Make a Watermark

1. Open a new image -- color white, 320x240 (you'll find this if you click on the arrow next to Standard).

2. Click the Text Tool. In the Attribute Panel, choose Arial Black, size: 30, color: Black, Mode: 2D Object. Type your name.

3. Change to the Crop Tool. Click on the Options icon, click Active Selection. Double-click in the uncovered area to crop your image.

4. Right-click and Merge All.

5. Go to Effect / Material Effect / Emboss. (Note for PI 7 — it's Effect / Special / Emboss) Click on Options button. You will see the box at left. Click the "5 o'clock" square and change the depth to 2. Click OK.

You will have a graphic like this —

Change to your Pick Tool.

6. Now, save it in your Easy Palette:
Right-click on your image, click All. Right-click again, click Convert to Object. Drag it to your EP (left-click, drag, let it go over the EP), give it a name, or not, and you have a Watermark!

To use your Watermark:

7. Open the image you wish to watermark.

Note: The image must be "RGB True Color [24-bit]" Look at the bottom right-hand corner of your PI — click on the "i" in a circle. This will tell you the data type of your image.

(Optional, but a good idea -- Duplicate the image [keyboard shortcut CTRL-D is easy] and close the original image.)

8. Drag your watermark from the Easy Palette onto the image. Click on your Pick tool and click on the Properties box. Move the dialog box that comes up, if necessary, so that you can see your canvas. Make sure the Preview box is checked. Click on the arrow next to the Merge drop-down box.
In the picture at left, the arrows next to four of the merges indicate those that work in this instance. One by one, click on them and see the changes in your watermark.

Lighting is probably the best all-around choice.
Overlay is another all-around choice -- the shadow colors are taken from the picture below it.
Hard Light has nearly black shadows and might be necessary in a bright, busy, picture.
Soft Light is very subtle, perfect for some pictures but will be lost in others.

Here you can see the different merges, shown in the same order as listed above.

When you find one you like, click OK to close the box.

If you need to resize the watermark, use your Transform Tool.

9. When you are satisfied with the merge and the placement, right-click and Merge All.
Note -- when you click Merge All, you may get a warning box. This is fine, click okay.

Try different fonts, dingbats, or path shapes to make your watermark just as you want it to be.

A couple of notes on customizing your watermark:

If you'd like to rotate your watermark with the Transform Tool, this will need to be done before Step 3. Resizing after the watermark is okay, but rotating it at that stage is apt to leave a ghost image of the bounding box behind!

When making your watermark, you can use different light-source directions (in the Emboss dialog box) if that suits your image better.

I hope you've found this tutorial helpful. Have fun with it!
Any questions or comments, please drop me a mail :)

Virginia