Free Watermark PDF
A watermark is a sentence written across the page
It can say DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, SAMPLE or your own name. What it does is change how a document is read: a page marked DRAFT is not final, a page marked CONFIDENTIAL should not be forwarded, and a page that carries your name is harder to pass off as someone else’s. This tool stamps text across the pages of a PDF, with controls for size, colour, opacity, angle and layout, and it works in your browser, so the document is never uploaded.
Setting it up so it is visible but not annoying
The balance is between being noticed and getting in the way of reading. A few settings do most of the work.
- Opacity. Around 20 to 30 percent in light grey reads as a watermark without hiding the content. Go higher only if it truly must not be missed.
- Size. Large enough to span a good part of the page, since a tiny mark is easy to crop or ignore.
- Angle. A diagonal mark is the classic choice because it crosses the text lines and is harder to remove. Straight suits a quiet footer-style mark. Vertical works for side stamps.
- Layout. One mark in the centre looks tidy. Repeating the text across the page is stronger when you are worried about misuse.
Real uses, with suggested wording
| Situation | Wording | Layout |
|---|---|---|
| A report still under review | DRAFT | One diagonal mark, light grey |
| A document for internal eyes | CONFIDENTIAL | One mark, centre |
| Work shown before payment | SAMPLE | Repeated, diagonal |
| A copy of your passport or ID | For rental application only, 4 Nov 2026 | Repeated, diagonal |
Watermarking an ID copy
This is one of the most useful and least known habits. When you send a scan of your passport or national ID to a landlord, a bank or a service, you lose control of it. A repeated watermark that says who it is for and when makes the copy much less useful to anyone who gets hold of it later, because it is obviously meant for one purpose. Keep the opacity low enough that the details stay readable for whoever needs them, and use a short text, such as the name of the organisation and the date.
What the tool cannot do
- The mark is drawn in the Helvetica font, so it supports Latin letters, numbers and common symbols. Bengali, Arabic, Chinese and other scripts will not display in the watermark text.
- It adds a visible mark only. It does not add a password or prevent printing, copying or editing.
- Anyone with PDF editing software could remove or cover a watermark. Treat it as a deterrent, not a lock.
Related jobs
To protect photographs instead of PDFs, use add watermark to image, which can place a logo as well as text. To number the pages of the same document, try add page numbers to PDF, and to make a scan small enough to email, use the PDF compressor. When you combine tools, do the watermark last, so the finished file keeps it on every page.
Wording ideas beyond the obvious
The text you choose says as much as the style. Besides DRAFT and CONFIDENTIAL, useful watermarks include NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION, FOR REVIEW ONLY, PREVIEW, DUPLICATE, UNPAID and the name of the person the copy was prepared for. For documents shared with several parties, a name on each copy makes leaks traceable. For documents you offer for sale, SAMPLE and PREVIEW are standard, and are normally repeated across the page so nobody can simply crop the mark off.
Check how it looks and prints
Open the finished file and look at a text-heavy page as well as a plain one, since a mark that is fine on a blank page can make dense text hard to read. Remember that watermarks print as well as show. A dark, heavy mark uses a lot of ink, so light grey is kinder to the printer. And look at the result on a phone as well as a computer, because that is where many people will read it.
FAQ
Drop the PDF above, type your watermark text, adjust the style and click Add watermark and download.
Yes. Enter pages such as 1-3, 5 in the Pages box.
This tool adds text watermarks. For logos on photos, use the image watermark tool.
The built-in font only covers Latin letters, numbers and common symbols. Use those characters for the watermark.
No. The watermark is added in your browser.
Yes. It is part of the page, so it appears on printouts. A light colour and low opacity keep it from using too much ink.
Run the tool more than once with different page ranges, using the finished file as the input each time.