Add Watermark to PDF

Protect your PDF documents with text or image watermarks. Add 'CONFIDENTIAL', 'D...

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Supported Formats

Input Formats

.pdf

Output Formats

.pdf

Powerful Watermark Features

Everything you need for professional document watermarking

Text Watermarks - Custom text with 8 quick presets for common stamps
Image Watermarks - Upload logos or custom graphics with transparency
Tiled Pattern - Repeat watermark across entire page for protection
5 Colors - Gray, black, red, blue, and green options
6 Positions - Center, tiled, or any corner placement
Custom Rotation - Rotate from -90° to 90° with quick presets
Page Selection - All, first, even, odd, or specific pages
Live Preview - See exactly how watermark appears before applying

Why Use Add Watermark to PDF?

Text & Image Watermarks

Add text watermarks with custom fonts, or upload your company logo as an image watermark. Text watermarks support quick presets like CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, and COPY, or type any custom message.

Tiled Watermark Option

Apply watermarks in a tiled pattern across the entire page for maximum protection. Tiled watermarks are much harder to remove and clearly establish document ownership across all content.

Full Customization

Control every aspect of your watermark: choose from multiple fonts and colors, adjust size, set opacity from subtle to bold, and rotate at any angle. Live preview shows exactly how it will look.

Smart Page Selection

Apply watermarks to all pages, first page only, even pages, odd pages, or select specific pages individually. Perfect for documents where you need different handling for different sections.

Common Watermarking Uses

Why people watermark their PDFs

Confidential Documents

Mark sensitive business documents, contracts, and financial reports as CONFIDENTIAL to prevent unauthorized sharing and clearly establish document status.

Draft & Review Copies

Add DRAFT watermarks to documents under review. This prevents old versions from being confused with final documents and clearly signals the document isn't approved yet.

Company Branding

Add your company logo to proposals, reports, and documents. Logo watermarks reinforce brand identity and establish document ownership professionally.

Portfolio Protection

Photographers, designers, and artists can watermark portfolios and proofs to protect creative work while sharing samples with potential clients.

How It Works

1

Upload Your PDF

Drag and drop your PDF document or click to browse. The tool loads your PDF and displays a preview so you can see how watermarks will appear.

2

Choose Watermark Type

Select Text to add words like CONFIDENTIAL or DRAFT, or choose Image to upload a logo or custom watermark graphic. Use quick presets for common watermark text.

3

Customize Appearance

Adjust font, size, color, opacity, and rotation. Choose where to place the watermark: center, corners, or tiled across the entire page. The live preview updates as you adjust settings.

4

Add & Download

Click Add Watermark to process your document. Download the protected PDF with your watermark embedded on selected pages. Your original filename is preserved with '_watermarked' appended.

Tips for Effective Watermarking

Use Tiled for Maximum Protection

Tiled watermarks covering the entire page are much harder to remove than single centered watermarks. Use them for sensitive documents you're sharing externally.

Choose Opacity Carefully

For documents that need to remain readable, use 15-30% opacity. For samples or proofs where protection matters more than readability, use 40-60%.

Use Transparent PNGs for Logos

When uploading a logo watermark, use PNG format with transparent background. This ensures only your logo appears without a white rectangle behind it.

