Add text or image watermarks to photos. Protect copyright and brand your images with custom watermarks. 100% private - processed in your browser.
Supports JPG, PNG, WebP
Our image watermark tool helps you add text or image watermarks to photos quickly and securely. Whether you're protecting copyright, branding social media posts, or marking portfolio images, this free watermark maker provides all the features you need without uploading files to servers.
A watermark is a visible overlay added to images to indicate ownership, protect copyright, or brand content. Photographers use watermarks to prevent unauthorized use of their work. Businesses add logos to product photos for brand recognition. Content creators watermark social media images to maintain attribution when shared.
Watermarks serve multiple purposes: copyright protection by making it clear who owns the image, deterrence against theft since watermarked images are less appealing to steal, brand visibility when your images are shared across platforms, and professional appearance showing you take your work seriously.
Text watermarks are ideal for copyright notices like "Š Your Name 2024" or simple branding like "YourBusiness.com". They're lightweight, easy to customize, and work well for photographers, bloggers, and content creators who need quick attribution.
Image watermarks (logo watermarks) are better for businesses that want to maintain consistent branding across all visual content. Upload your company logo as a PNG with transparency for professional results. Image watermarks are perfect for product photography, marketing materials, and social media graphics.
Adding text watermarks is straightforward with our tool:
Corner placement (bottom-right or bottom-left) is most common for photography watermarks. It's visible but doesn't interfere with the main subject. Easy to remove by cropping, so use larger opacity or tiling for high-value images.
Center watermarks provide maximum protection against theft since they're impossible to crop out without damaging the image. Use semi-transparent (30-40% opacity) center watermarks for preview images or stock photography that you want to protect before purchase.
Edge watermarks (top, bottom, left, right sides) work well for landscape or panoramic images. They're visible without obscuring the main subject.
Tiled watermarks repeat across the entire image at regular intervals. This provides the strongest copyright protection since removing all watermark instances is extremely difficult. Use 20-30% opacity to maintain image visibility while protecting against theft. Ideal for stock photography, high-value artwork, or any content at risk of unauthorized use.
For brand consistency, logo watermarks are essential:
Opacity (transparency) is crucial for balancing visibility with image aesthetics:
High opacity (80-100%) makes watermarks very visible and provides strong copyright protection. Use for preview images, stock photography samples, or when you want the watermark to be the primary focus. The trade-off is the watermark may distract from the image itself.
Medium opacity (40-70%) is the sweet spot for most uses. The watermark is clearly visible but doesn't dominate the image. Perfect for portfolio images, blog photos, and social media content where you want both protection and aesthetics.
Low opacity (10-30%) creates subtle watermarks that are barely noticeable at first glance but visible upon closer inspection. Ideal for professional client galleries, high-end product photography, or situations where image beauty is paramount but you still want attribution.
Impact font is bold and highly visible, making it excellent for watermarks that need to stand out. The thick letters remain readable even at smaller sizes or lower opacity. Popular among photographers and content creators.
Arial font provides clean, professional text that works in any context. It's neutral and doesn't draw excessive attention while remaining legible. Good for corporate branding or minimalist watermarks.
Times New Roman gives an elegant, traditional look appropriate for fine art photography, formal documents, or luxury brand imaging. The serif design adds sophistication.
Courier New creates a typewriter-like effect that works well for vintage or artistic aesthetics. Monospaced fonts like Courier ensure even spacing.
Georgia is readable even at small sizes, making it ideal for detailed copyright notices. The serif design is less formal than Times New Roman.
For light protection where you simply want attribution without making images unusable for sharing, use corner placement with 40-60% opacity. This lets viewers appreciate the image while knowing who created it.
For medium protection suitable for portfolio work or blog images, use edge or center placement with 50-70% opacity. Add your website URL as text or place your logo prominently. This deters casual theft while allowing the image to be viewed properly.
For maximum protection on high-value content, use tiled watermarks with 30-40% opacity covering the entire image. While this reduces image aesthetics, it makes the watermark impossible to remove without extensive editing. Combine with center placement for critical images. This is standard for stock photography previews and valuable artwork samples.
