14 DAY TRIAL // Nowadays, images can easily be transferred via Internet, so, in order to protect your work, you can place a personal mark on them. In order to do this, one can use Star Watermark, a tool that lets its users batch watermark images and preview results with ease.
Watermarking is a process which enables you to insert graphics or text over an image, notifying other users that the image was created by someone and is placed under the law of copyright.
There are various applications that can help you watermark images, some of them are even available free of charge. What makes Star Watermark stand in front of other watermarking apps? Mainly the fact that you can batch watermark images, so you don't have to waste time working with each image individually.
Batch processing images can be helpful if you want to finish the watermarking process in a few seconds. The application also comes with a real time preview that will let you preview the changes as you make them, pretty useful if you want to make sure that the changes made are the ones that you want.
The Looks
Star Watermark has a very simple interface, which is a good thing for people that want to focus more on watermarking images rather than learning how to use the application. In the main window a user can select the images for watermarking, and also choose one of the templates available in the left panel.
A user can also access the preview function and some of the application’s preferences from the toolbar above the main working area.
The Works
Working with Star Watermark is very simple and intuitive. Firstly, you must choose the image files for the watermarking process. You can add as many as you want, but this will increase the time the application takes to process them.
I used 10 image files, with various resolutions and sizes, in order to see if the application can batch process different image files. The results were impressive, since the watermarking process took only a couple of seconds, and the result was flawless watermarking.
After choosing the image files, you can select one of the two watermark templates available. Both of them come with a sample image watermark, which helps the user accommodate with the application.
You can also create your own template and customize is any way you want, in order to suit your needs. However, if you have a lot of templates, selecting one in particular can become tricky, since they are all stored in the same place.
Users can modify a template just by double clicking it. This will open the template edit window, where one can make various changes to the original, and preview them in real time in the central panel.
Firstly, you must choose the watermarking text, the font that you want to use, and text size. You can also change the location of the watermark by placing it in one of the 9 predefined areas, or move it manually, using some offset controls.
One can also rotate the watermark, or even make it transparent, in order to blend with the image, and make it harder to notice. If necessary, a user can also apply shadow effects to the watermark, or draw colored edges. Furthermore, if the user wants to have the watermark placed all over the image file, he can select the “Repeat to cover image” option.
Placing an image watermark can be done using the same procedure; the only difference is that instead of writing a text, you choose an image file. You can also change the location, offset, or rotate the image, just like when you were trying to create a text template.
After choosing the template, it's time to preview the output and see if it's what you needed. Accessing the Output Preview function above the template panel will help you spot any problems with your watermark.
As I said earlier, the batch watermarking process was fast and the results were impressive. You just have to be careful though and set a different output folder, because if you are working in the source folder, you overwrite the images.
You can change the output folder location and create a new file name for your images from the preferences panel. Here you can also choose a certain image format (JPEG, PNG, TIFF, BMP or GIF) for your output.
The Good
You can also add shadows, rotate the watermark and change its transparency - an important detail if you want to customize your work even further.
The Bad
The template management problem can also be solved by implementing template groups, allowing the users to find the necessary templates a lot easier.
The Truth
