Picasa Tip: Add a Watermark to your photos

 

Just because you want to share your photos on the web, it doesn’t necessarily follow that you want people to take them without giving you any credit.  Yet, that’s exactly what can happen, oh so easily.  Any picture you see on the web can be ‘grabbed.’  Then it can be used by others who may even claim that the picture belongs to them.

Although there are some techniques for preventing copying of your photos, the best you can usually do is to add a ‘watermark’ to the photo itself.  The watermark is text which lays on top of your photo and at least identifies it’s source.  Picasa 3 now offers the ability to add a watermark to every photo uploaded to your web albums.

Don’t know about uploading pictures to Picasa Web Albums?  Here’s a member Tutorial Video Intro to Picasa Web Albums.

Here’s what you do:
Tools / Options / Web Albums (or Google+ Photos)
Check the box for ‘Add a Watermark for all Photo Uploads’ and Type what you want to be typed on the photo

After completing this setting, every photo you upload to Picasa Web Albums will include the Watermark you specify.  This is a great feature, but it’s not perfect.  The watermark is small and printed in the lower right corner.  So, if someone wanted to steal your photo, it’s still an easy matter to crop off that bottom line.

If your goal is primarily to include a notice with your identification.  This is a wonderful new feature.  Just turn it on once, and you’re done.  The watermark feature is also available anytime you Export pictures – just check the ‘Add a Watermark’ box and write whatever you want.

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geeksontour

Chris is a teacher. Although she comes as close to an expert as possible in many areas of computer usage, she can still remember what it's like not to know these things! That means she can communicate with students in a way that teaches and doesn't demean. She really enjoys teaching one-on-one and for groups of people, but she reaches a worldwide audience with her tutorial videos on the GeeksOnTour.com website. She currently travels the country in an RV with her husband, Jim. As Geeks on Tour, they present computer seminars at RV rallies, computer clubs, and Senior Centers all over the US.

11 thoughts on “Picasa Tip: Add a Watermark to your photos”

  1. how about using the text feature and setting the transparency really high so you can position the text or just the copyright symbol in a more prominent place?

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  3. Pingback: 3 ways to safeguard your child’s photos online | My Family Blog

  4. does this mean that people can still take your photos and use them on there web page? as they could just edit ( crop the pic) and cut your name off??

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    1. Yes, but in case of having to prove who’s the rightfull owner of the pictures, you would have the long straw since you have the uncropped version, and that one clearly has your watermark. And you proberbly have the onmark original as well.

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  5. I cannot find the watermark tool. I know Picasa used to have it – am I going blind or did they drop it now you have to use Chrome to edit photos in Google+?

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  6. Hello,

    I just found your site and I think it’s amazingly helpful. I wasn’t able to find an entry about adding text or a watermark to images already uploaded to Blogger. There’s is not add text option in Google + or Picasa Web Albums that I could find. Thanks so much in advance for your help

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  7. Hello, a friend of mine created a logo for me to use on my pictures. It is saved on my desktop as a .jpg. My question is, how can I get this logo to upload on to one of my images on Picasa? I don’t think this is possible, which is quite disappointing. Assuming I am right, do you know of any other easy ways to get a logo pasted onto an image I edited on Picasa before posting it online? I really do not want to spend $200+ to get Photoshop or some other software just for that purpose (I otherwise do not know how to use Photoshop, so that expenditure is simply not worth it for me). Thanks!

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    1. You’re right, the only automatic watermark option is found on Tools->Options->Google+ Photos, it will automatically enter text in the lower right corner.
      To put an image on top of a picture, you could use the Collage feature. Select the picture and the logo, and Create->Picture Collage. Use the picture pile style and make the picture be the background (remove the small picture then), then put the logo small and in the corner. Create the collage – no upload the collage picture instead of your original.
      If you are a Geeks on Tour member, here are 8 lessons on making collages: http://geeksontour.tv/2012/05/pics73-picasa-short-course-collages-and-banners/

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