Guide
How to add a watermark to a PDF
A watermark says what a copy is for. Marking an ID copy with the transaction it was submitted for, a draft as a draft, or a quote as not yet final is the most useful thing you can do to a document you are about to hand over. It takes a minute here and, as with everything on this site, the file never leaves your device.
Steps
Open the Watermark tool
Go to Watermark PDF and choose your file. Every page shows as its own thumbnail right away, each one already showing the default mark — you are looking at the real result across the whole document from the first moment, not a single sample page.
Choose text or a logo
Text is the usual choice: type the words, then set the typeface, weight, size and colour. An image mark takes a PNG or a JPEG and sizes it as a share of the page shorter side, so it lands the same relative size on every page regardless of what shape those pages are.
Set the look and the placement
Opacity decides how much of the page shows through — around a quarter is enough to read the mark without fighting the text. The angle is free, with 45 degrees as the familiar diagonal. Place it on the nine-point grid, tile it so it reads as a texture across the whole page, or drag the handle on the small page preview to a spot the grid does not have — every thumbnail updates as you go, so the placement is never a guess.
Decide behind or over
Behind is a true watermark: it sits under the page content, so every word stays fully legible on top of it. Over is a stamp: it lands on top, which is what you want for a RECEIVED or a DRAFT that is meant to be impossible to miss.
Leave out any page that should stay clean
A cover sheet, most often. Tap a page in the grid to turn its watermark off — it dims to show it is excluded, and a line above the grid keeps count of how many pages the mark will actually land on.
Apply and download
The mark is written into the pages you left on and you get the finished file. Keep your unmarked original: a watermark is not something you want to have to remove later.
A watermark tells an honest reader what a document is for. It does not stop a dishonest one doing something else with it. If you are marking an ID or a signed form, write the purpose and the date into the mark, keep the original unmarked, and treat the mark as a label rather than a lock.
Common questions
Does a watermark protect my document?
No, and this matters enough to be blunt about. A watermark is a label and a deterrent, not security. It is drawn into the page like anything else on it, and someone determined can crop it out or remove it. Do not let a watermark be the reason you feel safe sending an ID or a signed form.
What should I write on an ID copy?
Something specific rather than just COPY. The purpose and the date — the name of the transaction it is for, and when — makes the copy useless for anything else and is far more effective than a generic mark.
My watermark disappeared on a scanned page. Why?
Because a scanned page is one image covering the whole sheet, with nothing transparent about it. A mark placed behind that image is genuinely behind it and cannot show through. Switch to over, with the opacity low, and it will read fine.
Can I use a logo with a transparent background?
Yes. A PNG keeps its transparency, so a logo with a cut-out background sits on the page without a white box around it. A JPEG has no transparency and will always bring its background with it.
Will the watermark cover the text I need people to read?
Not if you put it behind and keep the opacity low. That combination is what the default settings aim at: visible enough to be the point, faint enough that the document is still a document.
Is my file uploaded?
No. Both the preview and the finished file are produced in your browser tab.