How do I add a watermark to a photo for free?

Open the Image Watermark tool, drop in your photo, type your watermark text, choose opacity, size and one of five positions, then click Download. The photo is processed in your browser.

What opacity should a watermark be?

For a corner credit, 50 to 70% stays readable without dominating. For a centre watermark on proofs or previews, 20 to 35% is usually enough to deter reuse while keeping the photo viewable.

Can I add a logo as a watermark?

Not with this tool. It adds a text watermark only, in white bold letters with a dark outline. You can use symbols such as © in the text.

Why is my watermarked photo bigger than the original?

The tool saves the result as a PNG at full resolution. PNG is lossless, so a JPEG photo often becomes several times larger. Compress it afterwards if you need a smaller file.

Can a watermark be removed?

A small corner watermark can be cropped out, and editing tools can sometimes paint over watermarks. A watermark discourages casual reuse and credits you, but it is not a guarantee of protection.

How to Watermark Photos Online: Size, Opacity and Placement

The short answer

To watermark a photo, open the free Image Watermark tool, drop in your image, type your name or website, then set opacity, size and position and download. A good starting point is bottom right, 5% size, 50 to 60% opacity for a visible credit, or centre, 10 to 15% size, 20 to 30% opacity for preview images you don't want reused. The photo is processed in your browser and saved as a full-resolution PNG.

What the Image Watermark tool does

The tool adds one line of text on top of your photo:

Text: anything you type. The default is "© Your Name".
Look: bold white letters with a thin dark outline, so the text stays visible on both light and dark areas.
Opacity: 10% to 100%, in 5% steps. The default is 50%.
Size: 2% to 15% of the photo's width (font height). The text is never smaller than 14 pixels.
Position: bottom right (default), bottom left, top right, top left or centre. Corner positions keep a margin equal to the text height from the edges.
Output: a PNG file called watermarked.png at the same pixel size as your photo.

It handles one image at a time, up to 20 MB, and it adds text only. It does not place logos or tile a repeating pattern.

Step by step

Open Image Watermark and drop a photo onto the upload area (or click to choose one).

Replace the sample text with your own, such as "© Asha Rao Photography" or your website.

Pick a position from the dropdown.

Drag Size until the text is the width you want, then drag Opacity until it is visible but not distracting.

Check the preview, especially that the text doesn't cover a face or the main subject.

Click Download. Click New to watermark another photo.

Choosing the size

Because size is a percentage of the photo's width, the same setting looks the same on large and small photos. Here is what it means in pixels:

Photo width	Size 2%	Size 5%	Size 10%
800 px	16 px	40 px	80 px
1,920 px	38 px	96 px	192 px
4,000 px	80 px	200 px	400 px

On a 600 px photo, 2% would be 12 px, so the tool uses its 14 px minimum instead.

As a guide:

3 to 5% for a discreet credit on portfolio, blog or social media photos.
6 to 8% if the photo will be shown small, for example in a feed or thumbnail.
10 to 15% with the centre position for proofs, stock previews or product photos you send for approval.

Keep the text short. The tool writes a single line, and long text at a large size can run past the edge of the photo.

Choosing the opacity

Opacity controls how see-through the watermark is.

Use	Suggested opacity	Why
Corner credit on finished photos	50 to 70%	Readable, but the eye still goes to the photo
Centre watermark on previews	20 to 35%	Hard to ignore or remove, still lets clients judge the image
Very busy or bright photos	60 to 80%	Needs more strength to stand out
Dark, simple backgrounds	40 to 50%	White text shows up easily

Choosing the position

Bottom right is the most common and least distracting. It is also the easiest to crop out.
Bottom left or top corners are useful when the bottom right holds an important detail.
Centre is the hardest to remove without visible damage, so use it for images you are sharing for approval rather than final use.

Look at where the main subject is before you choose. A watermark across someone's face or a product label looks careless.

Watch the file size

The download is a PNG. PNG keeps every pixel exactly, which is great for quality but means a 3 MB JPEG photo can become a much larger file. If you are uploading to a website, email or a form with a size limit:

Download the watermarked PNG.

Run it through Compress Image or convert it with PNG to JPG.

Resize it first if the site doesn't need full resolution; fewer pixels means a smaller file.

Privacy

The photo is drawn onto a canvas and saved by your browser, so it is not uploaded to a server. The PNG it creates is a new file and does not include the camera details (such as location) stored in the original. If you share originals elsewhere, check them with the Photo Metadata Viewer first.

What a watermark can and can't do

A watermark credits you when an image is shared without permission and discourages casual copying. It does not make an image impossible to reuse. Corner marks can be cropped, and image editing tools can sometimes remove text from simple backgrounds. For important work, share lower-resolution copies online and keep the full-resolution originals to yourself.

Common mistakes

Too big and too opaque. A watermark that dominates makes people stop looking at the photo.
Too small to read. At 2% on a photo that will be shown as a thumbnail, the credit becomes an unreadable smudge.
Watermarking the only copy. Always keep the original file without a watermark.
Forgetting documents. For PDFs, use Add Watermark to PDF instead of converting pages to images.