Watermarks for or Against

[Gwar]

Hello, What are some of the members thoughts on watermarking their photos and documents in threads on Forums ?

[Rakkasan187]

Good question G.

I learned a long time ago after I posted some pictures that they were used elsewhere and although the whole public domain and yada,,, yada,,, comments, I had someone reach out to me suggesting to put watermarks on them when posting to prevent folks from downloading them and attempting to make copies of said pictures to sell on auction sites.

Before you know it, if someone has an original or the original photograph and others of the same image appear it will be difficult to determine provenance and who actually owns the original.

So for me its a yes, watermarks for sure.

Smitty

[Willmore]

Hi G.

It is an interesting subject. I do not use water marks personally, maybe I should, but I do think they are a good idea because I would not like to see people getting scammed by conmen downloading and reprinting things as Smitty said.

Kind regards,

Will.

[Chopperman]

I started watermarking pictures of my more rare or unusual pieces
after finding someone on another forum using them as his own, claiming that
the pieces in question belonged to him.

[rbminis]

Always.
I make them small and obscure, but they are still there.
Ralph.

[BlackCat1982]

I haven't watermarked all the pictures i have uploaded, partly due to enthusiasm in sharing them with the forum. I also figured that as the pictures I share are not scanned in high resolution that any subsequent copying would produce poor images. I agree that it is probably a good idea though.

[Witt]

I am definitely a proponent for watermarking photographs, yes. I would not be happy to see photos I own being used elsewhere or reproduced, especially the more expensive ones. I might be more conscious about that since I am a student paying tuition yet still wanting to purchase militaria. Even with watermarks, I am still very hesitant to show many of my most prized photos like the Fallschirmjäger ones because of thieves. These ones rarely even see the artificial light from light fixtures or are handled by oily fingers.
The extent of reproduced photographs being sold online does not seem to be as bad as I would expect. What I think happens much more often is people collecting images for other non-nefarious purposes. I have many photographs that are watermarked saved for different research purposes as I expect some others do as well. There should be a trace of the photos origin somewhere for an accountability factor.
My overly protective take on the subject.

Ben

[TabsTabs1964]

Hello friends.
As you know I don't use watermarks. But I understand the reasons of those who have.

Regards
Santi

[Rescue190]

I do not use watermarks on my items. I also think there are several programs designed to remove watermarks and are common. A graphics designer I am not. Earlier years might have a difference, but now I am am not so sure.
John

[Larry C]

There is software out there that you can remove people or things out and place them in other photos. Creative and ingenious but scary if used by the wrong hands.

Ralphs idea small and obscure works very well.

You can watermark photos but depending who uses it and how enterprising they are ....these water marked photos will either be a majority or minority in the longevity of their lifespan.

The benefit we have here or on other forums we belong to is that our photos and posts are time stamped and dated...Yet everything posted ends up on some global search engine somewhere being passed around. Criminals do not pay any mind to signs that say " Do Not Enter " .
Just my opinion and thoughts

Regards Larry