I've noticed if an image has a watermark, when I view the image in a folder with thumbnails, the watermark is not visible. Do you know why this is? Is there a way to view the image full-sized without the watermark?
A good watermark is usually very faint so it's hard to see. It's visible, so you know it's there, but it's done so you can see the content behind it. Once the image has been resized for a thumbnail, the watermark doesn't disappear, it's just that you can't see as it's faint and not a prominent part of the image. A thumbnail only contains so many pixels, so stuff you can't see at that size is discarded. If there was a way to view a full sized image without a watermark, what would be the point in having it in the first place? The watermark is part of the image and it's there for a reason. Hope that helps!
I think your a bit mistaken. This watermark is huge, with no transparency. Some how Windows is able to read the file, pick up that is has a watermark, and display the thumbnail without the watermark. I can't seem to find out how this is possibly done. I think it's in the ASCII of the JPEG or something.
why would it matter in the watermark anyway ?? It's so small that people can't even rip your work if they even wanted to.
That image hasn't ALWAYS existed with a watermark on it though - I know in the past there have been leaks where an image has been censored and then released - but the thumbnail was generated in the file and stored there (uncensored) after the image was edited. It happened to a nude photo of a news person a handful of years ago I think. I'd guess that to get rid of the already-generated thumbnail you'd either need to view it on another computer that doesn't already have a thumbnail for it, or export the final image again without any extra metadata (like Photoshop's 'Save for Web' feature will do) The only other explanation is that when the thumbnailer goes to reduce your image - it's ignoring the pixels that it doesn't think 'belong' and tries to 'heal' the image - but if it is big and bright that seems less likely.