Watermarking your photos before uploading them online is something you should always consider. Why?
For starters, because this can be an efficient solution to protect your photographs from theft and misuse. By placing a copyright text, your signature or your logo on your pictures you basically provide a proof of ownership. Those pictures represent your intellectual property and nobody else can download and use them publicly without your permission.
In addition to discouraging image theft, a watermark can be of value for photographers, graphic artists, realtors or content creators from a different point of view: it can turn into a powerful marketing tool. Having your name, your website or company name on a photo will allow internet users to identify you more easily. This is a great way to advertise your work, to expand your online visibility and potentially get new clients.
If you’re a Windows user, you can try native apps to add a watermark to your photos. The Paint and Paint 3D apps can help you accomplish your task with the aid of the Text tool. Of course, this is recommended only if you need a really basic text watermark and are dealing only with one or two images. In case you’re working with dozens or hundreds of pictures that require watermarking and need more advanced settings, it’s best to opt for software particularly developed for this purpose.
PhotoMarks
PhotoMarks is a batch watermark app for Windows, designed with ease of use in mind. In order to protect your original photos you just have to follow a simple, three-step process: add your images in Step 1, apply the desired watermark in Step 2 and choose the image format and destination in Step 3. That’s it, simple as ABC.
PhotoMarks allows you to add a copyright text, your own logo or various info from the metadata records. You can fully customize your watermark by freely changing its size, rotation angle and position, by adjusting the transparency, selecting from numerous font styles and colors, applying a tile effect or drawing a bounding-box. The app provides a preview for every edit made and a useful feature to save your settings as Profiles for later use. You can save your pictures on a local folder, upload them to your website through SFTP or send them via email.
You’ll find support for more than 50 image formats, including RAW and modern files such as HEIC, WebP and AVIF. In addition to watermarking and converting, you can crop, resize and rotate pictures and decorate them with borders and frames.
Price
PhotoMarks comes with a fully-featured trial version (watermark applied to processed photos), without time limitations. You can get a lifetime license for $29.95.
BatchPhoto
BatchPhoto is a PC tool designed to batch edit photos. The program allows you to perform a wide range of edits with the aid of the built-in filters. Among the numerous filters you’ll be able to find the watermark one in the Annotate section. Depending on your needs, you’ll have the chance to apply a simple text, a copyright, registered or trademark text, your logo, as well ax EXIF and IPTC info.
BatchPhoto offers multiple options to customize your watermark. You’re free to choose its size and location on the image, set the opacity level or select from multiple fonts and colors. There’s also an option to add text sequentially from a text file. When you’re finished setting up your watermark configuration, you can save it and then quickly load it in other editing sessions.
Besides image protection, the tool can be efficiently put to use to optimize and enhance your pictures in bulk. You can convert, resize, crop or rotate photos, add a date stamp, improve the contrast, brightness and colors or apply a large variety of special effects like black & white and sepia.
Price
BatchPhoto offers a fully-functional trial version, with a watermark stamped on the processed images. There are three available editions to choose from:
- Home: $29.95 (the Watermark filter is not available)
- Pro: $49.95
- Enterprise: $129.95
iWatermark Pro 2
iWatermark Pro 2 is an improved version of the older iWatermark tool for Windows. If the previous edition had a cluttered interface which made it rather difficult to use, this one is easier to navigate. You’ll find all the watermark types on the left side, the related settings – on the right side, while in the center – a preview area so you can see in real time how your watermark appears on the picture.
iWatermark Pro 2 excels when it comes to watermark types. With this program you have the opportunity to use a classic text or a text arc, a logo, a vertical or top banner, a QR code, a lines watermark or tag metadata. In addition to these visible elements, you can also resort to a proprietary StegoMark. This is an invisible watermark which the user can insert not on the image, but in the image data.
If you opt for a visible watermark, you’ll have plenty of options for adjustments, from setting the placement and changing the size to adding a padding and applying a tile mode. Unfortunately you can’t freely move the watermark across the image, nor resize it using your mouse. You can only choose from preset locations and resize it by manually entering the desired value in percentage.
Price
iWatermark Pro 2 is free to download and try, but the photos will have a watermark on them. To remove it you can purchase the app for $30.
Arclab Watermark Studio
Arclab Watermark Studio is a PC software you can try to quickly watermark multiple photos at once. The program is easy to use, with the main menu in the top section, the watermarking settings on the left side and a large preview area in the center part. You can add multi-layered text and image marks, as well as select from multiple metadata fields to insert into your pictures.
Arclab Watermark Studio lets you adjust the transparency, select the font style and color or add a padding. You can change the position of the watermark, but only by selecting from preset placements (there’s a multitude of combinations available). You can resize your text, but only by selecting a font size. You can also resize your logo, but neither this operation can be done freely; you’ll need to type in the preferred dimensions in pixels for the width/height. A positive aspect is that you can load a custom logo, but also choose one from the numerous built-in options.
With Arclab Watermark Studio you can also resize your images and convert them to another format (you can only choose between JPEG, PNG, TIFF and BMP). To boost your productivity you can save your settings as a project and reuse them later.
