Stake your claim to a photograph by labeling it directly on the image. This won’t ruin your photo; it’s only a digital copy and may actually help protect it. You may be familiar with watermarking or copyrighting an image, where something is written across a picture to prevent illegal downloads or stealing. Whether you want to put a business name on a photo to simply identify the image or to keep it locked down, use one of a number of graphics software programs to quickly add the text.

Things You Will Need

  • Windows Paint

  • Adobe Photoshop

  • Microsoft Publisher

Using Paint

Open Windows Paint, click the Paint button in the top-left corner of the screen and select “Open.” Browse to the photo you want and double-click the file name. The picture opens in the Paint workspace.

Click a small colored box in the “Colors” section of the ribbon/toolbar or leave the default as black.

Click the text tool, which looks like an “A” in the “Tools” section of the ribbon. Click the picture and select a font and text size.

Type your business name and drag it into place on the picture.

Click the Paint button, select “Save As” and type a new name for the photo; do not save it with the same name as the original or else the non-named photo will be overwritten.

Using Photoshop

Open Photoshop, click the “File” menu and select “Open.” Navigate to the photo and double-click the image, which opens in Photoshop.

Click the “Type” tool, which is an icon of a “T” in the “Tools” palette on the left side of the screen.

Choose a font, text color and text size from the toolbar at the top of the screen.

Click the photo and type the business name. Click the text box and drag it into place on the photo.

Click the “File” menu, select “Save As,” give the photo a new name and save it to the computer.

Using Publisher

Open Publisher and click the “Blank 8.5 x 11” button. When the blank Publisher workspace appears, click the “Insert” tab at the top of the screen.

Select the “Picture” button and browse to the photo. Double-click the image and it opens in the Publisher workspace.

Click the “Draw Text Box” button on the ribbon/toolbar at the top of the screen. The cursor changes into a plus sign.

Draw a text box on the photo. Type the business name. Highlight the business name. Click the “Home” tab at the top of the screen. Change the text’s appearance using the font, text color or text size options in the “Font” section of the toolbar.

Click the “File” menu, select “Save As,” name the new document and save it to the computer.