How do I add a watermark to a PDF for free?

Choose a PDF, pick text or a logo image, set opacity and rotation, then save. Five common stamps are one click away — CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, DO NOT COPY, FOR REVIEW ONLY and SAMPLE — or type your own. Nothing is uploaded, so confidential documents stay on your device.

Is the watermark applied to every page?

Yes, always. There is no page selection, so a 200-page document gets 200 watermarks in one pass. If you need a stamp on only some pages, extract those pages first, watermark them, then merge the result back with the untouched pages.

What does the Tile option do?

It repeats the watermark in a three-by-three grid across each page instead of placing one in the centre — nine stamps per page. That makes it far harder to crop out or cover up, which is the right choice for a document you are circulating for review rather than one you are just labelling.

Can I change the watermark colour?

No. Text watermarks are drawn in a fixed mid-grey using Helvetica Bold, which reads clearly over black text without dominating the page. If you need a specific colour or typeface, make the watermark as a transparent PNG in a design tool and use the logo mode instead.

What image formats work for a logo watermark?

PNG and JPG only. A transparent PNG gives the best result, because whatever surrounds your logo is composited too — a logo on a white square arrives as a white square on the page. WebP and SVG are not supported, so convert those to PNG first.

How large will my logo be on the page?

It is scaled automatically to about 35 percent of the page’s shorter side, keeping its aspect ratio. There is no size control for images — the font size slider only affects text watermarks — so resize the logo file itself if you need it smaller or larger relative to the page.

Does a watermark stop people copying my document?

No. It is a deterrent and a label, not protection. The watermark is drawn as ordinary page content, so anyone with a PDF editor can remove it, and the text underneath stays fully selectable and copyable. Use redaction to remove sensitive content properly.

What opacity should I use?

The slider runs from 5 to 100 percent and defaults to 30, which is visible without making the document hard to read. Around 20 to 30 percent suits a document meant to be read; push toward 50 or higher for a proof you actively want to discourage people from using.

Add Watermark to PDF

Add a text or image watermark to every PDF page online free — control opacity, size and position. Runs entirely in your browser — nothing uploaded.

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Add a watermark to a PDF — text or your own logo, on every page, with adjustable opacity and rotation. Five ready stamps cover the usual cases, and a tile option repeats the mark nine times per page so it cannot simply be cropped out. Runs entirely in your browser: no upload, no sign-up.

Text or logo

Text mode gives you one-click presets for CONFIDENTIAL,DRAFT, DO NOT COPY, FOR REVIEW ONLY andSAMPLE, plus a free text field for anything else — a client name, a date, a case reference. It is drawn in Helvetica Bold at a fixed mid-grey, sized by the font slider from 12 to 120 points.

Logo mode composites a PNG or JPG image instead. Use a transparent PNG: everything around your logo is drawn too, so a logo saved on a white square lands on the page as a white square. The image is scaled automatically to roughly 35% of the page's shorter side and there is no size control for it, so resize the source file if you want it bigger or smaller.

Tile is the setting that actually matters

By default a single watermark sits in the centre of each page. Tick Tile and it repeats in athree-by-three grid — nine stamps per page.

The difference is practical rather than cosmetic. A single centred mark can be cropped away, covered with a white box, or simply avoided by screenshotting around it. Nine marks spread across the page cannot be removed without damaging the content itself. So: centred for labelling a document you are sending to someone you trust, tiled for deterring reuse of a proof, a draft or a sample you are circulating more widely.

Every setting, and what it does

Controls, ranges and defaults.
Setting	Range	Default	Notes
Watermark type	Text or image	Text	Images must be PNG or JPG
Font size (text only)	12–120 pt	48 pt	Does not affect logo size
Opacity	5–100%	30%	20–30% stays readable underneath
Rotation	−90° to +90°	45°	Diagonal is the convention
Tile	On or off	Off	On gives 9 stamps per page
Colour	Fixed mid-grey	—	Use a PNG logo for custom colour
Pages affected	All	—	No page selection

The 45° default is not arbitrary — a diagonal mark crosses more of the text than a horizontal one, so it is harder to work around, and it reads clearly as an overlay rather than as part of the document.

What a watermark does and does not do

Worth being blunt, because the word "watermark" implies more security than it delivers. The mark is drawn asordinary page content, sitting on top of your text. That means:

It can be removed. Anyone with a PDF editor can delete the object. This is a deterrent, not a lock.
The text underneath is untouched. Your document's content remains fully selectable, searchable and copyable — the watermark does not obscure it from software, only from a reader's eye.
It does not restrict printing or copying. Those are permission settings, which are a different mechanism entirely and also removable.

So use it for what it is good at: making the status of a document unmistakable. A page stamped DRAFT does not get mistaken for final, and a proof stamped SAMPLE does not get quietly used in production. If you need to genuinely remove sensitive content, redact PDF deletes it rather than covering it.

Scope and limits

One file at a time, and the watermark goes on every page — there is no page picker. To stamp only part of a document, extract those pages, watermark them, thenmerge them back with the rest. Apassword-protected file cannot be opened, and a file carrying permission restrictions but no open password will save as an unencrypted copy, so those restrictions do not survive.

Related tools

For images rather than PDFs, the watermark adder stamps text or a logo onto a photo with drag-to-place positioning. Redact PDF removes content properly, and sign PDF adds a signature. To label pages as well as stamp them,add page numbers andheader and footer handle running text, andBates numbering is the legal-discovery version. Need a logo to stamp with? The logo maker produces a transparent PNG. Once watermarked,compress PDF brings the size down for sending.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I add a watermark to a PDF for free?
Choose a PDF, pick text or a logo image, set opacity and rotation, then save. Five common stamps are one click away — CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, DO NOT COPY, FOR REVIEW ONLY and SAMPLE — or type your own. Nothing is uploaded, so confidential documents stay on your device.
Is the watermark applied to every page?
Yes, always. There is no page selection, so a 200-page document gets 200 watermarks in one pass. If you need a stamp on only some pages, extract those pages first, watermark them, then merge the result back with the untouched pages.
What does the Tile option do?
It repeats the watermark in a three-by-three grid across each page instead of placing one in the centre — nine stamps per page. That makes it far harder to crop out or cover up, which is the right choice for a document you are circulating for review rather than one you are just labelling.
Can I change the watermark colour?
No. Text watermarks are drawn in a fixed mid-grey using Helvetica Bold, which reads clearly over black text without dominating the page. If you need a specific colour or typeface, make the watermark as a transparent PNG in a design tool and use the logo mode instead.
What image formats work for a logo watermark?
PNG and JPG only. A transparent PNG gives the best result, because whatever surrounds your logo is composited too — a logo on a white square arrives as a white square on the page. WebP and SVG are not supported, so convert those to PNG first.
How large will my logo be on the page?
It is scaled automatically to about 35 percent of the page’s shorter side, keeping its aspect ratio. There is no size control for images — the font size slider only affects text watermarks — so resize the logo file itself if you need it smaller or larger relative to the page.
Does a watermark stop people copying my document?
No. It is a deterrent and a label, not protection. The watermark is drawn as ordinary page content, so anyone with a PDF editor can remove it, and the text underneath stays fully selectable and copyable. Use redaction to remove sensitive content properly.
What opacity should I use?
The slider runs from 5 to 100 percent and defaults to 30, which is visible without making the document hard to read. Around 20 to 30 percent suits a document meant to be read; push toward 50 or higher for a proof you actively want to discourage people from using.