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iWatermark Help
for iPhone/iPad and Android

Version Changes for iPhone/iPad               

1/29/12 Version 3.42 is in Apple hands for review. We have been waiting a week for them to release it.

Latest iPhone/iPad version 3.41 - Adds multiple selection of photos to watermark. IMPORTANT: because we added multiple selection we are required by Apple to offer users the choice to turn on location services. Right now you have to use it. It does not put the location info into the watermarked file. We are investigating options to offer both in the next version. 
Next Version
- Exif/IPTC/Geo data will have options to be added to watermarked photos in the next version. 
- Right now if you are on a call you cannot save your watermarked photo till after the call is completed because during a call Apple adds a button at the top of the screen to return to the call. Apple's button hides our save buttons at the bottom of the screen. We are figuring out workarounds for this.

Version Changes for Android   

Latest Android version is 1.0.5 

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Overview

Thanks for downloading iWatermark! iWatermark is the most popular multi-platform tool for watermarking photos. It is available on Mac as iWatermark Pro, Win as iWatermark, iPhone/iPad and Android too. iWatermark lets you add your personal or business watermark to any photo or graphic. Once added this visible watermark displays your creation and ownership of this photograph or artwork. iWatermark lets you create a graphic, QR or text watermark then edit them to change opacity, rotation, color, size, etc via touch then easily share via email, Facebook, and TwitPic. Share to Flickr via email.

There are now two versions for iPhone/iPad/Android: iWatermark Free and iWatermark. The only difference between the two is that iWatermark Free puts a small watermark that says 'iWatermark Free - Upgrade to remove this watermark' at the bottom of a picture. In the Free version a button to upgrade to the regular version is on the main page. Many will find that fine otherwise the upgrade is 0.99 cents to remove that watermark. Upgrading supports the evolution of iWatermark, its a small price for such a sophisticated program.

iWatermark comes with examples of text (names, dates, etc) and graphic (signatures, logos, etc.) watermarks which you can use immediately to test out iWatermark. But soon you will want to create your own watermarks, text or graphics. Text watermarks you can make directly in iWatermark and saved for reuse.
Graphic watermarks, like signatures or logos, can be:
  1. Made in iWatermark - by using the Signature/Graphic Scanner tool that is available exclusively in iWatermark. This tool lets you take a photo of your signature or a graphic, imports it and adds transparency to the background to use as a watermark.
  2. Imported - from your computer (see FAQ below for more details) and then emailed to yourself, on your iOS device save the attached file to the photo library. Once in the photo library you can use these images (like you own signature or logo) when making a graphic watermark.
Why Watermark?
Digitally sign your photos/artwork with iWatermark to claim, secure and maintain your intellectual property and reputation. Build your company brand, by having your company logo on all your images. Avoid the surprise of seeing your photos and/or artwork elsewhere on the web or in an ad. Avoid the conflicts and headaches with plagiarists who claim they didn't know that you created it. Avoid the costly litigation that can be involved in these cases of misuse of ip. Avoid intellectual property squabbles.

How does iWatermark work?

Take or select a photo then choose from a selection of included example watermarks (both text and graphics) or add your own text or graphic watermark. Your customized watermark can be text, a business logo or your signature. Then from a roller select one of these and instantly watermark any photo.

When you create a watermark you can easily adjust its scale, opacity, font, color and angle. Save your new watermark. Now you can embed your watermark in any photo you take or select then save to your photo library. Share via Facebook/Twitpic or email (including to Flickr) in various resolutions.  

How to Watermark

Add a watermark (yours or one of the sample watermarks we include) to one of your photos. 

To begin select a photo or take one. Once you have selected a photo you will be returned to the home page where you can then click the button iWatermark Photo.

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This will take you to the Watermarking page. Here you can click on the menu at the bottom of the page Watermarks, a roller will slide up then choose one of many example Watermarks. Once you select one you will see it on your photo. Click on the photo or the watermark menu to have the roller disappear. Now use touch to adjust the watermark:

  1. With your finger click on the watermark to move it around on the page. 
  2. Use pinch/zoom to expand/contract the size of the watermark.
  3. Touch with two fingers at once and rotate to rotate the watermark.
Hit save and it saves a copy of that photo with that watermark on it in your photo library or can send it via email.

