I just discovered how Clint Eastwood watermarks his photos, and I’m obsessed

I don’t know about you, but when I see a photo of Clint Eastwood eating dinner at home, I need to know if it’s the real deal. I need to know whether it’s an official, Eastwood-approved JPEG, or a pretender. Thankfully, it turns out Clint has my back.

Today I discovered the many (many) badges that Eastwood, or whoever manages his Twitter account, slaps over his photos – even the candid selfies and blurry dinner snaps – to certify their authenticity, and I simply can’t get enough of them. Adobe’s Content Authenticity Initiative (CEI) has nothing on Clint’s Watermarking Process (CWP). Clearly the actor has been taking a look at our Photoshop tutorials.

‘Comes directly from Mapaso Productions’ reads one badge (referencing Eastwood’s production company’, while another declares the image ‘PROPERTY OF X.COM/@EASTWOODMALPASO IN CONNECTION WITH CLINT EASTWOOD AND MALPASO PRODUCTIONS’. Most images contain at least five such badges, artfully placed around the subject.

While I jest, there’s something delightfully charming about the whole thing. In a world of sterile and homogenous web design, Eastwood’s decorative badges are taking me straight back to the days of personalised websites from the likes of GeoCities. And hey, with Y2K design making a comeback, nobody can say that Eastwood isn’t on trend.