When looking for images or videos to download from the Internet, sometimes we may find that these images or videos have a type of watermark overlaid on top of them. This protects that image or video from being used outside the associated licensing assigned to that asset. For example, some video editing applications would apply a watermark over videos that are edited, drawing a free trial period.
Any images or videos that you create using Blender 3D will not have a watermark applied to them. These are the assets you have created, and because Blender is free to use, you can create whatever you wish using the software.
At no point has blender introduced a watermark system for rendered images or edited videos, and there is no plan to do so in the future. However, with the appropriate add-ons, you could add watermarks to your products using Blender.
What Is A Watermark?
If you don’t know what the term watermark means, it refers to an image or word overlaid on top of a picture/video. For certain pictures you may find on Google, you will likely see the word sample labeled on top of that image.
If an image is owned by a specific company, which it normally is, then that company’s logo may be printed as a watermark on top of the image, perhaps in the bottom right-hand corner.
Not only do watermarks exist for images you may find on the Internet, but there are also going to be videos you can download, such as stock videos, that are likely to have these watermarks applied if you have not purchased that video asset or are downloading it as part of a free trial for that site.
Watermarks can also be applied to images and videos you have created and edited yourself using trial versions of specific applications.
For example, you could use video editing software to edit one of your videos. If you are using a trial version of that software, you will find a watermark applied on top of that video when you go to render that edited video.
Watermarks can be annoying as they exist to prevent you from using any assets created from software or other websites for commercial purposes. But because Blender is an open source application, any assets you create using blender are yours and yours alone.
Why Are There No Watermarks For Blender?
Blender exists as a free-to-install, free-to-use 3D modeling application that can also be used for various other tasks such as photo and video editing.
It is an open-source application, meaning it is available for free use to the entire global community, no matter where you are in the world, so long as you have an Internet connexion for the initial download and a computer that meets the required specifications, you will be able to use the blender software.
In most other cases, photo editing and video editing programs will apply watermarks for their trial versions, which indicates that there is a paid version of that software that the user will require if they want to create images or videos that do not have the watermark applied.
But there is no paid version for Blender. The main version is fully accessible for free, so since there is no paid version, there is also no trial version and, therefore, no need to have watermarks.
Can I Create Watermarks Using Blender?
While Blender does not force you in any way to use watermarks, you can use the blender software to create your own watermarks. You can use these to overlay the rendered images or videos you create using the application.
For example, you can create a 2D shape of your own company’s logo and then save that in the asset browser of Blender so that you can use it for any of your projects. Then when you choose to render an image of your project, you can go to the compositing workspace.
From here, you’ll be able to edit your rendered images, including the ability to overlay one image on top of your render, which could be your logo.
This means that you can create two versions of a rendered image. You can create one that has a watermark, which clients can download and use for free. You can also create a second branded image without the watermark that clients can pay to use.
In other words, Blender puts you in a position where you can control any watermarks applied to your assets.
This also applies to videos as well. While editing videos in Blender, you can choose to edit a video both with and without the image as an overlay. That image can be your watermark.
Begin Creating Your Own Watermark?
With Blender, we are not controlled by any watermarks. We can also now create our own watermarks if we wish. Remember that the watermark can be anything that you want, from a simple bit of text to your company logo.
If you would like to learn more about the different things Blender can do, check out some of our other articles listed below.
