Add a text watermark to every page
A watermark tells readers what a document is before they read a word: a draft, a copy, confidential, or a sample. This tool writes your text across every page of the PDF and saves a new file.
- Your own text, such as DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, COPY or a name.
- Opacity: from a faint mark to a bold one.
- Size: small and discreet or across the whole page.
- Angle: diagonal or horizontal.
- Colour: grey, red or black.
How to watermark a PDF
- Add your PDF.
- Type the watermark text.
- Set the opacity and size.
- Choose diagonal or horizontal.
- Pick grey, red or black.
- Download the watermarked PDF.
Why watermark in the browser
Documents that need a watermark are often the ones you care most about: draft contracts, confidential reports, ID copies you are sending to a landlord. iLovePDF, Smallpdf, Sejda, PDF24 and Adobe Acrobat online all upload the file to their servers to add the mark, and free plans limit how often you can do it.
Here the watermark is added in your browser. The PDF is never sent to our servers, there is no sign-up, no daily limit, and no extra watermark of ours on top of yours.
Choosing a watermark style
Check the result before sending. On pages dense with text, a heavy watermark can make small print hard to read, so lower the opacity or size until both are clear.
Keep the original, unwatermarked file somewhere safe. The watermarked copy is the one to send, and you can always make a new one with different text for a different recipient.
Want the watermark and page numbers together? Add the watermark here, then run the result through Add page numbers to PDF.
If the PDF is very large, compress it before adding the watermark, so the finished file is easy to email.
- Diagonal grey at low opacity: the classic look. Clear enough to notice, light enough to read through.
- Diagonal red: stands out for DRAFT or DO NOT COPY, where the label needs to be seen at a glance.
- Horizontal black at a small size: a quieter line such as a name or reference that should not dominate the page.
- Large text across the page is harder to crop out than a small mark in a corner.
What a watermark can and cannot do
A visible watermark labels a document and discourages casual reuse. It is not security: someone determined can crop or edit around it. Password protection is not available yet, so do not rely on a watermark alone for very sensitive files.
For ID copies, a clear line such as For rental application only, with the date, makes the copy much less useful to anyone else.
