Watermarks or Copyright
- Thread starter Lawrence
- Start date
I'd like to take the question one step further...is it possible to keep the copyright info in the properties from being changed? I can download photos, and using Vista, I can right click on the copyright info in the properties and change the copyright name. In fact I can change a lot of EXIF data this way without using any type of photo software (the date the photo was taken, etc). Is there any way to make it more difficult for EXIF data to be changed? I realize if someone wants your photo, most likely they will get it. It's like owning a home but never locking its doors. There must be ways of making these types of changes a little more difficult than just a few mouse clicks.
Horoscope Fish
Senior Member
x2 for Lightroom. I still need to write up a copywrite to embed.
I've always used TSR Watermark Image, a nifty little program that is really slick and easy to use.
http://www.watermark-image.com/
http://www.watermark-image.com/
vindex1963
Senior Member
I've always wondered what the point is. I can remove it as easily as you add it. The simple fact is we post in a public place and stealing is always a problem and all of us own software that removes as quickly as it's added. Some use huge watermarks that ruin the shot and I've wondered why they even bothered to post it. There was a poster this morning that posted shots of some antique Nikon cameras for sale in a store and he watermarked his shots, I found that very strange. Do we think we're that good that somebody will risk a copyright lawsuit?
LOL as I said "before I became really famous". In truth though I have seen some images where the name/mark looks cool - sort of like a signature.
BackdoorArts
Senior Member
If your intent is merely to share your work with the world then watermarking is little more than a way of signing your art. For some, however, it's a business, and the watermark is intended to allow you to see the work, but also serve as a barrier of protection to improper use. The more proprietary the image, the more obtrusive the watermark might be so that removal of the mark may be impossible without also defacing the image behind it.
Unscrupulous people will find ways of making an image their own, including editing the exif data and internal copyright information to remove your information. There are fee services that will embed additional information that can be tracked by their site (there's one such service referenced in the video on how to share your images from the Scott Kelby's Annual | Worldwide Photo Walk - site is down presently so I can't reference it by name), but it sounds like the protection lasts only as long as your subscription (sounds vaguely like mob protection).
Bottom line, if you don't care then don't bother. For me, it's always been a matter that an artist signs their work - good or bad - and that's the way I look at it.
Unscrupulous people will find ways of making an image their own, including editing the exif data and internal copyright information to remove your information. There are fee services that will embed additional information that can be tracked by their site (there's one such service referenced in the video on how to share your images from the Scott Kelby's Annual | Worldwide Photo Walk - site is down presently so I can't reference it by name), but it sounds like the protection lasts only as long as your subscription (sounds vaguely like mob protection).
Bottom line, if you don't care then don't bother. For me, it's always been a matter that an artist signs their work - good or bad - and that's the way I look at it.
To add to this, a well placed watermark can serve as a way for viewers to contact the photographer, a type of a calling card.