Watermark Photos?

I am not sure where to put this ... here or under marketing, but here goes.

I took a class at a locally owned flooring store a few years back and learned to make coasters using travertine tile. [Since then, I have started selling them and have an Etsy shop.] I liked the flooring store's Facebook page and receive notifications.

I got a notification today about a coaster class they are teaching. I noticed one of the photos was MINE!!! It was a monogram, seen at this link ... https://www.etsy.com/listing/218019570/1014-fleur-de-lis-monogram-hand-stamped?ga_search_query=1014&ref=shop_items_search_1.

I ended up sending them a PM via Facebook asking them, respectfully of course, to take it down or give me credit for my photo and my design. I included a link to my Etsy listing as well. They responded almost immediately, apologizing and saying they'd take it down. They did take it down right away. I let them know that sometimes people do a search on something and just any images that come up.

The photo in question was not watermarked, like most of my photos. My question is this ... does watermarking hurt in getting found in searches in any way?

Thanks for your help!

You can get the full-blown Photoshop for $9.95/month on a rental which is the only way they do it now. Elements does just about everything you want for photographers for anywhere from $50 to $95 depending on whether it's disc based or a download, and whether there is a sale going on at the time. I have the subscription version of PS CC, an older version of Elements (mine is Elements 11 with the most recent at either 15 or 16), and my subscription includes Light Room although I never use it. Another good editing program is Corel Paintshop Pro which is a highly regarded alternative to PS.

Regarding Elements, I find it easier to do brochures and collages with that program. It snaps images into alignment quite nicely. I did a poster of several of my New Orleans images on a black background and 9 same size images with text at the bottom. Didn't take long at all, spent more time deciding on a font than anything else. You load all your images into a bin at the bottom of the screen, and just drag and drop them to a new blank space.

Elements by itself is for still images and the Premiere is for video. They frequently bundle the two together with a higher price. I just checked and saw where Walmart carries Elements 15 for $80.

Replies

Cindy Welch December 8, 2016 at 9:19am

I appreciate the replies from artists and sellers that I consider professionals. I am working my way, SLOWLY, through all my photos. I have over 200 different listings on Etsy, and many with multiple photos. There are easily 400 different photos to go through. It is a process, for sure.
- Larry Berman > Cindy Welch December 8, 2016 at 10:11am
  
  If you have all the originals, you can create an action in Photoshop that sizes and adds a copyright for the entire folder in seconds. In the action, if you save the images as PSD, you can move the copyright around for each individual image. Then another action to save them at a specific quality JPEG. In short, you can easily do a few hundred images in under an hour. But you need access to any full version of Photoshop, not necessarily the latest.
  
  Larry Berman
  http://BermanGraphics.com
  412-401-8100
  - Cindy Welch > Larry Berman December 8, 2016 at 10:40pm
    
    Larry,
    
    When you say the "full version of Photoshop", do you mean ... Photoshop Lightroom CC or Photoshop Elements CC? Or something else entirely? I do not need video (or editing) capabilities. I want to be able to edit photos and add a watermark, have the ability to put into a collage, etc. Which product do you recommend? Sorry for all the trouble.
    
    Cindy
    - Robert Wallis > Cindy Welch December 8, 2016 at 11:36pm
      
      You can get the full-blown Photoshop for $9.95/month on a rental which is the only way they do it now. Elements does just about everything you want for photographers for anywhere from $50 to $95 depending on whether it's disc based or a download, and whether there is a sale going on at the time. I have the subscription version of PS CC, an older version of Elements (mine is Elements 11 with the most recent at either 15 or 16), and my subscription includes Light Room although I never use it. Another good editing program is Corel Paintshop Pro which is a highly regarded alternative to PS.
      
      Regarding Elements, I find it easier to do brochures and collages with that program. It snaps images into alignment quite nicely. I did a poster of several of my New Orleans images on a black background and 9 same size images with text at the bottom. Didn't take long at all, spent more time deciding on a font than anything else. You load all your images into a bin at the bottom of the screen, and just drag and drop them to a new blank space.
      
      Elements by itself is for still images and the Premiere is for video. They frequently bundle the two together with a higher price. I just checked and saw where Walmart carries Elements 15 for $80.
      - Cindy Welch > Robert Wallis December 9, 2016 at 9:29am
        
        Thanks for all the details, Robert. Does the subscription come with updates during the subscription time? Or do updates cost extra?
        
        Cindy
        
        Robert Wallis > Cindy Welch December 9, 2016 at 9:35am
        
        The updates are part of the package and no extra charge.
        
        Cindy Welch > Robert Wallis December 9, 2016 at 9:41am
        
        Cool, thanks!
  - Cindy Welch > Larry Berman December 8, 2016 at 10:33am
    
    Larry,
    
    This info is awesome! I need to buy a photo editing program. My free trial at PS has expired and have been using picmonkey. I will check out the full version of PS. This could save me dozens of hours! Thanks again!
    
    Cindy
Thom Schoeller December 7, 2016 at 8:08pm

Q: Does watermarking hurt? No, it does not. With regards to requesting to have your image removed, I think you did this wonderfully. You provided options that were acceptable to your terms. The most powerful word the creative can use with having control over their original works is "NO". They removed it :)

On the watermarks. I agree with both replies before me. I simply don't upload to the web ever without my brand. Somehow I managed to exist with my own watermark concept for years. A colleague hooked me up with a talented graphics designer and took my concept and made a great logo.

~best

Tom www.ThomasSchoeller.Photography
B. David Kay November 30, 2016 at 10:09pm

Full agree with Larry Berman. If you do a very nice watermark it will not detract from the image.

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