Applying Digital Copyrights in Photoshop

You may want to protect your work from unauthorized reuse by embedding digital copyright information in the file — using the watermark capabilities in Photoshop (provided by Digimarc technology). You should apply a watermark only after an image is finished. If you change an image later, you have to apply the watermark to a new copy of the image; you cannot add a watermark to an image that has previously been marked. Although watermarking isn’t bulletproof, it can help preserve your rights. Follow these steps to apply a digital copyright to an image:
1. If your image has more than one layer, choose Layer➪Flatten Image to combine all the visible layers into one.
2. If the image is an Indexed Color image (for example, a GIF file), choose Image➪Mode➪RGB Color to convert it to RGB mode.
You can always reconvert it to GIF after applying the watermark.
3. Choose Filter➪Digimarc➪Embed Watermark.
The Embed Watermark dialog box Opens.
4. If this is the first time you’ve applied a watermark, click the Personalize button and follow the instructions to register with Digimarc Corporation over the Web or by telephone. Enter your ID and PIN numbers as instructed and then click OK.
Digimarc Corporation charges an annual fee based on the number of images you want to watermark and
your desired subscription level. For example, 1 to 99 images at the basic subscription level costs $49 per year.
5. Enter a copyright year for the image in the text box.
6. Choose from the following options:
-->Restricted to limit the use of the image.
-->Do Not Copy to specify that the image should not be copied.
-->Adult Content to mark the image suitable for adults only.
7. In the Target Output area, choose whether the image is intended for Monitor, Web, or Print display.
8. In the Watermark Durability area, drag the slider or enter a value.
Durability in this case is a compromise between visibility (very durable) and unobtrusiveness (not very visible). If you make the watermark less visible, someone can accidentally (or intentionally) damage or make it less effective by some image-processing operations. The more durable a watermark becomes, the more likely it will be visible to the eye, but the image will remain protected even if the image is scanned, modified with filters, or printed.
9. Select the Verify check box in the lower right.
This tells Photoshop to double-check the image after the watermark is applied, to make sure it was successfully embedded.
10. Click OK to apply the watermark.