Stamp Every Page, Your Way
You’re circulating a draft contract to five people for review. In two weeks, someone’s going to print an old version and try to claim it’s the final agreement. If every page says “DRAFT” in big diagonal letters across the middle, that argument dies immediately.
That’s the simplest use case. But watermarks do more than just say “DRAFT.”
What You Can Customize
You pick four things: the text (any word or phrase you want), the font size (8pt to 200pt), the opacity (barely visible to fully solid), and the rotation angle (-180 to 180 degrees for diagonal, horizontal, or vertical placement). The watermark gets stamped on every single page, consistently.
The classic setup: “DRAFT” at 72pt, 30% opacity, rotated 45 degrees. It’s visible enough that nobody can miss it, transparent enough that you can still read the document underneath.
How To
- Upload your PDF.
- Type your watermark text.
- Adjust size, opacity, and rotation.
- Click Add Watermark.
- Download the stamped version.
Why People Watermark Documents
Draft control. You’ve been through six revisions of a proposal and three people have old versions saved. Watermarking working copies with “DRAFT” or “FOR REVIEW ONLY” makes it crystal clear which version is authoritative.
Confidentiality labeling. Financial reports, board presentations, employee compensation data, stamping “CONFIDENTIAL” across every page puts everyone on notice. It’s not just a formality; in some legal disputes, whether a document was marked as confidential actually matters.
Branding shared documents. Before sending a proposal or report to a prospect, watermarking it with your company name establishes ownership. If the document gets forwarded to someone else, your brand goes with it.
Sample copies. Publishing a preview of a book chapter, a software manual, or a research report? A “SAMPLE” watermark lets people evaluate the content while making it clear this isn’t the final product. Discourages unauthorized redistribution, too.
Regulatory requirements. Certain industries require visible classification labels on documents, “INTERNAL USE ONLY,” “RESTRICTED,” “PUBLIC.” A watermark handles that in bulk.
For actual access control (password-locking the file), use the PDF Password Protector. If you also need page numbers, the PDF Page Numbers tool can be applied separately.
FAQ
How transparent can I make it? The opacity slider goes from nearly invisible (10%) to fully solid (100%). For text-heavy documents, 15-25% keeps things readable while making the watermark clearly present.
Does it go on every page? Every single page, yes. No exceptions, no gaps.
Can I do a diagonal watermark? Set the rotation to 45 or -45 degrees. That gives you the classic corner-to-corner diagonal look.
Can the recipient remove it? It’s embedded in the page content, so removing it cleanly is difficult, especially at higher opacity. But a watermark isn’t encryption. If you need to prevent access entirely, password-protect the PDF instead.
Does it affect the document content? The text and images underneath stay exactly the same. The watermark is an overlay, not a replacement.