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Add a Watermark to Images

Put your name or logo on your photos. Set it once and apply it to a whole batch, with control over position, size, transparency, rotation and tiling.

Watermark

Type
6%
40%
25-50% suits most photographs.
Position
4%
Much harder to crop out, much more intrusive.
Keeps a light watermark readable over light areas.
A watermark is a deterrent, not protection. It can be cropped or painted out, and automated tools have got good at removing corner marks. Place it over something important if that genuinely matters to you — and keep your unwatermarked originals.
Your files never leave this device. Everything happens inside your browser, so there is no upload, no server copy and nothing to delete afterwards. You can test that claim: load this page, turn off your internet connection, and the tool still works.

Where to put a watermark

Every placement is a trade between how hard it is to remove and how much it interferes with the image. There is no setting that is good at both.

PlacementRemoval difficultyIntrusiveness
Corner, low opacityLow — a crop removes it in secondsMinimal
Centred, very low opacityModerate — needs deliberate retouchingNoticeable
Tiled across the imageHigh — covers everything worth takingSignificant

Most people default to a corner because it looks professional, then are surprised when a cropped copy appears elsewhere. Decide honestly how much you mind: if the answer is "not very", a corner mark is fine and mostly serves as attribution. If the answer is "a great deal", tile it and accept the cost.

Getting the opacity right

Between 25 and 50 percent works for most photographs. Below 20 percent a watermark disappears entirely against busy or bright areas; above 60 percent it starts to compete with the image.

The harder problem is that one setting has to work across a whole batch. White text at 35 percent looks right on a dark photo and vanishes on a bright one. Two things help: turn on the drop shadow, which keeps light text readable over light areas at almost no visual cost, and preview against your brightest and darkest images before committing to a large batch.

Watermarks and marketplace listings

This is worth checking before you watermark a batch of product photos, because the rules differ and one of them is strict.

Amazon does not allow them. Watermarks, logos and added text on the main product image are against Amazon's image requirements, and listings can be suppressed for it. The main image must be the product on a pure white background and nothing else.

Etsy and eBay permit them, but plenty of experienced sellers avoid them anyway — a watermark reads as defensive, and it interrupts the clean product photography that converts best.

Watermarking makes far more sense on blog images, portfolio work, photography you licence, and social posts, where attribution has real value and there is no platform rule against it.

Using a logo instead of text

Upload a PNG with a genuinely transparent background. A logo saved on a solid white rectangle will show that rectangle sitting on top of your photograph, which is the most common mistake here.

It is worth keeping two versions — one light, one dark — and switching depending on the image. A dark logo on a dark photograph is invisible no matter what opacity you choose.

If your logo needs preparing first, the PNG tools will keep the transparency intact, and the resizer can bring an oversized logo down to a sensible working size.

What a watermark actually protects

Not much, and it is better to know that going in. A watermark is a deterrent and an attribution mark, not a security measure. Corner marks are cropped off in seconds, centred ones can be retouched, and automated removal tools have become genuinely good at both.

What it does reliably is make casual reuse slightly inconvenient and make the source obvious when an image is shared onward intact. That is worth something. Just keep your unwatermarked originals, because the watermark is burned into the output permanently and there is no undo.

How to add a Watermark to Images

  1. Drop the images you want watermarked onto the box above.
  2. Type your watermark text, or upload a logo file — a transparent PNG works best.
  3. Position it using the nine-point grid, then adjust size, opacity and rotation. Turn on tiling to repeat it across the whole image.
  4. Apply to every image in the batch and download them as a ZIP.

Limits worth knowing

Every tool has boundaries. These are this one's, stated plainly so you do not waste time discovering them yourself.

  • A watermark is a deterrent, not protection. Anyone determined enough can remove or crop one, and automated tools have got good at it. Place it over an important part of the image if that matters to you.
  • Watermarks are permanently burned into the output. Keep your unwatermarked originals.
  • A logo watermark scales relative to each image, so a batch of mixed sizes will show slightly different results. Check a couple before committing to a large batch.

Frequently asked questions

Where should I place a watermark?
A corner at low opacity is the least intrusive and the most common choice, but it is also the easiest to crop off. Across the centre at very low opacity is much harder to remove but interferes with the image. Tiled repetition is the hardest to defeat and the most intrusive. Match the choice to how much you actually mind about theft.
What opacity works best?
Between 25 and 50 percent suits most photographs. Below 20 percent it disappears against busy backgrounds, and above 60 percent it starts to dominate the image. Preview against your darkest and lightest photos, since a single setting has to work for both.
Can I use my own logo?
Yes. Upload a PNG with a transparent background for the cleanest result. A logo on a solid white rectangle will show that rectangle over your photo. Both light and dark versions are worth keeping so you can switch depending on the image.
Will a watermark hurt my Etsy or Amazon listings?
On Amazon, yes — watermarks and text overlays on the main product image are against their image requirements and can get a listing suppressed. Etsy allows them but many sellers find they reduce conversions. They make far more sense on blog images, portfolio work and social posts.
Does watermarking reduce image quality?
The watermark itself is drawn cleanly, but saving the result re-encodes the file, which costs a small amount of quality on a JPG. Work from your original rather than watermarking an already-compressed copy.