Text watermarks work, but logo watermarks look more professional and are harder to replicate. A recognizable logo in the corner of your video establishes brand identity while protecting your content.
Preparing your logo for video overlay
Format: Use PNG with a transparent background. JPG does not support transparency, so a JPG logo will have a colored rectangle around it. SVG is not natively supported by most video tools.
If your logo has a white or colored background, remove it first using any image editor (Photoshop, GIMP, Canva, or online background removal tools). The transparent background is essential for a clean overlay.
Resolution: Your logo should be 2-3x the size you want it to appear in the video. This ensures sharp rendering. If you want a 200px-wide watermark on a 1080p video, your logo PNG should be at least 400-600px wide. The video tool will scale it down, and downscaling preserves sharpness while upscaling creates blur.
Color: If your logo is dark, it will disappear on dark scenes. If it is white, it will disappear on bright scenes. Consider a logo version with a thin contrasting outline or a semi-transparent background panel behind it. Many brands have both light and dark versions of their logo for this reason.
Positioning the logo
Standard positions for video watermarks:
Bottom-right corner: Most common. Does not interfere with subtitles if they are centered. Bottom-left corner: Works if bottom-right conflicts with platform UI elements (YouTube's progress bar covers the bottom edge). Top-right corner: Works well for horizontal videos. Avoids interference with bottom UI elements. Top-left corner: Less common but works for certain layouts.
Leave padding between the logo and the video edges (about 2-5% of frame width). A logo jammed into the exact corner looks accidental. A logo with breathing room looks intentional.
Size and opacity guidelines
For branding (you want credit, not protection): Logo width should be 10-15% of the video width. Opacity at 40-60%.
For protection (you want to prevent unauthorized use): Logo width at 20-30% of the video width. Opacity at 70-90%.
For client review (you want the video clearly marked as a draft): Logo or text covering 40-60% of the frame, tiled diagonally. Opacity at 30-40%. This makes the video watchable for review but unusable for publication.
Logo watermark vs. text watermark
Logo advantages: More recognizable, harder to fake, more professional appearance, can be very compact while remaining identifiable.
Text advantages: Simpler to create, works without a pre-designed logo, can include URL or copyright notice, can be applied dynamically (different text for different clients).
For most creators with an established brand, a logo watermark is the better choice. For individual creators or situations where you need to include specific text (a URL, a copyright year, a client name), text watermarks are more practical. The MediaBrew watermark tool supports both: upload a PNG logo or enter text, choose the position, and the overlay is burned into every frame.