How to Automatically Add Watermark to Images in WordPress (2023 Update)

Watermarks act as a safeguard against image theft and unauthorized use. According to recent stats, over 3 billion images are stolen online every day. Proper watermarking can help reduce this drastically.

For example, a 2018 court ruling favored photographer Kristen Pierson who had watermarked images stolen and used without license by David’s Bridal. The presence of watermark helped prove ownership.

So if you host images on your WordPress site, adding watermarks is crucial. In fact, leading stock content sites like Shutterstock and iStockphoto use watermarks on all imagery to prevent misuse.

In this comprehensive guide, you will learn multiple methods to add watermarks (both text and image) to photos on your WordPress site automatically.

Why You Should Watermark Images in WordPress

Before jumping into the how-to, let me briefly explain the benefits of watermarking images in WordPress:

• Prevent image theft and unauthorized use
• Protect your original content and creative work
• Promote your brand by including logo in watermark
• Curb legal issues by establishing ownership
• Eliminate misrepresentation through forged images
• Discourage other sites from stealing your imagery

Now that you know why watermarks matter, let’s explore some easy ways to add them in WordPress automatically.

Method 1: Using Envira Gallery Watermark Addon

Envira Gallery is the most popular WordPress gallery plugin trusted by over 200,000+ websites.

It comes with a paid add-on called Envira Watermark that makes it super quick and easy to add watermark on Envira Galleries.

Here are some benefits of using Envira Gallery watermark compared to others:

• Bulk watermark hundreds of images easily
• Set custom position, opacity and size
• Schedule watermarks to appear later
• Support for both image and text
• Watermark retains on image derivatives
• Detailed usage analytics

Follow these steps to use Envira Gallery’s watermark addon:

Step 1: Install Envira Gallery and Watermark Addon

Step 2: Enter license key in Envira > Settings

Step 3: Activate add-on in Envira > Addons

Step 4: In gallery settings turn on watermarking and upload watermark creative

Step 5: Customize options like placement, opacity, margins etc

Step 6: Bulk watermark existing images from media library

Step 7: Watermarks automatically applied to new image uploads

Step 8: Insert Envira Gallery shortcode into any post or page

This allows you to add both image and text watermarks to Envira Galleries in a few simple steps.

Method 2: Using Easy Watermark Plugin

Easy Watermark is a popular free WordPress plugin with over 500,000+ active installs.

It has robust watermark capabilities ranging from bulk editing previously uploaded images to automatically adding watermark to future uploads.

Here are some stand-out features of Easy Watermark:

To use Easy Watermark:

Step 1: Install and activate Easy Watermark plugin

Step 2: Go to Settings and configure desired options

Step 3: Select automatic or manual watermarking

Step 4: Add text, image or both as watermarks

Step 5: Customize transparency, size, position etc

Step 6: Bulk add watermarks to existing media library

Step 7: New uploads automatically watermarked

Easy Watermark makes it simple to add graphical watermarks along with text across all your WordPress images.

Method 3: Photocrati Image Watermark Plugin

Photocrati are the creators of the hugely popular NextGEN gallery plugin for WordPress.

They also have a neat Image Watermark plugin that can automatically add watermarked images sitewide.

The cool part is it works seamlessly with NextGen Gallery in addition to standard WordPress image uploads.

Benefits of Photocrati’s Image Watermark Plugin:

• Simple automated watermarking
• Ability to override watermarks individually
• Support for both text and image
• Flexible watermark positions
• Works perfectly with NextGEN Galleries
• Allows custom styling options

Here is how you can use it:

Step 1: Install and activate Image Watermark plugin

Step 2: Go to Photocrati > Global Watermark Defaults

Step 3: Upload watermark image

Step 4: Choose text, positioning and styling

Step 5: Bulk add watermarks to existing images

Step 6: New uploads automatically watermarked

Step 7: Optionally customize watermarks overrides per image

So if you use NextGen or want basic hassle-free watermarks, Photocrati’s plugin is a great fit.

Best Practices for Watermarking Images

When adding watermarks, keep these best practices in mind:

• Position watermark away from main subject
• Use slight transparency between 20% to 60%
• Make watermark size ~5-15% the size of original image
• Put watermark in one of the corners for optimal visibility
• Make sure the text and logos are clearly legible
• Use PNGs with transparent backgrounds for watermark images

Properly configured watermarks balance visibility while minimizing image distraction.

Example Watermark Placement

Here is an example of appropriate watermark placement on a stock image:

The watermark:

• Is positioned away from main subject
• Has adequate transparency
• Uses a small-sized image watermark relative to original photo
• Sits in the bottom left corner staying clear of important elements
• Has legible text that clearly displays ownership

Conclusion

I hope this guide was useful in showing multiple options to automatically add visible watermarks to WordPress images. This helps prevent unauthorized use while still retaining image quality.

Let me know if you have any other questions in the comments!