How To Create a Watermark

Creating / Modifying watermark images requires the use of third party software (not included). It is easiest to use a leading image editing software tool such as Adobe® Photoshop® or Macromedia® Fireworks®. If you have licenses for either of the previous mentioned products, please refer to the documentation accompanied with that specific product for editing.

The walkthrough below is assuming you are using a Microsoft® Windows OS (Me or later). You will need to use at least one common office software tool to create your image, in some cases two (Microsoft® PowerPoint and Microsoft® Paint). Microsoft® PowerPoint will need to be install on your system, since it doesn't usually come pre installed. The Microsoft® Windows Operating Systems includes the image editing software program called Microsoft® Paint. PowerPoint and Paint have limited image editing capabilities, but following the examples below should provide you with the basics for making simple modifications.

To perform tasks beyond the specifications of this walkthrough please refer to the documentation accompanied with that specific product.

The image files for this walkthrough are in the "watermark" directory.

Step 1:
Modify the text. Open the PowerPoint file "text.ppt" by double clicking the file. The current text is "DRAFT" but you can change this to meet your needs. We have rotated and colored the content, but you can customize this as well. (To customize colors - right click on the text and use the Font... and Format Placeholder... options.)

Step 2a:
Save the File. From the PowerPoint File Menu, choose File>Save as... . When prompted by the "Save As" dialog, name your file then select "GIF Graphics Interchange Format" from the "Save as type:" field then click the Save button. (Note: You can use other file types such as JPG or BMP, the GIF format is for this example but some images look better when saved in other formats).

If you constructed your PPT slide the way you want it, you can now use the saved GIF file for your watermark / background image. If you would like to have your text superimposed over another image continue on to Step 2b.

Step 2b:
Place an image behind the text. From the File Menu, select Insert>Picture>From File... . When prompted with the "Insert Picture" dialog, browse to and select the image you would like to have as your background. Once the image is inserted, right click the image and choose Order>Send to Back . Now save the image as instructed in Step 2a.

Note: You may want to experiment with PowerPoint's Format Picture... option on the right click menu to see what you can do with the imported image (Watermark the image to make it lighter, change the colors for a softer feel, etc).

Step 3:
Crop or Resize your image. If your image is too big you can now resize it using Paint. See the "Cropping an Image" walkthrough below.

There are many different ways to resize images, this is one of many approaches you could use.

Step 1:
From the PowerPoint File Menu, choose File>Page Setup... . From the "Page Setup" dialog change the "Width" and "Height" fields to be the size you would like (larger or smaller); Reposition your content, or change font and image sizes on the slide to better represent how you would like your final image to be rendered.

Step 2:
Save the File. From the PowerPoint File Menu, choose File>Save as... . When prompted by the "Save As" dialog, name your file then select "GIF Graphics Interchange Format" from the "Save as type:" field then click the Save button. (Note: You can use other file types such as JPG or BMP, the GIF format is for this example but some images look better when saved in other formats).

Step 3:
Check your image to see if it is the way you would like it to be. If it looks correct, you are finished. If the placement is off, you may need to reposition your content and re save the file.

You can also crop or resize your image using Paint. Experiment with the features that are available under the Image... option in Paint's File Menu.

Step 1:
Make a copy of your original image and paste the image into a working directory.

Step 2:
Open the "working" image in Paint. Right Click on the file and select Open With>Choose Program.... When prompted with the Open With dialog, scroll down and choose Microsoft Paint.

Step 3:
Select the area to crop. Pick the Select tool and click-drag over the section of the image you would like to crop. (Your selected area should have dashes indicating your selection).

Step 4:
Copy your selection. From the File Menu, select Edit>Copy.

Step 5:
Make a new image. From the File Menu, select File>New.

Step 6:
Resize the new image. From the File Menu, select Image>Stretch/Skew.... In the Stretch/Skew dialog, change the Horizontal and Vertical fields to very small number (try 10% in each field).

Step 7:
Paste your copied section. From the File Menu, select Edit>Paste. You will be prompted with an alert message "The image in the clipboard is larger than the bitmap. Would you like the bitmap enlarged?" Select Yes. This should resize your new image to the correct size.

Step 8:
Save the new image. From the File Menu, select File>Save As... and save the image as a new file.