4 Steps To Add Watermark To Image In PHP (Simple Examples)

Welcome to a tutorial on how to add a watermark to an image in PHP. So you have an eCommerce website or gallery that accepts image uploads, but there is just one problem. Some thieves are stealing the images, and a little bit of protection will do good.

We can use the GD extension in PHP to add a watermark to images:

Open the original image – $img = imagecreatefromjpeg("IMAGE.JPG");
Set the text color – $red = imagecolorallocatealpha($img, 255, 0, 0, 0);
Add the text to the image – imagettftext($img, 18, 0, 0, 24, $red, "PATH\FONT.TTF", "COPYRIGHT");
Save the watermarked image – imagejpeg($img, "WATERMARKED.JPG", 60);

That covers the quick basics, but how do we apply another image as the watermark? Read on for more examples!

ⓘ I have included a zip file with all the example source code at the start of this tutorial, so you don’t have to copy-paste everything… Or if you just want to dive straight in.

TLDR – QUICK SLIDES

DOWNLOAD & NOTES

First, here is the download link to the example source code as promised.

QUICK NOTES

Make sure that the GD extension is enabled in php.ini – extension=gd (or gd2 prior to PHP8).

If you spot a bug, feel free to comment below. I try to answer short questions too, but it is one person versus the entire world… If you need answers urgently, please check out my list of websites to get help with programming.

EXAMPLE CODE DOWNLOAD

Click here to download the source code, I have released it under the MIT license, so feel free to build on top of it or use it in your own project.

ADDING A WATERMARK WITH PHP

All right, let us now get into the examples of applying a watermark to an image in PHP now.

EXAMPLE 1) ADD TEXT WATERMARK TO IMAGE

1-text.php

<?php
// (A) CREATE IMAGE OBJECT
$source = "source.png";
$target = "demoA.png";
$img = imagecreatefrompng($source);
 
// (B) WRITE TEXT TO IMAGE (TOP LEFT CORNER)
$txt = "Copyright";
$fontFile = __DIR__ . "/LeroyLetteringLightBeta.ttf";
$fontSize = 18;
$fontColor = imagecolorallocatealpha($img, 255, 0, 0, 75);
$posX = 0; $posY = 24; 
imagettftext($img, $fontSize, 0, $posX, $posY, $fontColor, $fontFile, $txt);

// (C) SAVE TO FILE
imagepng($img, $target);
echo "Saved to $target";

Look no further, this is pretty much the same steps as the above introduction snippet.

Create an image object from the image file.
Write text onto the image object.
Save the watermarked image object to a file.

EXAMPLE 2) ADD AN IMAGE WATERMARK

2-image.php

<?php
// (A) CREATE IMAGE OBJECTS
$sourceS = "source.png";
$sourceW = "watermark.png";
$target = "demoB.png";
$imgS = imagecreatefrompng($sourceS);
$imgW = imagecreatefrompng($sourceW);
 
// (B) APPLY WATERMARK (TOP-LEFT CORNER)
$posX = 0; $posY = 0;
imagecopy(
  $imgS, $imgW, // copy watermark onto source image
  $posX, $posY, // place watermark at top left corner
  0, 0, imagesx($imgW), imagesY($imgW) // copy watermark image without clipping
);

// (C) SAVE TO FILE
imagepng($imgS, $target);
echo "Saved to $target";

This version will apply an image watermark instead, and it is a lot more straightforward. We are pretty much just “copying” the watermark image onto the source image using imagecopy().

P.S. For the uninitiated, please use a transparent PNG WEBP GIF for the watermark image. JPEG does not support alpha channels (transparency).

EXAMPLE 3) CENTERED TEXT WATERMARK

3-text-pos.php

<?php
// (A) CREATE IMAGE OBJECT
$source = "source.png";
$target = "demoC.png";
$img = imagecreatefrompng($source);

// (B) WRITE TEXT TO IMAGE (CENTER)
// (B1) TEXT & FONT
$txt = "Copyright";
$fontFile = __DIR__ . "/LeroyLetteringLightBeta.ttf";
$fontSize = 18;
$fontColor = imagecolorallocatealpha($img, 0, 0, 0, 0);

// (B2) SOURCE IMAGE DIMENSIONS
$widthS = imagesx($img);
$heightS = imagesy($img);

// (B3) TEXT BOX DIMENSIONS
$sizeT = imagettfbbox($fontSize, 0, $fontFile, $txt);
$widthT = max([$sizeT[2], $sizeT[4]]) - min([$sizeT[0], $sizeT[6]]);
$heightT = max([$sizeT[5], $sizeT[7]]) - min([$sizeT[1], $sizeT[3]]);
 