Keep Original Files

Always keep unwatermarked originals. Watermarks cannot be removed once applied. You'll need the original to create different watermarked versions.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can add two types of watermarks: Text watermarks let you add any words or phrases, with quick presets for CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, COPY, SAMPLE, and more. You can customize the font (Helvetica, Times, Courier), size, and color. Image watermarks let you upload any PNG or JPG - perfect for company logos, signatures, or custom graphics. PNG images with transparent backgrounds work best as they don't add a white box around your watermark.
A tiled watermark repeats your watermark text or image across the entire page in a grid pattern, covering all content. This provides much stronger protection than a single centered watermark because it's nearly impossible to remove or crop out. Tiled watermarks are ideal for sensitive documents where you need to clearly establish ownership or prevent unauthorized copying. They're commonly used for confidential business documents, proof copies, and preview materials.
Use the Opacity slider to control how transparent or visible your watermark appears. Lower values (10-30%) create subtle watermarks that are visible but don't heavily obscure the underlying content - good for documents you still need to read clearly. Higher values (50-100%) create bold, prominent watermarks that stand out - useful for documents like samples or proofs where you want the watermark clearly noticed. The live preview shows exactly how different opacity levels look.
Yes! The 'Apply Watermark To' option gives you full control. Choose from: All Pages (watermark every page), First Page Only (just the cover), Even Pages Only (pages 2, 4, 6...), Odd Pages Only (pages 1, 3, 5...), or Select Pages (click individual page numbers). This flexibility is useful for documents where you need different handling - for example, watermarking only the cover page of a report or avoiding watermarks on appendices.
We offer five colors optimized for readability on documents: Gray (subtle, professional), Black (high contrast), Red (attention-grabbing, good for warnings), Blue (professional, corporate), and Green (positive, for approvals). Each color is designed to work well at various opacity levels. For image watermarks, your uploaded image keeps its original colors - you can adjust the overall opacity but not individual colors.
Use the Rotation slider to set any angle from -90° to 90°. Common choices are -45° (diagonal from bottom-left to top-right), 0° (horizontal), and 45° (diagonal from top-left to bottom-right). Diagonal watermarks are harder to crop out and are traditional for 'CONFIDENTIAL' or 'DRAFT' stamps. Quick-select buttons for -45°, 0°, and 45° let you jump to common angles instantly. The live preview shows exactly how your rotated watermark will appear.
Four professional fonts are available: Helvetica (clean, modern sans-serif), Helvetica Bold (same style with more weight for better visibility), Times Roman (classic serif, traditional for formal documents), and Courier (monospace, technical appearance). These are standard PDF fonts that render consistently across all PDF viewers and devices without embedding additional font data.
Yes! Select the Image watermark type and upload your logo as a PNG or JPG file. For best results, use a PNG with a transparent background so only your logo appears without a white box. You can adjust the image size (25% to 200%), opacity, rotation, and position. This is perfect for branding documents with your company logo while protecting them from unauthorized redistribution.
Absolutely. All processing happens 100% in your web browser using JavaScript and pdf-lib. Your PDF and watermark images never leave your device - nothing is uploaded to any server. When you close the browser tab, all data is permanently erased. This makes our tool safe for confidential business documents, legal papers, financial reports, or any sensitive content you need to watermark. We cannot see, store, or access your files at any point.
No. Watermarks are added as a separate layer on top of your existing content without modifying or re-compressing any original elements. Your text, images, formatting, and quality remain exactly as they were. The watermark is simply drawn over the content. The file size increase is minimal - text watermarks add only a few kilobytes, and image watermarks add roughly the size of your uploaded image compressed into the PDF.
Once a watermark is embedded in a PDF, it becomes part of the document and cannot be easily removed. This is actually a feature, not a bug - if watermarks could be trivially removed, they wouldn't provide any protection. If you need an unwatermarked version, always keep your original files. For documents that move through stages (DRAFT to FINAL), start fresh with the original and apply the new watermark rather than trying to change the existing one.
Watermarking adds a visible overlay (text or image) to establish ownership or document status, but doesn't prevent copying or editing. Password protection encrypts the PDF so it can't be opened without the password. For maximum security, use both: watermark your document to establish ownership and indicate its status, then use our Protect PDF tool to add password encryption. This combination provides both visual and technical protection.
You can upload watermark images of any reasonable size. The tool automatically scales them proportionally. Use the Image Size slider to adjust from 25% to 200% of the original dimensions. For logos, typically 100-150% works well for center positioning, while smaller sizes (50-75%) work better for corner placements. The live preview helps you find the perfect size before applying. Larger images do increase the final PDF file size.
Yes! The interface is fully responsive and works on tablets and smartphones. All controls including the live preview, sliders, and page selection work with touch. For complex documents or detailed watermark positioning, a larger screen (tablet or desktop) provides a better experience, but basic watermarking works well on any device. Processing happens locally on your device regardless of platform.

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