Guideline: How To Create YouTube Watermark For Your Videos

Like many video-sharing platforms, content is all that matters on YouTube. Adding a YouTube watermark lends a branded look to your video and also prevents it from being stolen. 

YouTube is currently the most popular social media network where tons of creators find their own way to shine. That’s why watermarking is so crucial these days. 

So what exactly is a YouTube watermark, and how to add it properly to your YouTube videos? Scroll down to figure it out!

What Is A Watermark On YouTube?

A watermark is a still picture that the owner inserts into their content to claim copyrights or for publicity purposes. It can be anything the author wants to add: an iconic image, a brand logo, a link to a website/subscribe link or a custom watermark.

Particularly, you might add watermarks to your YouTube videos for two main purposes: video theft protection and personal brand identity. They commonly sit in the corner of your videos, either on top or at the bottom.

Watermarking your content is like an artist signing their artworks. In case someone steals your video, the viewers will see the watermark and know the true source of the video. 

Additionally, by letting the audience see your watermark regularly, you will naturally raise their awareness about your YouTube channel and video content. 

Along with YouTube Channel Art, channel banner, and thumbnail image, watermark will help create a comprehensive brand recognition system.

A video creator usually adds YouTube watermark to their videos in two ways:

• Using the available YouTube Branding feature

It allows YouTube users to insert a watermark in all videos they’ve uploaded. This watermark is not fixed, and YouTube does not automatically save it to apply to later videos.

Therefore, it will not show up if someone else downloads your videos using a second-party website, YouTube downloader, for instance.

• Creating a channel watermark 

The channel owner creates his/her own watermark to apply to all YouTube videos. This method is not as convenient as the first option as it requires some editing and photoshop skills. 

However, once  added to your videos, this type of watermark will never be removed.

In the next section, we will show you how to create and add watermarks in both ways. 

Create Your Own Branded Watermark

Create Video Watermark From Logo/Icon

You can choose a photoshop tool like Canva, Logo Locator, Image Editor, or a specific tool for videos edit like Windows Movie Maker to turn a logo or icon into a new watermark. 

As we mentioned above, it works as a branding watermark for your YouTube channel. 

The first thing to do is to scale the logo. Clip the image based on the aspect ratio 1:1 (square), drag it towards the corner or any position of the background video to adjust (scale up or down to fit the screen).

You can make it solid or transparent, depending on whether you want to make the mark obvious or not. A prominent watermark will block the content being shown in the video. 

Note: The minimum watermark size is 150×150 pixels. You can use an online image resizer to edit the logo following this instruction.

Make It A Custom Subscribe Button

Many YouTubers  aim to obtain as many subscribers as possible to help them become an effective influencer on this social media platform. If you’re one of them, try a watermark that looks like a YouTube subscribe button.

When the audience clicks on that watermark, they can directly subscribe to your channel while still watching. If you add the watermark using the YouTube available option, which will be discussed later on, this feature only works on a computer or laptop. 

As the subscribe action is only one-click away, right inside the video player, there is a higher chance of viewers hitting the button. You’re  likely to see an increase in conversion rate when trying this YouTube watermarking.

How To Add Watermark To YouTube Video

Add Watermark To Existing Videos On Your Channel

If you’ve already prepared an image to use as your video watermark, save it outside your video editing app.

• Sign in to your YouTube account. Click on the profile picture at the top right corner of the screen. 
• A drop-down menu will show up. Choose YouTube Studio to sign in to your YouTube Creator Studio page.

• On the left menu, select Customization
• Select Branding option
• Scroll down until you see the Video watermark option. This option tells you that your watermark will appear on the bottom right of the video. Click UPLOAD. 
• A dialogue will show up. Choose image that complies with the Video watermark guidelines and Video watermark metrics.
• Select the display time

End of video: The watermark will display during the last 15 seconds of the video.

Custom start time: You can choose the exact moment of your watermark first display. Once  showing up, it can easily distract the audience’s attention. 

For that reason, we suggest only displaying it after the introduction or when you finish briefing the key messages of your content. 

Entire video: The video watermark will display throughout thevideo.

• Click PUBLISH video to apply the setting and CANCEL to choose another image.

Add Video Watermark Before Publishing

You can incorporate a watermark into your video editing program during the editing process. The method is quite different for particular programs but in general, you can proceed on any tool by following these simple steps:

• Open the video/footage and watermarking data. Let them appear on your working screen.
• Adjust the timeline bar for the required video and the watermark to show up.
• Add pre-made effects to the watermark, then adjust its shape, size or position.
• Save your work and export it to a  video. 
• Upload the video on YouTube as usual. Now the watermark can’t be removed by anyone. 

Final Words

YouTube watermark is one of the optimal approaches to channel promotion and video theft protection. Normally, it’s a transparent background located at the right bottom of the video. 

We highly recommend combining investing in YouTube Channel Art, creating custom thumbnails, and adding branding watermark to optimize the video content marketing.

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