To watermark?

Or, not to watermark?

That is the question.  Does a watermark protect my image in that it tells people where it comes from and who owns the copyright?

Or, does the watermark ruin the image?

I would love to know what other bloggers thing about this issue!

Interestingly enough, it would seem that WordPress encourages bloggers to use watermarks.  Here is their suggestion under Protection:

“Although you are not able to completely prevent the copying of your images and documents, it is highly recommended that you place a watermark on them in order to thwart any unauthorized use. Normally, this can be accomplished within the files’ respective editing programs (Microsoft Word, Adobe Photoshop, etc.). Run some Google searches or check out the documentation of your particular software package for more information on this. There are also several third-party applications that allow you to add watermarks to images.”