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Impression
Version 1.2.2
Price: Free, plus $1.99 in-app upgrade
Bottom Line: Impression is that rare free app that’s fully functional and works great without the upgrade, but you’ll want to upgrade to get the extra fonts and color capabilities.
Impression is the iPhone/iPad version of the photo watermarking software from Blue Crowbar. It’s a free app with an in-app upgrade, but both versions allow you to add high-quality watermarks to photos from your Photo Library.
Impression is that rare free app that’s fully functional and works great even without the upgrade.
A watermark is a graphic or line of text placed on a photo to help prevent copyright infringement and unauthorized use of your images. A good watermark is subtle and doesn’t detract from the image, yet still renders it difficult to use if someone steals it somewhere on the internet. A large, loud watermark is bad in that it draws your attention away from the image itself.
Impression's upgraded color controls
Impression easily adds a line of text to your photos and saves a copy without altering the original. The interface is simple and easy to use. Simply import an image from your photo library. The Text button will take you to the text entry screen to enter one line of text. There’s also a great, easy shortcut for the “©” sign right there on the keyboard.
Sizing the watermark is easy and responsive — use 1 finger to move and place, two fingers to resize. You can easily adjust the opacity of the watermark from subtle to completely opaque. Then save. It’s that easy. Even the free version of Impression supports full resolution saves. Impression also remembers the text and color settings, a great feature to speed up the workflow.
I wish there was some way to pinch, zoom, and scroll around the image. Creating and accurately placing small, unobtrusive watermarks on an iPhone screen is currently a little difficult. The app also doesn’t support screen rotation to better view landscape images. Also, I think it would be really cool if there was a way to import graphic watermarks — slugs. These are not complaints, but more of a wish list for future versions.
A $1.99 in-app upgrade gets you fonts other than Helvetica. You can also change the color, brightness and saturation of your text, which is handy for watermarking very light images.
Never watermark an original image or a finished original — ALWAYS watermark a copy. You won’t be able to remove it later and many gallery websites don’t like watermarked images should you decide to submit to them.
Even if you already have a watermarking app, Impression is worth a look. For free, I highly recommend the download. Impression is easy to use and because of the sizing and opacity features, even the free version creates watermarks that won’t get in the way of your image.
The free version is great on its own, but if you’re serious about protecting your images with watermarks, you’ll want to upgrade to get the extra fonts and color capabilities.
Impression is a universal app, compatible with iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad and requires iOS 3.2 or later.
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