Tutorial: How to Add Border with Copyright Watermark in Lightroom

This tutorial is for those who are still using Lightroom 2. If you have Lightroom 3, please go to this tutorial

So I posted a tutorial on how to create copyright signature with Lightroom sometime ago. I got some question from readers on how to put the copyright watermark into the border to not obstruct the photo itself. Now the answer is using Mogrify plugin to add border around the photo along with the watermark. Now I know this sounds really obvious, I just thought to write this.

First Step: Install Lightroom and Mogrify Plugin

We have already discussed what do you need and how do you do this on my previous post, check it out here.

Second Step: Export your photos (one or more)

Once you press the export button, it will summon the export screen. You should be able to see something like this:

Add the border setting from the left hand side, then click the (+) button to add border.

Remember that you can add as many border as you like. Most people will only use one border like this:

Example of single border copyright

And this is the setting for that particular border:

Notice the bottom border is 40px instead of 20px of the other sides, uncheck the "before border is applied" button, and make sure the text annotation is smaller than the border width.

Now lets see the example of the double border:

The first border is white with 10px on all side, and the second border is black with 5px on all side except 30px on bottom to show the text annotation with 25px text

Things to remember:

Overall, this process is fairly easy and simple, but there are several things you need to make sure is done.

1. Contrast of the border and text annotation. People should be able to read the text easily.
2. Do not abuse the border. 20 borders with different colors won’t make your photo look better.
3. Make sure you un-check the “before border is applied” on the text annotation setting.
4. Make sure the border width is more than the text size if you don’t want the text overlap the photo.
5. If you like the plugin, please consider donating some money to the creator. Do it here.

That’s it for today folks! Until next time!

If you like this post, you might also like:

1. How To: Copyright Signature Watermark On Lightroom 2 Using Mogrify Plugin
2. Lightroom 3 Copyright Watermark Tutorial
3. [Lightroom Tutorial] Cropping while breaking aspect ratio
4. Tutorial: How To Use Rule of Thirds in Digital Photography
5. How To: HDR Look From JPG Using Lightroom 2.1

Tagged as: annotation, border, copyright, lightroom, Photoshoots, text, tutorial, watermark

Article by Victor Augusteo