Sohail Pathan
Introduction
Ensuring the security and authenticity of documents has become increasingly important today when information is easily shared and accessed all over the place.
What are image Watermark APIs and why are they used?
Image watermarking APIs allow users to add watermarks to images. Watermarks can be used to:
- Label sensitive & confidential documents
- Protect intellectual property from unauthorised access.
- Show the ownership of content.
Image watermarking result on ApyHub
In this article, we will explore and compare some of the most popular watermarking APIs.
Features & Functionality
Input Format
Only ApyHub let’s allows you to provide source input in both Text and Image. Whereas Imgix, Neutrinoapi and Quickchart only allow you to add a watermark as an image with PNG, JPG and File URL.
Result after adding Watermark - text watermark (left image) & image watermark (right image)
Customization:
Whether it's an image watermark or a text watermark, proper alignment and positioning are important in order to ensure that the message of the image is not disrupted. ApyHub offers additional parameter options, such as the watermark's position, rotation angle, opacity, and size. Quikchart also allows for some customization including ratio and watermark position. Imgix provides customization options for scaling and `positioning (using the X and Y axes). NeutrinoAPI offers more comparable options, including opacity, position, scale, and the ability to add a background colour**`.
Quickchart Watermark API Documentation
SDKs and Client Libraries
ApyHub provides the client code in 8 languages (C, C#, JavaScript, Go, NodeJS, Java, Python, and PHP) and SDKs in Node.js and Go. Imgix provides 8 client SDKs in Python PHP, Ruby, JavaScript, Swift, Java, C# and Go including plugins and integrations for external apps like Shopify. Neutrino and Quickchart don’t provide any SDK.
Client Code Generator : ApyHub
Documentation and Tutorials:
Apyhub APIs include thorough documentation, including the Authentication method, Error Codes, HTTP Response Codes, and Request Examples. Imgix has provided vast documentation for all the developers focused on Mobile and Web. Quickchart and Neurion have very simple and standard documentation for the API as they don’t provide any SDK.
API Documentation: Imgix
API Testing
Most of the providers let you test the APIs right from a terminal in the platform. ApyHub also has an API Playground where you can test the APIs in the UI plus you can see the snippet of the provided input in cURL.
API Playground - ApyHub, Neutrinoapi and Imgix
Availability
ApyHub has served *99.99% of uptime. Imgix, Neutrinoapi, and Quickchart also claim to have high uptime.
Pricing
This is subject to change but at the time of writing, all providers offer a subscription-based tiered model including a free plan. The most generous free plan is from ApyHub, offering 2 Million API calls per month for free, whereas Imgix offers 1000 calls per day, Neutrinoapi offers 10 to 50 calls per day, so 300 - 500 calls per month and Quickchart doesn't offer any calls in the free plan for watermarking.
Pricing pages of Cloudinary and ApyHub
Community Support
Most of the providers offer dedicated channels such as Discord, Slack, or Chatbot Agent to their users to ask support questions. ApyHub has a dedicated Discord Server, which lets you interact directly with the support team in addition to email support. Imgix and Neutrinoapi provide email-based support. Quickchart has its own forum for users to discuss issues and raise the query.
Below is a summary of the comparison of the providers I looked at. We focused on:
- #API calls
- Inputs
- File size
- Pricing
- Throttling
- Storage
| Provider | # Calls (Free) | Input Method | File Size | Pricing ( Paid | Throttling | Storage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ApyHub | 2M calls in the free plan | PNG, JPG, GIF, Text OR File URL | 50 MB | Starting from 10 EUR/month. Custom pricing plan for Enterprises. | 1 call/s in the free plan | Yes, 2 GB |
| Imgix | 1000 calls in free plan | PNG, JPG, TEXT OR File URL | 100 MB | Starting from 75 EUR/month. | 1 call/s in the free plan | NO |
| Neutrinoapi | 300 - 1500 in free plan | PNG, JPG, BASE64 Or File URL | No Limit | Starting from 9 EUR/month. | 6 call/s in the free plan | NO |
| Quickchart | No free API Calls for Watermark | File URL | N/A | Starting from 40 EUR/month. | N/A | NO |
Some additional providers:
You can also check CloudConvert, Cloudimage and Picnie as they also provide Watermarking API for specific formats.
Conclusion:
When it comes to watermarking ApyHub, Quickchart, Neutrinoapi, and Imgix all provide unique features and benefits for developers. Depending on the specific project requirements, developers can choose the API that best suits their needs.
With factors such as supported file formats, conversion accuracy, integration simplicity, and additional functionalities, developers can make a decision and leverage the most useful API to streamline their document conversion workflows.
Do you agree with our list of the above API Providers? What do you think is the best watermarking API? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
