Those who dabble in photography or digital art work know the importance of watermarks. Watermarks consist of visible marks that appear on top of an image that can be identified by the source of the work. They are used to deter others from copying and reusing the image. Watermarks can easily be created in a photo editor of choice such as Adobe Photoshop but why use a program when you can use an online solution which takes care of the hard work for you. Introducing Watermarktool.
Site Info:
No user registration is necessary to use Watermarktool. Also, the service is completely free. Since January 1, 2008, over 28,000 watermarks have been generated.
Creating Watermarks:
Using the service is fairly straight forward. On the home page, there are a number of different configuration options from which to choose from. These include:
Upload: Watermarktool supports the ability to upload an image but it must be 100KB or smaller in size.
Text: Configure the text that is displayed via your Watermark
Font: Choose between a select number of fonts
Text Size: The size of your Watermark text
Repeat: Decide whether your pattern should repeat or not
Position: Choose which direction the watermark should repeat
Text Color: The color of your watermark text
Text Transparency: The lower the transparency level, the harder it will be to see the watermark
Box Color: This is the color of the watermark box
Box Transparency: How transparent the watermark box appears
Results:
Using the Problogger header logo as an example, this is what I was able to come up with. The first image is the configuration I used. The second image showcases a before and after image.
The results shown on the Watermarktool website appear as thumb nailed images. To view the full sized image, you’ll need to click on the thumbnail and then right click the image to save it to your desktop. Images are routinely deleted from the site to prevent hotlinking as well as keeping the site accessible for free. If you’re not satisfied with the generated watermark, simply click your browsers back button and make the appropriate changes, then click on the generate button again until you have something you like.
Final Notes
As you can see, the watermark I generated is not complicated but I feel it has enough complexities to deter others from using the image. The most common mistake I see with regards to watermarks is that, the watermark sometimes overpowers the image. Watermarks are not an end all be all to protect against others using copyrighted images but they certainly help. Also, if you use a unique watermark that only you can identify, spotting frauds on the net becomes pretty easy. While this generator doesn’t provide the same customization options as Photoshop, I think it makes for an excellent addition in your online blogging toolbox.