Create a Watermark

To make a watermark is simple. First make sure you have a photo selected. You will not be watermarking this photo but you will be using it as a background during the creation of and to help view your watermark. Next select either the button to make a Text or a Graphic watermark.

Create a Text Watermark

Once you are on the Create Text Watermark page you will see a new menu at bottom left called Edit. Click that and at the top you will see the menu item Text, click that. In this text dialog type anything you want, like your name. Once you have done that choose any of the other Edit menu buttons to change scale, opacity, font, color and/or angle to adjust them to your liking.

Use the buttons in the edit menu at bottom left to change the font, angle, scale, opacity, etc. or do it by touch in the usual iOS ways:

  • To move the watermark just touch it with your finger and drag it wherever you want.
  • Click the angle button to change the angle or put two fingers on the watermark and twist to change the angle.
  • To change the size use the usual pinch or zoom to expand/contract the font size.

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In the Text area you can type from the keyboard and select special characters like ©, ™ and ®. Also the date and time can be added to a watermark.

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Change the font to one of 77 fonts we put into iWatermark in addition to the 10 built in iOS fonts. Fonts are displayed in the actual font face, wysiwig (what you see is what you get).

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Change the angle via the edit menu or by putting on two fingers and twisting (not the 60's dance).
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Create a Graphic Watermark

For Graphic Watermarks you can use any graphic but they should be graphics with transparent backgrounds. The sample signatures, symbols and other graphics we include have transparent backgrounds and are .png files. That means the signature itself is seen but the background is transparent and shows the photo underneath. The file format to do this is called .png and it allows the background to be transparent (a .jpg does not allow this transparency, .png must be used).

Check out the FAQ (below) or Google 'png' and 'transparency' to learn more about making png files with transparent backgrounds.

There are 2 ways to get these transparent background graphics into iWatermark to use as watermarks. You can either
1. use the built in tool iWatermark Scan Signature/Graphic or
2. make a .png file of your signature/graphic on your computer, email it to yourself then import it to use on your photos. 

1. iWatermark Signature/Graphic Scanner
This is a special tool we created especially to import your signatures and art so you don't have to learn how to do this on your computer. First sign your signature with a black pen (using something thicker then a pen and smaller then a magic marker is best) on very white paper. Next select Create Graphic Watermark from the main page then select Scan Signature.
photo.PNGOnce you do that it will open the camera to take a photo. Then in good bright lighting without shadows take a photo of your signature. You can fill the screen with your signature. If it looks good hit the Use button and it will instantly add transparency to the background of your  signature and import and place it on top of whatever photo you chose in the beginning. Now by clicking on the 'Edit' menu items you can change the opacity, angle, scale in the usual ways. When you save, it will save your signature as a watermark you can use anytime. You may need to do this a few times to get it just right. IMPORTANT: This does not watermark that photo. This photo is only a background during the creation of a watermark. Once you create and save a watermark then you can use it on any photo in the future.

In addition to scanning signatures, the scan signatures can be used to import simple high contrast graphics.

2. Create Graphics On Your Mac or Win Computer, Email, Then Open In iWatermark.
Make the graphics on your computer using Photoshop, Gimp or one of the many graphic eiditors. Here is an outline of the steps to create a graphic with an alpha mask also called a transparency.

1) Create a layer and draw a watermark on it (or simply paste)
2) Magic wand all the background you want to be transparent. Then hit delete. You are left with the checkerboard background. If you don't see the checkerboard (no background) then there may be other layers you need to hide or delete.
3) Save as PNG. A transparency cannot be created with .jpg it must be a .png file.
This link more details about doing this. Here are 5 more ways to do this. You can also google creating a signature with transparent background to get more info.
Next from your computer email the .png to yourself so you can open it on your iPhone/iPad like below:
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In the received email touch the attached file (in this case the little blue accessability man icon above) and touch 'Save Image' to to save to the photo library .
Then in iWatermark touch the Edit menu at the bottom of the screen. In the menu that pops up touch 'Image' (see below) find your image in the album and it will be imported and appear as a watermark on the photo. You may then want to change its opacity to make it more visible.
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Once you have imported your graphic watermark you can act on it with any of the items in the edit menu on the left/bottom side of the screen. 

Use the buttons in the edit menu at bottom left to change the font, angle, scale, opacity, etc. or do it by touch in the usual iOS ways:

  • To move the watermark just touch it with your finger and drag it wherever you want.
  • Click the angle button to change the angle or put two fingers on the watermark and twist to change the angle.
  • To change the scale use the usual pinch or zoom to expand/contract the font size.

