CONTENTdm Online Help - Banding, Branding, and Watermarking Images

Image Rights options must be configured before importing files. Only one of the three options can be applied at any one time during import. So for example, to use branding on some items and watermarking on others, import the items separately.

Use banding to display a band of color with copyright text at the bottom of your items. Use branding to display your logo or another image in the lower right hand corner of all your items. Use watermarking to display a selected grayscale image in the center of your items.

Banding uses only text. Branding and watermarking options require that you have an image on-hand that you wish to use. For watermarking functions only, CONTENTdm will interpret white as the transparency color, ignoring any white pixels in your logo. The following examples serve to illustrate what is meant by transparency. The logo below has a white background and is used as an example in the branding illustration. When the image is displayed as a brand, the white pixels are not visible.

white dimema logo

In this second example, a logo with a black background would not have any transparency as a brand or watermark but would appear predominately black when placed over an image.

white dimema logo

After establishing your image rights options, try importing a single item to evaluate your settings. If you are satisfied, import your items as usual. If you wish to make changes to the image rights settings, simply click Options from the Edit menu.

Note: Only image files of 8 bits per sample or less can be banded, branded, or watermarked. This function is not compatible with PDF, animated or transparent GIF, or MP3 files.

To band items:

Because banding uses only text you do not need a logo or graphic image to band items in your collection.

Open a project and select Options from the Edit menu.
Select the Image Rights tab.
Select the radio button labeled Band then type the text you want to display in your band in the text box provided. To insert a text symbols, such as ©, create the symbol in another text program (Microsoft Word, for example) then copy and paste the symbol into the message text box.
Select Advanced to customize your band. If your do not customize your band, the default settings will display a gray band, 30 pixels high with your text in black, 14 point, Arial font.
To specify the band color click Choose Color then click on a color to select it. Click OK. The hexadecimal code of the color along with the color is displayed in the banding dialog box. Next, specify the height of your band in the text box next to Height of Band. Then click Choose Font to specify font color, type, and size. Click OK to close the Choose Font dialog box then click OK to exit the banding options dialog box.
Click OK to exit the Image Rights dialog box. All subsequent JPEG or TIFF images added to your project will have the band at the bottom.

Below is an example of a banded image. To turn off the banding feature, return to the Image Rights tab and select the radio button labeled None, click OK to exit.

To brand items:

Open a project and select Options from the Edit menu.
Select the Image Rights tab.
Select the radio button labeled Brand.
Click Browse, locate the image to use for your brand. You may not use a brand with dimensions that are greater than the dimensions of the item you wish to brand. If the brand dimensions are greater than an item, a warning message is displayed and the item will not be imported into the Acquisition Station.
CONTENTdm provides rudimentary tools that allow you to change the appearance of the brand image, including fuzziness, transparency and smoothness.

If you do not wish to make any changes to the appearance of the brand, click Browse, locate the image to use for your brand, highlight the image, and click Open. Click OK to exit the Image Rights dialog.

To change how the brand will appear, click Advanced. Browse to the image if you have not already. Specify a value for fuzziness to make the brand appear sharper or blurrier (30 is the default value). To use white as a transparency color, select the check box next to that option. To smooth the edges of the brand image into the background of your imported items, select the check box next to that option. Click OK to close the Advance dialog box. Click OK to exit the Image Rights dialog box. All subsequent JPEG or TIFF images added to your project will have the brand in the bottom right-hand corner.

In the example below, the fuzziness value is 30, white is treated as transparent, and the brand is smoothed into the background. To turn off branding at any time, return to the Image Rights tab and select the radio button labeled None, click OK to exit.

To watermark items:

Make certain your watermark is a grayscale JPEG image. CONTENTdm automatically resizes and centers the watermark to fit each of your imported images.
Open a project and select Options from the Edit menu.
Select the Image Rights tab.
Select the radio button labeled Watermark and use the slider or enter a value for the opacity between -100 to 100. A negative opacity places a darker watermark, a positive value applies a lighter mark. For example, -100 will yield a black watermark, +100 will yield a completely white watermark and an opacity of 0 will leave the image unchanged from its original value in the input file.
Enter the filename or browse to the file where your grayscale watermark image is located to select the image. Click OK to exit the Image Rights dialog box. All subsequent JPEG or TIFF images added to your project will have the watermark.

Below is an example of an image with a watermark applied to it. To turn off Watermarking at any time, return to the Image Rights tab and select the radio button labeled None, click OK to exit.

You may place a watermark on individual items after they have been imported into your project. To do this, double click on the image in your Project Spreadsheet. This will open the Media Editor. Select Watermark from the Imaging menu on the toolbar. Follow the steps outlined above and click Save in the Media Editor to keep your changes.

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