Add text watermarks to protect your images.
Overlay custom text on any photo. Use tiled repeating patterns that cover the entire image, or place a single stamp at any corner. Control font, size, opacity, rotation, and color. No upload, no signup, free forever.
Drop your image here
or browse files or paste from clipboard
How to add a watermark to your image.
Upload your image
Drag a JPG, PNG, or WebP file onto the upload area. On mobile, tap to browse your camera roll. You can also paste a screenshot directly from your clipboard with Ctrl+V (or Cmd+V on Mac). The tool reads the original dimensions and file size instantly.
Configure your watermark
Type your watermark text - a copyright notice, your name, or a URL. Pick a position: Tiled covers the entire image with repeating text (hardest to remove), or choose a corner placement for subtlety. Adjust font, size, opacity, rotation, and color to match your needs.
Download the result
The preview updates in real time so you see the exact watermark overlay before saving. Pick JPG or PNG output, set quality for JPG, and tap Download. The file saves to your device immediately - no server processing, no queue, no email.
When you need to watermark images.
Photographers protecting portfolio images
Portfolio sites get scraped by bots constantly. A tiled watermark with your domain name at 35% opacity keeps the image viewable as a preview while making unauthorized use immediately obvious. Clients can still evaluate composition and color grading. After they pay, you deliver the unwatermarked originals. This is the standard workflow for wedding, event, and portrait photographers.
Real estate agents watermarking property photos
Listing photos get stolen by competing agents and reposted on other platforms. A bottom-right watermark with your brokerage name and phone number serves double duty: it deters theft and markets your business when the photo is shared on social media or forwarded in group chats. Use 40-50% opacity so the text stays visible over both bright windows and dark interiors.
Designers sharing client proofs
Sending unwatermarked design mockups to clients before payment is how freelancers get burned. A tiled "DRAFT" or "PROOF" watermark at 25-30% opacity lets the client review layout, typography, and color choices without having a production-ready file. When they approve and pay, you export the clean version. This is standard practice for logo design, packaging, and print layout work.
Social media creators protecting original content
Infographics, charts, memes, and original photography get reposted without credit daily. A small corner watermark with your handle (@username) at 40% opacity provides attribution even when someone screenshots and reposts. For images you share as templates, use tiled watermarking to prevent reuse until purchase. The watermark text renders at the original image resolution, so it stays sharp even after platform compression.
How text watermarking works under the hood.
This tool uses the browser's Canvas API to composite text over your image. When you upload a photo, it loads into an HTML Image element at its original resolution. The tool creates an off-screen canvas at the same dimensions, draws the source image onto it withctx.drawImage(), then renders watermark text usingctx.fillText(). The text color includes an alpha channel derived from your opacity setting - an RGBA value likergba(255, 255, 255, 0.35)for white at 35% opacity. Rotation usesctx.rotate()around the text anchor point.
Tiled vs. corner watermarks
A corner watermark occupies a single point on the image. Removing it takes one crop or one clone stamp brush stroke. Photoshop's content-aware fill handles it in under 3 seconds. A tiled watermark renders your text in a repeating diagonal grid across the entire canvas. The tool calculates the text width usingctx.measureText(), adds spacing between instances, and loops across the full diagonal extent of the rotated canvas. This creates 20-50+ text instances overlaid on unique image content. AI removal must reconstruct different underlying detail behind each instance, which produces visible artifacts.
Professional stock photography sites (Shutterstock, Adobe Stock, Getty) use tiled watermarks on preview images for this reason. The removal effort scales with the number of text instances and the complexity of the image content behind them. On a simple gradient background, AI removal still works well. On a detailed photograph with varied textures, tiled watermarks are roughly 10x harder to strip cleanly compared to a single corner placement.
Why 30-50% opacity is the photographer's range
Below 30%, the watermark vanishes on light backgrounds and busy textures. Above 50%, it dominates the image and makes the photo unusable as a portfolio preview - potential clients cannot evaluate your work. The 30-50% range keeps the text visible enough to serve as a theft deterrent while letting the underlying image quality speak for itself. Most wedding photographers settle around 35%. Product photographers who need clean previews use 30%. Stock photographers selling through their own site use 45-50% because they expect higher removal attempts.
Prepare images before watermarking
Watermark your images at their final output dimensions. If you need to resize first, use the image resizer to set the exact pixel size, or crop the image to remove unwanted areas before watermarking. Watermarking a 6000x4000 image and then downscaling it makes the text smaller and harder to read. Watermarking at the display size (1920x1080 for web, 1080x1350 for Instagram) keeps the text at the right proportion relative to the image content. After watermarking, use the JPG compressor if you need to reduce the output file size for email or web uploads.
Combine images first?
Merge multiple photos into one image, then watermark the combined result.