Create a QR Watermark

What is a QR code? QR means quick response and its a kind of barcode that can hold a lot of info. Learn more at Wikipedia. iWatermark for iPhone/iPad allows you to encode multiple lines of date into a QR code which can then be used as a watermark. More info on QR codes is at Google. Many apps on the iPhone can decode (scan and read) QR codes, one is Google Goggles. To find more in the iTunes App Store in the search box type 'QR code'  to find apps that decode QR codes. Android has an app that comes as a default app that reads QR codes called 'Barcode Scanner'. Its a good one because when it encounters a URL in a QR code it opens the browser and takes you directly to the site. 

What is a QR code as a watermark good for? Now, instead of no info on your photo you can have some very exact info about you or your business which can easily be scanned by the proper app in a smartphone. No need to type in a website just scan and it will go there in its browser. A QR code as a watermark on a photo can do many things:

  1. Link to your website. Encode the URL of your website (e.g. http://plumamazing.com) watermark your photo. Apps can scan and then go direct to your site.
  2. Put in your name, address, email, website, etc. So people know this is your creation, your photo, your intellectual property. 
  3. They can email you, respond or perhaps buy your work.
  4. Many things we have not thought of yet :)

How to Create a QR code in iWatermark.

Follow the 'create a graphic watermark' (above) choose QR Code in the left side EDIT menu (see screenshot above). Enter the data you want to  encode. Then hit the GENERATE button. It will create and insert the QR code. Save this with an appropriate name. Now any time you want this QR code can be used to watermark a photo. Once you create a QR code its good to test it. 

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Delete a Watermark

To delete a watermark is also simple. Select a photo or take one. Then choose the button to do a Text Watermark or Graphic Watermark. At the bottom of the screen choose the Watermark navigation tab then in the roller which pops up select the watermark you want to delete and hit the red button with a - in it.

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Save and Share

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When you hit the save button at bottom right after watermarking an image the dialog above appears. Here you can:

  1. Save to the Photo Library.
  2. Email at full quality and size. (Email only available if you have set up outgoing email on your iOS device)
  3. Email at somewhat lesser quality and smaller size.
  4. Email at less qualtiy and still smaller size but which still looks good on the web.
  5. Upload to your Facebook account.
  6. Upload to TwitPic

Sharing with Flickr

To upload to Flickr you can use email. The instructions to get the email are here. Then add the Flickr email address to your contacts. You can do this directly on the iPhone, or you can do as we did and create a contact in Address Book, and then sync the iPhone. By adding the Flickr email as a contact, you won’t have to memorize the email address and type it out each time you want to upload an iPhone pic via email.


Watermark Multiple Photos at a Time.

At the bottom of the dialog (above) turn on 'Repeat with multiple photos' to then be able to continue selecting photos from your photo album to watermark till you hit cancel. This saves you from going thru the other steps allows you to watermark multiple photos easily.

FAQ

Q: What is the difference between iWatermark Free and iWatermark both for iPhone/iPad?
A: The only difference between the two is that iWatermark Free puts a small watermark that says 'iWatermark Free - Upgrade to remove this watermark' at the bottom of a picture. In the Free version a button to upgrade to the regular version is on the main page. Many will find that fine otherwise the upgrade is 0.99 cents to remove that watermark. Upgrading supports the evolution of iWatermark, its a small price for such a sophisticated program.

Q: What is the difference between iWatermark for the iPhone/iPad and the desktop versions for Mac/Win?
A: The desktop versions have many more abilities, can handle photos that are much higher resolution and they are easier to use on a larger number of photos in a photographers workflow. The iPhone/iPad version are designed to allow you to use touch to change the various parameters. Both are designed to fit their hardware. To find out more go here iWatermark Pro for Mac and iWatermark for Win   LikeButton.png us on Facebook to get news and a special discount coupon for the Mac or Win version.

Q: How do I add watermarks to multiple photos at once like the desktop version?
A: There is now a new way to do this. When presented with the photo album just touch each photo you want to watermark. A red x icon will be added to it. Select as many as you like. The proceed and watermark. It will do each one at a time and allow you to save to different locations (photo album, flickr, facebook, etc.).

