How to Watermark Photos on iPhone

Three Ways to Watermark Photos on iPhone

There is no Watermark button in the iPhone Photos app, but you do not need to install anything to watermark photos on iPhone. You have three good options, and the right one depends on how many photos you have and how polished the mark needs to be.

Option 1: Add Text With Markup in Photos

Markup is Apple’s drawing and annotation tool, and it is built into the Photos app. It can put a line of text, your signature or a shape on a photo. Apple’s steps:

1. 1
   Duplicate the photo first

   Open the photo, tap the More button (…) and choose Duplicate, so a clean copy stays in your library. Edits in Photos can be reverted, but a duplicate is simpler to keep track of.

2. 2
   Open Markup

   Tap Edit, then tap the Markup button.

3. 3
   Add text

   Tap the Add button (+) and choose Add Text. Tap the text box to edit it, and type your name or "© 2026 Your Name".

4. 4
   Style and place it

   Tap the color circle to pick a color, and the formatting button to change the font, size and alignment. Drag the box to a corner or across the subject.

5. 5
   Save

   Tap Done, then Done again. The photo now carries the text when you share it.

Markup text

Designed watermark

Markup works, and for a one-off it is often enough. Its limits show when you care about how the mark looks or need more than one photo: there is a small choice of fonts, no letter spacing or soft shadow, no proper way to add a logo, no tiling, and every photo has to be done by hand, with the text placed slightly differently each time.

The Add menu also has Add Signature, which lets you draw a signature with your finger. It is handy for signing documents, but a finger-drawn scrawl rarely makes a tidy watermark. A script font usually looks better. If you want the © symbol, how to type the copyright symbol covers the iPhone keyboard.

Option 2: A Shortcut That Stamps Your Logo

The Shortcuts app, which comes with every iPhone, has an Overlay Image action that places one picture on top of another. Point it at a PNG of your logo and you have a watermark you can apply from the Share sheet. It takes ten minutes to set up once.

1. 1
   Save your logo to Files

   Put a transparent PNG of your logo in iCloud Drive or On My iPhone. A white version works on most photos. How to make a transparent PNG logo explains how to prepare one.

2. 2
   Create the shortcut

   In Shortcuts, tap + to make a new shortcut. Add the action Select Photos (turn on Select Multiple if you want several), then Repeat with Each.

3. 3
   Add the logo

   Inside the repeat, add Get File and pick your logo, then add Overlay Image so that the logo is placed on the Repeat Item.

4. 4
   Set the position

   In Overlay Image, turn off Show Image Editor if you want the same placement every time, then set the position (for example Bottom Right), the size and the opacity.

5. 5
   Save the result

   Add Save to Photo Album after Overlay Image, still inside the repeat. Name the shortcut "Watermark" and run it.

For text instead of a logo, the Overlay Text action works the same way, with options for the position, font, size, color, rotation and an outline. Either action is ideal for a consistent corner mark. Neither is designed for repeating a mark across the photo, and positions set as fixed sizes can land differently on portrait and landscape shots, so test the shortcut on both.

Option 3: Watermark.ws in Safari

Watermark.ws runs in the browser, so it works on an iPhone without installing an app. It is the option to use when the watermark has to look designed, when you need a tiled mark, or when you have a whole shoot to get through.

1. 1
   Open Watermark.ws in Safari

   No signup is needed to try it. For one-tap access later, add it to your Home Screen from the Share button.

2. 2
   Upload from Photos

   Tap to upload and choose Photo Library, then select one photo or many. HEIC photos straight from the camera are supported.

3. 3
   Add your text or logo

   Type your name (the text editor has its own © button) or upload your logo, then set the font, size, opacity, letter spacing, rotation and shadow.

4. 4
   Tile it if needed

   Turn on tiling to repeat the mark across the photo, and set the spacing.

5. 5
   Save it as a template

   Next time, apply the same watermark to a new batch in one tap.

6. 6
   Save to Photos

   Where Safari supports it, a Share button sends the finished photos to the iPhone Share sheet, where Save Image adds them to Photos. Otherwise they download to the Files app, and a larger batch arrives as a ZIP file, which Files opens with a tap.

Corner marks suit social posts and portfolios; tiling suits previews of photos you sell or send to clients. Tiled watermarks covers the settings, and the guide to batch watermarking photos walks through a large set.

Which iPhone Watermark Method to Use

A sensible split for most people: Markup for the occasional photo you send a friend, a Shortcut if you only ever need a logo in the corner, and Watermark.ws for anything you publish or sell, or anything more than a handful of photos. If you also shoot on Android, how to watermark photos on Android covers Google Photos and Samsung’s tools.

Tips for Watermarking on a Phone

• Keep the original. Watermark a copy, never the only version of the photo. You will want a clean file for prints and clients.
• Check it at phone size. Most people will see your photo on a phone. If the mark is hard to read there, raise the size or add a shadow.
• Mind portrait crops. Phone photos are often vertical, and apps crop them for feeds and Stories. Keep the mark away from the very top and bottom edges. Watermarking photos for Instagram covers the crops, and watermarking Stories and Reels the 9:16 safe zone.
• Pick a quiet spot. A mark over a plain area reads at a glance; over busy detail it needs a shadow. Where to put a watermark compares placements.
• Use the same mark every time. Consistency is what makes a watermark look professional, which is the main advantage of a template or a shortcut over Markup.