What the watermark tool does
This tool draws a text watermark onto an image — your name, a brand, a copyright line, or a status such as “DRAFT” or “SAMPLE”. You choose the wording, size, colour and opacity, and either place a single mark in a corner or the centre, or tile it in a repeating pattern across the whole picture. The output is a PNG rendered in your browser with the Canvas API; the image is never uploaded.
Single mark or tiled?
| Mode | Protection | Look | Use for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corner mark | Low — easy to crop off | Unobtrusive | Attribution, portfolio credit, social posts |
| Centre mark | Medium | Noticeable | Previews and proofs sent to clients |
| Tiled text | High — cannot be cropped or cloned out easily | Clearly marked | Stock previews, confidential documents, sample images |
A watermark is a deterrent, not a lock. A corner mark stops casual re-use and makes attribution easy; a tiled mark at 30–40% opacity makes an image unusable for anything but review while still letting the viewer judge it.
Settings that work
- Opacity 0.3–0.5 for a mark that is visible but does not dominate. Use 0.15–0.25 for tiled text on photos you still want to look at.
- Font size roughly 3–5% of the image width for a corner credit; 8–12% for a centre stamp. On a 2,000 px image that is 60–100 px and 160–240 px respectively.
- Colour: white on dark photos, black on light ones. When the background varies, medium grey or a brand colour at reduced opacity reads on both.
- Placement: bottom-right is conventional for credits. Avoid placing a single mark on a flat area of sky or wall where it can be painted out with one click.
- Text: keep it short. “© 2026 Your Name” or a website address works better than a sentence.
Watermarks and copyright
Copyright exists automatically when you create an image; a watermark does not create it, but it does make ownership visible and makes innocent misuse less likely. In several jurisdictions, deliberately removing a watermark or copyright notice is itself an offence (for example under 17 U.S.C. §1202 in the United States), which strengthens your position if someone strips it. For images that matter commercially, combine a visible watermark with embedded metadata and keep the unmarked original.
Order of operations
Watermark last. Crop, resize and colour-correct first, then add the mark, so it is sized correctly for the final dimensions and is not cut off by a later crop. If you will publish several sizes, watermark each size separately rather than resizing a watermarked master — a mark that is legible at 2,000 px becomes a smudge at 400 px.
Common uses
- Photographers and illustrators sharing portfolio work online.
- Sending design proofs or photo previews to clients before payment.
- Marking scanned documents as COPY, DRAFT or CONFIDENTIAL.
- Adding a website or handle to social media images so credit travels with reposts.
- Stamping product photos for marketplace listings to discourage competitors copying them.