Q: How do I move the watermark?
A: To move the watermark just touch it with your finger and drag it wherever you want. You can also change the font size, scale (using pinch/zoom) and change the angle (two finger twist) directly by touch.

Q: I had a crash what do I do.
A: Its rare but a crash can happen for 2 reasons and there are simple solutions. Either you got a bad download in which case you need to delete the version on your iPhone/iPad and also in iTunes then redownload or you are transferring photos from an SLR which are 10 megs or higher is size. iWatermark for iPhone was designed for iPhone and iPad photos. It will work on other bigger photos but keep in mind the limitations of memory in iOS devices presently.

Q: I want to use my signature as the visible watermark for my photos. How do I add graphics like the example signatures by Picasso, Ben Franklin, etc.?
A: There are 2 ways:

  1. use the built in Scan Signature which is in the Edit menu when you click Create Graphic Watermark.
  2. make the graphics on your computer then email the file to yourself, save the attached file to the photo library. There it will be in the iPhones photo library where you can find it from within iWatermark to watermark your photos.

Here is an outline of those steps:

A transparency needs to be created in Photoshop like this:

1) create a layer and draw a watermark on it (or simple paste)
2) magic wand all the whitness, then hit delete. You are left with the checkerboard background which is
3) hide the background layer
4) save as PNG. A transparency cannot be created with .jpg it must be a .png file.
More details on the process are below.

Use any graphic as a watermark. To use your own signature, first you need to scan in your signature and then eliminate the background. If you have a signature with a white background then this will obscure a part of your photo, the signature watermark will look like a white block. To make sure that does not happen put your scanned signature into a graphic editor like Photoshop (or some other graphics editor like Gimp which is free) open your signature, remove the white background with the magic tool then save the file as a .png file. It is essential the file is a .png file since a jpg file does not allow having a transparent background.

This link gives you the steps to do this. Here are 5 more ways to do this. You can also google creating a signature with transparent background to get more info.

To easiest way transfer it to your iPhone/iPad is to email the file to yourself, open the email then save the attached file to the photo library. There are also other ways and tools to transfer graphics to the photo library on the iPhone.

Then in iWatermark you make a graphic watermark and use your signature image (from the iPhone photo libarary) and give it your name. You can have many of these at different resolutions, rotations, opacities, etc and give each a name to identify it.

Q: How do I delete the example signatures and logos that are provided?
A: Select a photo (to act as a background) then click on create graphic watermark. Next click on the watermark and the roller will pop up. Click the red - sign to delete that example. See this image.

Q: How do I upload to Flickr?
A: You can use email. The instructions are here.

Q: Is there a version of iWatermark for the Mac or Windows?
A: Yes, they are available here. They are very powerful especially the new iWatermark Pro for Mac. It allows multiple watermarks simultaneously, uses parallel processing (FAST) and has more effects and flexibility. Great for photographers.

Q: If I want to use iWatermark for both iPad and iPhone, do I need to pay for two apps or just one?
A: Some app makers want you to pay twice. We don't. The same iWatermark works fine on iPhone and iPad. Legally you are the owner of both and you can have your software on both. But please get your friends to buy one or put up a nice 5 star review on iTunes app store since its only .99 and apple gets a third of that. Both of those help us to keep evolving, programming and improving the application.

Q: Does iWatermark Pro save in highest resolution to the photo album?
A: iWatermark for iPhone does save in the highest resolution to the photo album. You can also email watermarked photos straight from the app at your choice of resolutions including the highest resolution. It may be that if you are trying to email from the photo album itself and you are on 3g (not wifi) Apple is choosing to lower the resolution of photos. That has nothing to do with iWatermark. It does have something to do with Apple, ATT and maximizing the 3G bandwidth.

IMPORTANT: The signatures of John Hancock, Ben Franklin, Galileo are just examples of graphic watermarks. They are the authentic signatures of these individuals. Each was scanned in, digitized, the background removed and saved as .png files. The are included for fun and to show what is possible. We recommend you create your own signature or use your logo for your photos. See the info in the Q&A above about how to create and put your own signature or logo into iWatermark. If you don't want to create your own graphic watermark you can always create text watermarks as you need them.

Feedback

Please send us your suggestions, bugs and just to tell us how you like it here. Email us a good quote and a link to your site. If you have a great photo with watermark feel free to send it along. We would enjoy hearing from you.

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Version Changes for iPhone/iPad 

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