If you want to know how to watermark your images in WordPress then you can read this article in which we will show you different ways to watermark your images in WordPress. If you have original images, photographs, and artwork on your WordPress website then it is better to find a way to protect them from online thieves.
If you don’t take the appropriate steps to protect your images then someone can come and steal them online. This is a major concern for photographers and artists whose profession is related to photographing and for them not only images but their quality also matters in online space. The solution to this problem is simple. Just watermark your images in WordPress.
Watermarking adds a faint, branded design onto your images, which tells the visitor of your images that this work is yours. This doesn’t impact your visitors’ enjoyment of the picture as the watermark is only visible when examined very closely. But the watermark makes it more difficult for others to pass your work off as their own.
In this article, we will show you how easy it is for WordPress users to add watermarks automatically to any image. There are various plugins which are available online on the official plugin directory for free and you can use them to add watermarks to your images on your WordPress site automatically.
Envira Gallery Plugin
Right now Envira Gallery is one of the best WordPress gallery plugins on the market. It allows you to create beautiful and mobile friendly image galleries on your WordPress site. Envira has a watermarking addon that makes it easy to add a watermark to your WordPress images. You can get a discount on the purchase of Envira Gallery. That you can better on their website. In order to use Envira Gallery plugin, first thing is to install and activate the Envira Gallery Plugin. Installing any WordPress plugin is an easy process else you can also take the help of some WordPress developers. After installing and activating the Envira Gallery Plugin, you need to visit Envira Gallery >> Settings page to enter your license key.
You can get the key from your account dashboard on Envira Gallery website. After verifying your license key go to the Envira Gallery >> Addons Page. Search for the Watermarking Addon and then install and activate it.
Now you are ready to add your images to responsive galleries with a watermark. For this just go to Envira Gallery >> Add New to create your first image gallery. When you scroll down on the page, you will find the watermarking tab.
After this step click on ‘Choose Watermark’ button and upload an image that you want to use as a watermark. You can also change the margin and the position of the watermark image. After adding the desired images to your gallery, publish it. Now you can add this image gallery to any WordPress page or post. Just edit a post or page and click on the ‘Add Gallery’ button.
When you click on the button a popup will open and just insert the specific gallery. You will see the Envira gallery shortcode in the post editor. Now you can save and publish your page/post. Example of the watermarked image is shown below:
Easy Watermark Plugin
In this method, first, you need to install and then activate the Easy Watermark Plugin. After activation, just go to the Settings >> Easy Watermark.
You can now see that the settings page has three tabs. The first option on the General settings tab is to automatically add watermark to all image uploads. You can also select which image file types you want to auto watermark. Next option is to make a backup. You can check this if you want to save original uploads on your server. You have to also select the watermark type. Easy Watermark Plugin allows you to add text, image or both as a watermark. Now you can review other options on the page and then click on save changes button to save your Settings. Now click on the Image tab on the plugin’s settings page and here you can upload the image you want to use as a watermark.
If you have selected image + text or text as your watermark type then you need to click on the text tab. Here you can add the text you want to show on your watermark. You can also select font, font size, color, transparency, and watermark alignment.
In the end, click on the save changes button to save your settings. Now watermark will be added to the images which you will add to your WordPress site.
How to Add Watermark to Your Old Images in WordPress?
If you want to add the watermark to your old images then you should go to the Media >> Easy Watermark and then click on the start button under the Bulk Watermark Section.
Note that this process is irreversible hence you should backup your WordPress site and your media uploads directory before proceeding with this step. If you select the option to keep a backup of your original uploads then you can restore the images by using the option on this page which will remove the watermark from all of the images.
Manually Adding Watermark to Images
If you don’t want to automatically add watermark to all of your uploaded images then you can use the manual adding watermark option given in the Easy Watermark plugin. For this you should go to the Settings >> Easy Watermark and make sure that the checkbox next to Automatically add watermark to images is not checked. After that go to the Media >> Library and switch to the list view to see the Add watermark option next to each image in the library.
