Add a watermark to every page of a PDF

How it works

Tap or click the box, choose the document, then type the text. Short words in capitals read best: COPY, DRAFT, SAMPLE, NOT APPROVED. Accented and non-English letters are drawn correctly because the tool embeds its own typeface into the document rather than hoping the reader's computer has the right one. The angle setting decides where the line sits. The commonest choice is the 45-degree diagonal running from bottom left to top right, because a diagonal line covers both the top and the bottom of the page and is hard to crop out of a screenshot. The flat setting places a single quiet line across the middle. Size is set in points, and if the text is too long for the page it is scaled down automatically and the result line tells you what size it ended up at. Opacity is the setting that matters most: low values leave a faint shadow and keep the page readable, high values push the notice forward at the cost of legibility. Around twenty works for most documents; going above forty makes sense only for sample copies nobody should use. Choose the colour for the way the file will be used — on a black and white printer grey is the softest and black the most visible, while red carries a warning. The watermark is drawn over the page rather than under it, so it stays visible on dark scans. The text of the document is untouched, pages are not redrawn, and nothing is uploaded.

This tool is also known as add watermark to pdf, pdf watermark, stamp draft on pdf, watermark pdf free, write copy across a pdf, sample stamp pdf.

What is PDF watermark?

A watermark is a translucent line placed on every page to say how the document should be treated. Its job is not decoration but warning: the copy in front of the reader is a duplicate, a draft, or a specimen. That is why it usually sits in the middle of the page at a large size — a small note squeezed into a corner disappears as soon as the page is photocopied or cropped. A watermark does not prevent copying or printing; it makes the status of the copy visible while it circulates.

What is Opacity?

Opacity controls how much of the page the watermark covers, and it is set as a percentage. At a low value the words sit behind the content like a shadow and the document reads normally; at a high value the notice dominates and the lines beneath it become hard to follow. The right value depends on the job: low for a contract the other side has to read, high for a specimen nobody should act on. Printing adds a further catch — a faint grey that looks ideal on screen may barely appear from a cheap printer.

What is Embedded font?

Embedding a font means copying the drawing instructions for the letters into the document itself. Without it, a computer that lacks the typeface substitutes another one, and accented letters are the first casualties: they turn into boxes or question marks. This tool embeds the typeface it uses for the watermark and carries only the characters you actually typed, so the file grows by a few kilobytes at most. The result is a watermark that looks identical on every computer and every printer.

Watermark or password protection?

Both come to mind when you want to protect a document, but they do entirely different jobs. A watermark is a visual notice: everyone who opens the file sees that the copy is a draft, a duplicate or a specimen, yet nothing stops them opening, printing or copying it. Password protection is a technical lock: without the password the file does not open at all. In practice watermarks are used more often, because the usual problem is not secrecy but mistaken authority — an unsigned draft contract or an unapproved drawing being taken for the final version as it passes from hand to hand. A watermark has one further advantage: it survives printing, so the warning is still on the paper, while a password protects the file format and leaves the printout bare.

Choosing the wording

Keep it short; one word is usually best. Long sentences have to be scaled down to fit, and a small watermark neither reads well nor does its job. Capitals help too, because a word in capitals stays legible even at low opacity.

The words should describe the status of the document. DRAFT for something unfinished, COPY for a print that does not replace the original, SAMPLE for a demonstration file. Organisation-specific wording works just as well; what matters is that the reader understands what to do with the page.

Adding a date or a recipient's name is a simple way to track which copy went where, but the longer the line the smaller the type. If the tool had to scale the text down, the result line says so and you can lower the point size yourself for a more balanced look.

Matching the settings to the use

For a document read on screen, keep the opacity low — fifteen to twenty-five keeps the notice visible without shadowing the text. For print, go a little higher, because most printers render light greys weaker than they look on screen. Colour follows the same logic: on a black and white printer red and blue both come out as the same grey.

Point size depends on the length of the line, not the size of the page. A single word fills the page nicely at a large size, which is the intended effect. For a phrase of several words seventy points is usually already too much, and lowering it yourself gives a better result than letting the automatic reduction do it.

The diagonal has a practical edge: a page's diagonal is longer than its sides, so the same point size covers more of the sheet, and part of the line survives even if the page is cropped. The flat setting is less intrusive on pages full of tables and charts.

• Read on screen → 15-25% opacity, grey
• Printed on paper → 25-40% opacity, black or grey
• Specimen nobody should use → above 40%, red
• Writing a long phrase? Lower the point size yourself

What a watermark does and does not do

It deters; it does not lock. The line is drawn over the page, everyone who opens the file sees it, and it appears on paper as well. It does not stop the document being copied, forwarded or pasted elsewhere. If access genuinely has to be restricted, that is a question of how you share the file, not of what is written on it.

Because the page content is untouched, a watermarked document can still be searched, selected and copied. That is deliberate: turning the pages into images would make the watermark impossible to remove but would also make the document unsearchable and far heavier. For most work, keeping the document usable is worth more than making the mark permanent.

Frequently asked questions

Can I use accented or non-English letters?

Yes. The tool embeds the typeface it draws with, so accented letters and characters outside basic English appear correctly on every computer. Only the characters you typed are embedded, so the file grows by a few kilobytes at most.

Is the watermark added to every page?

Yes, the same line is centred on every page in the document. If page sizes differ, each line is centred on its own page; when a narrow page cannot fit the text, the point size is reduced and the result line reports the size used.

Can I remove the watermark later?

Not from the file you downloaded, but your source document is untouched on your device. To try different settings, choose the original file again and change the values. That is why it is good practice to keep the watermarked file under its own name rather than overwriting the source.

Is the text drawn over or under the page?

Over it. A line drawn underneath would be invisible on scanned or dark pages. The opacity setting is what keeps it from obscuring the content: at a low value the lines beneath remain easy to read.

Does a watermark stop people copying my document?

No. It is a notice, not a lock: it does not prevent opening, printing or copying the text. Its purpose is to make the status of a circulating copy visible. If access has to be restricted, controlling who receives the file is the only real answer.

Can I watermark a password-protected PDF?

No. The tool stops on documents that ask for a password and says so. Save an unprotected copy from a program that can open the file and watermark that copy. Damaged or half-downloaded files also produce a clear warning.