will need to be easily readable to be useful. A sans-serif font is the standard. Start with a font size of 26 and a color of gray. The gray color will be important to create the 3D effect. The text size and font are just starting points. These can be re-sized and varied to fit any image that is going to be watermarked. (Figure 2)

Creating The Copyright Watermark

• Holding down the Option key and pressing the letter symbol G (Mac) or holding down the Alt key and typing the number 0169 (PC) can create the standard copyright symbol.
• Now, type the text for the image watermark after the copyright symbol. A watermark consists of the copyright symbol and a combination of text and/or your name. An example would be Copyright 2009 Jane Doe All Rights Reserved, 2009 Jane Doe or some other combination of the photographer's choice.
• To create the 3D effect, select Bevel and Emboss from the Layer Style drop down menu at the bottom of the Layers Palette (Figure 3). Set the size to 5 px and the bevel to inside. Click OK.
• Next, in the Layers Palette, set the blending mode from drop down menu to Hard Light. (Figure 4)
• Save your file.

Adding The Watermark To An Image

• Open an image that needs a digital watermark. Open the Watermark file and click on the move tool at the top of the Tools Palette. Drag the watermark to the open icon on the bottom of the image window of the photo to be watermarked. This will place the watermark on top of your image.
• Now the copyright watermark can be re-sized or moved to the desired location. (Figure 5)

There it is, a few simple steps to watermarking photos.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

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