How to Watermark Your Photos in Lightroom (and Actually Get Paid)

How to Watermark Your Photos in Lightroom (and Actually Get Paid)

There’s a story I’ve heard from too many photographers to count. Shoot a wedding or a portrait session, send over proofs so the client can pick their favorites, and then… silence. No final payment, no response, just your unwatermarked images sitting on someone’s Facebook page while you eat the loss. It’s the kind of thing that sounds like it happens to other people until it happens to you. I’ve been lucky, but I’ve also been careful, and a big part of that comes down to something as simple as slapping a watermark on anything that leaves my hard drive before a job is fully paid.

How to Watermark Your Photos in Lightroom Without Making Them Look Cheap

How to Watermark Your Photos in Lightroom Without Making Them Look Cheap

There’s a specific kind of frustration that comes from sharing a photo online and watching it float away from you with no indication it was yours. I’ve been there more times than I can count. Before I ever wrote a single tutorial, I was editing press shots for my band in a tiny apartment in Nashville, learning Lightroom out of necessity because we couldn’t afford to hire anyone. Credit rarely traveled with those images.