Watermarks: Here is a great question....

Lisa asked:
what do you do if you make a card using more than one manufacturer's stamps? (The card contains both PTI and SU images) What would you do with the watermark? Is it acceptable to have your watermark say "designed by Mary Smith" and then include specifics in your "recipe"?

First of all, I honestly believe that watermarks are your own personal preference. I am not sure of all the legal mumbo jumbo because I would really hope that companies like Stampin' Up! and Close To My Heart have more important things to do than police Demo's blogs. If I am creating something, I upload the watermark of the stamp company I am working with. I am a SU! demo, so if I create a card that is SU!, I use my SU! watermark. When I do design work for Hanna or Kitchen Sink Stamps, I use the watermarks I created for those companies. I mainly stamp exclusively with one stamp company per card for my design work. There are occasions when I do create a card with (for example) A Riley or Sophie G stamp and I utilize a sentiment from Papertrey or Stampin' Up! For that, I usually use the watermark for the main image (in this case the Riley/Sophie G - so I use my Hanna watermark).

If you are a demo and representing a company, like Stampin' Up!, I would recommend using the Stampin' Up! watermark, but get the phrasing (Some Images © Stampin' Up!)....

If you are a designer for a particular stamp company, check with the owner of the company and see what their requirements are , if any.

I can create a watermark and just change the wording on the second line, so you have one for each company you utilize in your papercrafting.

On SCS, there used to be a default "watermark" for copyright purposes on the bottom of the gallery photo. I just double checked and it doesn't look like that feature is there any longer. That watermark will not prevent someone from right clicking (ctrl+click for mac) on your photo and saving it, then uploading it to their blog/etsy site/ebay - for a claim as their own. I haven't heard of anyone ever taking a photo and uploading it as a contest entry, but quite frankly, in this day and age, nothing would surprise me. The watermark you desire can be placed on your JPG photo in any location.

Be sure to put your watermark on your project where someone couldn't easily crop the photo and remove your watermark. Place it so that if someone was to grab your photo, they couldn't chop it off without making it obviously cropped/losing part of the project.

What color watermarks should I get?

Again, this is personal preference. If I were to recommend a color, it would have to be transparent. This is the most versatile of all the colors because it protects your work without distracting from your beautiful project. Any other color is really up to you. I think my favorite "second" color is white. (you thought I was going to say blue).... You can choose any color under the sun and I can try and match Stampin' Up! © colors with the hex codes I have on file.

There are so many fonts, how can I choose?

You have to choose your fonts! I have my favorites and the look I love is something elegant and scripty for the name and a plain typeset font for the blog url and copyright information. You want people to be able to read your name and blog, right? Sometimes the scripty fonts are really difficult to read, so keep that in mind when making your selection.

Can I mix and match colors?

Absolutely! I can easily use as many colors as you would like on your watermark. You can have your wording in one color and the graphics in another. Just remember, you want people looking at your project, not your watermark. It's there for protection!

Any additional questions or comments? Please email me or comment on this thread and I will do my best to answer things....