Glossary
What is a watermark on a photo.
A watermark on a photo is a name, a logo or a word placed over the picture to show who made it or that it is not the final file. On proofs it usually runs across the middle, and it is left off the finished files the client keeps.
Two kinds of watermark.
A signature in a corner, on a portfolio or a post, says who made it. A mark across the middle, on a proof, says this is not the final file, and it sits where cropping cannot take it off.
Where the mark lives matters too. One drawn over the photo by a web page can be stepped around. One that is part of the picture comes along with every save and every screenshot.
Adding one.
Lightroom Classic’s export has a Watermarking panel with a simple copyright mark or a custom one, and Lightroom adds a text or graphic watermark when you save a copy. For proofs on a link, many galleries add the mark themselves so the files you export stay clean.
On a DropYourFiles link.
On DropYourFiles the proofs your client sees carry Review copy in the picture itself, and once your client has typed a name, that name sits across the photo too. It is on by default, under Watermark review copies in your account. When your client approves, the mark comes off and the clean files download.
Free up to 5 GB. No card.
Questions.
Should I watermark the final photos?
Not the ones the client paid for. A corner signature on photos you post yourself is your call.
Can a client crop a watermark off?
A corner one, easily. That is why proof marks run across the middle of the picture.
Do films get a watermark too?
On DropYourFiles, yes: the copy your client streams carries the mark until they approve, with no second export from you.
Where this comes from.
- Adobe, Lightroom Classic: Export files to disk or CD (File Settings, Image Sizing, Watermarking), read October 29, 2026.
- Adobe, Lightroom: Save, share and export photos (watermark options), read October 29, 2026.
Keep reading.
- How to stop clients screenshotting proofs
- How to watermark a video for client review
- How to stop a client downloading before approval
- What is proofing in photography
- What is a HEIC file, and how to send one
- What is a review link
More in the glossary, or see what DropYourFiles does.
Send your client one link for the whole job.
Free up to 5 GB. No card. Your client never makes an account.