Add a Watermark to Your PDF

When to watermark a PDF

A watermark tells everyone who sees a document what it is and who it belongs to. Common uses:

• CONFIDENTIAL on HR, legal and financial documents.
• DRAFT on proposals and reports that are still being reviewed, so nobody mistakes them for the final version.
• COPY or SAMPLE on certificates, invoices and documents shared as examples.
• Your company or studio name on proofs, portfolios and quotations, to discourage reuse.
• “For [name] only” to personalise a document so leaks are traceable.

Layout options

• Once, centred – one large watermark across the middle of each page. The classic look for CONFIDENTIAL and DRAFT.
• Tiled across the page – the text repeats in a grid, covering the whole page. Harder to crop out; good for proofs and previews.
• Small, in the footer – a discreet line at the bottom of every page, such as “Confidential – Acme Ltd”. Ideal for internal documents that must stay readable.

Angle, size, opacity and colour

Angle: Diagonal (45°) is traditional and spans the page; Horizontal is cleaner; Diagonal (-45°) runs the other way; Vertical (90°) fits narrow margins.

Font size (pt): default 60 pt for a centred watermark. Tiled layouts look better at 30–40 pt; footers at 9–11 pt.

Opacity (%): default 18%. The watermark is drawn over the page, so lower values keep the content readable while still being obvious. For screen previews you want to protect, 30–40% is more forceful.

Colour: default red (#C0262D). Grey suits formal documents; brand colours suit proofs. Very light colours with low opacity can disappear when printed, so test-print important documents.

Step by step

1. Add the PDF.
2. Type the Text.
3. Choose Layout, Angle, Font size, Opacity and Colour.
4. Press Add watermark.
5. Open the result and check it on a couple of pages.

The watermark is applied to every page, and each page’s own size and orientation is respected, so landscape pages in a portrait document are handled correctly.

Watermarks and security

A text watermark is a visible label, not encryption. It deters casual copying and makes the status of a document obvious, but someone with editing software could remove it. For sensitive documents, combine it with a password:

1. Add the watermark here.
2. Protect the result with Protect PDF, choosing Block editing and, if appropriate, Block copying.

Other finishing touches

• Number pages first with Add Page Numbers.
• Sign the document with Sign PDF – for a logo watermark, upload a transparent PNG there and place it on each page.
• Reduce the file size for email with Compress PDF.
• Turn a watermarked page into an image for social media with PDF to JPG.

Text and characters

Standard Latin letters, numbers and common punctuation are supported in watermark text. Very unusual symbols may be replaced, so keep watermarks simple – they work best as one to four words anyway.

Encrypted PDFs

If the PDF needs a password to open, unlock it first with Unlock PDF.

Privacy

Watermarking happens on your device. The document is never uploaded, which matters for exactly the kind of files people watermark – confidential ones.