So, you’ve learned various digital photography skills such as taking a selfie with a digital camera and you want to start showing off some of your work. You may be thinking about adding a personal flair to each photo, a watermark of sorts. Keep reading to learn how to add a signature to your digital photos using your own camera. You may also want to know how to attach a digital camera zoom lens hood to protect the lens, and to add flair and contrast to your photos.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- You should add a digital signature or unique watermark to your photos if you are fearful of them being shared online without permission or attribution.
- Some newer DSLR cameras will feature a dedicated settings mode to add a signature or watermark.
- If your best digital camera lacks such a setting, you can achieve the same effect by using a piece of photo-editing software, such as Adobe Photoshop.
Why Add a Signature?
As long as art has existed, so have signatures. A professional photographer will want people to know they are indeed the work’s creator, after all. Adding a personalized signature, a watermark, or some other form of unique identifier can help set your images apart from the rest, and help decrease the chance of your photos being shared online without proper attribution.
Insider Tip
Adding a personalized signature, a watermark, or some other form of unique identifier can help set your images apart from the rest, and help decrease the chance of your photos being shared online without proper attribution.
How to Add a Signature to Your Digital Photos
Each camera is different, so the process of adding a digital signature may vary. With that in mind, we have provided some universal guidelines to consider when looking to complete this process.
Check the Settings
Not all cameras offer the capabilities to add a signature or unique watermark on the camera itself, though some newer models do. Read the instructions thoroughly and dive into the settings, paying close attention to any settings options marked “watermark” or “signature”. The camera may offer a choice of visual watermarks, though some will allow you to upload a signature to a cloud server, where it will then be transferred to your camera as a watermark option. If your camera lacks the ability to place watermarks, you will have to do it to original photos and individual photos after you have taken the photos.
Insider Tip
Read the instructions thoroughly and dive into the settings, paying close attention to any settings options marked “watermark” or “signature”.
Use Dedicated Software
There are many photo tools available that allow you to edit and add signatures to individual PDF documents, raw files, and other types of digital images. Open up your favorite photo ready software and follow the instructions to add a watermark or digital signature. You may have to open up each digital image individually to add this watermark, though some pieces of software should allow you to batch add signatures.
Share with the Signature
Now that your images have a unique identifier, always share them online with the signature in place. Commercial photographers rely on attribution and if you’ve gone through the trouble of using mirrorless cameras, you should as well.
Warning
If your camera lacks the ability to place watermarks, you will have to do it to original photos and individual photos after you have taken the photos.
F.A.Q.
How to watermark photos with an iPhone?
There are several apps that make this possible. Simply head into Apple’s App Store and look for your favorite watermarking app. Additionally, you can do this manually on the actual Camera app.
Does a watermark copyright protect my photos?
You don’t actually need a watermark to copyright protect your photos. The second they hit the Internet they become protected by copyright laws. If you want to remind people who took the photos, by all means, watermark, but it does not change anything on the legal level.
How can you remove watermarks from photos?
If you have access to the original raw files, it should be easy to head into a photo-editing application and remove the watermark. If you lack access, the process will be much more cumbersome and may not be legal if you didn’t take the original photos.
STAT: According to research from KeyPoint Intelligence/InfoTrends, an estimated 400 billion digital photos were taken globally in 2011 and this eventually rises to 1.2 trillion photos in 2017. (source)
