Add Watermark
Add Watermark places text or an image across your pages. Control opacity, rotation, size, colour and position, tile it diagonally across the whole page, and choose whether it sits above the content or behind it. Apply it to every page or only to a range.
1 Add your file
Enter the open password to use it here. It is checked in your browser and never sent anywhere.
2 Choose your options
How to add Watermark
Add your PDF
The first page is rendered so you can position the watermark against your real content.
Design the watermark
Type your text or upload an image, then set opacity, rotation, size and position. Tile it if you want it repeated across the page.
Download the watermarked PDF
Applied to every page, or just the range you chose.
What a watermark does and does not protect
A watermark is text or an image drawn onto each page, usually large, angled and semi-transparent. Drawn above the content it is unmistakable; drawn beneath it, it sits behind the text and stays legible. Neither is more secure than the other — the choice is purely about readability.
It is worth being clear about the purpose. A watermark marks status and discourages casual reuse. It is not access control: anyone who can open the document can read it, and a determined person can obscure or crop a mark. Use it to say DRAFT, not to keep secrets.
A worked example
A proposal goes out for review marked CONFIDENTIAL in light grey at 45 degrees. At 30% opacity it reads clearly on every page without making the body text harder to follow. Placing it beneath the content rather than above keeps tables and figures fully legible, which matters when the reviewers are reading closely.
Limitations worth knowing
- A watermark is not security. It can be cropped out, covered, or removed by anyone willing to spend a few minutes.
- Once applied it becomes part of the page and cannot be removed — always watermark a copy.
- High opacity harms readability. Around 20-40% is usually the balance between visible and unobtrusive.
- Image watermarks need a transparent PNG; a JPEG brings a solid rectangle with it.
- Mixed page sizes change where a fixed position falls, so check a landscape or A3 page before running the whole document.
Related tools
Add Watermark — frequently asked questions
Behind keeps your text perfectly readable and is right for a subtle DRAFT or a logo. Above is unmistakable and harder to ignore, which is what you want for CONFIDENTIAL. At 20-30% opacity, above rarely interferes with reading.
Yes. Switch to Image and upload a PNG, JPG or WebP. A PNG with a transparent background looks best, because the page shows through around the shape.
It repeats the watermark in a diagonal grid across the whole page instead of placing it once. Much harder to crop out, and the usual choice for documents that must not be passed on.
By someone determined, yes. A watermark is page content like any other, and specialist software can strip it. It marks ownership and discourages casual reuse; it is not a security control. Protect PDF restricts what a reader may do; Redact PDF genuinely removes content.
Yes — type a range in the pages box, such as 1 for a cover only, or 2-10.
A text watermark adds almost nothing. An image watermark adds the image once, and it is reused on every page rather than embedded repeatedly.