Hi. This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV.
There are many ways to make watermarks in Photoshop,
however, I'm going to show you what I think is the most effective.
For this example, we'll use text, however,
if you want to transform a logo or an image into a watermark,
make sure its black on a white background and then,
remove the background. I covered how to do this in my tutorial
showing how to make "Ping" files. I provided its link
located in the video's description. Open a photo you'd like to place a watermark onto.
Open your Horizontal Type Tool
and choose a font that's easy to read.
I'm using "Arial Regular". I'll choose a size
of 80 points, Sharp and Center alignment.
Click on the color box and for the Brightness,
type in 50%. This gives us
a medium, gray color. Then, click OK or press Enter or Return.
Type out your text. To re-position it, open your Move Tool
and move it. I'll leave room on the left to place a copyright symbol next to it.
Click on the New Layer icon to make a new layer.
Open your Custom Shape Tool
and choose "Pixels". If you're working on CS5 or earlier,
the Pixels icon is here. Open your Shape preset icons.
If you don't see the copyright symbol, click the gear icon
and click "Reset Shapes". Then,
click OK. Click the symbol
and click the gear icon at the top. Tick "Define Proportions"
and check "From Center". Place your cursor to the left of your text
and drag out the symbol. Open your Move Tool
and drag it, so it's centered next to your text.
Merge the two layers by Shift-clicking on the text to highlight both layers
and then
pressing Ctrl or Cmd + E. Double-click on it to open its Layer Style window.
Click Bevel & Emboss. The Style
is Outer Bevel, the Technique is Chisel Hard,
the Depth is 50%, the Direction is Up
and the Size is 5 pixels. Uncheck Global Light.
Make the Angle: 145 degrees
and the Altitude: 26 degrees.
Make the Highlight Opacity: 100%
and the Shadow Opacity: 100%. Make the Highlight
Blend Mode: Normal, as well as the Shadow Blend Mode.
Check "Contour" and then, click OK.
Click the icon at the upper, right corner of the Layers panel
and click "Convert to Smart Object". I'll show you why we're doing this
in a minute. To open the Smart Object, double-click the thumbnail.
When you see this message, click OK. Reduce the Fill to 50%.
Go to the tab of the Smart Object
and click the small box with the "x" in it too close it. When you see this message,
click "Yes" to save the changes. Reduce the Opacity to taste.
I'll reduce it to 75%. I'll show you why we made it into a Smart Object.
First let's make a copy of the watermark by pressing Ctrl or
Cmd + J. Open you Transform Tool by pressing Ctrl or Cmd + T.
To move it, click inside the Transform
and drag it to a new location. To enlarge
or reduce its size, go to a corner and press and hold "Shift"
as you drag it out or in. Then, press Enter or Return to accept it.
Notice that the Bevel & Emboss layer style reduced in size with the text.
If we didn't convert the text into a Smart Object,
Bevel & Emboss layer style would have kept its original pixel size.
The watermark is readable over black, white and grays.
If you'd like to make it more transparent, simply reduce its Opacity.
For now,I'll put the Opacity back to 75%.
Once you're happy with your watermark, to save it,
hide all the other layers
and go to Image and Trim.
As long as the "Trim Away" boxes are checked, it doesn't matter which option
you choose for "Based On".
Then, click OK.
Go to File and Save As.
Name your file and save it as a PNG.
or "Ping" file. Save it to a location in your computer
where we can easily find it and then, click "Save".
When the PNG Options appear, I generally click "None".
for both the Compression and Interlace. I explained these settings in depth
in my tutorial about PNG files.
This is Marty from Blue Lightning TV. Thanks for watching!