Whats the easiest way to add a WaterMark in iPhoto? without spending a Million!

1 - no one knows when or if Apple will do anything - and speculation on Apple policies is forbidden by the TOU of this forum

2 - there are many solutions - google is your friend

3 - no one is making anything hard for you - you are trying to do something that is not offered - no one ever promised that any software will do everything you can think up to use it for - if it does not hyou want then purchase different software that does like with any otehr product

4 - support requests for Bluecrowbar products needs to be addressed to teh company that supplied the software

LN

You can use Preview to add the watermark using it's Annotation capability. It's free.

Set up Preview as the external editor in iPhoto's Advanced preference pane.

OT

Hi. I tried your suggestion by creating a signature in Preview. It's not working as you noted above. A footnote at the bottom of the signature window in Preview states that an Annotations drop box will open when PDF's are open in Preview. I tried opening a jpeg in Preview and a PDF in Preview and neither one revealed a dropbox to add the signature. Any suggestions on what I should try next or may be doing incorrectly? I also tried making Preview the external editor in my iPhoto, and when I opened a photo to edit, Preview appears, but still no option to select the signature from the Annotations dropdown.

I have no idea what you are doing or what version of Preview you have but if you open a jpeg in the current version of preview and go to tools ==> annotate ==> text you can use the crosshairs to crated a test bos on the photos and type your watermark information in it

LN

I use Preview version 5.5.3. I know how to add a text box in Preview with Annotations. I was trying to use the Advanced feature in Preview called 'Signatures' that OT mentioned in his post. It seems like a nifty tool, I just haven't figured out how to access it once I am editing my jpeg or pdf.

Read OTs post

It does not mention any advanced feature called "signatures"

It says

You can use Preview to add the watermark using it's Annotation capability. It's free.

That is exadtly how you do it - using the Annontation capability

LN

Well, that was cleared up! I guess I was asking two different questions, and didn't realize it. Maybe someone out there knows how to use the 'signature' feature in Preview and would like to share that info with me sometime.

Thanks

V

I hadn't seen that signature feature until you mentioned it. However, there's a MacFixit article this week about that very feature: How to extract Preview's signatures for use in other applications, It might shed some light on how to use it.

If you have a lot of photos to watermark you might want to consider some of the watermarking apps that are available here: MacUpdate: Search for 'watermark'. There's a pluging for iPhoto among them. Would save a lot of time.

I use Photoshop Elements when I need to watermark or annotate a photo

That feature is not for photos - it is for signing documents like letters and contracts

Preview (like all Mac programs) has this really neat feature called Help - yoou can always find it at the right end of the application menu bar

it says

Sign a PDF document

You can take a picture of your handwritten signature and then add it to any PDF document.

ShowTake a picture of a signature

HideSign a document

1. Click Show Edit Toolbar.
2. From the Signature pop-up menu, choose a signature.
3. Click the location where you want the signature to appear.If you click a line, Preview shrinks the signature, if necessary, to fit on it.

ShowDelete a saved signature

RELATED TOPICS

Fill out a PDF form

Add text or a text bubble

OPEN

Open Preview

You, of course, can always use the Apple feed back to suggest adding a similer "watermark" feature for photos to iPhoto and/or to preview

LN

Thank you Old Toad. You came through with a helpful and pleasant reply! I have Photoshop Elements and will check out how to use this feature. I don't need it for large quantities.

Nice photo demo too!!!

V

I may be preaching to the choir here but this might be of help:

Using Photoshop or Photoshop Elements as Your Editor of Choice in iPhoto.

1 - select Photoshop or Photoshop Elememts as your editor of choice in iPhoto's General Preference Section's under the "Edit photo:" menu.

2 - double click on the thumbnail in iPhoto to open it in Photoshop. When you're finished editing click on the Save button. If you immediately get the JPEG Options window make your selection (Baseline standard seems to be the most compatible jpeg format) and click on the OK button. Your done.

3 - however, if you get the navigation window

that indicates that PS wants to save it as a PS formatted file. You'll need to either select JPEG from the menu and save (top image) or click on the desktop in the Navigation window (bottom image) and save it to the desktop for importing as a new photo.

This method will let iPhoto know that the photo has been editied and will update the thumbnail file to reflect the edit..

NOTE: With Photoshop Elements the Saving File preferences should be configured as shown:

I also suggest the Maximize PSD File Compatabilty be set to Always. In PSE’s General preference pane set the Color Picker to Apple as shown:

Note: to switch between iPhoto and PS or PSE as the editor of choice Control (right)-click on the thumbnail and select either Edit in iPhoto or Edit in External Editor from the contextual menu. If you use iPhoto to edit more than PSE re-select iPhoto in the iPhoto General preference pane. Then iPhoto will be the default editor and you can use the contextual menu to select PSE for your editor when desired.

You could also try the free BorderFX plug-in for iPhoto: http://www.iborderfx.com/iborderfx/

It lets you write captions and any kind of text annotations onto custom borders or directly onto the image.

Once you installed the plug-in, you can use it as an export plug-in for your selected photos:

Select "File > Export", select "BorderFX".

I really like the http://www.iborderfx.com/ free plug in as well. It works beautifully in iPhoto and you can use plain text or a saved design for a watermark.