Two kinds of transparent
People mean two things by a transparent watermark. One is a see-through mark, set to a lower opacity so the photo shows through it. The other is a mark with no background, so you see the logo and not a white box around it.
Most good watermarks are both: a logo or text with a transparent background, drawn at less than full strength. The sections below cover each part.
How see-through to go
Opacity runs from 5% to 100%. The right setting depends on how big the mark is and what it's for:
- 30% to 50%: subtle. The mark is there when you look for it and the photo comes first, which suits large marks across the image.
- 60% to 80%: clearly visible. Right for a name or logo in a corner, which is small enough to need the extra strength.
- 85% to 100%: strong. For proofs, previews and anything you don't want used before it's paid for.
Low opacity needs contrast to work. A white mark at 40% disappears against a bright sky, so check your lightest photos, and give text a Shadow or Outline in the Style panel when it starts to fade into the background.
Judge opacity at the size people will see the photo. A mark that looks heavy at full size often looks right on a phone.
Clear a logo's white background
A logo saved as a JPG, or a screenshot of one, usually sits in a white box. When you add it, the white around the logo and inside letters like O and e is made transparent, and pixels where the edges blend into the white become partly transparent, so the edges stay smooth. Transparent space around the logo is then trimmed, so its size is the size of the design.
White that belongs to the design is kept: white letters inside a colored badge stay white. You can also switch the removal off when white is part of the look. Only white and near-white is removed, so a logo on a colored background still needs a proper PNG.
Save the watermark as a transparent PNG
Export with Watermark only to download the design itself as a PNG with a transparent background. It's a reusable file you can place in a video editor, a slide deck or any app that takes images.
When you save marked photos, the format matters too. PNG keeps transparent areas, which you need for product cutouts and graphics, while JPEG has no transparency and fills them with white. Your originals are never changed, and files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.