The picture has been taken, the edits have been made, and you’re feeling pretty confident with how you captured the image you saw in your head.

But there’s one problem: you don’t know where to put your watermark.

Your photographer’s eye may be trained in the rule of thirds and how to create the right lighting for each shot, but when it comes to the placement of your signature, you’re not exactly an expert.

You want to claim your work–which is why you have the watermark in the first place–but you don’t want the branding of your photo to take away from the action within it.

Here are some ways you can use your signature to complement your photos rather than crash the party.

Avoid the Action

If you know what you’re doing, there’s going to be a section of each photo where you want to draw the viewer’s attention. Once you know where that portion of the photo is, avoid it like the plague.

You don’t want to take away from the magic of the moment that you captured by plastering your name right in the middle of it. Instead, find a corner or section of your shot that is off to the side; a spot that is meant to be in the background. This spot is most likely going to be in the corner that is opposite of your subject.

The benefit of being away from the action is two-fold:

• It doesn’t take away from anything that is meant to be focused on. By tucking your watermark away from the subject(s) of your photo, you’ll know that you aren’t distracting whoever is observing it.
• It won’t get lost in the mix of everything else going on. You want people to know that each of your photos was taken by you. If your watermark is separate from everything else, it will be easy to decipher who took the picture. If it were laid on top of the subject(s), it would be harder to distinguish.

Know the Rule of Thirds–Then Disregard It

The rule of thirds is tried and true in the world of photography, but for the sake of your watermark, it may be best that you ignore it.

This rule theorizes that if you break your photo into even thirds horizontally and vertically–seeing your photo as an imaginary tic-tac-toe board, split into 9 even boxes–the focus of your picture should lie either on the lines of separation or at their intersections.

What’s important to note is that the rule of thirds is used to properly stage and capture the action of your photo. It makes your image more dramatic and draws attention to the people, object, or landscape that are meant to be focused on. But if you try to place your watermark using the rule of thirds–placing it on a line of separation or intersection point–you will be diverting that attention towards your signature rather than the subject of the photo.

Instead of using the rule of thirds, simply avoid these lines of intersection so that you’re not subconsciously pulling the eye of the observer off of the magic of the picture.

You Can’t Go Wrong With the Corner

When artists sign their paintings, they usually put it in the same spot every time–the corner. The reason that this spot is optimal is because it doesn’t take away from the beauty of the painting but also isn’t hidden from plain view.

Since your Photologo watermark is your custom made digital signature, you can emulate those artists who have been signing the corner of their work for years. Tuck it away in the bottom right or bottom left, big enough to be seen, but small enough that it doesn’t distract.

Aside from the natural framing that you’ve created for your photo, there usually isn’t too much going on in the corner of your pictures. Utilize this space by marking it with your signature.

Your watermark needs to walk the fine line of being noticed without being the center of attention. By following these tips, you can easily claim your work while also avoiding a cluttered and confusing image. You can use all of them, or just try one at a time. Eventually, you will find a subtle way to make a statement with your signature.