I have thousands of pictures and have used a good number of them in my blog posts. I have been warned by family and friends to protect them. How? I had no idea. I am not so techie as some people are. I am a visual learner and usually learn by doing the steps while someone shows me how, from step to step.
I had been using the Picasa program as my online archive for my pictures. That program came with basic and easy to use editing features. But, when my old personal computer started to show signs of aging, I replaced it with a Mac. That came with a new system of storing my uploaded pictures in iPhoto. With it's editing features, my changes would be saved, but not when they were imported into my blog. Strange. This gave me the impetus to learn more about the features of my camera, so I could take good pictures. But they did not always turn out well.
I uploaded the Picasa program on my Mac but that did not work with my iPhotos, unless I bought the Picasa Application for Mac users. I just went about blogging with my pictures, and realized one day that every time I uploaded a picture in my blog posts, it was added to my Picasa Web Album under "Ms.Ellaneous." From there I could edit my pictures with "picnik" which was a feature that came along with my albums. However, I still could not watermark. I assume now that with Picasa, picnik, and blogpost.com (my blog host) all being Google products, they, automatically, have a "synergistic" relationship - where each product enhances the other.
Please click on the pictures to enlarge to see the details.
You may be able to do it with this tutorial link http://picasatutorials.com/2008/11/picasa-tip-add-a-watermark-to-your-photos/ if you upload your pictures directly to Picasa. This was not the case with my Mac.
Yesterday, I googled "how to watermark pictures in Picasa web Album" and found a blogger who recommended a site to visit: www.picnik.com. This was the same one I was already using in my Picasa albums, but in a limited capacity.
I visited the site. There is no need to register and the service is free. There is an option to purchase a premium package. I settled for the freebie. Right away, I clicked on "Get started now."
This is the part you will be asked to "Upload a photo." Click (from the green tabs above) on "Library." You will be given a choice to upload from your different picture files. I Clicked on "Picasa Web Albums."
The next frame opens your picture album.
Double click on a picture you want to watermark. You will also be able to use the other editing features of the program at this point. To watermark your picture, from the greens tabs above click on "Create."
A series of white tabs will open just above the picture - click on "Text." On the upper, left-hand corner is where you type in your text information, then click "Add." Copy your text and paste it for the succeeding pictures you plan to watermark. This will save you some time.
The text automatically prints in white and shows up in the center of your picture. On the right hand corner is a box that opens, with other options to change the text's color and other characteristics. I made mine in italic print.
Drag the text to where you want it to be positioned. Voila! Your picture is watermarked.
Be sure to save your watermarked picture and click "Save and Share." In the next frame that opens, be sure to note "save as a new file", then, click on "Save." In my case, my edited/watermarked pictures were saved in my Picasa Web Album. The next frame gives you an option to either "close photo" or "continue Editing."
I registered to be a member, at the end of all these, for the reason that picnik will keep a history of the pictures I have edited. It will be my archive for watermarked pictures only.
It's a double task for me to do my blog layout with watermarked pictures before publishing my blog posts. I feel that it's worth the time to start taking this security measure.
I hope this has been helpful to you.
