5 Watermark Ideas for Your Visual Content
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Lina Thorne • Updated · Posted in Watermarking Tips
Just a few years ago, watermarks were mostly used by photographers and artists. As you may know, the main purpose of watermarks is to protect images from unauthorized use and copyright infringement. But as the popularity of social media platforms and various web services keeps growing, more and more people see the benefits of this tool. These days content creators and business owners, who promote their businesses online, utilize watermarks quite often. It may come as a surprise, but watermarks are more than a security tool.
They can also be used for marketing purposes. In fact, there is a bunch of different applications for a watermark or watermarking apps that allow you to add any text or image to your visual content. Thus, there’s a huge room for creativity and experimentation.
Check out our list of 5 watermark ideas for your visual content. They will surely spark your inspiration! Please remember that the design and the content of your watermark will depend on what you want to use it for. Plus, it’s always a good idea to add some personal touch to your watermarks! Feel free to experiment with different color palettes, fonts, various effects, etc.
1. Use Your Logo as a Watermark
If you happen to have a corporate logo designed for you, you’ll definitely need to use it as a watermark and add it to all the visual content you post online; in fact, it’s a great idea to add your logo wherever you can. Your business will benefit greatly from utilizing this type of watermark; and not just because your visual content will be well-protected.
First of all, using your logo as a watermark can significantly increase your brand awareness. The more often people see your logo, the better they will remember it. And that’s exactly what you want. Because the next time they need the service or the product that you offer, your brand will be the first one to pop up in their mind.
It’s worth mentioning that the design of your brand logo matters because not every logo can fit into every photo. If your brand logo has some bright colors and whimsical design, it can only fit well into images that have bright colors and some whimsicalness in them. You won’t be able to watermark a minimalistic photo with a whimsical, bright-colored logo – it will be too distracting and obtrusive. On the other hand, if your logo has a more minimalistic design, then you will be able to add it to a broader range of images.
Here’s a tip. It’s better to have two versions of your logo – a white logo and a black logo. Both white and black are quite contrasting colors yet at the same time they are neutral. So, they will fit in into pretty much every color palette. You need two versions because a white watermark might be a better fit for a darker photo, while a black watermark will look better on a photo with a light color palette.
Naturally, if you want to put in some extra effort, you can change the color of your watermark to match the color scheme of the photo that you want to add it to. For instance, Watermarkly saves watermark templates automatically, so you can easily change the color of your watermark – whether it’s a logo or some text – in a matter of minutes.
It’s also crucial for a logo to have a transparent background – this way it will fit in more seamlessly into your visual content.
Finally, your visual content should be associated with your brand, so it will be better if it has a more or less unified style. For instance, maybe all your images and videos have a warm color palette and minimalistic vibes. On top of this, you will need to show your brand logo on your website as well as add it to all the visual content you post on social media, other websites and third-party resources. Both of these things will demonstrate your professionalism and help you foster a higher level of trust with your potential clients and customers.
If you like this watermark idea, but you don’t have a logo yet, you can make use of a logo maker. There are quite a few of them online and some can be used for free. We happen to have a detailed list of amazing logo makers – The Best Logo Makers for Photographers. And yes, they can be used not only by photographers. Alternatively, you can create your logo right in Watermarkly by combining an icon with a textual watermark.
2. Add Copyright Symbol to Your Signature
This type of watermark is incredibly easy to create – you won’t need any special editing or designing skills. You won’t need to spend any money on hiring a designer. You won’t need to invest much of your own time or energy, either. This type of watermark is a simple, yet powerful way to protect your visual content.
Just use an online app for creating watermarks – for instance, Watermarkly – enter your first and last name, then add ©. To create the copyright symbol, you will need to hold Alt and type 0169 on Windows. If you are a Mac user, hold Option and press the G key. However, in Watermarkly, you can simply add the copyright symbol by pressing only one button. Finally, experiment with different colors and fonts, maybe add an effect and you’re done!
If you want to watermark images primarily to show everyone that it was you who created your visual content, this watermark idea will be perfect for you. This is especially important if you share your visual content on social media because there’s always a chance that someone will repost your images without giving you credit. By adding copyright symbol and your name to your photos, you will let people know that you are the author.
This type of watermark is great because it can protect your images against theft and unauthorized use. But at the same time it gives people the chance to find you. Remember that, after you publish your images online, you won’t have much control over where they might eventually end up in. Thanks to your watermark, if someone comes across your visual content and wants to work with you, they will simply need to type in your first and last name in the search engine and find you.
