PDF Watermark - Add Watermarks to PDFs
Add text or image watermarks to protect and brand your PDF documents
Why Add Watermarks to PDFs?
Copyright Protection
Protect your intellectual property and deter unauthorized use
Branding
Add your logo or company name to brand your documents professionally
Document Status
Mark documents as "Draft", "Confidential", or "Copy" for clarity
Customizable Opacity
Adjust watermark transparency to balance visibility and readability
Common Use Cases
- • Add "Confidential" or "Internal Use Only" to sensitive documents
- • Brand invoices, proposals, and presentations with your company logo
- • Mark drafts and copies to prevent confusion with final versions
- • Protect creative work with copyright notices
What the Watermark Actually Does to Your File
The stamp is applied to every page of the document. Text watermarks are drawn in a neutral gray and sized to the page, so the words run diagonally across the middle of each page at about the full width of the page. Image watermarks keep their proportions and are scaled and angled the same way. In both cases the mark is drawn on top of the existing page content at the opacity you set. It is written into the page itself rather than added as a comment or annotation, so a normal PDF reader has no button to delete it. Because it sits on top of the content, it works just as well on scanned pages, where the "text" is really one big image.
Processing runs on our server: the file is sent over HTTPS, stamped in a temporary directory, and that directory is wiped as soon as the watermarked copy is returned to your browser. Nothing is retained.
Choosing an opacity that works
- •10-30% - subtle branding or a logo behind body text; readers barely notice it until they look
- •40-60% (the 50% default) - status stamps like DRAFT or CONFIDENTIAL that must register instantly but leave the document usable
- •70%+ - hard deterrence on image proofs or samples where you want copying to be pointless
Adding a watermark step by step
- Upload the PDF (up to 50MB).
- Choose Text and type your stamp, or choose Image and upload a logo. A PNG with a transparent background blends cleanly; a JPG brings its opaque rectangle along.
- Set the opacity slider, then click Add Watermark. The stamped file downloads as watermarked.pdf.
Three situations where this earns its keep
A photographer sending a 40-page proof book stamps every spread with a semi-transparent logo, so clients can review but not print final-quality copies before paying. A consulting team circulating contract revisions marks each round DRAFT, which has saved more than one deal from someone accidentally signing an outdated version. And a teacher distributing practice exams stamps each class's copy with the class name, making the source of any leaked paper obvious.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can someone remove the watermark?
Not with an ordinary PDF reader. The mark is part of the page rather than a comment or annotation, so viewers like Chrome, Preview and Acrobat Reader have no option to delete it. It is stored as a labelled watermark layer, though, so PDF editors that work with layers, and command line tools such as pdfcpu, can hide or remove it. Treat a watermark as a deterrent and a way to show where a copy came from, not as copy protection. For sensitive material, combine a watermark with password protection.
Is the watermark applied to every page?
Yes, all pages get the stamp. If you only want certain pages marked, split the document first with the PDF Splitter, watermark the relevant part, and merge the pieces back together.
Does watermarking degrade the document?
No. Existing text stays selectable and searchable, images are not recompressed, and the file grows only by the small amount needed to store the stamp itself.
Why does my logo have a white box around it?
The uploaded image has an opaque background, which is always the case with JPG. Export the logo as a PNG with transparency and the box disappears.
Will it work on a scanned PDF?
Yes. The stamp is drawn over the page regardless of whether the page contains real text or a scanned image, so scans, faxes, and photographed documents all watermark normally.