A guy I know runs a small photography page on Facebook. Nothing fancy — he shoots weddings and events on weekends. He noticed that other pages were stealing his photos and posting them as their own. No credit, nothing. One page even cropped out the corner where he’d written his name manually in some photo editor.
He asked me if there’s a way to put his name across the whole photo so nobody can crop it out. Like those stock photo watermarks you see on Shutterstock. I showed him how to do it and now he watermarks every photo before posting. The stealing stopped pretty much immediately.
How to add a watermark
Open convertkr.com/image-watermark. Drop your image in.
You type whatever text you want as the watermark. Could be your name, your business name, a website, or just “DO NOT COPY” if you’re feeling aggressive about it.
Then you adjust a few things:
- Position — center, diagonal, top, bottom. Diagonal is what I recommend because it’s hardest to crop out. If someone tries to cut it, they lose most of the photo.
- Size — how big the text is. For social media photos I keep it medium sized. Too small and people just paint over it. Too big and it ruins the photo.
- Opacity — this is the important one. You want people to see the photo clearly but also see the watermark. I usually go somewhere around 30-40%. Visible enough to protect you but not so heavy that it destroys the photo.
- Color — white works on most photos. If the photo is really bright or has a white background, switch to a dark gray or black.
Hit download. Your watermarked photo is ready.
Who actually needs this
Photographers. Obviously. My friend’s situation is super common. If you post good photos online, someone WILL take them. Especially on Facebook and Instagram. A watermark won’t stop everyone but it stops the lazy ones — and most of them are lazy.
People selling stuff online. My aunt sells homemade pickles (achaar) and she takes really nice photos of her jars. She found her exact photos on three other Facebook pages selling pickles. They didn’t even change the background. Now she puts her page name across every product photo.
Designers sharing work. If you’re a graphic designer and you’re showing concepts to a client before they’ve paid — watermark them. I learned this from a friend who designed a full logo set for someone, sent the previews without watermarks, and the client ghosted him. Used the logos anyway. Painful lesson.
Real estate listings. Property photos get stolen constantly. I know an agent who watermarks every apartment photo with his phone number. Smart — even if someone steals the photo, his number is still on it.
Teachers sharing notes. A teacher friend of mine makes really good handwritten notes and shares photos of them. She started finding them on random Telegram channels and note-selling websites. She puts a light watermark across each page now.
Things I’ve learned about watermarks
Diagonal across the center is the safest. Bottom corner watermarks are basically useless. Anyone with Paint can crop or cover them. A diagonal watermark that goes across the main subject of the photo is way harder to remove without destroying the image.
Don’t make it too transparent. I made this mistake once — set the opacity to like 15% thinking it would be subtle and classy. You could barely see it. Totally useless as protection. 30% minimum if you actually want it to work.
Don’t make it too opaque either. I’ve seen people post photos where the watermark is more visible than the actual photo. That defeats the purpose. Nobody is going to engage with or share a photo where they can barely see the content. 30-40% is the sweet spot for me.
Keep the text short. Your name or brand name is enough. I’ve seen people put their full website URL, phone number, email, and Instagram handle all as a watermark. It looks terrible. Just your name. People can Google you if they want to find you.
Watermark the final version. Do all your editing — crop, color correction, whatever — and watermark as the very last step. If you watermark first and then crop, you might cut off part of the watermark.
Can people remove watermarks?
Honestly? Yes, with enough effort. There are AI tools now that can remove watermarks pretty well. But here’s the thing — most people who steal photos aren’t going to spend time doing that. They’re scrolling Facebook, they see a nice photo, they right-click save and repost. A watermark stops that quick grab-and-go theft which is 95% of cases.
For the other 5% who really want your photo, nothing short of not posting it will stop them. But that’s not a reason to skip watermarking. You lock your house even though a determined burglar could still break in.
FAQ
Can I add an image watermark instead of text?
The tool does text watermarks right now. For most people that’s enough — your name or brand across the photo. If you need a logo overlay, that’s something I might add later.
Does it work on multiple photos at once?
One at a time on the web tool. If you’ve got a batch of 50 wedding photos to watermark, the desktop app handles that better.
Will the watermark be on the downloaded file permanently?
Yes. Once you download the watermarked version, the text is baked into the image. It’s not a separate layer — it’s part of the photo now. So always keep your original unwatermarked version somewhere safe.
Do you save my photos?
No. Everything happens in your browser. Your photos don’t upload to any server. I get why photographers worry about this — you’re trying to protect your work and the last thing you want is the tool you’re using keeping copies.
Need to watermark a photo? Open the watermark tool — type your name, adjust the settings, download.