JPG JoinerNeed lossless PNG output?
Merge PNG files without quality loss. Transparency and sharp edges preserved.
Merge PNGConvert watermarked images to PDF?
Turn your watermarked photos into a multi-page PDF document for client proofs.
JPG to PDFResize before watermarking?
Set exact pixel dimensions first, then watermark at the final output size.
Resize ImageStitch screenshots?
Combine long screenshots and chat threads into one tall vertical image.
Screenshot StitcherFrequently asked questions.
What watermark position is hardest for someone to remove?
Tiled. A corner watermark can be cropped out in 5 seconds. A centered watermark can be cloned over with content-aware fill tools. A tiled watermark covers the entire image with repeating diagonal text - AI removal tools like Photoshop Generative Fill and Watermark Remover IO struggle with it because every region of the image contains text that must be inpainted. The more text instances the AI must guess behind, the more artifacts it produces. For portfolio protection, use tiled at 30-40% opacity with your name or URL.
What opacity should I use for a watermark?
Between 30% and 50%. Below 30%, the watermark becomes invisible on light or busy backgrounds - it fails its purpose. Above 50%, the watermark distracts from the image and makes the photo unusable as a preview. The sweet spot is 35-40% for portfolios and client proofs. For stock photography previews where you explicitly want the watermark visible, use 50-60%. This tool defaults to 50%, which is a reasonable starting point - adjust down to 35% if the text dominates the preview.
Does adding a watermark reduce image quality?
The watermark itself does not degrade quality - it is drawn as vector text onto the canvas at the original image resolution. However, re-encoding as JPG applies lossy compression, which introduces slight quality loss. At 85% JPG quality (this tool default), the difference is imperceptible. If you need zero quality loss, output as PNG. The file will be larger, but every pixel is preserved exactly. Re-watermarking an already-compressed JPG does add a second generation of compression, so start from your highest-quality source when possible.
Can AI tools remove watermarks from photos?
Yes. Tools like Google Magic Eraser, Photoshop Generative Fill, and dedicated watermark removers (watermarkremover.io, Dewatermark) can remove simple watermarks in seconds. Single corner watermarks are trivially removable. Centered watermarks over uniform backgrounds are easy too. Tiled repeating watermarks across complex image content are the hardest to strip cleanly because the AI must reconstruct unique detail behind dozens of text instances. It usually leaves smearing, color shifts, or repeated texture patches. Tiled is not removal-proof, but it raises the effort from 5 seconds to "not worth trying."
What text should I use for my watermark?
The copyright symbol plus your name is the standard: "© Jane Smith" or "© Smith Photography 2026." Your website URL works well for marketing: "janesmithphoto.com" gets typed into browsers when people see the image shared on social media. Avoid long sentences - they clutter the image without adding legal protection. The copyright symbol is not legally required (your work is copyrighted at creation), but it eliminates the "I did not know it was copyrighted" defense. Keep it under 30 characters for clean rendering at smaller font sizes.
Can I watermark multiple images at once?
This tool processes one image at a time. For batch watermarking of dozens or hundreds of images, desktop tools like IrfanView (Windows, free), XnConvert (cross-platform, free), or Adobe Lightroom (paid) handle bulk operations more efficiently. The browser-based approach here is ideal for quick one-off watermarks - upload, set your text and position, download. No install, no account, no waiting for cloud processing. For a workflow: watermark your hero shots one at a time here, then use a desktop tool for the full gallery.
Does this watermark tool work on phone and tablet?
Yes. The tool runs in any modern browser - Chrome, Safari, Firefox on iOS and Android. Tap the upload area to open your camera roll or file picker. All controls are touch-friendly. Processing happens on-device using the same Canvas API as desktop browsers. Phones with 3+ GB RAM handle images up to about 20 megapixels without issues. Older devices with 2 GB RAM may slow down on images above 12 megapixels. The preview updates in real time so you can adjust settings before downloading.
Is this watermark tool safe and private?
Your images never leave your device. The entire watermarking process runs in your browser using JavaScript and the Canvas API. Open your browser developer tools (F12), switch to the Network tab, and watermark an image - you will see zero outgoing image requests. No server receives your photos, no cloud storage is used, no account is created. Close the browser tab and everything is cleared from memory. The source code is client-side JavaScript that you can inspect directly.
What is the difference between a text watermark and an image watermark?
A text watermark renders characters (your name, URL, copyright notice) directly onto the image using a font. An image watermark overlays a logo PNG with transparency. Text watermarks are simpler - no logo file needed, scale cleanly at any size, and are faster to set up. Image watermarks are better for brand consistency when you have a designed logo mark. This tool creates text watermarks. For logo overlays, use a desktop editor like GIMP (free) or Photoshop. Text watermarks work better for tiled patterns because they render sharply at small sizes without pixelation.