How to Create a Watermark: 4 Easy Methods
A watermark will give you credit for your work and help build your brand online. It’s simple to create a watermark, so what’s stopping you?
Many creative professionals will ‘sign’ their work digitally with a watermark because it helps to protect their work from being stolen or used without their permission. For example, many photographers and stock photography sites watermark their photos.
Watermarks can also be used to build your brand on social media platforms and other websites. If someone reposts images that incorporate your logo and branding, it’s an opportunity for your brand to reach new audiences.
Thankfully, adding a watermark to your work is a relatively straightforward process.
What is a Watermark?
A watermark is an image or pattern that’s overlaid onto a photo. It can range from a subtle logo in the corner to a repeated pattern or phrase that covers the entire image.
Shutterstock, for example, will watermark photos with a pattern to ensure no one is able to use their images without buying a license:

What Are The Essential Elements of a Watermark?
Even though watermarks can be as unique as each artist, there are a few elements that they share:
- Their opacity is reduced, and they have a transparent background, so you can still view the artwork properly.
- They’re often white, black or greyscale.
- They usually include the name and/or logo of the copyright owner.
- They may be placed in the corner or bottom of an image. To prevent a thief from simply cropping out the watermark, you may prefer to use a pattern across the whole image.
Things to Consider Before You Create A Watermark Logo
Since watermarking photos and images will impact how people engage with your work, it’s important you think about what will look best.
You should consider:
- Do you want your watermark to be your name, your logo, or something else?
- Do you need to learn graphic design and how to design a logo or create a wordmark, or do you already have these design assets available?
- Where do you want to place the watermark over your images? For example, would your circular logo design work best if it covers the entire frame, should you use a repeating pattern or simply drop it into the corner?
- What color should your watermark be? Would black, white or grayscale work best? Do you need to design variations for each color?
4 Methods for Creating a Watermark Easily
When you know what you want your watermark to look like, and how you’re going to use it to protect your portfolio, you’re ready to get started and create a watermark logo.
How To Create a Watermark In Canva
- Open Canva and click the purple ‘create a design’ button in the top right-hand menu. You’ll need to either choose a size or set your own dimensions.
- Name your file something unique and recognizable, like ‘master watermark’.
- Create your watermark design and reduce the opacity so it won’t obstruct anything that it’s placed over.
- Remove the background in Canva by navigating to tools, and then clicking ‘BG remover’.
- Download the design as a PNG file to retain the transparent background.

How To Add a Watermark To Your Images In Canva
Once your Canva watermark is in your library, it’s simple to overlay this on your other designs.
- Head to your Canva home and then click on ‘projects’ on the bottom left menu.
- Scroll down to the folders and click ‘uploads’.
- Click the grey ‘upload’ button in the top right-hand menu and upload all your edited images to your library.
- Click on a design to open it and then select the grey ‘use in a design’ button.
- Head over to the new tab and give the file a name.
- Click on ‘uploads’, then search for your Canva watermark. If you’ve designed the watermark with a different tool, you can upload the PNG file instead by clicking ‘upload files’.
- Drag the watermark onto your design. You can resize and reposition it until you’re happy with the placement.
- Download the watermarked image by clicking the grey ‘share’ button and then ‘download’. Choose the file type you require and make sure the size is correct, then click the purple ‘download’ button.
How To Create a Watermark In Photoshop
- Open Photoshop and create a new file. Adobe recommends you choose a large canvas, like 1920x1080, so it will look good in high resolution.
- Name the file something memorable.
- Add a layer and start designing your watermark. Don’t forget to use Photoshop features, such as custom brushes and fonts, if you want to create something unique.
- Reduce the opacity of your design by double-clicking on the watermark layer and editing the layer’s settings.
- Remove the background in Photoshop by deleting the background layer.
- Save the watermark logo as a PSD file in your Creative Cloud library by clicking ‘windows’ and then ‘library’. This will allow you to link the watermark to all your designs, and if the watermark gets updated, all files that use it will also change.
How To Quickly Add Watermarks With Photoshop Actions
You won’t have to manually add the watermark to every single image you’ve been editing in Photoshop if you use Actions. This tool will essentially ‘record’ a process and then automate it for you, and it’s very quick to set up.
- Go to ‘window’ and then ‘actions’.
- Press the ‘+’ icon to create a new action and name it something like ‘add watermark’.
- Add the watermark by clicking ‘file’ and ‘place embedded’, then choose your watermark file.
- Make sure it covers the image by clicking on ‘layer’ and then ‘align’. Choose the options that work best for your design, whether that’s aligning to the top and bottom edges or left and right edges.
- Move the watermark to the center of the image.
- Right-click on the layer and click ‘flatten image’.
- Save a copy as a JPEG file and then close the image.
- Stop recording the action.
- Go to ‘file’, ‘automate’, and then ‘batch’ to process a whole folder of images automatically. Make sure you choose the watermark action under the play section, select the right source for your images, and pick a destination for the new images.
This tutorial shows you how to set up your own Photoshop Action:
Add Watermarks On Your Mobile With Lightroom
You don’t have to use a laptop or computer to add a watermark to your image. The Lightroom app has a special watermark feature that you can set up to export watermarked images with a couple of taps.
- Tap to export, toggle on the feature named ‘include watermark’, and tap ‘customize’.
- Tap the graphic tab, then choose your watermark file.
- Use the sliders to change settings like opacity and size, and drag the watermark around until it’s in the right position.
- Tap the ‘<’ icon to return to the export window and save your image.
How To Create a Watermark in PicMonkey
- Open a new file and use PicMonkey’s Draw tool to design your watermark.
- Click ‘apply’ when you’re happy with the shapes.
- Use the ‘fade’ slider to adjust the transparency of your watermark.
- Remove the background and save it as a PNG file to your Hub.
How To Add Watermarks To Images in PicMonkey
- Open a photo in PicMonkey and click ‘edit’.
- Open the ‘graphics’ tab and choose your watermark from your Hub or import from your files.
- Move the watermark until you’re happy with the size and position of it. Use the ‘opacity’ slider to make it more or less opaque.
- Export a copy of your image.

Help Build Your Brand with a Watermark
Thanks to your newly designed watermark, your work will be instantly identifiable online, and you’ll have increased your protection against people stealing and reusing your work without your permission.
With a huge breadth and depth of lessons on how to use Canva, Photoshop, PicMonkey, and more, your creative skills are sure to improve. As they do, you may find it’s time to upgrade your side hustle branding and your watermarks in a way that reflects your flourishing talent.
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