How Can You Make Your Watermark Online Relevant in a Post-COVID World?

Novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, has ignited the growing trend of home-based work, making millions of people into remote workers almost overnight, as companies seek to continue operating amid the global pandemic. Many employers hire remote employees in sales, accounting, customer service, and human resources.

Other industries, such as wedding photography, product photography, and real estate (here’s why realtors should use a watermark online for their property photos) also thrive in home-based work settings.

These jobs involve sharing a lot of images, and these images are not just shown on a shared screen in the office; they’re being shared online as well.

Posting and sharing photos on the internet is essential for some jobs. However, it also increases the possibility of these photos getting stolen and used without the consent of the original owner. Therefore, a watermark online in the post-COVID world is more than just a security precaution – it’s a necessity.

What Is a Watermark?

The idea behind watermarking is simple and straightforward: by putting a semi-transparent logo or line of text on an image, you make it clear that the ownership rights belong to you, the photographer, or your company and that they cannot be used without your consent or authorization.

How Can a Watermark Online Help You?

Watermarks are typically embedded so they become part of the image. This means that if the picture is stolen in some way, your watermark online will stay in place.

For Protection

There are many advantages to using a watermark online, starting with the protection of your digital works. A watermarked photo is rarely stolen since it is not a ready-to-use image; one would still have to delete or crop out a watermark with the help of advanced photo editing applications.

This makes it more time-consuming and, therefore, less attractive for potential image thieves.

It is essential to protect your photos,  as you wouldn’t like to see them used for commercial purposes without your consent. There are also a lot of cases where people simply steal pictures of others and present them as their own.

If someone steals your photo and watermarks it with their name or website, it will be hard for you to convince people that it is yours. Likewise, online viewers would begin to associate someone else’s name with the picture, not yours, which could mean that you lose your followers or potential clients.

For Marketing

Like famous painters, you sign your photos by watermarking them. There is your name, logo, or website address embedded in your photos, so, if someone wants to use your services, they can find your name or visit your website. It’s a win-win, either way.

Watermarking is, therefore, also a type of marketing. When you share and present your photos online, they become available for your target audience to see them. But that’s not enough – it’s best if viewers can remember the name of the photographer or the place where they can find it – your website, social media accounts, etc.

Making the Most Out of Your Watermark Online

Ivory Fyre is one of the companies that tapped into the marketing and security potentials of watermarking. Ivory Fyre offers a photo-realistic, virtual wedding design so that brides and grooms can see their big day before the actual big day. It is also perfect for stylists to present their vision and showcase a variety of looks.

Because this company shares a lot of photos of their clients online, they use WaterMarquee, an efficient online watermarking tool that embeds watermarks onto your images.

“We are making impressive 3D wedding designs that are shared most of the time on Pinterest and social media. It is essential to watermark any of our work before it goes online so that when it is shared, it’s clearly given.

It also means that couples & wedding planners who want to use our service know how to find us, which is the key to further expanding our business & brand” – Mark Brandt, Ivory Fyre’s founder.

Being able to set up a template in WaterMarquee and then dropping the images in, means the process is quick and easy. Ivory Fyre also keeps the high resolution of their images, which is one of their key selling points.

Other watermarking sites and applications have limits when it comes to file sizes; however, with the Pro version of WaterMarquee, the user can upload and watermark unlimited file sizes.

When an age-old industry such as the wedding industry gets a technology upgrade, it becomes apparent how important your personal copyright is in all your work.

Why WaterMarquee and How Do You Use It?

WaterMarquee is an online watermarking tool that you can use to quickly and easily put a watermark on your photos. You do not need to download or install anything – you can use WaterMarquee right on your browser.

It has an easy user interface, which you can use to easily change the location, color, and font of the watermark to get your favourite effect on your image.

You can also watermark multiple photos at once, saving you time and effort. Here’s how to do this:

1. Open WaterMarquee and click “Start Watermarking Now” to start the process.
2. Click the “Select Photos to Watermark” button and add up to five photos that you want to watermark. The free version of WaterMarquee allows up to five photos at a time, but you can get the Pro version ($17.98) to go unlimited. You can also conveniently drag and drop your photos directly.
3. After you have added your main images, add your logo by clicking the “Add Logo” button at the bottom of the page. You can also add text (e.g. your name and website) if you wish to do so.
4. Once the logo or text has been added, you can adjust the position and change the opacity. You can also unlink the logo, so the changes you make to the primary image will not affect the other images you choose.
5. When you’re done, just save all of them or click “Save as a ZIP” to download them as a ZIP file.

 

The Bottom Line

In the time of a pandemic and even after, thieves are desperate to steal photos and claim them as their own. On the flip side, it also paves the way for a lot of digital marketing opportunities to come your way.

You have to be ready for both circumstances, and the best way to do that is with an online watermarking tool that’s easy, convenient, and keeps up with the times.

Next, check out the kinds of digital watermarks and their uses and start watermarking today.