Watermarking a photo

[widgeon13]

I want to design a watermark for some of my photos and while the attached photo shows what I want to do, is there a way I can make the design of the letters a trademark that can easily be placed/repositioned on a picture and also adjust the size and transparency of the trademark image depending on the background of the picture?

What tool should I use most conveniently to do the initial design and then how to apply to each picture but in a transparent manner? I am not a graphic designer, for that fact I'm not even very good w/ Photoshop. So try to keep it simple for me.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

[wdfifteen]

Do you have Photoshop?

https://www.udemy.com/blog/photoshop-watermark/

[LEAKYSEALS951]

^nice link. Make sure it's a good watermark or someone can make it go away!

[widgeon13]

Wow, thanks very much for the guidance. I'll give it a try.

I will definitely make it bigger than the original.

[CHICKS]

Why do feel the need to watermark your photos?

[widgeon13]

There are some that could possibly be sold or at least taken and passed off as their own.

[Bill Douglas]

Ha, good skills Leaky. I was just about to do the same.

An art gallery of all places has a link to my main lyallbaybeach.co.nz pic. Geez, I thought these people of all people would not "steal art". I was going to replace my pic with a large picture of my arse so it showed up on their main page. But I can't remember how to get into my own web page

[stomachmonkey]

Bigger is not always better.

I prefer them to be delicate, non obtrusive, and cover as much real estate as possible.

[wdfifteen]

People have been taking my stuff for 20 years, but it's so much easier now, with screen captures and such. I wish I had watermarked a lot of photos over the years. It's a rush to see your work in a bookstore with your name on it. Not so much when you see a photo you drove hundreds of miles, spent hundreds of dollars, and a week of your life to create pop up on a web site with no attribution. People who steal images for their blogs usually put, "If any of these images belong to you, just notify me and I'll take it down." It's like, "If you catch me stealing your car, just let me know and I'll bring it back."

[LEAKYSEALS951]

I had a pic published in a regional outdoor magazine once. They came to me. I didn't even ask, but they offered to pay me. They usually always give photo credits so I didn't even ask about it. The magazine came out- I picked up a copy in a local store. All the pics had credits, except mine! Probably just an oversight, but what a bummer. I would have rather had the credits than the $.

I do have a professional Smugmug account which I use to sell pics of mountainbike racing. I enjoy it, and I don't get much money for it, but it is fun. Smugmug does let you protect images against right clicking (for what its worth)

For me seeing watermarks, especially in chat forums are a turnoff, but I understand the reasoning, and wonder if I am sometimes making a mistake by not doing it. I enjoy putting the stuff out there for stuff's sake, and really feel uncomfortable watermarking it because it presumes I think my stuff's so good it needs to be protected, which for me dilutes/distracts from the picture and the original intent of posting on the interweb- which is to share... so I don't now, but at some point I will probably end up regretting it! Especially like wdfifteen says when it gets re-used without credit. Maybe a subtle watermark... but still I'd feel so corporate! Arghh! It really is a dilemma!
R