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Square Orb Documentation

Watermarking Guide

Square Orb provides an integrated, non-destructive watermarking engine to safeguard your photography from unauthorized redistribution while keeping your master originals completely pristine.

Non-Destructive Architecture

Many traditional watermarking tools permanently overwrite your original uploaded files, making it impossible to remove or reposition a watermark later without re-uploading every photo from scratch.

Square Orb’s watermarking engine works differently:

  • Untouched Master Files: Your original high-resolution master uploads (original_image) are never modified or stamped.
  • Intermediate Size Stamping: Watermarks are only composited onto the web-delivery image sizes generated by WordPress (e.g., large, medium_large, and Square Orb’s sorb-pro-highres Lightbox size).
  • Reversible at Any Time: Because original master files remain untouched in your wp-content/uploads/ directory, watermarks can be updated, repositioned, or completely removed at any time using built-in bulk actions.
flowchart LR
    subgraph Master Source
        A[Original Upload<br/>original_image<br/>Pristine & Untouched]
    end

    subgraph WordPress Resizing
        A --> B[Generate Derivatives]
        B --> C1[sorb-pro-highres 2048px]
        B --> C2[large 1024px]
        B --> C3[medium_large 768px]
    end

    subgraph Watermarking Engine
        D[Transparent PNG Watermark] --> E[Alpha Composite Stamp<br/>Bottom-Right / Center]
        C1 --> E
        C2 --> E
        C3 --> E
        E --> F1[Watermarked Lightbox Image]
        E --> F2[Watermarked Gallery Tile]
    end

    subgraph Reversibility
        G[Bulk Action: Remove Watermark] -.->|Regenerates from Master| B
    end

Setting Up Global Watermarking

Navigate to Square Orb > Global in your WordPress dashboard and locate the Watermark Protection card:

  1. Watermark Overlay (PNG):
    • Click Select PNG Watermark to launch the WordPress media uploader.
    • Choose or upload your watermark logo. For best results, use a transparent PNG-24 with clean alpha transparency.
  2. Watermark Position:
    • Bottom Right: Places the watermark subtly in the bottom-right corner of each photograph, ideal for creator signatures and subtle branding.
    • Center: Stamps the watermark across the focal center of each image, ideal for commercial proofs and draft review galleries.
  3. Auto-Watermark Native Uploads:
    • Toggle this option to ON if you want every new image uploaded through the standard WordPress Media Uploader or Cloud Importer to be automatically stamped upon arrival.
  4. Click Save Changes.

Bulk Watermarking Existing Media

If you already have images in your WordPress Media Library that were uploaded before watermarking was configured:

  1. In the WordPress admin menu, navigate to Media > Library.
  2. Switch to the List View (the icon with horizontal lines in the upper-left of the media library table).
  3. Use the checkboxes to select the images you wish to stamp.
  4. Open the Bulk actions dropdown menu at the top of the table.
  5. Select Apply Square Orb Watermark and click Apply.

Square Orb will batch-process the selected media, applying your active watermark PNG to their web-ready derivatives.

Removing Watermarks

If you ever change your brand logo, decide to remove watermarks, or want to reposition your watermark:

  1. Navigate to Media > Library in List View.
  2. Select the images with existing watermarks.
  3. In the Bulk actions dropdown, select Remove Square Orb Watermark and click Apply.
  4. Square Orb regenerates all intermediate image sizes directly from your untainted master originals, completely stripping the watermark stamp.

Best Practices for Watermark Assets

  • File Format: Always use PNG-24 with an alpha transparency layer. Do not use JPEG or GIF formats, as they do not support smooth translucent anti-aliasing.
  • Resolution: Design your watermark canvas at approximately 800 × 400 pixels or smaller. Square Orb automatically scales the watermark proportionally relative to the target image dimensions so it never overwhelms smaller thumbnail previews.
  • Color & Contrast: Use semi-transparent white (60%–80% opacity) with a subtle drop shadow. This ensures your watermark remains clearly legible against both bright highlights and dark shadows.