Watermarking Your Photos

Many people are a little leery about putting images on the internet. There is so much theft with intellectual property. To give some peace of mind when placing a photo on the internet sometimes they will use a watermark on the photo. I don't usually do this. Yesterday in Elements class we went through doing this and setting up a brush so all you need to do from then on is click on the brush, adjust it for the size of your photo, and stamp it on.

Here are the instructions for Photoshop Elements:

Create a blank document (File>New>Blank File) in RGB mode choose a resolution (I set mine to 150). Select 'background' in the background contents pull down menu. Click OK.

Click on the foreground color in the left hand toolbox. Select a gray – click OK. Then click alt/backspace to fill the new, blank item with the gray color you just selected. Press “D” to set the foreground color to black. Press “T” to switch to the horizontal type tool (if your type tool is not set to horizontal, right click on the tool and then select horizontal version). Choose your font/size from the menus at the top of the window. For alignment – choose “center.”

Click the cursor on the background and while holding the alt key type 0169 to give you the copyright symbol. Remember if you are using a laptop you will need to use your function key and the number pad that is kind of hidden in the keyboard. The numbers across the top of the keyboard won't do this. For a trademark symbol you will type 0174. Press Enter to get to the next line to type your name or keep the whole mark just one line. If you need to adjust font size – highlight the name or symbol and use the menu at the top to change the font size.

Click the eye on the background layer in the layer palette to hide that layer. Go to your effects palette and from the drop-down menu choose “stylize.” Double click emboss. You can also get here from going to Filter>Stylize>Emboss. A window will ask if you want to simplify the type – click yes. Set the angle to 135, height to 3, and amount to 100%. In the layers palette – click on “lock transparent layers.” In filters choose Blur>Gaussian Blur – select 2 or 3 pixels. Back in the layers palette click on the drop down menu and change from normal to hard light.

To create the special brush tool – while the watermark is open, click on the brush tool then go to Edit>Define Brush. Give your brush a name. I gave mine "copyright" and I have one that is named "trademark." It will save as the last brush on the list that is open (I suggest “default”). Then when you wish to place the mark on a photo – open the photo – select the brush tool and select the brush you created and stamp it on the photo. Be sure to adjust the size of the brush to fit the photo.

As you can see from the photo -- I have stamped my mark all over this photo of my mother's cat. I even changed the color of the mark a couple times. I kind of like this look. I don't know that I will ever use it to mark photos -- but to know how and to have one like this for fun -- I like it.

I set up brushes for my name and for "The Barefoot Photographer" -- my name brush uses the copyright symbol and The Barefoot Photographer uses the registered trademark symbol. But think about it -- how fun to make a brush of any word (like "Christmas" or "Thank You") or any name (like your last name or kids' names to make creative notecards) and create a photo with that brush stamped all over and in different colors (like the one on the blog today). The way to change the color of the stamp is to click on the foreground color at the bottom of your tool bar. When the color selection window opens -- just pick the color you like best!

A Novel Experience

Last Thursday I posted a photo and said to check back this weekend to see where it was taken -- well here is where....A Novel Experience in Zebulon, Georgia. Actually -- this photo (above) shows exactly where the other photo was taken.

A Novel Experience is a delightful shop in the delightful town of Zebulon. The store offers new and used books. It is also a gallery. They have a book club. And, you can even find a cup of coffee there. Check out their website to see what is on their calendar.

The gallery part is my focus this post. During the month of July I have twenty-two photos hanging in the store. The photos hanging are:

‘It’s a Daisy’ black and white Lensbaby image printed on canvas gallery wrap (daisy)

‘Purity’ black and white floral macro (rose)

‘The New Dog’ color macro

‘Charleston Weekend’ black, white, and orange floral macro (daisy)

‘Emilie’ black and white image

‘Pop’ digital art from a floral macro (daisy)

‘Line Creek Path’ color Lensbaby image (Peachtree City, GA)

‘The ARC’ black and white image, digitally enhanced (St. Simons Island, GA)

‘Carl’s is Closed’ black, white, and blue image (Fredericksburg, VA)

‘Followed by a Spoon Shadow’ black and white macro (from the Kitchen Series)

‘Self-Portrait’ digitally enhanced portrait triptych

‘The Old Kitchen’ black, white, and red image (from the Kitchen Series)

‘Opening Dance’ black and white botanical macro (sunflower)

‘Is the Devil in the Details?’ black and white Lensbaby image (Methodist Church, Senoia, GA)

‘Jelly’ black and white digitally enhanced image (Georgia Aquarium)

‘Opening Night’ black and white long exposure (Fayetteville, GA)

‘Prince’ black and white image printed on watercolor paper and hand tinted with watercolors

‘Peachtree’ black and white image (Pike County, GA)

‘Pleated’ black and white macro

‘Bonsai’ black and white Lensbaby image (Panola Mountain State Park)

‘Top of the Tower’ black and white Lensbaby image (Methodist Church, Senoia, GA)

‘Rosebud’ black and white

Stop in, browse the books, browse the photos, and say hello to Chris, Brenda, Susan F., Karen, and Susan C. For directions to the store, check out the link to their website above. I hear that Zebulon is having a nice 4th of July celebration!

From the Barefoot Files...

I can't believe it is Friday again so soon!

Today the photo from the file is of my father in law with his college buddies. Last November we lost him and this past Father's Day was kind of sad at our house. My father died right after I got married -- so my father in law was the only father I have had for years.

He was a Navy veteran and a pharmacist.

Sometimes I believed he could do anything. He refinished furniture pieces for me that seemed too damaged. I remember one piece that came from my Aunt Anna's home. The wood on the top of the piece was cracked and bowed up severely. He used steam to flatten the wood and make a repair that no one would ever know about it they had not seen the piece before he worked on it.

He loved to work in the yard. The back yard of their home was filled with azaleas and boxwoods that he had propagated. He had a special little 'hot house' built to keep the babies until they were ready to go into the yard (or into my yard!).

We have a grandfather clock that he made with his own hands. I remember seeing him carving the details for it. The rosettes (that are actually dogwood blooms) on the top are very ornate and beautiful. He made a clock for each of his children.

He loved pound cake. I used to make one for him on holidays. This past Father's Day when we had pound cake it was the first one I had made without him around to have any.

It was always nice to have him in our lives. If we had a question about how to do just about anything -- we always knew we could call him and get an answer. In this photo he is in the front row, second from the left.

Where is This?

Check back over the weekend to find out where I took this photo...