Can someone remove the watermark?

Yes, with a PDF editor. It is drawn as content on the page rather than locked into it. A watermark is a notice, not a protection.

Can I use my logo instead of text?

Not yet. This stamps text only. Image watermarks are on the list.

Will the watermark cover my text?

It sits on top, so at high opacity it will. Lower the opacity until the page reads properly in the preview, somewhere around 15 to 30 per cent for most documents.

Can I watermark only some pages?

Yes. List the pages, such as 1 or 2-5, 9. Leave the box empty to mark everything.

Add Watermark

Stamp text across the pages of a document. The preview shows the real stamped page, so you can see what it looks like before committing to it.

Choose a PDF or drop it hereOne PDF, up to 100 MB.

Runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded.

How to use Add Watermark

1Pick a PDF, or drag it onto the box above.
2Type the text and choose where it sits.
3Adjust size, colour and opacity until the preview looks right.
4Press Add watermark and download the stamped file.

What a watermark is good for

Marking a document as DRAFT so nobody acts on the wrong version. Putting CONFIDENTIAL across something before it circulates. Stamping a client name on a proposal. All of these work because a reader sees the mark, not because the file stops them doing anything.

What it will not do is protect the document. The mark is drawn on top of the existing content, so anyone with a PDF editor can take it off again in about a minute. If you need the contents restricted, Protect PDF is the tool, and even that has limits worth reading about.

Placement across different page shapes

Diagonal works out the angle from each page's own proportions, so the text runs corner to corner whether a page is portrait, landscape or something unusual. That is the one to use on a mixed document.

Centred, top and bottom place the text horizontally with a rotation you control. Repeated tiles the text over the whole page in a loose grid, which is harder to crop out and considerably harder to read around.

Opacity, and the trap in it

A watermark wants to be visible without making the document unreadable, which usually means something between 15 and 30 per cent. Below about 10 per cent it tends to vanish entirely when printed, especially on an office laser printer, so a mark that looks subtle on screen may simply not exist on paper. The preview shows it at full strength, which is closer to print than to a skim on screen.

Text only, for now

Image and logo watermarks are not supported yet. The text is set in Helvetica Bold in a single colour, which covers DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, a company name or a case number, and does not cover a brand mark.

Limits

100 MB per file.
Password-protected PDFs need unlocking first.
Text watermarks only, in Helvetica Bold.
The mark sits on top of the page and can be removed by anyone with a PDF editor.

Frequently asked questions

Can someone remove the watermark?: Yes, with a PDF editor. It is drawn as content on the page rather than locked into it. A watermark is a notice, not a protection.
Can I use my logo instead of text?: Not yet. This stamps text only. Image watermarks are on the list.
Will the watermark cover my text?: It sits on top, so at high opacity it will. Lower the opacity until the page reads properly in the preview, somewhere around 15 to 30 per cent for most documents.
Can I watermark only some pages?: Yes. List the pages, such as 1 or 2-5, 9. Leave the box empty to mark everything.