Hi! Would you mind if i'd ask you.. have you got some kind of tips about how a watermark should be to look pretty but still visible enough? I'm so afraid to put it on my drawings because it kinda ruins them xD but still is necessary... I haven't ant idea how i should "design" it.. a font, handwriting, with opacity down, place it in corners or on the lineart,, ecc(sorry for my bad english).
Thatās a very valid concern.Ā Unfortunately, the more visible/large/annoying the signature, the more protected your art will be.Ā I die a little inside whenever I have to cover up something I spent hours (or even days) on.Ā But Iād rather have it look kind of annoying instead of having someone else take credit for it, or worse, having someone SELLING IT illegally behind my back.
Having experienced (and having watched my fellow artist friends experience) various forms of art theft, Iāve come up with a few tricks to making it difficult for my signature to be removed.Ā I donāt have a set, āofficialā watermark; I experiment and play around with different looks depending on what the picture looks like.Ā You can try any of these ideas and see what works for you.Ā ^_^
~QUICK WATERMARK TUTORIAL~
Makeit legible.Ā Fancy fonts are pretty, but can be hard to read.Ā Your main goal is that EVERYONE can read it, even people whose primary language is notEnglish or those who have a different alphabet/lettering/symbols.
Place it somewhere that cannot be cropped out, such as near the heads or towards the middle of the picture.Ā
Place your signature/watermark where will be difficult to erase or cover up, such as an area with shading, or over a pattern
The safest location is on top of a character.Ā It looks ugly, but at least you canāt really sell merchandise of someoneelseās art if thereās a giant signature across the way.
If your picture is black and white, be careful.Ā Someone might take it and try to color it, then pass it off as their own work.Ā Put your watermark on top of the lineart to make it more difficult to steal, preferably an area with lots of lines, such as hair or clothing wrinkles.
Be especially careful with pictures that can be easily made into merchandise (pins, mugs, stickers, bags, phone cases, etc), such as the one above.Ā Make the signature large and have it protect all visible characters, like a big unsightly shield.Ā XD
DO NOTās:Ā Ā (aka, some of my old mistakes)
Do not place it close to the edges/corners where it can be cropped.Ā
Donāt make it too tiny, and donāt lower the layer opacity too much.
Note:Ā If you do not want your art reposted/uploaded onto different websites/accounts by other people, I highly recommend adding to your watermark:Ā āDo not edit or redistribute.āĀ Itās not always enough to deter some reposters, but at least sometimes fans will call them out on it and say, āHey, this artist doesnāt allow this picture to be uploaded onto different sites, you should remove it.ā
Thatās all for now, I hope it helps!!!Ā Good luck with your artwork and thank you for your message!!!Ā <3
