Add watermark to PDF
Stamp text or an image across some or all pages.
or drop files anywhere on this page
Your files stay in this browser. Nothing is uploaded.
About Watermark
Watermark PDF adds a text or image watermark to some or all pages of a PDF, such as a company name, a draft label or a logo, with one stamp per page. You set it up against a preview, and the stamping runs in your browser, so the PDF is never sent to a server.
Reach for it before sharing a draft, a sample or a confidential copy so its status is visible at a glance. The stamp is drawn onto the page itself, on top of the existing content, so it is not a layer you can switch off again later.
How it works
- Add one or more PDFs. If one of them asks for a password to open, enter it in the box on that file's chip first.
- Choose Add Text or Add Image. For text, type the words in Watermark text. For an image, choose a PNG or JPG and set the Image width as a percentage of the page width.
- Check the Preview. Leave Location on page as Centered, or choose Custom and drag the watermark into position, then adjust Opacity and Rotation.
- For text, set the Font (Helvetica, Courier or Times New Roman), Size and Colour.
- Optionally restrict it to specific pages in More options. Leave that blank to stamp every page.
- Click Watermark PDF and download. Several outputs come back in a ZIP.
What each setting does
The defaults give a red, 30% opaque, diagonal CONFIDENTIAL in Helvetica at size 60, centered on every page.
- Watermark text: one stamp per line. Blank lines are ignored, and a line is never wrapped. With several lines, each line gets its own copy of the document.
- Font: Helvetica, Courier or Times New Roman. These are standard PDF fonts, so letters outside the Western European set, and other scripts, are drawn as question marks. For those, make a PNG of the wording and use Add Image.
- Size: 6 to 400, default 60. It is not adjusted to fit the page, so long text at a large size can run past the edge.
- Colour: any colour from the picker. The default is red.
- Opacity: 0 to 100%, default 30%. Rotation: 0 to 359 degrees, default 315, counted counter-clockwise.
- Location on page: Centered, or Custom, where you drag the watermark on the preview. The position is stored as a fraction of the page, so it lands in the same relative spot on pages of different sizes.
- Image width, for Add Image: 5 to 100% of the page width, default 50%. The height follows the image, so it is never stretched.
What the watermark does to the file
The watermark is drawn on top of the existing page content, not behind it, and the rest of the document is saved as it was. Pages are not re-rendered, so existing text stays selectable and images are not re-compressed. A text watermark is real text, which a viewer can select and search. An image watermark stays an image, and a PNG keeps its transparency.
It is a marker, not protection. Because the stamp sits above the page rather than inside it, someone with a PDF editor may be able to select and delete it. To fuse it into the page, run the watermarked file through Flatten everything, which turns each page, stamp included, into a single picture. That also removes the text layer.
A protected file is opened with the password you type, and the stamped copy carries no password of its own. A file that needs no password to open but forbids printing or copying is refused with a password message, and Unlock clears that first.
Several lines, several files and the names you get back
Every combination of file and line produces its own PDF. Two files and three lines of text give six PDFs in one ZIP. Names follow the pattern [BASENAME] - [TEXT], so contract.pdf stamped with DRAFT FOR ALICE comes back as contract - DRAFT FOR ALICE.pdf, and an image watermark uses the word watermark in place of the text. Change the pattern under Customize result names.
Say a 24-page contract has to go to two reviewers, each copy marked for its reader, with the cover page left clean. Type DRAFT FOR ALICE and DRAFT FOR BOB on separate lines, enter 2- under Watermark specific pages, and click Watermark PDF. The ZIP holds two PDFs, and page 1 is unmarked in both.
The page list under More options takes single pages, ranges such as 3-9, open-ended ranges such as 45-, and the words odd and even. A number beyond the last page of any file stops the run with a message, so keep the list within the shortest file.
Saved watermarks and images
The Templates tab saves the current settings under a name, and applying one brings back all the settings above except the image itself. Templates live in this browser only. With Add Image you choose the image again each time, since an image chosen in one visit is not remembered in the next. Only PNG and JPG are accepted.
Frequently asked questions
Not from the watermarked file itself. The text or image is drawn directly onto the page content, and there is no separate layer to switch off, so removing it cleanly would mean starting again from the original, un-watermarked file. Someone with a PDF editor may still be able to delete it, which is why it is a marker rather than protection.
Yes. Add the PDFs and put each watermark text on its own line in the Watermark text box. One output is produced per line, per file, and everything is returned in a ZIP.
Yes. Open the Templates tab, name your current settings and save them. Saved watermarks are stored in this browser and can be applied or deleted at any time; they do not follow you to another device.
It is drawn on top of the page, not behind it, so it can cover what is underneath. At the default 30% opacity the page shows through. Drag it anywhere on the preview in Custom mode, or lower the opacity if it competes with the text.
PNG or JPG. A PNG with a transparent background works best when you want the page underneath to show through around the logo.
Yes. Open More options and use "Watermark specific pages" with a range such as "2-" to skip page one, or list the exact pages you want stamped. The words odd and even work there too.
The default Rotation is 315 degrees, a diagonal that stays readable without lining up with the body text. Rotation counts counter-clockwise, so 45 climbs from lower left to upper right and 0 is horizontal. Any value from 0 to 359 is allowed.
Not as text. The fonts are standard PDF fonts, and other scripts are drawn as question marks. Make a PNG of the wording and use Add Image instead.
No. Each page gets one stamp, at the position you set, and several lines of text give several separate documents, not several stamps on one page. To add a second mark, run the watermarked file through Watermark PDF again in a different position.
No. The stamp is added by code running in your browser, in a background worker, and the PDF is never sent to a server.
Related tools
This tool ran entirely in your browser and nothing was uploaded. Your Recent files list keeps a copy of local files under 5 MB until you clear it. How your files are handled.