Add a Watermark

How it works

Choose your photos, type the text to be stamped and pick where it goes. The text size is worked out from the width of each picture rather than from a fixed pixel value, so one setting looks proportionate on a small screenshot and on a large photograph alike. Opacity controls how much of the picture shows through the mark; 30 to 50 percent usually stays readable without swamping what is underneath. The text is drawn in white with a thin shadow behind it, which keeps it visible against a pale background as well as a dark one. The pattern option repeats the text diagonally over the whole frame, so the mark is still present if someone crops a piece out. JPG sources are saved as JPG and everything else as PNG.

This tool is also known as add watermark to photo, text watermark, watermark images in bulk, draft stamp on an image, copyright watermark, add text to photo, write on picture.

What is Watermark?

A watermark is a semi-transparent mark stamped permanently onto a picture to declare its source or its status. The name comes from papermaking, where a design pressed into the sheet showed up against the light; the digital version sits over the image without hiding it. It does two jobs at once — it discourages people from taking the picture, and when the picture travels anyway it shows where it came from. It carries no legal force, but it remains one of the most practical ways to stop images circulating anonymously.

What is Opacity?

Opacity decides how much of the picture underneath a drawing still shows through: at a low value the mark is barely there, at a high value it covers what it sits on completely. On a watermark this is a straight trade-off rather than a quality setting. Too faint and nobody registers it, which defeats the purpose; too strong and the photograph cannot be judged through it. In practice 30 to 50 percent lands between the two — visible enough to be read, light enough to leave the picture usable.

What is Diagonal pattern watermark?

A diagonal pattern watermark repeats the text at an angle across the entire surface of the picture instead of placing it once. The point is resistance to cropping: a single mark in a corner can simply be cut off, whereas a mark spread over the whole frame appears in any piece someone takes. Draft copies of official documents and unpaid sample images use it for exactly that reason. The trade-off is that the picture becomes harder to assess, so it belongs on interim and sample copies rather than on a finished, published version.

A corner mark or a diagonal pattern?

A corner watermark works like a signature. It stays out of the way, states who made the picture, and gives an honest user a source to credit. For a portfolio, a blog photo or a social post that is usually all you need.

A diagonal pattern is there to protect instead. Spread across the whole frame it cannot be cropped away, which is why it belongs on draft presentations, unpaid sample images and document photos you would rather not see circulating. The cost is legibility: the denser the pattern, the harder the picture underneath is to judge.

• Portfolio signature → bottom right, 30-40% opacity
• Draft presentation → pattern, 40-50% opacity
• Unpaid sample image → pattern, large text
• Presentation cover → centre, large text

What a watermark does and does not do

A watermark discourages unauthorised use and makes the source visible when the picture travels anyway. It is not a lock: someone determined can edit a corner mark out with ordinary tools, and even a pattern can be attacked given enough patience.

So treat it as a deterrent and a label rather than as protection. Not publishing the full-resolution original is a stronger measure than any mark you can stamp on top of one.

The text should carry information too. Your site address, your name, or a word such as 'draft' tells whoever sees the picture what they are looking at and what they are meant to do with it — a bare symbol says none of that.

Keeping the mark readable

White text with a thin dark shadow behind it is chosen so the mark can be picked out on dark and light backgrounds alike. If a bright, busy background still swallows it, raise the opacity or move up one text size.

On small pictures a large setting can look as though it overflows the frame; the smaller sizes sit better as the picture shrinks. Changing a setting and running the files again costs nothing, because your originals are left untouched on your device.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use a logo image as the watermark?

No, this tool stamps text only. The practical substitute is to write your name or your site address as the text — it identifies the source just as clearly and stays readable at any size.

Can I change the colour of the mark?

There is no colour picker. The text is white with a thin dark shadow behind it, a combination chosen because it stays legible on light and dark backgrounds alike.

Why is the text size not given in pixels?

Because it is calculated as a share of each picture's width. One setting then looks proportionate on a small screenshot and on a large photograph, instead of vanishing on one and dominating the other.

Can the watermark be removed later?

Taking it out of the output takes editing work and leaves traces behind. Your original file is a separate matter — it is never modified and stays on your device without the mark.

Which format comes back?

JPG in, JPG out. PNG and WEBP sources are saved as PNG, so transparent areas survive the stamping and a logo strip keeps its clear background.