WATERMARKING

We currently offer two types of watermarking, both designed to help control the use of copyrighted images.

VISUAL WATERMARK - The first type of watermark is a visual copyright (or other) notice that we can add to each image file. The copyright notice is generally applied as a semi-transparent layer in Photoshop. We can then give you two versions of the file, one with the watermark and one without. We can also give you the Photoshop .psd file with the watermark as a layer which can be turned on or off.

The main use for this type of watermarking is to put viewers on notice that the work is protected and to make it very difficult for them to reproduce the image without the watermark. Of course it is possible to retouch the watermark out of the image, but it would take a great deal of time and effort.

- The second method of watermarking we offer is the Digimarc system. You buy a Digimarc subscription based on how many images you want to protect. We then embed your subscription information in your image files. Watermarked images show a very slight amount of "noise" but the actual watermark cannot be read by the human eye. The noise makes the image less than ideal for copying or printing, which is good if you are trying to prevent people from using it.

When these images are opened in most imaging software a copyright notice appears next to the filename. This tells the viewer there may be restrictions on the use of the image. In Photoshop, for example, if you see the copyright notice, select FILTER/DIGIMARC/READ WATERMARK and you will see a web link to a site with information about the image and contact information for licensing. This watermark can be made very "durable" and they survive copying, resizing, web posting and printing.

Unlike the visual watermark on the image at the top of this page, these two Digimark protected images look OK on the web and users might be tempted to copy or print them. But the watermark survives and this gives you an elegant way to let people see images but also give them information about licensing.

One of the nicest features of the Digimarc system is their MarcSpider service that regularly searches the internet for Digimarc watermarked images. Subscribers log into the Digimarc site and see reports showing where their images have been used. Many users find the few hundred dollars they invest in this system is quickly returned through revenue from unauthorized usage that would have otherwise gone undetected.

Digimarc is used by thousands of individual photographers, as well as major institutions such as Corbis, Workbookstock, The Washington Post and The British Library.

For more information, click the Digimarc logo: