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Put a watermark on a photo without uploading it

When the picture needs a mark that stays after someone saves it, open Add Watermark. The photo is not uploaded.

What a watermark is for

Use it on a draft, a proof, or a photo you are willing to show and not yet willing to give away clean.

It is not a lock. A determined person can crop a small mark or cover it. What it does is make the casual copy point back to you.

It stays on this device

Add Watermark does this in the browser. The privacy page states the same rule. You can add text or a logo. The controls for the mark stay locked until a photo is in, so you place it on the real picture, not on an empty box.

A GIF is accepted, and it is decoded on the device like HEIC and AVIF. The animation becomes one frame. A GIF you export is still one frame, with a smaller color set. If the motion matters, this is the wrong tool for that file.

What you save it as

Export format is how the new file is written. Original, JPEG, PNG, WebP, or GIF. There is no separate Save as button.

  • Original, JPEG, PNG, WebP, and GIF are the choices on the page. Pick the type the next step asked for.
  • GIF out of this tool is one still frame, with a smaller color set. Do not pick it if you needed the animation.

You leave with a new file, and the unmarked original can stay on your machine. If the mark is too small, or in the wrong corner, you still have the clean photo and you can run it again. That is the advantage. The first try does not use up the original.

What to do next

A watermark does not remove a location the camera stored in the file. Strip that with Remove EXIF before the photo goes anywhere. If the file is heavy after the mark, use Compress Image. If a portal form wants a set size, use Resize Image. Do the mark first if the size change would crop the corner where you put it.

JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, AVIF, and GIF are listed on the page. HEIC works when the browser can read it. If it cannot, convert with HEIC to JPG first.

How to

  1. Open Add Watermark. Drop the photo. The page lists JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, AVIF, and GIF.
  2. Add text or add a logo once the photo is in. The mark controls stay locked until then.
  3. Place the mark where a crop will not cut it off.
  4. Pick the export format. Original, JPEG, PNG, WebP, or GIF. Remember that GIF comes out as one frame.
  5. Download the new file. The unmarked original is still on the device.
  6. If the camera stored a place in the file, open Remove EXIF before you send it.