Watermark a PDF — DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, your text
To watermark a PDF, drop the file above, type your text and set the opacity — for example, “DRAFT” stamped diagonally at 30% opacity sits visibly across every page without hiding a single word underneath it, and the marked file downloads in seconds.
🔒 Your files never leave your device. This tool runs entirely in your browser — nothing is uploaded to a server, so the document you open is the only copy that ever exists.
How it works
- Drop the PDF to mark.
- Type your watermark, choose diagonal, centered or tiled, and set colour and opacity.
- Click Watermark PDF and download the stamped file.
About this tool
A watermark does two jobs at once: it tells every reader, at a glance, what kind of document they're holding — DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, COPY, a company name — and it makes the pages awkward to misuse, because the mark is part of the page, not a sticker on top of it. This tool draws your text onto every page in a standard bold font, in one of three layouts: a single diagonal sweep (the classic), a straight centered stamp, or a tiled pattern repeated across the page for maximum coverage.
Opacity is the control that makes a watermark professional instead of obstructive. Around 20–30%, a grey stamp is unmistakable across a page yet everything beneath — text, tables, signatures — stays perfectly readable, including in print. The tiled layout suits documents whose pages are mostly images or drawings, where a single central stamp could be cropped away; the diagonal suits ordinary office documents.
The original pages are copied exactly and the watermark is added as a text layer on top — no re-rendering and no upload, so the confidential file you're marking confidential never travels anywhere. Remember the honest limit of all watermarks: they mark and deter, and they make a document's status undeniable — they are not encryption, and a determined editor with the right software can remove them. For access control, a password on the file is the right tool; for status and ownership, this is.
Frequently asked questions
Can a watermark be removed later?
From the downloaded file, a determined person with PDF-editing software could remove it — watermarks mark and deter; they aren't encryption. Your untouched original, of course, never had it.
What opacity should I use?
20–30% in grey is the professional standard: unmistakable, but the content beneath stays fully readable, on screen and in print.
Which layout is best?
Diagonal for normal documents. Tiled for drawings, plans or image-heavy pages where a single stamp could be cropped out. Centered for a formal, certificate-like look.
Will it watermark every page?
Yes — every page of the document gets the stamp, sized proportionally to each page.
Does watermarking change my original file?
No. The download is a new file; the original is untouched.