EASY~PEASY WATERMARK SIGNATURE

Paint Shop Pro Tutorials by Karen

There may come a time when you want to add a watermark to your images. P.S.P has a facility for this, but it is complicated and time consuming, and it also involves registering your work. Unless you want to do it that way, and you really only want to place your mark on your images, there is a much easier and quicker way...  This is how I do it...

Start a new image with your settings as fig 1

Click on the text tool then click on your blank canvas to open the fonts. Select a font and font size to use for your signature. It is better to make a larger signature than a smaller one, they resize better.  With your own choice of font and size, make your other settings as fig 2 Type in your signature then click ok.

You should now have a selected signature on a white background, right click the image to deselect the text. Go to effects / texture effects / emboss, fig 3

Click on the cropping tool then drag the pointer around your signature then double click the image to crop out the unwanted background (fig 4)

This is your watermark signature template. Save it for future use ( file / save as.)... select a directory ( I use My Documents) give it a title, then in the "save as type" drop down menu save as jpeg ( fig 5) then click save.

USING YOUR WATERMARK SIGNATURE

Now, lets assume you have a photograph, or have made a new graphic, which you want to add your watermark signature to... Open your photo / graphic in P.S.P, then open your watermark signature as well. If you need to resize the signature, go to image/resize, and scale it down to suit your needs.  e.g as in fig 6

Then go to effects / sharpen / edit / copy, and close the signature without saving the changes. Next go to layers / new raster layer (as in fig 7) and click ok.

Now go to edit / paste as transparent selection and move your signature into place (fig 8)

( For this tutorial I am using a photo I took in Austria.) Now go to selections / promote to layer / layers / properties. On the "blend mode" dropdown menu, choose either "overlay" "soft light" or "hard light". Either of these will make a decent watermark effect, although if you choose "hard light" you will be more likely to need to adjust the opacity settings. (e.g as in fig 9.) click ok. (note: sometimes you will need to experiment with these settings to get the best effect, they don`t all work everytime, it depends on the image you are using.)

Now, if you are unhappy with the signature location, click on the magic wand then on your image, go to selections / invert, then move the signature until you are happy with it. You will then have to repeat the "selections / promote to layer" and the "layers / properties" steps again. When you are finished, go to layers / merge / merge all (flatten) and save your completed image.

Thats all there is to it, now you have made your mark !

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial which was written for P.S.P V7, but can be adapted for other versions.

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