Anyone who shares their images online does so at the risk of their images being downloaded and used by pesky image thieves. Professionals, of course, aim to prevent this by watermarking their images, but considering it is such a routine thing, there are only a few Mac applications that deal with this task well.
I watermark my images using Softmatic’s Photostamp, now a Mac App Store exclusive, priced at £5.99 ($9.99 for US readers).
PhotoStamp has a very simple workflow, starting with image selection, then watermark selection or design, and placement, and lastly, image output settings.
Image selection is as easy as it’s possible for it to be – click to browse, or drag and drop.
To watermark, you can type text into the box, select an image to use, or use a predefined watermark; these can be added to, so a previously used text watermark can be selected. Text colour, font, size, rotation and opacity are all adjustable, in addition to being able to select one of nine alignments for the watermark. It is a shame that you can’t freely place a watermark as if it were a layer in Photoshop, but personally, I haven’t had a problem with this.
On the next page are the outputs options. Without going in depth, I will mention the fact you can output images as jpg, tif, bmp and gif files, as well as being able to resize images, set file names, and even produce thumbnail copies of the outputted images.
One nice feature is the review screen – if you have 90 images to watermark, and you make a mistake when inputting the settings, you’re going to be very thankful that this screen comes up before processing begins.
Processing is quick, and the end product is usually very good.
I must admit that I downloaded this app as part of a bundle, so I didn’t pay full price, but considering the price of some of Photostamp’s competitors, I still think it is good value.
The biggest criticism I have of this app is that it isn’t very intelligent – that is, in a batch of images, it will not adjust the watermark to the actual size of each picture. Obviously, the workaround to this is to resize pictures before watermarking them, but this is an unnecessary annoyance.
Overall, however, the ease of use and good value of PhotoStamp make it my watermarking app of choice.
You can download PhotoStamp from the Mac App Store here.
*The Current Photographer website contains links to our affiliate partners. Purchasing products and services through these links helps support our efforts to bring you the quality information you love and there’s no additional cost to you.
Mark Myerson loves photography, and in particular, hanging around waterfalls! Landscapes and nature have always been his staple, but he relishes any opportunity to take pictures. He also works closely with many local charities, regularly providing photographic coverage of fundraising events.
Mark is also a self-confessed tech-head and OSX lover – Apple is his favourite fruit!
Mark is the owner of Mark Myerson Photography, a Devon-based business that provides a large variety of photographic services to the local community and beyond. Whilst Mark Myerson Photography specialises in event, commercial and pet photography, almost every type of photographic assignment has been covered by the company.
If you have any photography or OSX-related questions, you can contact Mark via the links given below.