Photography portfolios: Photographers watermark portfolio images to prevent clients from using proofs without purchasing. Bottom-right corner with medium opacity is standard. Include your name or website URL.
Social media marketing: Businesses watermark social content to maintain branding when posts are shared. Logo watermarks in the corner ensure brand visibility across platforms. Use subtle opacity (60-70%) to avoid looking spammy.
Product photography: E-commerce sellers watermark product images to prevent competitors from stealing photos. Center or corner logo watermarks protect your investment in professional photography.
Stock photography: Stock photo websites use aggressive tiled watermarks on previews to prevent unauthorized downloads. Only paid customers receive unwatermarked images.
Blog and content creation: Bloggers watermark featured images, infographics, and custom graphics to maintain attribution when content is shared. Text watermarks with blog URLs work well.
Real estate photography: Agents watermark listing photos to prevent use by other agents or on unauthorized websites. Corner placement with agent branding is typical.
Event photography: Event photographers watermark preview galleries so clients can select favorites before purchasing. Once paid, clients receive unwatermarked high-resolution versions.
White watermarks work best on dark images - night photography, dark products, shadowy scenes. Add a subtle black outline (by duplicating with slight offset) for extra visibility.
Black watermarks are ideal for light images - white backgrounds, bright outdoor shots, product photography on white. Black text has maximum contrast on light surfaces.
Contrasting colors can make watermarks pop - yellow on blue, red on green. Use sparingly as colored watermarks can clash with image aesthetics. Better for playful content than professional work.
Brand colors maintain corporate identity. If your logo is blue, use blue for text watermarks. This creates cohesive branding across all watermarked content.
While our tool processes one image at a time, you can establish efficient workflows for watermarking multiple images:
Standardize settings: Once you find watermark settings you like (font, size, position, opacity), take a screenshot or note them down. Use identical settings for all images in a series for consistent branding.
Name files sequentially: When downloading watermarked images, use consistent naming like "photo-watermarked-1.jpg", "photo-watermarked-2.jpg". This helps organize large batches.
Process by category: Watermark all photos from one event or product line together. This ensures similar images have matching watermark styling.
All watermarking happens entirely in your browser using HTML5 Canvas API. Your original images are never uploaded to any server. When you choose an image, it's loaded into your browser's memory, processed locally, and the watermarked result is generated on your device.
This client-side processing provides several benefits: complete privacy since files never leave your computer, instant processing with no server delays, unlimited usage without file size restrictions, and offline capability - once the page loads, you can disconnect and still watermark images.
Your watermark settings (text, font, position) are not saved or tracked. Each session is independent with no data collection.
Input images can be JPG, PNG, or WebP. The output is always PNG format to maintain the highest quality and support transparency if needed.
JPG input: Most common for photographs. When watermarked, the output PNG will be larger in file size than the original JPG but maintains full quality without compression artifacts.
PNG input: Ideal for images with transparency or graphics. Watermarking PNG images preserves all quality and transparency in the output.
WebP input: Modern format with good compression. Converted to PNG for watermarking ensures maximum compatibility across all platforms.
Keep watermarks subtle but visible. The goal is copyright protection without ruining the image. 40-60% opacity is usually ideal.
Use consistent placement across all your images. If you always watermark the bottom-right corner, viewers will expect to find your mark there. This builds brand recognition.
Include copyright year in text watermarks: "Š Your Name 2024". This establishes when the image was created, which can be important for copyright claims.
Make watermarks readable at all sizes. Test your watermark on both large and small displays. If the text becomes illegible when images are displayed as thumbnails, increase font size or simplify the text.
Avoid overcomplicating watermarks. Simple text like "Š YourName" or a clean logo works better than lengthy copyright notices. Viewers should understand ownership at a glance.
Watermarks provide visual copyright notice but don't create copyright itself. Copyright exists automatically when you create an original work. Watermarks simply make ownership explicit.
Under US law (DMCA Section 1202), it's illegal to remove copyright management information, including watermarks, from images. This provides legal recourse if someone removes your watermark and uses your image.
