What is a PDF watermark?

A watermark is text printed lightly across a page, such as DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL or COPY. It tells everyone what the document is before they read a word, and a copy that leaks still says where it came from. Because it sits on top of the page content, it is harder to crop away than a note in the footer.

Tool description

This tool stamps a text watermark on the pages of a PDF. Type the text, pick its size, angle, color and transparency, and place it once in the middle of the page or tile it across the whole page. The preview shows any page with its watermark before you download the result. The PDF is read and saved in your browser, so it is never uploaded.

Features

  • One watermark in the middle of the page, or tiled across the whole page
  • Four angles: 45°, 0°, 90° and -45°
  • Any color, with transparency so the page shows through
  • Watermark every page or only the pages you choose
  • Upright on rotated and cropped pages, as the reader sees them

Tips

  • Text in Latin, Greek or Cyrillic letters is added as real text in a bold font. Other scripts, such as Arabic, Chinese or Japanese, and emoji are added as a sharp image of the text.
  • For a tiled watermark, a smaller font size such as 24 pt gives a denser pattern.
  • A watermark makes copying harder, not impossible. Anyone with a PDF editor can remove it, so don't rely on it alone for sensitive documents.