What a PDF watermark is for
A watermark is text printed lightly across a page to show its status or owner: DRAFT on a contract under review, CONFIDENTIAL on an internal report, COPY or SAMPLE on a document you share for viewing, or your company name on a proposal. This tool writes that text onto the pages of your PDF and saves a new file.
The options
- Diagonal: one large line from the lower left to the upper right corner, the classic look.
- Horizontal: one line across the middle of the page.
- Repeated: smaller copies spread over the whole page, so every part of it carries the text.
- Size, color and opacity: the size adapts to each page, so landscape and portrait pages both look right.
- Pages: all pages by default, or a selection such as 1-3, 7.
Which watermark for which document
| Situation | Text and settings |
|---|---|
| Contract or offer still under review | DRAFT, diagonal, gray, 20% |
| Internal report or salary data | CONFIDENTIAL, diagonal, red, 15 to 20% |
| Portfolio or price list shared for viewing | Your name or company, repeated, gray, 10 to 15% |
| Copy of an ID or certificate for an application | The purpose and date, for example "Only for the rental application, Oct 2026", repeated |
| Final version kept for the record | COPY or ARCHIVE, horizontal, gray, on the first page only |
A note with the purpose and the date tells anyone who sees the copy what it was handed over for. Keep the text short so it stays readable at a low opacity.
How to watermark a PDF
- 1Open your PDF by dropping it on the box or choosing it.
- 2Type the watermark text and choose diagonal, horizontal or repeated, then adjust size, color and opacity until the preview looks right.
- 3Save the PDF. The marked copy downloads with "-watermarked" in its name, and your original stays untouched.
Frequently asked questions
Is my PDF uploaded?
No. The watermark is added by your own browser and the new PDF is saved on your device. Nothing is sent to a server.
Can the watermark be removed again?
The text becomes part of the page content, so it does not disappear on its own. Someone with a PDF editor can still delete it. A watermark marks a document as a draft, a copy or confidential; it is not a security feature.
Which characters can I use?
Latin letters including accents and umlauts, numbers and common symbols. The tool uses the standard bold Helvetica font that every PDF reader shows, and it tells you when a character is not part of it.
Can I put the watermark on some pages only?
Yes. Type the pages in the Pages field, for example 1-3, 7. Leave it empty to mark every page.
Does the watermark cover the text?
It is drawn on top of the page, but at the default opacity of 20 percent the text underneath stays easy to read. Raise or lower the opacity with the slider and check it in the preview.