Watermarking photos

To watermark or not to watermark photos. It is a question I constantly battle to answer. On the one hand, I don't want my artwork stolen or used without my permission so I want a watermark. On the other hand, a watermark is rather unsightly and some people don't understand that the artwork they purchase will not have it on the actual art. But if my work is used anywhere, such as on Pinterest, and not given credit or a link, then at least a watermark provides some info on how to find my work. But many people won't feature a photo on their blogs if there is a watermark. You see my dilemma.

In the end, I do watermark my Petal People artwork. I started doing it after someone in Australia contacted me and asked I could change my shipping to include their country so they could purchase one of my cards. But then they said never mind, they would just pull the photo from my page to use. Er....

I couldn't find an easy way to watermark my stuff for free and I am not the most technologically patient person so I just used the easiest program I could. Unfortunately, it made some pretty ugly photos. It didn't help that the watermark somehow made the images bigger so they didn't sit within the viewing square in my Etsy shop:

This week, I finally sat down and decided to be patient and correct my images, make a more subtle watermark and a more attractive overall presentation. After checking out a lot of different watermarking options, I liked https://www.watermarquee.com. I tried using it by testing out the five free photos they offer and I really liked it. On other sites I had to put in numbers and percentages to have the watermark appear on certain areas of the photo. I could never get the math right and ended up with the watermark in the bottom corner and half off the photo, or at a strange angle. On watermarquee, it was easy to drag the watermark where I wanted it, to lighten or darken it, change the color and other options. I paid the $7 flat fee, watermarked all of my photos in about 15 minutes with their bulk option and now can use it for as many photos as I want.

And my photos and my page look so much better:

So much to tweak, so little time... Onto the next project: adding new cards to my wholesale page. I just got 13 new lines back from the printer. Once uploaded, I need to contact all my wholesale accounts to take a look. Then I have to pack up for the craft show I am doing tomorrow. Send your good thoughts to my family - they need watching me spin in circles!