3. Add Your Contact Information
This watermark idea will be a good fit for images of your products or services as well as some behind-the-scenes content that shows the inner workings of your production process. You probably want potential clients and customers to quickly find and easily contact you, right? Watermarks can help you achieve that, too!
All you need to do is to add a textual watermark that contains your website address, phone number, social media handle, etc. After all, sometimes it might be difficult for people to find you merely by your first and last name. Make sure to choose the method of communication that will be the easiest and most convenient for both you and your clients, then add this contact information to your visual content as a watermark. For instance, if you don’t check your email very often, but you’re constantly on your social media, it might be better to use your social media handle as a watermark.
Please note that this type of watermark won’t look very aesthetically pleasing. For this reason, it’s suitable for images where you simply need to show the production process or the product; where the atmosphere and the overall aesthetics aren’t that important. If you try to add this kind of watermark to an artistic image that captures life or shows a meaningful moment, your contact information will probably look somewhat distracting and ruin the mood.
4. Watermark Images with Some Text
Keep in mind that most watermarking apps allow you to add text to an image. Naturally, this feature is usually used to create textual watermarks. For instance, this is how you can add your name to your images. However, no one stops you from utilizing this feature to add pretty much any text you want to your photos. Nowadays, it’s not uncommon to use watermarking apps to create memes, add some funny quotes to images or even some work-related feedback.
For example, you can write the exact time when your zoom conference will start and add this information to an image that you’ll post to your work group chat. Maybe you own a bar and recently changed the opening hours. So, add the text with the new opening hours to a photo and post it on social media. Is there going to be an event at your bar? You can add a textual watermark that gives all the crucial information about this event – information like the address, the date and the time.
And you can have some fun, too! It doesn’t need to be all about business. You can add an inspiration quote or even watermark an image with a couple of emojis to show your reaction. You can watermark visual content of any kind – infographics, digital versions of paintings, blank images, etc.
The convenience of using a watermarking app is that you can add an unlimited number of text blocks. Plus, your text can cover the entire image or only a part of it. It’s perfectly possible to combine textual blocks with a logo or a textual watermark that will state your authorship. In other words, you can add some text to your image. For instance, an inspirational quote. Then you can also add a logo or a textual watermark with your name to the exact same photo in order to protect it from unauthorized use.
Previous watermark ideas were more about showing who the author is to protect your visual content and promote your brand. To put it simply, your visual content was of higher importance. However, here, the content of the text is as important as the image; if not more.
5. Use an Image as a Watermark
You can use a logo, some text or even an image as a watermark. If you click the Add Logo button in Watermarkly, you will be able to upload not only a logo file, but any image you want; as long as it’s in JPG or PNG format. It means that you can use any image as a watermark. You can even watermark a photo with another photo. You can add a textual watermark and combine it with an image to create your own logo.
Here’s another idea – this feature will give you the opportunity to create a collage. For instance, you can upload the main photo and add a couple of other photos to it, then make their size smaller. Or you can upload a blank white image, then add several images and some text to it to create a more aesthetically-pleasing collage.
If you use an image as a part of your watermark, you won’t really need to edit the content of the photo itself. You will simply need to adjust its size, the level of transparency, add a shadow or another effect. It’s a great way to protect your images!
In Conclusion: an important piece of advice
When it comes to watermarking, first, you need to decide on the type of watermark you want to use. Naturally, if you want to protect your images and promote your brand, you will need to use your logo as a watermark or add your name with copyright symbol. However, watermarks cannot guarantee 100% security. You need to learn how to design a watermark to improve the protection of your images. Fortunately, Watermarkly offers two features that are crucial for making your watermarks more powerful and thus providing more safety and security.
First of all, if you want maximum protection for your images, you’ll need to use the Tile option. With its help, you’ll create a mosaic of repeated watermarks. In other words, your image will be covered with a bunch of repeated watermarks. It’s incredibly challenging to remove tiled watermarks, so your images will be safely protected.
The second great thing about Watermarkly is that you can easily adjust the transparency of your watermarks. What you can do is to place your watermark somewhere in the center, make it quite big, then decrease its level of transparency. As a result, you’ll get a watermark that’s unobtrusive, yet noticeable enough. It will be challenging for thieves to remove your watermark without ruining your image.
Finally, when designing a watermark, get creative and have fun. Feel free to experiment with Watermarkly’s set of tools and features however you want. Watermarks can be useful not only for protection of your visual content, but also for attracting new customers and advertising your brand. So, make the most out of your watermark!