PDF | 2 min

How to add a watermark to a PDF

A watermark tells readers what status a document has, such as draft or confidential. You choose the wording, position, size, opacity and colour, and the marked copy is made in your browser.

Steps

1. 1

   Open Add watermark to PDF

   Go to the tool and add your PDF.

2. 2

   Write the text

   In Watermark text type your wording. It starts as CONFIDENTIAL.

3. 3

   Set how it looks

   Choose Position (diagonally across the page, horizontally across the centre, or along the bottom), then adjust Text size, Opacity and Colour. A lower opacity keeps the page readable.

4. 4

   Run, check and download

   Run the tool and look at a few pages to make sure the mark does not hide important text.

Tips

• Keep your original file. The watermark is drawn onto the pages of the new copy.
• A faint diagonal mark is easy to read around and hard to crop out.

Questions

Can the watermark be removed later?

It is drawn onto the pages, so it is not a layer you can switch off. Keep your original if you need a clean copy.

Can I watermark images too?

Yes. Use Watermark an image for pictures.