Do you have 5 minutes? Do you have a computer? Then you can make a watermark for your digital art or photography. I’m going to show you how to add either your signature or logo, aka watermark, and it’s FREE and EASY no special apps needed.

See the words SAMPLE in this picture? Do you also see my name on the bottom? These are two examples of the types of watermarks that you can add to any of your documents that you want to protect with your name.

Trust me when I tell you that once you go through these steps just a handful of times, it will be second nature to you whenever you need to add a watermark to your documents. No special smarts needed just BASIC computer knowledge and I mean BASIC.

You have to upload or import your photograph or digital art somewhere, if you choose to use an app, so just make it easy and use your word processing program.

If you are extremely computer challenged ask you kid, neighbor, partner, pet or whoever is around to help you with the basics. It’s really the ABC’S of owning a computer. You can do it and I’ll always be around if you have any questions or if you get stuck. You can even send me your JPG file if you want to know if you chose the best size or placement for your document.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• A computer (Mac )
• 5 minutes

So here it is in a very small nutshell.  The first step is to open your PAGES program.

• Open PAGES
• FILE / new
• INSERT / go to CHOOSE (at the bottom) and place your graphic
• now you should have the JPG of your choice in your PAGES document
• Go to the TEXT BOX on the top of your page and type your name
• If your graphic disappeared at this point go to INSPECTOR on the top of your page.
• Click on the 3rd icon which is WRAP
• Uncheck OBJECT CAUSES WRAP and you should have your graphic back.
• Highlight your text by double clicking on it. Format your text with font and size
• Go to INSPECTOR tool on top
• When your INSPECTOR tool box opens click on the square/circle icon (GRAPHIC ICON) that is to the right of the T (TEXT ICON)
• See on the bottom where it says OPACITY? Move the slide to the opacity of your choice, I recommend a 20%.
• Save your graphic and it’s not ready to EXPORT.

THAT’S IT FOLKS!!!!!!! You now have text on your graphic that you can place wherever you see fit. Make it larger or format it until you feel it’s in the perfect place for a watermark.

Look again at my painting on top. I choose to put a SAMPLE watermark and my name on the bottom. I told you it was easy! Just make sure you place your watermark where people can edit it out and make it light enough where it doesn’t detract too much from your art yet you can still see it well (20%)

This and other finger paintings of mine are for sale on Etsy if you’re interested. I’d love for you to stop by and see them. You can check out the watermarks I have placed on them so you can see how I do it.

Happy watermarking!!!!!

UPDATE: I just spoke with a colleague that has a PC and it’s a little more challenging on a PC then on the Mac. So if you have a PC, you may just want to use iWatermark or another app designed for that. If you do find a way to make text and it’s background transparent and place it on top of a graphic, please let me know so I can update this post. Thanks!