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Watermarking


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#1 Amy

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 01:50 AM

What's the best way to watermark photos to build up your clientele? Clients will be posting their shoots all over social media and a watermark would be a good way to get a photographer's name out.


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#2 Photographa

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 02:06 AM

I hate watermarks. They detract from the beauty of the photo. If a client is paying for a photo, they deserve to have that photo without a promotional ad on it.

 

Even if there is a watermark on a photo with your name on it, very few people will set out on a quest to find who you are. You'd have better luck asking your client to include a link to your portfolio once in their Facebook album, or share a testimonial about your service with a link to your portfolio on her Facebook feed.

 

Clients are valuable assets when it comes to getting the word out about a professional photographer, but I don't believe that it should be done through watermarks. Photographers can leverage social media (even offer a price deduction for a public review, good or bad) or give free business cards / coupons to clients to offer their friends if they'd like to get their name out.


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#3 Mr.Panos

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 02:05 PM

Watermarks are very helpful for every photographer and graphic designer. I have met many people who usually put watermarks because they are afraid of losing their work. Personally, I use them even in my Word Documents because I have the full copyrights of my projects.
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#4 dragonborn99

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Posted 28 December 2013 - 11:28 PM

Personally -- If I had to put on a watermark, I would put my name in the bottom right / left corner or something like that but not something that covers the whole picture. But yeah, watermarks are pretty annoying at times and I have never used one. If someone steals a photo I have posted and claims it as theirs, it's not going to be the highest of my worries.


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#5 Photographa

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Posted 29 December 2013 - 12:54 AM

Well the thing is, you have the copyright regardless of whether or not it's watermarked. Many photographers put copyright information in the EXIF data of their images (you can even set most DSLRs to do this automatically), and EXIF data is usually uploaded along with photos. (There's even a cool site where you can do a search for specific EXIF data, it helps if your camera is stolen and you have the unique fingerprint of that camera in photos on your computer, you can find if the thief uses it to capture any photos that they later post online)

 

Small copyrights are also usually easy to remove - I've removed large "PROOF" labels from photos before using only Photoshop.

 

Is it worth it to put that copyright in front of your paying clients just for a bit of extra protection or advertising?


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#6 Sharon

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Posted 12 March 2014 - 12:01 PM

Well the thing is, you have the copyright regardless of whether or not it's watermarked. Many photographers put copyright information in the EXIF data of their images (you can even set most DSLRs to do this automatically), and EXIF data is usually uploaded along with photos. (There's even a cool site where you can do a search for specific EXIF data, it helps if your camera is stolen and you have the unique fingerprint of that camera in photos on your computer, you can find if the thief uses it to capture any photos that they later post online)

 

Small copyrights are also usually easy to remove - I've removed large "PROOF" labels from photos before using only Photoshop.

 

Is it worth it to put that copyright in front of your paying clients just for a bit of extra protection or advertising?

 

I did not know that you can automatically place copyright info in the file itself with a DSLR camera. I'm actually not familiar with the term "EXIF".  As for myself if I started taking photos professionally for other people I would probably only place a watermark if they did not pay for the photo(s).  ...however if they actually paid me for the services/copies then I would opt out from placing my name or anything on the photo.  Honestly, as a photographer I think your name will get out there enough if people like you and your work.  


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