"T R A U M A"
..watermarks.

˓ ִֶָ𓄲 ☁️ BEFORE WE START 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
I guess this could potentially more creative chapter? We will talk about watermarks and even a little bit about how you can create your own ones. So maybe this is the least dry chapter for this section of the book, for now.

Just a little disclaimer beforehand, there are many ways on how to create and use watermarks. Everyone has different opinions on these things anyways.

But maybe I can still help some of y'all with whatever I will explain next, so let us get into it!

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˓ ִֶָ𓄲 ☁️ WHAT ARE WATERMARKS 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
Again, there are many ways to define what watermarks are and in how many ways they can be used. But I will try to sum up whatever I have been able to learn so far:

Watermarks are one of many ways to protect your works from being used in a way that you do not approve of. First example coming to my mind would be the way dreamstime puts watermarks on their images, to hinder people from using a photo without agreeing to their regulations and pay a certain fee to receive a license for said use.
Another way of using watermarks is to "sign" your works like an artist would do with their painting for example.

Again, this is really just a very roughly summarized explanation of what I know about watermarks, but I think it is pretty stable basic knowledge to own.

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˓ ִֶָ𓄲 ☁️ HOW TO CREATE & USE WATERMARKS 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
Oh well, there is an endless amount of possible answers to this question. It really depends on what you want to use the watermark for and what you personally like.

I will list down a few of my personal ways on how to create a watermark and what they could be used for.

₀₀₁ overlay:
I have not used this method for too long yet, but it surely has become my favorite. Sometimes I am not too happy about how it looks, how it "destroys the aesthetic" or messes with some details, but overall it is the safest/most efficient way on how to protect your works. You can use anything for this, your username or pen name, a phrase like "intellectual property of .." or anything else really. There are people out there, that know very well how to "erase" simple watermarks - but trying to erase something like this surely would be a pain in their booty and therefore is more efficiently protecting your work than just a simple signature (for example), in my opinion.

₀₀₂ signature:
This may be a pretty way of "signing" your work and including a recognizable feature to help others connect your works with you. But overall this is not really helpful in terms of protecting them. Some signatures only contain initials or some fancy looking scribbly swirls, they might not even visibly refer back to your username/pen name, unless someone has kept up with your works for some time already. My signature does contain my whole username, but it is way too small to read on the final designs. Nowadays it is also very easy to erase such watermarks, even with the pimple tool on PicsArt. It surely is a fancy addition to put on your work, but not strong enough on its own to protect them.

₀₀₃ logo:
Logos are similar to signatures, a pretty feature but not strong enough to protect your works on its own. Well, it depends on how you include them of course, if you put one big logo on top or the design as an overlay, it may work. But there really is no guarantee that people will not find a way on how to get rid of it.

₀₀₄ mixture:
This is probably the most effective way of protecting your works. You can use the "overlay method" and also add a logo or your signature for previews - and when someone uses a cover you have created, you can go with only the signature or logo and a small "cover by .." maybe.

Again, there are so so many ways on how to create your watermark and how to use it. These are really just examples and opinions on methods that I have tried so far.

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˓ ִֶָ𓄲 ☁️ SOURCES 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
SOURCES 𖦹 ࣪˖ ˒
Down below is a summary of all sources used for this chapter.

₀₀₁ Text(s):
No external ones actually, everything said are my personal opinions/experiences

₀₀₂ Image(s):
All of them are my very own (intellectual) property

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© eggyeuls, 2022