# Watermark problem



## jerry12953 (Nov 11, 2016)

I have a graphic image which I want to use as a watermark. I have it in several sizes/resolutions as follows -

100 x 75 Pix @ 72 dpi (jpeg)
1967 x 1475 pix @ 300 dpi (jpeg)
1967 x 1475 pix @ 300 dpi (tif)

and they all look good on screen.

When I export images with the watermark on it, the watermark looks pixellated, as if it has been enlarged to a larger size than it should be, despite the fact that it has been reduced!

I'm not sure if this is a LR problem, but could someone advise please?

Many thanks.


----------



## Johan Elzenga (Nov 11, 2016)

The first question is which one you actually use. Are you sure you haven't selected the 100 x 75 px version? The second question is how you use it. Can you post a screenshot of the watermark settings?


----------



## jerry12953 (Nov 11, 2016)

Johan,

I think I may have used both the jpegs and it looked the same with both. I reduced the 100x 75 pix version as even that was too big. Is this what you mean for the screenshot?


----------



## Jim Wilde (Nov 11, 2016)

Jerry, the missing piece of the puzzle is the pixel dimensions of the image that you're trying to use it on. You have the "Proportional" option checked, which means that the watermark will be resized by the export so that it meets the correct proportions (of the main image). Likely that's what's happening. Try an export with that box unchecked (use the larger jpeg watermark), that should eliminate the pixelation but may not fit on the image at the size you're looking for.


----------



## jerry12953 (Nov 11, 2016)

Doesn't that mean I have no control of the size of the logo though? I've tried it and the logo almost covers the image.........

I have to go out now and will come back to this later, Jim.


----------



## Johan Elzenga (Nov 11, 2016)

What you should do is define a number of watermarks with different sizes. Then you use one of these watermarks (without 'proportional' checked), depending on the size of the exported image. So if the image that you export is say 1000 pixels wide, you use a watermark that is 100 pixels wide, but if the exported image is 5000 pixels wide, you use (another) watermark that is 500 pixels wide. The alternative is to design a vector-based watermark rather than a pixel-based watermark. Vectors can be scaled without loss of quality.


----------



## jerry12953 (Nov 11, 2016)

OK, thanks.I think I understand what I need to do but it's hardly a simple solution! Doesn't it require a jpg or dng file anyway?


----------



## Johan Elzenga (Nov 11, 2016)

I'm not sure which file types are accepted, but it's more than just jpeg and dng. I use png myself. Text is vector though, and that you can use for certain.


----------



## Gnits (Nov 11, 2016)

I think image files are jpg or png only.


----------



## Johan Elzenga (Nov 11, 2016)

Ok, that means you can only use vector by using text only.


----------



## jerry12953 (Nov 12, 2016)

There's definitely room for improvement then. Lightroom does so many things so well but just now and then you come across something that just doesn't work.......:(


----------



## Gnits (Nov 12, 2016)

JohanElzenga said:


> Ok, that means you can only use vector by using text only.



If you want to put the effort into it, you can create your own font with your own symbols and create a watermark with your custom symbols. It means your watermark will always be scalable.

Using Images you will need to create a number of standard sizes and appropriate presets. Easier than creating custom fonts.


----------



## jerry12953 (Nov 14, 2016)

But neither are actually EASY!


----------

