FFmpeg Cookbook
JA

Video Watermark Tool

Burn an image logo or a text watermark into your video. Set its position, size and opacity.

Your file is not uploaded
Video file
MP4 / MOV / WebM
Video file
MP4 / MOV / WebM
Text is drawn with Noto Sans Bold. It covers Latin letters (including accented ones), digits, Greek, Cyrillic and symbols such as ©. Japanese, Chinese and Korean text may show in the preview, but it comes out as boxes (□) in the video. For those, make an image of the text and use image mode.
Preview (drag to position) — current: Bottom Right
Position
TL
TC
TR
CL
CC
CR
BL
BC
BR
Size (% of video width) 15%
Opacity (0 = transparent, 100 = solid) 85%
Processing… 0%

Equivalent FFmpeg command

CLI command for your current settings. Updates live as you change controls.

ffmpeg -y -i video.mp4 -i logo.png -filter_complex "[0:v]scale=trunc(iw/2)*2:trunc(ih/2)*2[even];[1:v][even]scale2ref=w='min(iw*0.1500,ih*mdar)':h=ow/mdar[scaled][base];[scaled]format=rgba,colorchannelmixer=aa=0.850[wm];[base][wm]overlay=x=W-w-20:y=H-h-20:format=auto[v]" -map "[v]" -map "0:a?" -c:v libx264 -preset fast -crf 23 -c:a aac -b:a 128k -pix_fmt yuv420p -movflags +faststart output.mp4

What to do next

Command Reference
Related Tools
SNS Video Resizer Video Compressor
Popular uses
Add logosDiscourage reuploadsBrand social exports
Next tools
Subtitle Burn-in Tool Video Compressor Thumbnail Extractor

How to use

  1. Pick a video and watermarkDrop the video, then either upload a logo image or type a text watermark.
  2. Position and sizePick a position button or drag the watermark on the preview.
  3. Tune opacity and marginOpacity starts at 85% and the margin from the edge at 20 px.
  4. Run the burn-inA preview appears when processing completes.

Recommended settings

YouTube logo bottom-right
Image · bottom-right · opacity 60% · margin 24px
A slightly faint logo gets in the way less.
Channel name across the whole video
Text · bottom-right · 36 px · semi-transparent black bar
The bar keeps text readable over bright shots.
Date stamp
Text · top-left · 28 px · white
Small text in a corner stays out of the way.

When it goes wrong

The watermark is not where you dragged it

Cause: “Use the dragged position” is off. Clicking a position button also clears the dragged position.

Fix: After clicking a position button, drag the watermark again.

Text shows as boxes (tofu)

Cause: The text font (Noto Sans Bold) covers Latin, Greek and Cyrillic, but not Japanese, Chinese or Korean.

Fix: Make an image of the text and use image mode.

The logo background is not transparent

Cause: The image has no alpha channel. JPEG cannot be transparent.

Fix: Re-export it as a PNG with a transparent background.

Questions

Which logo formats work?

PNG, JPEG and WebP. For a transparent logo, use a PNG with an alpha channel. Convert SVG to PNG first.

Can text be Japanese / CJK?

No. Text mode uses only Noto Sans Bold, which has no Japanese, Chinese or Korean characters. Make an image of the text and use image mode.

Can I add a moving timecode?

This tool only supports fixed text. For a running time, use drawtext in desktop FFmpeg (timecode or %{pts}).

Does this blur or pixelate?

No. Use the Black Mask, Mosaic & Blur Video tool.

Can I remove a watermark later?

No. Once burned in, the watermark is part of the picture. Keep the original file.

Multiple watermarks on the same clip?

One per run. Run the output through again to add another (each run re-encodes the video).

What unit is the size in?

Image mode uses % of the video width (5–50%); text mode uses font size in px.

More detail (settings, limits, FFmpeg commands)

What each setting means

Mode
Image (logo) or text (drawn with drawtext).
Position
Nine positions (corners, edge centres, centre), or drag on the preview.
Opacity
20–100%. 100 is solid; lower values are fainter. Default 85%.
Font size
Text mode only. 8–200 px (default 36).
Background bar
A bar behind the text: none (default), semi-transparent black, solid black or semi-transparent white.

Browsers and limits

  • Maximum file size: video 500 MB, logo image 10 MB
  • Text mode uses a Latin font (Noto Sans Bold), so Japanese, Chinese and Korean text cannot be shown — use image mode
  • One watermark per pass
  • Output is H.264 MP4 (CRF 18, 23 or 28, your choice); audio, when present, is re-encoded to AAC 128 kbps

The same job with the FFmpeg command line

Burn a logo into the bottom-right corner
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -i logo.png -filter_complex "[1:v]format=rgba,colorchannelmixer=aa=0.6[w];[0:v][w]overlay=W-w-24:H-h-24" out.mp4
aa=0.6 → 60% opacity; 24 px margin. The logo is used at its own size.
Top-left text watermark
ffmpeg -i input.mp4 -vf "drawtext=fontfile=font.ttf:text='© My Channel':fontsize=36:fontcolor=white:x=24:y=24:box=1:[email protected]:boxborderw=8" out.mp4
font.ttf is the font file to use. box=1 adds the translucent background bar, and boxborderw sets its padding.

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