Hello all! OK So I’m by all means a constant learner, but when I find something new I just love to share! It’s a must! How the heck would we all learn without tips and tricks explained straightforward? I mean, heck, sometimes the internet is a super scary place. I’ve read way too many crazy articles that don’t explain anything that I’m looking for.
One of the recent things I’ve been working on is a short and simple way to apply a custom watermark to my images via Lightroom. Seems logical to use the “Export” function to do this, but it just applies that basic text “watermark”. That’s not what I’m looking for!
So how to apply YOUR watermark?
1) Mogrify. Funny word, but go HERE and download it.
2) Save it somewhere you’ll remember on your computer. Preferably a Lightroom folder. I’m sure there’s somewhere really logical for this, but I don’t think it’s absolutely necessary.
3) Open Lightroom
4) Select the “Export” button in the Library module
5) Click the “Plug-In Manager…” button to add a new plug-in
6) Click the “Add” button to add a new plug-in
7) Locate the folder where you saved the Mogrify folder. Select it and click OK to add.
8 ) It’s always best to donate to the smart people who create this stuff, so if you have a minute, donate and retrieve your serial number. It’s not absolutely necessary for the plug-in to work, but it’s nice to do.
9) Click “Done”. You’ll now see a bunch of “Post-Process Actions:” in your Export screen. You can add various things when your images are exported, including borders and text. My favorite here, though, is the ability to add your custom watermark.
****SIDE NOTE IF YOU’RE ON A PC**** In order for this to work you’ll also have to install ImageMagick freeware. This can be done HERE (and includes installation instructions). Now, back to it!
10) Scroll down to “Graphical Watermarks” and double click on the words to add it to your Export selection. You will be a check mark next to it.
11) Scroll down in your Export box and you’ll now see a section called “Mogrify Graphical Watermarks”
12) Click the + button to add a new watermark!
13) Choose the folder where you have saved your watermark. I have mine as a solid-colored bar that goes at the bottom of my images. I have it set to the size I desire when it’s a horizontal image, with the text only to one side. That way, if it cuts off from the right side, I don’t lose anything. There are various ways to design your watermark. Mine is a .jpg, but I would play around with the option of a transparent background .psd file as well. I haven’t tried it, but it does read in a .psd file, so it’s worth a shot! Also select where on the image you would like the watermark logo to be placed. Mine is from the bottom left.
14) You can select different overlay modes, resize for different types of exports, and add various watermarks if you desire.
This is just the beginning. Really, the mogrify plug-in allows you to do a lot of things with the exporting of your images, and I really encourage you to try all of the settings and see what you like and don’t like. The traditional Export functions, combined with the Mogrify plug-in, and some Photoshop droplets can really make your workflow much more simple!
And since blog posts are fun with images, here’s a sample image I created using my “Blog” export function and custom watermark application. One click!
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