I probably use the copyright symbol ©  daily as I prepare images for the web. Not only does it make me feel as though the image is somewhat protected, I think it looks kind of cool on the image. It is so incredibly easy to do and I encourage you to put your name along with the copyright symbol on your work also.  Some people suggest the date should also be included along with the symbol. I think for commercial work this is incredibly important. For my fine art work, I find it to be a bit intrusive. I do of course complete the metadata file with the copyright symbol,  date, and also with the phrase:  All Rights Are Reserved for any images I post to the web.

Creating the Copyright Symbol

On a Mac: press alt/g

On a PC: Press the Alt key/key in 0169 on numeric keypad

Here are a couple of images with the copyright symbol on them. I created the symbol and text in Photoshop using the text tool. Once I knew my standard image size, it was easy to create an Action in Photoshop to generate the the copyright symbol along with any text, font size and color you may want to add.  With the addition of a Photoshop Action placing the necessary symbol and text on your images is now an extremely quick and easy task.  Another important step to protecting your work is to consider registering your images with the Copyright Office in Washington DC. Over the years this process has become quite easy also especially since currently it can be done all on line.

“Desperation” © Susan McAnany – All Rights Are Reserved

“Pepper Line” © 2007  Susan McAnany – All Rights Are Reserved

Thanks for reading and if you have time, check out more of my work at susanmcanany.com