How to add a watermark to a PDF

2026-11-04

A watermark is a word or short line printed lightly across a page, such as CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT or COPY. It tells everyone at a glance how the document should be treated, and it makes it harder for someone to pass off your copy as something else.

Watermark PDF adds a text watermark to every page of a PDF, in your browser.

Add a watermark step by step

1. Open Watermark PDF.
2. Select your PDF.
3. Type the Watermark text. It starts as CONFIDENTIAL. You can use up to 60 characters.
4. Choose the Transparency:

• Light is faint and easy to read through. Good for documents people need to read comfortably.
• Medium (the default) is clearly visible but doesn't hide the text.
• Strong stands out the most. Use it for drafts or samples.

1. Choose a Colour: Red, Grey or Blue.
2. Click Add watermark and download the new PDF.

The text is written diagonally across the middle of every page, and sized to fit the page, so it looks right on both portrait and landscape pages.

Good watermark ideas

• CONFIDENTIAL for salary details, contracts or internal reports.
• DRAFT for a version that isn't final, so nobody prints and signs it by mistake.
• SAMPLE or PREVIEW when you share a design, a notes PDF or a question paper you made, before someone pays for it.
• COPY or FOR REFERENCE ONLY for copies of your documents.

Watermarking a copy of your ID

When you share a copy of your Aadhaar, PAN or passport, a watermark that says what it's for is a simple, sensible habit. For example:

For SBI home loan only, 04 Nov 2026

If that copy ends up somewhere else, the watermark shows it was only given for one purpose. Keep the line short so it stays large and readable, and choose Light or Medium so the details underneath can still be checked.

Only watermark your own documents, or documents you have the right to share. A watermark doesn't change what a document says, and it shouldn't be used to make a document look like it came from someone else.

Watermarks in Tamil, Hindi and other languages

You can type the watermark in any language. English and other languages written with Western letters are added as real text. Other scripts, such as Tamil, Hindi or Arabic, are added as a sharp picture of your text, so they always show correctly, whatever fonts the reader's device has.

Which colour should I choose?

• Grey is the most neutral and looks good on almost any document.
• Red grabs attention. Good for CONFIDENTIAL and DRAFT.
• Blue looks calmer and more official, and often prints better on cheap printers than red.

If the document will be printed in black and white, grey and red both come out as grey. Choose Medium or Strong so the watermark still shows.

Can a watermark be removed?

A watermark discourages misuse, but it isn't a lock. Someone with the right software and enough effort can sometimes remove or cover one. For truly private documents, also:

• add a password with Protect PDF, and
• share only the pages that are needed, using Extract pages or Remove pages.

Other finishing touches

After watermarking, the Download screen lets you continue straight to other tools with the same file:

• Add page numbers to make a long document easy to refer to. See adding page numbers to a project report.
• Sign PDF to add your signature.
• Compress PDF if the file must fit an upload limit.

Is it private?

Yes. Watermark PDF runs entirely in your browser, and the file is never uploaded. That matters most for exactly the documents people watermark: confidential ones.