Price
Arclab Watermark Studio can be freely tested, but the photos will have a large, centrally-located watermark applied to them. The price for 1 license (no subscription) is $17.95.
uMark
uMark lets you watermark images in bulk in a hassle-free manner. The program is intuitively-designed, with all the main settings located on the left side of the interface and a centrally-located area to visualize in real time how the watermark looks on the photo. Speaking of watermarks, you can apply a classic copyright text and your own logo, but also EXIF data, a modern element like a QR code or shapes which you can fill with solid or gradient colors.
The watermarks are completely customizable, which means you can choose the location (use drag & drop or select from preset positions), resize and rotate your text/logo, set a specific transparency level or use the tiling mode for a higher protection. uMark comes with options to apply a border or add a shadow to your photographs to make them stand out. To save time and energy, you can save your configuration for later use.
Price
uMark comes with a 15-day trial version. At the end of this period you’ll need to upgrade to the Professional edition for $29 in case you’d like to continue using the app.
TSR Watermark Image
TSR Watermark Image is another watermark software for Windows designed with batch processing capabilities. The program doesn’t come with the most exciting interface and offers a rather small preview area, but it will get the job done if you need to quickly copyright a larger group of pictures. You can opt for a standard text, a 3D text embossed into the photo, your logo, as well as insert metadata info.
When it comes to customization, the possibilities are more than enough. You can freely place your watermark, change its size and rotation, adjust the opacity, select from over 225 font styles, convert your logo to grayscale before applying it to your images and more. In addition to watermarking, you’ll find features to resize and automatically rotate images and to add a colored cross or colored borders. You can save your processed files locally, directly upload them to WordPress or SFTP.
Price
TSR Watermark Image offers a free trial version, which adds the software’s watermark to the edited images. There are three paid editions available:
- Professional: $29.95
- Professional + Share: $59.95
- Secure Share: $139.95
Water Marquee
If you don’t want to install a new software on your PC, this might be a solution worth checking out. Water Marquee is an alternative which makes it possible to batch watermark images directly from your internet browser. The tool comes with a modern user interface, without any confusing layouts, and is quite simple to use.
Water Marquee enables you to add both text and logo marks and edit them as you want. You’ll be able to move the chosen watermark where you want thanks to the drag & drop support, freely resize it, choose your font and color and set the transparency. Even though it does have a more contemporary feel compared to others, this online tool lacks certain features such as for instance the possibility to insert metadata info or to apply a tile mode. Also there are no other options to edit your photos.
Price
Water Marquee is available in three editions:
- Free (You can only upload images smaller than 3 MB and a maximum of 5 files at a time.)
- Pro: $19 (lifetime access)
- Pro+: $79 (lifetime access)
Star Watermark
Star Watermark is a batch watermark software designed to help you protect not only your photos, but videos and PDF files as well. The tool is not difficult to use thanks to the clear design, but what’s peculiar about it is the watermarking process. In order to watermark your images you first need to create a template and apply it your set of pictures afterwards.
With Star Watermark you can add text and logo marks and adjust each one in various ways. There are options to place (only using preset location), scale and rotate your watermark, to change the opacity or apply diverse effects to the text such as shadow, 3D, glow, background or border. The program offers support for the new HEIC format and the possibility to resize and compress your photos before processing.
Price
Star Watermark offers a free evaluation version with limited features, but without applying a watermark to the processed images. If you want to purchase the app, you can choose between:
- Annual subscription: $2.49/month
- Lifetime license: $39.95 (usable for 20 years)
123 Watermark
123 Watermark is a user-friendly Windows app that lets you use multiple layers to protect your images. The interface is basically split in two sections, with the settings on the left and preview area on the right of the screen. There are three main phases to follow: load your images, add the watermark layer and customize it and then select your configuration and save it as a profile.
You can protect your photos from online theft by using a customizable text and logo, EXIF data, a QR code or by applying a cross to your photographs. Just like in the case of other apps, you can’t move the watermark freely across the image, and you can resize the text only by entering the new value in the Font section. On the bright side, there are options to directly upload the processed images to Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive.
Price
123 Watermark offers a free trial, which allows you to watermark a maximum of 10 files. The software’s watermark will be applied to them. To remove the limitation you can buy a license, valid for 1 year, for $29.99.
Batch Picture Protector
Batch Picture Protector is our last proposal for PC users looking to watermark multiple images at the same time. This is a tool that will help you accomplish your task, but in a rather basic way. The interface is clean, and the developers even offer the possibility to change your UI theme. There isn’t a variety of features as in the case of other apps, but you get to add a text and/or logo to your pictures and make the necessary adjustments to them.
One of the downsides of the software is the fact that you can’t preview in real time the changes made to your watermark. This can be frustrating and time-consuming. You can’t freely position and resize your text/logo, nor benefit from a feature to add EXIF metadata as a watermark. On the plus side, once you’ve managed to create a watermark configuration, you can save it for later use.
Price
Batch Picture Protector comes with a 10-day trial version, which you can extend by another 20 days by signing up. Sadly you can’t process photos during this trial period. To process your images you need to upgrade to one of the paid plans:
- Annual: $1.33/month
- Lifetime: $23.99
