Image watermarking — Settings and quality

Worked example

The watermark controls that matter are the layer type, its size and position, the colour, and the opacity, which runs from 10 to 100 percent.

Choose the type first. Text suits a name and year, an image layer suits a logo, and the signature layer lets you draw a hand-written mark with strokes. Corner drags resize while keeping the proportions, Shift stretches freely, and the arrow keys move the selected layer in small steps. Layers can be reordered with Send backward and Bring forward.

Opacity is the main tradeoff. At 100 percent the mark is clear and hard to ignore, but it distracts from the picture. Around 40 to 60 percent is a common balance for a corner credit, and a mark across the middle usually needs less. Never go so low that the mark vanishes on a phone.

Size follows the same rule. A mark about 15 to 25 percent of the image width, in a 2400 × 1600 px photo roughly 360 to 600 px, stays readable when the picture is shrunk. Smaller marks look elegant on a large monitor and disappear in a feed. Placing it over a busy texture makes it harder to remove but also harder to read.

The common mistake is leaving the default white at full opacity on a pale sky. Pick a colour that contrasts with the area underneath, and check the mark on the lightest and darkest parts of the picture.

Photograph + logo or text

Flattened marked image

Opacity can be set between 10 and 100 percent; test the mark on both the lightest and the darkest part of the photo.