For maximum legal protection, combine watermarks with proper copyright registration. Register important images with the US Copyright Office ($55-85 per registration) to enable statutory damages if infringement occurs.
Include all rights reserved or specific licensing terms (like "For personal use only") in your watermark text when appropriate. This communicates permitted usage clearly.
While watermarks deter theft, determined individuals can remove simple watermarks. Here's how to make removal difficult:
Use tiled watermarks instead of single placement. Removing dozens of watermark instances is time-prohibitive.
Vary opacity across the image - while our tool uses consistent opacity, manually creating varied opacity makes algorithmic removal harder.
Place watermarks over important areas. If the watermark overlaps crucial image elements, removing it damages the image.
Use irregular shapes or borders in logo watermarks rather than simple rectangles. Complex shapes are harder to remove automatically.
Remember: watermarks are deterrents, not foolproof protection. They stop casual theft but won't prevent determined professionals with advanced editing skills.
Watermarks aren't the only way to protect images online:
Disable right-click on your website to prevent easy image downloading. While savvy users can circumvent this, it stops casual copying.
Use low-resolution previews online and save high-resolution originals for paying clients only. Small images (800-1200px wide) are fine for web viewing but unsuitable for printing or commercial use.
Reverse image search monitoring - use Google Image Search or TinEye to find where your images appear online. This helps identify unauthorized use.
EXIF metadata embeds copyright information directly in image files. While easily stripped, it provides attribution for those who respect it.
Digital fingerprinting embeds invisible markers in images that can prove ownership even if watermarks are removed. Services like Digimarc provide this.
Watermark too large: Reduce font size or image scale. For most images, watermarks should occupy 5-15% of the image area, not overpower the subject.
Watermark not visible: Increase opacity or choose a color with better contrast. White text needs dark backgrounds; black text needs light backgrounds.
Watermark looks pixelated: Use vector formats for logo watermarks when possible (though our tool works with raster images). Ensure your logo source file is high resolution before uploading.
Watermark in wrong position: Use the position grid to place precisely. If you need pixel-perfect positioning, use the center position and adjust by manually editing downloaded image in photo editor.
Output file too large: PNG format preserves quality but creates larger files than JPG. If file size is critical, download the PNG, then convert to JPG in an image editor while maintaining watermark.
Q: Can I watermark copyrighted images I don't own?
A: No. Only watermark images you created or have explicit permission to modify. Watermarking others' work doesn't grant you copyright.
Q: Will watermarking degrade image quality?
A: Our tool preserves full image quality. The watermark is overlaid without compressing the original image data. Output is PNG format for maximum quality.
Q: Can I remove watermarks from my images later?
A: Once a watermark is applied and downloaded, it's permanently merged with the image. Always keep your original unwatermarked files separately. Don't overwrite originals with watermarked versions.
Q: How many images can I watermark?
A: Unlimited. Since processing is local in your browser, there are no server limits or usage caps. Watermark as many images as you need.
Q: Does this work on mobile devices?
A: Yes. The tool works on phones and tablets through mobile browsers. The interface adapts to smaller screens for easy watermarking on the go.
Q: Can I save watermark presets?
A: Currently, settings aren't saved between sessions. Note your preferred settings (font, size, position, opacity) and manually apply them to each image for consistency.
Our watermark tool uses HTML5 Canvas API for all processing. When you upload an image, it's drawn to a canvas element. The watermark (text or image) is then rendered on top with specified properties like opacity, position, and size. The final composite is exported as a PNG image.
Text rendering uses the Canvas 2D drawing context's fillText method with globalAlpha for opacity control. Font properties are set via the font property string. Image watermarks use drawImage with globalAlpha for transparency.
Tiling is accomplished by calculating image dimensions, dividing into grid sections, and rendering the watermark at each grid intersection point. Spacing is determined automatically based on image size and watermark dimensions.
All processing happens client-side with no server communication after the initial page load. Images are loaded from your local file system into browser memory via FileReader API, processed entirely within the Canvas context, and downloaded as data URLs.