Image Watermark Plugin
Image Watermark is a free plugin available online which allows you to add watermarks to your images in WordPress.
Main features of Image Watermark:
- It automatically add image watermarks
- Can change the positions of the watermark.
- You can scale watermarks with image size.
- You can set watermark opacity.
- You can restrict watermarks to certain post types only.
Like the other watermark adding plugins which we discussed, you have to start by first installing the plugin and then navigating to the plugin’s settings. On the Settings page, you can select to enable automatic watermarking and/or a manual ‘Watermark’ button for your media library.
You can also select the image sizes which you want to watermark. You should manually check some of the image sizes otherwise the watermark might not appear in some of them. You can also set the opacity here.
Some extra WordPress Watermark Plugins
The plugins which we have discussed are enough to watermark your images on WordPress. But if you are looking for more advanced features then check out some premium plugins which can give you extra functionality.
Smart Content Protector
Smart Content Protector is not only a watermark plugin but actually, it is designed, to protect both your text and images. It protects your text by disabling copy and paste functionality. It will definitely deter people from copying your text. It also protects your images by adding watermarks and disabling the dragging of the images.
Signature Watermark
Signature Watermark does what its name says: It adds a transparent image watermark as well as a test signature to the images in WordPress. This plugin adds the image watermark to the center of your image. Hence in this way, others cannot crop your watermark out to use the rest of the image.
You will need to create the image and then choose the image width percentage. The same is for the text watermark which you can customize by choosing the font type, color and transparency level. Finally, it will result in a subtle central watermark along with a very fine noticeable text watermark.
The creators of Signature Watermark have created one more plugin called Bulk Watermark which allows you to add image and/or text watermarks to all of your previously uploaded images which you have uploaded before installing the Signature Watermark plugin. Although it would have been much more convenient if this plugin had been included in the Signature Watermark plugin but it is still very useful.
Scissors and Watermark
This plugin is quite useful and it enhances and adds functionality to WordPress’s native image uploading area. It adds watermarking capabilities and also adds some more features like cropping, resizing and rotating.
Regarding watermarking, it supports image watermarks only and you can also specify the percentage of the image area for it to use. With this plugin, you can even align your watermarks horizontally to the left, right or center and you can also align them vertically to the top, bottom or middle. This Scissors and Watermark plugin is very simple to use and yet it is good for those looking for additional features such as cropping and want to have better control over your default image sizes.
DMCA WaterMarker Plugin
If you have heard about the DMCA then you probably know that it protects your blog’s content and images from plagiarism. Using this WordPress plugin, you can enable watermarking for a specific folder on your blog i.e. The images folder. This will also add a DMCA protection badge to your website at the location which you will specify in your blog’s dashboard settings. The DMCA website says the badge guarantees that online content thieves will hesitate before copying your original material. Actually, this will be true for those who are familiar with DMCA but not for those who have not heard about them. DMCA is more useful if you go for Pro versions because you get an unlimited number of takedowns as opposed to just 1/year with the free account. If you find that many of your images are stolen then 1 take down a year won’t be enough.
Conclusion
If you are a web designer, graphic designer, photographer or just like to take and use your own photos on your blog, you know the value of these images and the hard work and creativity you have put on while creating these images or pictures. There is nothing worse than someone stealing your images and using them on another website or blog without your permission. In worst case scenario, someone may even take the credit for your hard work.
We have just discussed various WordPress plugins to add watermarks to your images, photos or graphics if you are a WordPress user. Some designers use an image editing program to add watermarks to their photos but if you are using WordPress then these plugins can really help you out and they can actually solve your problem in a second. If you want to add a standard watermark to your images then you should pick one of the free plugins which we have provided here for you. If you need some more functionality then you can try premium plugins. Just make sure that the plugin which you are downloading is not outdated and has good ratings.
Author Bio :
Sophia Phillips is an expert front-end & WordPress developer. Currently, she is employed with Wordprax Ltd., a leading PSD to WordPress converter company. Sophia has had written a remarkable number of articles on WordPress tricks and tips.
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