// (B4) CALCULATE CENTER POSITION
$posX = CEIL(($widthS - $widthT) / 2);
$posY = CEIL(($heightS - $heightT) / 2);
if ($posX < 0 || $posY < 0) { exit("Text is too long"); } // optional
 
// (C) WRITE TEXT TO IMAGE & SAVE
imagettftext($img, $fontSize, 0, $posX, $posY, $fontColor, $fontFile, $txt);
 
// (D) SAVE TO FILE
imagepng($img, $target);
echo "Saved to $target";

This is the same as above, but with additional calculations to center the text watermark… How positioning works is unfortunately very Mathematical. Not going to explain line-by-line, but in a summary:

(B2) Use imagesx() and imagesy() to get the dimensions of the source image.
(B3) Use $sizeT = imagettfbbox() to get an array of 8 numbers, which are the X-Y coordinates of the text box (illustration below).

(B3) To calculate the dimensions of the text box:
- For the width, take the rightmost point max([$sizeT[2], $sizeT[4]]), minus the leftmost point min([$sizeT[0], $sizeT[6]]).
- For the height, take the topmost point max([$sizeT[5], $sizeT[7]]), minus the bottommost point min([$sizeT[1], $sizeT[3]]).
(B4) With that, we can finally do calculations to center the text.
- Horizontal center = (Image Width - Text Width) / 2.
- Vertical center = (Image Height - Text Height) / 2.

EXAMPLE 4) CENTERED IMAGE WATERMARK

4-image-pos.php

<?php
// (A) CREATE IMAGE OBJECT
$sourceS = "source.png";
$sourceW = "watermark.png";
$target = "demoD.png";
$imgS = imagecreatefrompng($sourceS);
$imgW = imagecreatefrompng($sourceW);

// (B) POSITION CALCULATIONS
// (B1) SOURCE & WATERMARK DIMENSIONS
$widthS = imagesx($imgS);
$heightS = imagesY($imgS);
$widthW = imagesx($imgW);
$heightW = imagesY($imgW);
 
// (B2) CENTER POSITION
$posX = CEIL(($widthS - $widthW) / 2);
$posY = CEIL(($heightS - $heightW) / 2);
if ($posX < 0 || $posY < 0) { exit("Watermark image is too large"); } // optional
 
// (C) APPLY WATERMARK
imagecopy(
  $imgS, $imgW, // copy watermark onto source image
  $posX, $posY, // place watermark at center
  0, 0, $widthW, $heightW // copy watermark image without clipping
);
 
// (D) SAVE TO FILE
imagepng($imgS, $target);
echo "Saved to $target";

Finally, centering an image watermark is also… Mathematical. But it is thankfully a lot simpler:

Horizontal Center = (Source Width - Watermark Width) / 2
Vertical Center = (Source Height - Watermark Height) / 2

EXTRA BITS & LINKS

That’s all for this guide, and here is a small section on some extras and links that may be useful to you.

HOW TO SET THE OPACITY OF THE IMAGE WATERMARK?

Unfortunately, the GD library doesn’t seem to have a straightforward method to set image opacity. So, use your own image editor to set the watermark opacity.

SUMMARY – USEFUL GD FUNCTIONS

Function	Description	Reference Link
`imagecreatefromjpeg()`	Create a GD image object from a JPG file.	Click Here
`imagecolorallocatealpha()`	Allocates a color with alpha (transparency).	Click Here
`imagettftext()`	Writes text to the image using TTF.	Click Here
`imagesx()`	Get the width of an image.	Click Here
`imagesy()`	Get the height of an image.	Click Here
`imagettfbbox()`	Get the dimensions of a block of text.	Click Here
`imagecopy()`	Copy an image onto another image.	Click Here
`imagejpeg()`	Save to a JPEG image file.	Click Here

LINKS & REFERENCES

Very Simple File Upload – Code Boxx
How to Add Text to Images In PHP (Plus Center It) – Code Boxx
Adding watermarks to images using alpha channels – PHP

TUTORIAL VIDEO

INFOGRAPHIC CHEAT SHEET

How To Add Watermark In PHP (Click to Enlarge)

THE END

Thank you for reading, and we have come to the end of this guide. I hope that it has helped you with your project, and if you want to share anything with this guide, please feel free to comment below. Good luck and happy coding!