A More Complex Watermark

I currently watermark all my images with ACDSee Pro with just text of my URL right in the middle of my pictures. It's quick & easy through batch processing and I even resize & sharpen all the photos just for my website.

Now I'm looking to do something more complex and add the logo of the race series the watermark in Photoshop CS 2.

The first draft below consists of a logo that was previously masked out and was pasted into the current drawing by duplicating the layer from the other it's own file into the new file. So I didn't have to mask the image again.

There is also a rectangle with a black color overlay, with the layer set to 47% opacity. The text is just letters for now but my actual logo has a bunch of layer style settings and I also need to duplicate that layer into the new drawing to keep my settings.

Now with all that explained I assume an action is the best way to automate this, but all this duplicating layers probably won't work. And if it does I can imagine it would take a while to process.

What if I where to remove the photo from this Photoshop file and use it as a template and create an action to insert it over each photo.

What are your thoughts?

I can't help you with your actual question but I did have a thought....Could you run into any copyright infringment issues by using that logo on your photos?....of course, you may have permission or not even need it in the case (I don't know)....just something I thought I would bring up

jra wrote in post #8062614
I can't help you with your actual question but I did have a thought....Could you run into any copyright infringment issues by using that logo on your photos?....of course, you may have permission or not even need it in the case (I don't know)....just something I thought I would bring up

A bunch of the other photographers are doing it, and it would help the series by identifying the photos shot at their races. I'm not going to sell any images with the logo.

ryant35 wrote in post #8060924
Now with all that explained I assume an action is the best way to automate this, but all this duplicating layers probably won't work. And if it does I can imagine it would take a while to process.

What if I where to remove the photo from this Photoshop file and use it as a template and create an action to insert it over each photo.

1st, are all the images you're saving going to be the same size? Or a set of a few different sizes? eg 800x600, 600x800 or anything like that?

2nd, Is it possible for you to take that watermark and make it a single layered psd file? (re-read what you wrote and I think thats what you were saying anyway so I guess you can, so short answer is yeah that should work if you just use it as a template)

If so then you can set the action and automate it where you just copy and paste it, then batch run it over every image you want. I think that should work. I used to watermark a lot of pictures for work using that method when our watermarking program went down.

There might be an easier way than that though, not too sure.

I like putting water mark too.
opacity is my favorite concept on my digital photography.

seiginoyami wrote in post #8063999
1st, are all the images you're saving going to be the same size? Or a set of a few different sizes? eg 800x600, 600x800 or anything like that?

2nd, Is it possible for you to take that watermark and make it a single layered psd file? (re-read what you wrote and I think thats what you were saying anyway so I guess you can, so short answer is yeah that should work if you just use it as a template)

If so then you can set the action and automate it where you just copy and paste it, then batch run it over every image you want. I think that should work. I used to watermark a lot of pictures for work using that method when our watermarking program went down.

There might be an easier way than that though, not too sure.

1. yes the images are always 800x600, that is my standard and I made the watermark to fit that size.

2. Yes I could make it 1 layer, it's currently isn't 1 layer but I could save it as a different file and flatten the layers. I just want to be sure to keep the original so I can modify it later.

I'll look into batch processing it, I haven't used that function in PS yet. Batch will be really needed as I will be adding it to 1000+ images at a time.

Thanks for your help.

Will your name stand out against all the backgrounds you may get? As it is here, the red is a little tough to read.....and should include your domain name....

I think your name should be in black, I can't even read that.

dekalbSTEEL wrote in post #8067112
Will your name stand out against all the backgrounds you may get? As it is here, the red is a little tough to read.....and should include your domain name....

I do usually use my domain name, and I have been working on a better logo than that hard to read font. I guess until I come up with something better I should just go simple. I also darkened the stripe so it stands out over any photo. Most of the shots I'll use this watermark for will be similar to the ones I've posted here, all most all with dirt or sky at the bottom.

You might want to watch this video tutorial on watermark actions in Photoshop. It's really useful: http://russellbrown.co​m/tips_tech.html

Loooonngggg page, so search for "digital watermark branding".

Ok so I can't figure out who to create the action to insert my 1 layer PSD file on top of the image. I open an image, then switch to the already open watermark psd file and on the layers tool bar I right click on the layer and select duplicate layer. Then I select the photograph that is open, than ok. The watermark shows up perfectly. Then I stop the action recording. When I use the automate batch process and I get an error because the action is actually looking for the image number that I used when I created the action instead of the image used in the batch process.

I can't seem to figure our how to create an action to duplicate the layer without another image file open to duplicate it to.

Is there a way to insert or merge the watermark psd file over the jpeg file?

Easy. Save the watermark as a psd file. Make an action that opens the other image, uses file -> place, uses a blending mode if necessary. You might need to place the logo and the black bar from separate psd files in order to use different blend modes. Use the layer alignment commands and the nudge (ie cursor key press when transform tool selected) to get a layer into the right position, then align the other with it. It's something like that anyway, it will probably take a few hours to get right. Here's a screenshot of a similar action I use. Note this version is run interactive or through image processor, you need open/close steps if you want to run it from batch.

You can ask me what each step does if you like, the chances are I won't remember but i'll guess.

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