Today we are going to explore the photographer’s ever-present dilemma of whether you should put a watermark on the image.
Photographer David Bergman explains: “watermark is a texture logo you put on a digital image to show who shot the photo. Also, sometimes it’s used to show copyright protection.”
“So the big question is should you actually put a watermark on your photographs? Well, if you ask 10 photographers you’ll probably get10 different answers. Personally, I believe your name should be somewhere on your images so that a potential future client knows who took the picture and can find you and hire you. The key is not to make it too big and obnoxious so it doesn’t take away from your photograph. Putting a giant copyright symbol over the middle of your image will certainly keep somebody from stealing it and using it in a way you didn’t want but also you won’t be able to see the picture.”
“Now that we’ve decided the watermark should be small, what should it look like? Using your business logo might be a good idea but only if you can really read your contact info. If it’s too artistic and crazy and it doesn’t make any sense they won’t be able to make it out and find you.”
“What I do is use a program like Photoshop to create a single line of small text at the bottom right hand corner of my images. It has a copyright symbol, my name and my website. I use black text with a white outline so it shows up on a photograph anywhere whether it’s light or dark. I’ve also created a Photoshop action so I can create this whole thing in one simple click.”
“Of course someone could just crop that off the image and use the picture anyway without permission. But if they get caught, once they’ve cut that off of there it’s a really strong legal case because it’s a willful infringement at that point.”
*For more information visit AdoramaTV YT page, and of course you can keep up with David on Instagram and Twitter @DavidBergman. LATEST UPDATE: David opened up new IGTV episodes where you can ask him questions live! find out more at http://www.AskDavidBergman.com
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Watch the full episode with David Bergman and Adorama TV: