creating watermarks for photos

Thu Jul 18 17:57:38 EDT 2013

Watermarks don't have to take up a full image, like you see on most stock photo sites. You could have one in the lower-right corner that would provide a built-in method of attribution but still not affect the overall usefulness of the photo.

You could also make sure you watermark the "web-sized" images, while making the larger ones watermark free. So those users who just want to plunk a photo on their blog can just copy that, but anyone wanting access to the full-resolution photo sans watermark can.

Back to the original topic: I've had good luck with using the command-line version of imagemagick to bulk-add a watermark to a bunch of images. As a bonus, you could tie this in to your content management system (if that's at all available) so that it gets automatically added when you upload your images.

-Andrew

On 2013-07-18, at 4:35 PM, "<your name> Michael Yunkin" <michael.yunkin at UNLV.EDU> wrote:

> I suspect that Roy's point was that it's not the library's place to "capitalize on reuse," but rather to provide free access to information.
> 
> Watermarking an image damages the information, making it less useful. (Of course, there are legitimate reasons to use a watermark, but I'm on Roy's side here. Either information is free or it's not. Watermarks are -- to me -- a sign of '90s thinking.)
> -Michael Yunkin
> Web Content Manager/Usability Specialist
> UNLV Libraries
> Las Vegas, NV
> 
> Carol Bean ---07/18/2013 02:22:31 PM---A watermark doesn't have to ruin the picture.  I think it's a legitimate, even good, way to market t
> 
> From:	Carol Bean <beanworks at GMAIL.COM>
> To:	WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> Date:	07/18/2013 02:22 PM
> Subject:	Re: [WEB4LIB] creating watermarks for photos
> Sent by:	Web technologies in libraries <WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU>
> 
> 
> 
> A watermark doesn't have to ruin the picture.  I think it's a legitimate, even good, way to market their library or museum.  My daughter in law, who is a semi professional photographer, adds a very nice and unobtrusive watermark to the corner of the photos she posts on her Facebook site.  It's no longer a way to discourage reusing the photo, but instead is a way to capitalize on reuse.
> 
> Carol Bean
> beanworks at gmail.com
> 
> 
> On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 10:13 PM, Roy Tennant <roytennant at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm a little surprised that so far no one is questioning the
> underlying motivation. If "watermarking" means what I think it means,
> then doing so basically ruins the photo for any reasonable use. Why
> would a public library wish to do this? I can remember discussions of
> watermarking in the 90s, but somehow I thought we were beyond that
> now. I guess not.
> 
> Does the Library of Congress watermark their photos? No. Gallica? No
> again. In fact, who does except commercial companies like Corbis? I've
> put thousands of my images up for people to use sans watermark, and
> yet I still make some sales for commercial use. I ask that online use
> be credited, and many people have done that. Of course there will be a
> few bad actors, but there always will be no matter what you do. I'm
> having a hard time seeing the problem that is trying to be solved.
> Roy
> 
> On Thu, Jul 18, 2013 at 12:24 PM, Young, Stephanie J. (CDC/OSELS/EAPO)
> (CTR) <wdq9 at cdc.gov> wrote:
> > TechSmith's SnagIt is screen capturing software, but you can open images in their editor to add watermarks and tags. It's only $50 and very easy to use. http://www.techsmith.com/snagit.html
> >
> > Best,
> > Steph
> >
> > Stephanie Young | Systems Librarian (LAC Group)
> > Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
> > Public Health Library and Information Center
> > Tel: 304-285-6171 | Email: wdq9 at cdc.gov
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Web technologies in libraries [mailto:WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of Stephen ( Steve ) Sloan
> > Sent: Thursday, July 18, 2013 3:10 PM
> > To: WEB4LIB at LISTSERV.ND.EDU
> > Subject: Re: [WEB4LIB] creating watermarks for photos
> >
> > Hello.
> > One of the best technologies for photograph collections is Lightroom.
> > It's an Adobe product that enables all sorts of enhancements to digital photographs and allows you to add metadata to items for later retrieval.
> > Quite powerful, and easier to grasp than Photoshop.  An option is to add a watermark to all the images as you export them (usually in jpeg format).
> > You can design the watermark yourself.
> >
> > It's around $200.
> >
> > Steve
> >
> >
> > Stephen Sloan
> > Head Librarian
> > Science and Forestry Library
> > University of New Brunswick
> > Fredericton, NB Canada
> > (506) 453-4814
> > sloan at unb.ca
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 13-07-18 3:29 PM, "Andy Boze" <Boze.1 at ND.EDU> wrote:
> >
> >>If the idea is to create a visual watermark, IrfanView might be a good
> >>choice. It has a batch mode so you could watermark dozens of images at
> >>a time, as well as one at a time. It's free for home/educational use,
> >>very inexpensive otherwise.
> >>
> >>???? 7/18/2013 1:50 PM, Andy Boze ??????:
> >>> Are you looking to create a visual or digital (steganographic)
> >>>watermark?
> >>>
> >>> ???? 7/18/2013 1:36 PM, Thomas Edelblute ??????:
> >>>> Our Local History curator is planning a project of posting
> >>>>additional historical  photos and we are finding that the photos
> >>>>currently available are ending up all  kinds of places. So she is
> >>>>asking what the best way is of creating a watermark  for the new
> >>>>photos that will be going up in the future to identify the source as
> >>>>coming from the City of Anaheim.
> >>>>
> >>>> Thomas Edelblute
> >>>>
> >>>> Public Access Systems Coordinator
> >>>>
> >>>> Anaheim Public Library
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>
> >>>>---------------------------------------------------------------------
> >>>>---
> >>>>--------
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> >>>> 2013-07-18
> >>>>
> >>>
> >>
> >>--
> >>Andy Boze, Associate Librarian
> >>University of Notre Dame
> >>208A Hesburgh Library
> >>(574) 631-8708
> >>
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