Watermarking

Overview

In PhotoShelter, a watermark is a visual overlay of all PUBLICLY viewable images that adds a layer of image security. You will not see the watermarks while you are logged in to the Photographer Area. Your account has a text watermark by default for security purposes. You can remove it if you do not want watermarks.

Configuring Your Watermark

PhotoShelter has a built-in watermarking feature, which provides two types of watermarks:

• text-only that uses the IPTC copyright info
• graphical overlay using a PNG file

This means you don't have to upload images that have a watermark placed inside them. You can let our system do that for you. (And save time and disk space in the process.)

You enable your watermark feature from the Image Security settings page found under the 'My Website' heading.

If you select "Yes," you have the option of specifying an image as your overlay, otherwise, PhotoShelter will automatically read the IPTC caption field on each photo to determine what to output.

Preparing a Watermark in Photoshop

In order to do a graphical watermark, we suggest using a 24bit PNG file because it supports transparency. Here is how you would prepare a file in Photoshop™.

• Open a new document in Photoshop. The size of your watermark shouldn't exceed the size of your screen resolution image. We suggest a file no larger than 500px wide/high.
• Make sure you set a transparent background color (fig. 2).
• You can use the type tool, or import your logo into the file.
• You can adjust the Opacity of the text/image in the Layers Palette. (fig. 3) You can use any opacity you want, but 30% seems to be a good level in our experience.
• Go to File->Save for Web
• Select PNG-24 (fig. 4)

fig. 2 Set a transparent background

fig. 3 Set opacity in the Layers palette

fig. 4 Save as a transparent PNG

Once your file is saved, you can upload it on the Watermarking Preference page.

Opacity Comparison
100% Opacity	50% Opacity
30% Opacity

FAQs

Should I watermark my images?

Watermarks are one way to prevent image theft. A watermark with a copyright notice and/or a URL provides security as well as a way for a viewer to contact you if they want to legally license the image.

Because all galleries are available as RSS feeds, we recommend that you have a light watermark at all times.

Can I watermark only certain images, or must I watermark all of them?

Once you've turned watermarking on, it affects all images in your archive, and not just selected images or galleries. We do this for your protection. This way, you can be confident that every image is protected with a watermark, removing an additional (very important) step from the process.

If/when you make images available to be printed, the watermark will not appear on the image as long as you use the PhotoShelter watermarking method. If you upload images with watermarks already inside them, and someone buys a print, the watermark WILL be printed.

Therefore, we recommend that you do not upload images that have watermarks in them, and use the PhotoShelter watermarking option instead.

How soon after I choose watermarks do they show up?

Watermarks are generated on-the-fly. If you turn them on or off, they immediately appear that way. Unlike other sites, we do not batch process the watermarks, saving you time.

I'm using the text watermark, and all it says is "copyright" but I see other photographers who have their names there. How do I put my name there?

When using a text watermark, PhotoShelter pulls the information contained in the IPTC Copyright field for each image. Some older cameras automatically populate this field with the word "copyright." If the copyright field is blank in the image when you upload it, PhotoShelter will display it as "Copyright Protected Image".

If you want to change the wording, you can do this in batch by:

• Go to your archive
• Click a specific folder
• Select the images you whose copyright you want to modify (or select all)
• Click "EDIT IPTC" under batch actions
• Fill in the Copyright field
• Click submit
• Your changes are made instantaneously

Can I use colors in my watermark?

Yes. However, white generally shows up the best.

Is there a way to tile the watermark?

At this time there is no way to tile a watermark across an image.

Is there an advantage to using text vs. image?

The text watermark is generally faster. The image type watermark obviously allows you to customize the look of the watermark.

I've added a watermark, but I don't see it!

Watermarks only show up on the PUBLIC-side. Check your public galleries to view your watermark.