I recently added a program so that I can watermark all my photos for use on the web. Now I am having a really hard time deciding where and how big the watermark should be. I would appreciate all insight on this.

i hate 'watermarked' photos, but that's me. put it anywhere and make it as big as you want, i reckon. i don't think the computer police is going to mind. typically, the ones i see are their website address splashed annoyingly across the whole of the pic diagonally, probably sized by the computer to fit. sure, it *could* have been a little inobtrusive tag in the corner or running at the bottom, but nooooooo... lol. i'm just teasin' ya, of course, but i really don't like watermarks i guess because it's got this part paranoia, part arrogance vibe to it for me, not to mention distracting.

dunno, is photo theft in the cake world a big issue i'm unaware of? i really don't view watermarks as advertisement as if i'm impressed with something i'll follow an attached link. if i ever put anything on a photo, it'd just be a web addy at the bottom, easy to read and out of the way. let a thief crop it if they want, that stuff always catches up with them quickly as a rule. i'd almost be *willing* to offer thieves all the photos of my work knowing that they can't perform at the same level, and the faster customers figure that out the sooner they're out of business. if they don't steal my pics, they'll steal someone elses, eh? as an aside, i know from personal experience that when a competitor of mine (we make awards) bad-mouths my store or steals my designs that that always comes around and bites them where the sun don't shine because people know the truth of it or figure it out real fast. people what operate a business like that way aren't going to be around long (it just sucks that they'll siphon a spot of work away from a real professional until customers realize they're jokers and the reason they do the things they do is because they're bad at what they do and overall are just crappy people).

there are no real rules to it, it seems. if i had to use one, i'd put it where it causes the least distraction but yet can't be cropped out without ruining the pic. or you can do them all the same and splash it across the whole of the pic like most people seem to do, and which i'm sure will be the most popular advice. hope that helps.

I put mine across because cake photo theives ARE a big deal. And putting a take in the corner of your picture will do NOTHING.

Just making ti so your watermark is lighter then the picture

You want it to be opaque enough so the cake can still be seen, larger enough that the viewer knows who created the cake, and in a place that is difficult for the average person to to crop out.

why not comprimise, and place the water mark, mostly in the corner, but high enough up in the shot that it goes across a corner section of the cake. Unobtrusive to the image, yet still making it's mark onto part of the cake. that way if the would-be thief attempts cropping it out, there will still be some part of the tell-tale watermark "damage" on the cake.
I have a love/hate relationship with watermarks on others photos. I love it when I see an awesome photo and then can easily find the web address (since it's splashed across the cake ) and view other photos from the same cake artist....but I Hate seeing pictures that are all "junked out" with words, and details I want to see are hiding behind the watermarks.

cake photo thieves are a big deal? huh. learn something new every day.

it must be different in the cake world than my business, where charlatans tend to be quickly exposed. when it's discovered that they can't deliver the goods, they don't hang about overlong. i'd think this is especially true when it comes to cake making. apparently i'm wrong on that.

Aw, shucks! Thanks! My son teaches me about stuff like watermarks but sloowwly, so I can understand. lol

I suggest using a watermark that's light, and big enough to overlap part of your cake. Photo theft is rampant. Even food bloggers who put copyrights on their sites are thieves.

I don't love having to put watermarks on our photos, because I do feel like it can detract from the picture. But I think I notice it a lot more than most people looking at our pics do, because I am focusing on it rather than the whole picture. And I definitely think it's necessary, as common as it seems to be for people to steal photos online. Ours is pretty big, and is across the middle of the cake so there's no chance of anyone being able to crop it out and use our photo.

I also put a watermark on ALL of my photos, and i do them transparent across the cake. It's harder to remove when across the details but with it being transparent it doesn't detract from the cake.

here is one i did
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1397586

leily, I like the way you did your watermark. It is light enough that it doesn't distract from the cake, but dark enough to see. What program did you use to put it on?

I watermark all my pictures. I don't think it's arrogant at all, just smart if you don't want unscrupulous cake decorators to be able to trade off other people's hard work by using other people's photos. And yes, it happens all the time, unfortunately.

I use Alamoon Watermark, which is simple to use. It's available as a free version which will watermark one photo at a time, or if you get the paid version you can select a whole batch of photos and click 'process' and it will do them all at once. If you want to pick and choose where the watermark goes on each photo though, then you'll need to process them one at a time anyway.

The watermark needs to be across the whole cake, where it can't be cropped out. I use 'no colour' and make it transparent, so it just washes out the colours already in the photo, which is not as obtrusive. All my photos on CC are watermarked if you want to see what I mean.

Yes people using other cake businesses photos IS a big deal & it's been happening for years. I never get around to watermarking as sometimes they can remove them if they know what they are doing, but one day I'll start doing it. 

And no it doesn't always come back to bite them or ruin their business. I know a UK baker who made a huge start in her business by having her whole website FULL of other cake businesses photos...then (& still) advertising herself as cake maker to the stars. Her cakes are shocking (& that's being nice) yet she has everyone fooled. AND she has threatened to sue many people (she's an ex lawyer) including myself for asking her to remove my photos. She also states in articles that being an ex lawyer helped her with copyright on her website...a big laugh! (Or maybe more laughable that she insists others are copying "her" ruffle cake when it was Amy Atlas's she had on her site).

Anyway, yes watermark your pictures as you don't know when a competitor nearby will try to claim your cake photos as their own (like one did near me) as that is your livelihood. Your brand (if your work is original or different).