How to Add a Watermark to a Photo

Content theft is one of the major problems that a content creator can face. Similarly, in photography, using photos without permission or giving the credits to the photographer has become quite common due to availability. In order to prevent such copyright violations, photographers must know How to Add a Watermark to a photo they are going to share on the internet.

In this article, we will teach you everything you need to know about using watermarks. We will also go through the process of adding watermarks by using two of the most popular photo editing software i.e. Photoshop and Lightroom.

What are Watermarks?

Watermarks are basically kinds of stamps that show who the content belongs to. To deal with copyright infringement all professional photographers use watermarks on their photos. These watermarks can be added in different forms such as logos, signatures, and stamps.

Why use them?

Watermarks are the most reliable way to show the viewer who the photograph belongs to. This can be helpful if the viewer wants to contact you in order to get your services or acquire the commercial copyrights of the photos. In photographs, watermarks are used in two common ways. The first one is adding a logo or signature in the corner. It is the most common one as it offers more transparency and doesn’t affect the visuals of the photograph. Another is similar to the way a printer adds a watermark overall the document.

Adding Watermark in Photoshop

The first thing you need to learn how to add a watermark on a photo is your watermark in the PNG format. You can use Illustrator or an online graphic editor to make watermarks for your photographs. You can also hire a graphic and design expert to make a professional watermark according to your requirements. Because of such a wide variety of tools Photoshop includes, this task can be done in various ways. However, we will go for the most effective and reliable one i.e. by creating a custom brush.
Photo of factory with a copyright watermark added in Lightroom

Creating a Custom Brush of Watermarks

Start by creating a document with specific dimensions in Photoshop. Click on new and then choose from the different canvas dimensions or enter new ones. If you are not sure what dimensions to use, then always go for wider canvases. Because if there is a need to change, then scaling the bigger into the smaller sizes will be more convenient. We recommend going for anywhere between 600 – 1000 pixels wide. Do select a white background if you want precise results. Once you have a plain canvas on the Photoshop window, then drag and drop the watermark onto the new document and choose the text tool. Now we have to create the brush. Go to the ‘Edit’ menu and then select ‘Define brush preset’. Congratulations, your custom watermark brush is ready to use. Thinking about how to add a watermark to a photo using the custom brush you just added? The answer is simple; use it just as you use other brushes. Select the watermark brush and hover the mouse by clicking on the part you want to add the watermark. You can experiment with the different blending modes, opacity, and colorsto get flawless results according to your preferences.

Saving the brush

You will be using the watermark regularly. So don’t forget to save the custom brush to make your post-processing convenient. In order to save the preset brush, select the brush and right-click on it. Then head into the settings to locate the ‘preset manager’ option. You will see your brush in this list. Just drag it to the top of this list. Click ‘Done’. Now you can easily access your new custom watermark brush.

Adding Watermark in Lightroom

The process of adding a watermark in Lightroom is a little bit different. Instead of creating a brush, we need to simply create watermark presets. You will need to add these presets to the photos before exporting them.

Creating a Preset

The process is much simpler than the Photoshop method. Click on the export window and then choose the ‘edit watermarks’ option. On the top right corner, you will see a ‘graphic style’ watermark option. Select the watermark that you want to save as a preset. You will also have the option to make different adjustments such as size, opacity, and positioning. After finalizing it according to your requirements, click on save. Now you have a watermark preset in Lightroom that you can use anytime with just a single click.

Conclusion

By now you have learned the importance of using watermarks and how to add them using both Photoshop and Lightroom. Experiment, take the time and choose the one that best matches your preferences, and work style. The watermarks must be aesthetically pleasing and precisely designed. Because watermarks can potentially build up your brand by engaging new customers.

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