Do’s and Don’ts of Watermarking Photos of your Handmade Items

I’m sure you’ve seen one of those pictures on social media that asks you to share the image to see how far it goes, and it has hundreds of thousands of shares. That illustrates how fast one image can move around online. So what does that have to with your cutting business? It shows that once you post an image online, it doesn’t matter where you post it, your image can potentially be seen by hundreds of thousands millions of people very quickly.

In many cases, this is a great thing! The more people that see your item, the more people that may potentially buy your item. Unfortunately, you can’t control what people do with your image, and someone may choose to upload it to their own page and pass it off as their own. Now, you’ve got someone using your image to sell the same thing you make. In many cases, you won’t even know about it until someone alerts you, or you accidentally see it. But, you can prevent it from happening in the first place by watermarking your photo.

A watermark is text or an image on top of your photo with your business name. You can watermark your photo using a basic Paint program, PicMonkey, or Photoshop. There are also several phone and tablets apps available, check your app store. Personally, I use the paid version of iWatermark for iphone. It’s easy to use and allows you to add text, a graphic, a QR code, your signature, and more.

Here are a few tips on watermarks, with examples.

Don’t let your watermark detract from your item. If your buyer cannot clearly see your item, they are likely to pass it up.

 

Don’t make your watermark too light to read.

Do make your watermark overlap a small portion of your item. It is easy to crop out a watermark that is in the “background” of your photo. To prevent people from doing it, simply overlap your watermark onto the edge of your item.

Lastly, watermarking your photos is not just for when you post your items online for sale. It’s important for you to know that image theft runs rampant throughout the internet. If you don’t want your image stolen, it is best to watermark it.

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