Watermark Logo secrets?

[ron_hiner]

The watermark logo thing (new with 4.6) is finally something I started to play with.     But I couldn't find any doc on how to use it, so I kind of muddled my way and got halfway decent results.

For those of you who have used it, what are the secrets to make a great logo appear on your images?    How do you prepare your logo for PM?

Please share links to your site with logos!

Thanks!

Ron Hiner

[ron_hiner]

Well, I've done some experimenting... and I'm getting decent results with PSD files with transparent backgrounds (layered even!)

But I can't seem to control the size of the logo.   No matter how big my logo image file is, the logo is very small on the generated output.   It should probably have Inset, Width, and Height controls like the text watermark has.

[ron_hiner]

A little more experimenting... I gave up trying to put a logo in the lower right corner using PM.   Without control over scaling and indent, i just couldn't get it to look good.  So.. I thought... what would Kirk do?   No doubt he's sleeping.   No, scratch that, he never sleeps!

I created a 700x700 transparent PSD in photoshop - dropped some text on there to make a logo.  Added some emboss and glow so it would be (hopefully) readable against both a white background and a black background and all points in between.   I put the text in the lower right corner of the PSD.   Then I used that file as the watermark logo and centered it with option 'scale only if too large'   Then exported to Simpleviewer using 700x700 max image size.

It actually worked pretty well.  See for yourself... http://galleries.ronhiner.com/pm_forum/PM_logotest/index.html

Note that the logo stays in the same place regardless of portrait or landscape.

[Kirk Baker]

Well, I've done some experimenting... and I'm getting decent results with PSD files with transparent backgrounds (layered even!)

But I can't seem to control the size of the logo.   No matter how big my logo image file is, the logo is very small on the generated output.   It should probably have Inset, Width, and Height controls like the text watermark has.

Choose only the center checkbox.  Then the Scale: popup menu will give you several possibilities: "to fit area" (which gives you the result you've been getting), "only if too large" (which scales the logo only if the logo is larger than the processed photo), "allow overscan" (which doesn't scale the logo at all and allows it to be larger than the processed photo), and "stretch to edges" (which makes the logo fit all the way to the edges of the processed photo, which is useful for generating borders around your photos.)

PSD, TIFF, PNG, and GIF images with transparency are the best image formats to use.  JPEGs don't allow transparency so we don't recommend them for use in creating logos.

Dr. Jason Odell has an example workflow on his blog: http://blog.nikonians.org/nikonian_jason_odell/2009/04/adding-a-signature-to-your-ima.html

HTH,

-Kirk

[rcurtis]

Thanks for the watermark function, Kirk!

Is there a way to apply the "only if too large" when using one of the corner positions?
I don't want the watermark to be dead center all the time.

[Kirk Baker]

Thanks for the watermark function, Kirk!

Is there a way to apply the "only if too large" when using one of the corner positions?
I don't want the watermark to be dead center all the time.

No.  The additional scaling options only are accessible when the center position alone is checked.

-Kirk

[jwreich]

THIS IS AWESOME! I've been wanting this feature since switching to PM 2 years go...

How to get a great logo? Let me help a bit.

I have only a couple of sizes that I watermark. They are for my website, and for 4x6 proofs. For that reason I have made two PNG proof files based on these sizes.

Blog: When using the SAVE function, I set my image scaling to 900 px @ 72 dpi. I use my blog_logo.png file and have it applied to the lower Right corner with 100% opacity. The result is a great logo on the image.

For my 4x6's I do the same thing except select the 4x6_logo.png file in the Watermark dialog box. This has proven to be a great function!

You can see examples of my finished images on my blog @ www.tulsaweddingphotographer.com

Thank you Kirk! I greatly appreciate this added feature!