1. Add Files and Folders

Add Files and Folders for processing:

Click on "Add Files" to add one or multiple image files.

Click on "Add Folder" to add all images files within a folder and all its subfolders.

Click on "Remove File" to remove the selected files from the selection.

The info section shows a summary of your selected files.

2. Watermark

2.1 Select Watermark

The program includes several watermarks, which could be selected from the drop-down menu, but its also possible to use a custom watermark. The custom watermark could be any image file, e.g. an image in .PNG image file format.

Important: If you create the watermark image with an image editor, that supports layer then the edges will look smoother by saving the image as .PNG image with alpha-layer tranparency. (32 bit image with alpha-tranparency)

2.2 Watermark Image Manipulations

2.2.1 Make Transparent

In this sample we load a simple Bitmap (bmp) watermark image, which has a blue background.

Important: If you create the watermark image with an image editor, that supports layer then you can avoid these steps and the edges will look smoother by saving the image as .PNG image with alpha-layer tranparency. (32 bit image with alpha-tranparency)


We want to remove the blue background on the watermark to make it transparent.

Its very easy: Click on "Make Transparent" and the following dialog will open:

Most of the time the background color is identical to the first pixel (top-left-pixel), but its also possible to enter the RGB value directly.

Sometimes there are edges, which are softed using anti-aliasing. 
Add a tolerance to reduce the edge effect.

The result of the "Make Transparent" function will look like:

2.2.2 Flip and Rotate

The program also contains basic functions to flip and rotate the watermark. Its important, that the width and height of the image is the same, otherwise its possible that parts of the image will be cut-out.

2.2.3 Invert

Click on "Invert" to invert the image. In the current sample, the "ARCLAB.COM" was inverted from black to white. 

2.3 Watermark Position and Border Gap

The watermark could be placed on serveral positions:

• Centered Watermark

• Four Corners

• Four Corners + Center

• Floodfill

• Top-Left Watermark

• Top-Center Watermark

• Top-Right Watermark

• Left Watermark

• Right Watermark

• Bottom-Left Watermark

• Bottom-Center Watermark

• Bottom-Right Watermark

The "Border Gap" lets you specify the space between the x/y border of the source image and the watermark.
This setting is unused when using "Centered Watermark" or "Floodfill".

2.4 Watermark Opacity and Size

The watermark will be resized in relation to the source image. e.g. if the source image has a size of 3000x2000 pixel and the watermark should be 10%, then the size of the watermark in the source image will be 300x200 pixel.

If you have selected "Floodfill" as "Position", then the size of the watermark will reduce the number of watermark-mosaics in the source image.

e.g.

The opacity defines if the source image should shine-through the watermark.
A high opacity means the watermark lets less of the source image shine-through.

Low Opacity:

High Opacity:

2.5 Preview Watermark

The preview function allows you to preview the selected watermark and options with your source images (e.g. your photos) selected in the section "Files".

Click on the arrows < > to browse through your images.

3. Text

Arclab Watermark Studio also allows to add text directly to the image without using a graphic watermark or even a combination of image watermark and text.  The text could be formated using the fonts installed on your system in any color and style.

3.1 Add Custom Text

The section text allows you to add a custom text. The text could be the same for all images or different for each image.

Select the image and click on <NONE> to edit the text directly.

Alternative:
Enter the text in the edit field below and click on "Update" to update the selected image only.

Click on "Update All" to use the entered text for all images.
Click on "Reset All" to remove the text from all images.

3.2 Import Custom Text

Click on "Import Custom Text" to open the import dialog.

The program can import most information stored in the images (EXIF, IPTC, jpeg comments), filename and number. 
Please enter the placeholders and additional text in the edit line below.

The text can be combined as required, e.g. #filenumber# - #filename# copyright 2010

4. Output

The evaluation (demo) version will add an additional watermark to the output image.
This additional watermark will not be included in the licensed (unlocked) version.

Please specify the Ouput-Options (Folder, Format, Size) and click on "Start" to start the image processing.

4.1 Output-Folder

Click on "..." to specify the output folder for the watermarked images or click on "Replace source images and make a backup of the original files" to backup and overwrite the source files.

The <Source> mode is useful if you want to process images from different locations or if you want to process folders with subfolders. The backup images are copies of the original images (in the same folder) with the extension .bak. If the backup file already exists or the program cannot create the backup files, then the image wil be skipped. 

Important:
Please note, that there is no undo function, so its recommended to make a work-copy of the folder/images before. 
The .bak images are not removed by the program.

Check the "Rename Images" option if you want to rename the images. The file prefix (e.g. IMG) will be followed by a 5 digit image number. The extension will be generated automatically based on the selected format.

4.2 Image-Format

Please select the image format and quality.

The program supports:

• JPEG Image Format (*.jpg)

• Portable Network Graphics (*.png)

• Windows Bitmap (*.bmp)

• Tagged Image File Format (*.tif)

• Graphics Interchange Format (*.gif) (256 colors)

If you have selected the JPEG format (default format), then you can specify the quality.
The default quality is 80%, which produces a good output quality. The higher the JPEG quality the bigger the file size.

4.3 Output-Size

Select the output size (image size) in pixel or check the option "Keep original size".

If you have selected to resize the image, then the program will resize all images to the selected width and height, but it will always preserver the aspect ratio. e.g. a 4:3 image will not be resized to 5:4 or 16:9

The program supports different resize algorythm:

• Box (fast, simple)

• Bi-Cubic (advanced, smooth output)

• Bi-Linear (good output) (default setting)

• Bi-Spline (very smooth output)