Should You Use Professional Software to Create a Watermark for Videos?

By  //  July 7, 2022

For content creators and brands that are primarily focused on the production of visual assets (such as videos), piracy is one of the biggest problems that they have to face in their day-to-day operations. In many cases, the prospect of dealing with this theft of visual assets can seem like an insurmountable challenge – especially when it comes to more complex assets like videos.

Thankfully, some very clear-cut solutions do exist; such as developing a watermark for videos that you want to protect. 

Be that as it may, watermarking apps are not all created equal. For instance, some of them may lack key features for efficiency and ease of use, while others may be lacking when it comes to their security standards and data privacy practices.

So, do you really have to create a watermark for videos that you produce? What are the qualities that you should consider when choosing a video watermarking app? 

Read on for these answers and more!

Why Would You Want To Add A Watermark To Video Content?

A Way To Protect Your Visual Assets

When sharing their visual content with their social media audience or even with a potential client, many content creators and digital artists often make the mistake of not including proper watermarks. In fact, many content creators forgo the use of prominent watermarks because they dislike the idea of covering up their art. This is why they will often opt to instead include a watermark signature in one of the lower corners. 

Be that as it may, unauthorized cropping and editing is not just a problem when it comes to digital images, nowadays cutting out a portion of a video is an easily achievable task. These small watermarks can easily be cropped out of the corners of videos – if they were instead placed in a more central position, with professional software, they would be more effective at deterring these types of thieves. 

A Way To Promote Your Brand

Although watermarks are most often viewed as a security measure for digital assets, they can also be used for branding purposes as well. This is especially true in this age of social media, where videos can end up being organically shared by hundreds or thousands of users within a few short hours. 

Having a watermarked video content logo (or another type of branding) can allow viewers to obtain your brand’s information without any extra effort on their part – leading to them potentially seeking out more of your content or even conducting business with you. 

What Qualities Should You Look For When Choosing A Video Watermarking App?

In addition to general flexibility and user-friendliness, here are three key qualities that you should look for when choosing a video watermarking app.

Offline Functionality

Nowadays, when it comes to digital resources, “cloud-based solutions” are often prioritized simply because they sound more modern (so they must be more useful, right?). However, when it comes to watermarking your digital assets, cloud-based solutions do not offer any noteworthy benefits over more straightforward approaches – in fact, cloud-based solutions have inherent security risks (more on that later).

When choosing a watermarking app, it is actually best if you prioritize factors such as offline functionality, especially if all features of the software can be installed directly on your device. Not only does this give you the freedom to watermark your digital content without needing an internet connection but you also aren’t dependent on the stability of another company’s servers.

Fast Processing

This is especially important if you don’t have the most powerful devices or you need to add watermark to video content in large batches. Ideally, you should try to make use of watermarking software that prioritizes the usage of hardware encoding (usually the device’s graphics card) over the device’s processor. 

This generally produces more consistent speeds and is also less taxing on your device’s resources. In fact, when using watermarking software that supports hardware encoding, you are usually able to simultaneously use your device for other purposes with no negative impact.  

Security Standards And Data Privacy

With all of the software that you use (not just watermarking apps), you should always be aware of what data is being collected from your device. Ideally, a professional watermarking app should never need to install third-party trackers or collect any data from your device.

Furthermore, as was alluded to before, cloud-based solutions (or any that have you upload your content over the internet) have inherent security risks. Once you upload your files over the internet, their security is out of your hands – which is why offline solutions are better from a security standpoint. 

In addition to this, you should always be aware of what files and data your watermarking app stores in its personal database. Ideally, your files would only be stored in the program’s system while they are currently being worked on and then cleared from its cache when the watermarking process is complete.