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Creating a watermark in Photoshop Elements 6

This is a quick and simple instruction for creating a watermark in photoshop elements 6 (written expressly for my daughter).

If you expect to use your watermark often, the easiest thing to do is to create a brush with the watermark. Once the brush is created and saved, adding your watermark is as simple as selecting the brush and stamping it on.

Start by creating a new file (select file, then new blank file). Set the size to 2000 pixels by 1000 pixels.

Fill the background with white if it isn't already white. (select the bucket tool making sure your selected colour is white and click on the empty background with the bucket tool)

Now select the text tool, making sure the text colour is black. Type your copyright or watermark that you wish you use, making sure it's large enough to fit the space. Select an easy-to-read font rather than a frilly one. Use script fonts (that look like handwriting) only if they can be read easily.

In this example I have selected the Amazone BT font and sized it at 60pt for my name, and at 36pt for "photographyofgrace.com". The two lines of text are created on separate text layers. Then, flattened.

Now you are ready to make your brush. From your menu choose "select", and then "all". Now select "edit" from the menu, and then "define brush from selection". The brush dialogue will open. Give your brush a name (like my copyright, or my watermark), then select okay.

To see how your brush will look, create a new layer and fill it with any colour you like using the bucket tool. Then select the brush tool. The brush you just created should be the last one in your brush presets - select the new brush. Create a new layer to place this "stamp" on. Select a colour for your brush, and stamp it - just one click will do it.

If you want, you can apply layer styles using the styles palette (see image) or by applying "fx". From the layer styles, apply a drop shadow. Double click the "fx" on your layer palette and adjust the drop shadow to suit your own taste.

Now let's apply our watermark to an image. Select an image from your computer and open it in your PS Elements.

Here's mine - I chose a vertical one resized to smaller size. My watermark brush is too big for this image, so I can opt to change the brush size using the bush settings, or to resize it using the edit functions. For the most part, it's much easier just to select the brush size you want.

I have set my brush size to 1300pixels to fit my image, and select white as the stamp colour. Now I've added a new layer to stamp this onto. Because we've put it on a new layer, we can add layer styles, and adjust the opacity and we can move the copyright around on the image for it's best placement.

How and where you place it will depend on your intent in adding it. If you are trying to give your work a modicum of protection from being copied or stolen, then you might want to place it in the middle, as I have. A good "photoshopper" can remove almost any watermark, but one covering a lot of image is more difficult for the average person to remove. When you place a watermark at the bottom or top, it's easier to crop out so make your decisions based on what you are trying to accomplish with the watermark.

When you are satisfied with the placement, size and opacity of your watermark, flatten your image. Save your file with a new name so you don't overwrite the original. Now it's ready to upload to your website.

PRESET LAYER STYLES FOR PHOTOSHOP & PHOTOSHOP ELEMENTS

You can find some good pre-set layer styles to download and install in photoshop elements from this site: GraphicSoft Layer Styles

There are instructions for installing these files, but basically you install them by placing the .asl files into the presets styles folder (most likely it will be a path like this:

C:\Program Files\Adobe\Photoshop Elements 6.0\Presets\Styles

This tutorial and images ©J. Gracey Stinson. You may link to this page to share the tutorial, however, you may not redistribute it by placing it on any other website, or by creating a pdf.