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I wasn't sure what section to put this post in so forgive me if I'm in the wrong spot!
I recently put up pictures of a bunch of my cards on my Pinterest board and got thinking....should I have put a watermark signature on them. The images I colored are not mine and the artists signature is visable. The idea for the card may or may not be mine as I often see card designs or maps I really like and will duplicate it.
So what are your thoughts? I am not sure as these are not original art pieces if it really matters.
I think a watermark is there to note that the picture is yours, but I could be wrong. Most stamped cards are using images the card maker did not create.
Excellent question. You can use the copyright image from the stamp company to put over the colored image, or just the circled "C" That way it does not indicate that it is your copyright, but rather just a copyrighted image. If you are indicating the design of you card in whole I always type something at the bottom of the card, which I think is also okay.
However, there is so much stealing images on the websites now. Do you know that people are now not only helping themselves to black and right images from websites but also taking the images that crafters color and lifting them and saving them to their computer and using them as colored clipart. In fact if you contacted the stamp company they would likely provide you with a free digital copyright symbol. :p
__________________ Michelle
Last edited by michellesscrap; 10-04-2012 at 09:17 AM..
Reason: additional thought
that is kind of what I thought also. Like if I was a famous photographer...which I am not! LOL
But I went to your blog and see you have the watermark on your cards....hhmmm
Yep. I'm not a famous photographer but I made that card and I took a picture of it, so I put a watermark on it. That way if someone uses my photo somewhere else they can't claim it as their own.
I do have the Images (c) Stampin' Up! on most of them too because I mainly use SU.
I add first initial, last name and the year. Nothing fancy, just to note that I made the card. I scan the card into Photoshop Elements and add it there.
I use photoshop too- I just created a signature, added the copyright symbol from the 'custom shapes' tool, then made it less opaque. i use it to show the actual photograph is mine from my blog, which is how I think most people use it. I always credit the original if I have case'd something, and credit the Stamp, paper etc.
I don't watermark any of my cards as I don't feel they're really unique. I do think watermarks are a good idea though. My only irritation with them is when people have a watermark that is so big that it interferes with appreciation of the card. I saw one a while back that began at the bottom of the card and ended in the center of the card.
It was just too much, kwim?
I do watermark my images. An EBay seller once took a project I made and posted it on her Ebay site saying she had designed/made it and offered to make it for others. Wow. Just keep in mind that if a company or magazine wants to publish your project with your permission, they may want it without the watermark. So, be sure to keep with sans watermark.
I watermark all my cards and pictures I put online. Not that I think they are special etc, but because I created them and if I ever want to use them for anything I will have them recorded. I put the mark in the lower left hand corner of the piece, but if that is not a good spot, I move it to the upper right hand corner....
Good point by Stickups. I crop my image, put the w/m somewhere it doesn't hide the picture, click save as... and I just put a 'W' on the end of the .jpg number. Then when that image is saved, it asks if you want to save changes to the image, click 'NO', and you keep the original unwatermarked. You do see a lot of complaints about that images have been 'borrowed' ( putting it nicely) from blogs/websites etc. And the bonus is that if people like your stuff, they can find your blog, if you have that as your, or in your watermark. I'd have no problem with someone using one of my images, as long as they said it wasn't theirs, but claiming it was their own work would really annoy me.
question on putting watermark on my card pictures
