Signing presets?

[Lucius]

If you want an objective opinion, then yes, there are people who sign presets. Usually it is done on the texture area that isn't covered by UVs, in order to avoid messing up the design. I have yet to see anyone actually watermarking the visible regions, but that might just be me.

There's a couple options you might want to consider if you want to avoid theft of presets.

1. Sign the area outside the UVs.

2. Add an 'invisible' watermark to the texture if possible.

3. Use steganography to add a signature to image files, which is visible when opening them in notepad.

4. Get a free screen recorder and record your screen as you export the preset and send it to the person, while making sure that the date and time are visible.

If you want your signature to be visible on the preset in-game, there are also a few options.

1. Sign the less viewed areas of the model: paws, area of the tongue close to the gullet, roof of the mouth, area of the head covered by the eyes, area of the mouth covered by the teeth, topmost part of the teeth where they clip through the head, and the area of the body where the tail is attached.

2. Create an 'inner' and 'outer' texture for the body/head/whatever. The inner texture is the image with your signature all over it, and the outer one is the clean texture. In the material file, you can overlay the outer texture over the inner one, so that people can see your signature if they F3 into the character model, but not from outside of it.

3. I haven't tried this myself, but you could try lightly signing the chest area between the front legs or the area between the back legs. Because the UVs get so stretched there, if you play your cards right, you could make it look like fur from most angles. The UVs are also very compressed on the lower jaw of the canine head, so you could get away with signing there too.

If you want my personal opinion: I don't sign any presets. I'm more of a 'copyleft' person and I'm much more lax when it comes to credit or redistribution. Of course, this is a personal preference.

Hope this helps, good luck with your commissions in the future.

[ShadowMT13]

I have never seen anyone do that, but if I was actually good at making presets I would probably do that since I can't stand art thieves, I always worry about them in the back of my mind when I post stuff to my deviantart or online somewhere. Personally I would put it on the bottom of one of the back paws if I did make presets and chose to sign them. It is a good idea though as a security precaution.

[RecklessHoodie]

The thought has crossed my mind before. I've done several preset commissions but I have never added my signature. I personally wouldn't want a signature on one of my characters in-game... but I could see why some people would do it. Most people are kind enough to give credit in their characters bios, which is just as good.  

[LordSuragaha]

I’ve seen it done before but I’ve never really been one to sign my presets although it is a good idea. I actually sign my maps though lol.