Add a watermark to a PDF
Watermark a PDF online free to place and preview: upload it, type the word, set the angle and the strength, and every page comes back marked. No account, and the file never leaves your browser.
Drop your PDF, Word or Excel file here
It is read in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, and there is no account to make.
Add a watermark to a PDF templates, ready to edit
Open the stamp maker with any of these
Every preview on this page carries a faint Estamplab watermark. Your own download does not: the editor renders your stamp again, clean, as a transparent PNG, an SVG or a PDF. See the full template library.
A watermark is not a stamp somebody positions. It is a property of the page: centred, angled, on every page, meant to be seen at a glance and read through while reading. Tools that make you place DRAFT by hand on each page of a forty page contract are solving the wrong problem, which is why most people give up and send the document unmarked.
What you get
- Every page at once. Type it once and the whole document is marked, whether that is two pages or two hundred.
- A text watermark generator that takes any word: CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, COPY, VOID, SAMPLE, a client name, a matter number.
- A strength control from barely there to unmissable, so the document still reads through it.
- Any angle from flat to a steeply diagonal watermark, on a PDF or a Word file, and any colour.
- Sized against the page, so the same setting looks right on A4, Letter and a landscape drawing.
- It goes over the text, not behind it, so it survives printing and photocopying.
How to make it
- Open the tool and drop your PDF, Word or Excel file onto the page.
- Pick a stamp from your library, or design one in the pop-up designer.
- Click the page where the stamp goes, then drag it or resize it from the corner.
- Download the stamped copy. Your original file is never modified.
Questions
Should a watermark go over the text or behind it?
Over it, at a low strength. Behind the text a watermark disappears on a dark scan and vanishes entirely when the page is photocopied, which is exactly the moment it was supposed to be doing its job. Over the text at 15 to 20 percent it stays legible on a copy of a copy and the document still reads.
What colour should it be?
Grey is the default and it disappears politely. Red carries urgency and is conventional for VOID and CONFIDENTIAL on anything that must not be acted on. On a document that will be photocopied, colour is worth using: it is the fastest way to tell an original from a copy.
Can I watermark and stamp the same document?
Yes, in one pass. The watermark goes across every page and the stamp goes exactly where you place it, and the watermark is drawn over the top the way it would be on paper.
Does it change the text of my document?
No. On a PDF the watermark is drawn onto the page and everything underneath stays selectable and searchable. Your original file is untouched: what you download is a new copy.
Can somebody remove it?
From a PDF, with a determined effort and the right editor, yes, the same as any watermark in any tool. It is a marking, not an encryption. What it does reliably is make an unmarked copy obvious, which is what watermarks are actually for.
How do I add a watermark to a PDF for free?
Drop the file in and place the watermark: that part is free and needs no account, and you see the finished pages before deciding anything. The download is two dollars, once, with no subscription attached to it. A free watermark tool with no signup usually means one of two things, a watermark of its own across your document or an account before you can see the result, and neither is the case here.
How do I watermark every page at once?
That is the default rather than an option. Type the word once and it goes across all of them, two pages or two hundred, because a watermark that appears on some pages is not doing the job. Marking pages individually is what a stamp is for.
What watermark opacity for documents works best?
Between 10 and 20 percent for most documents, and lower for a dense one. The test is not how it looks on screen, it is whether the body text is still comfortable to read, because a watermark that makes people squint gets removed by whoever receives it. If it has to survive a photocopy, go slightly darker and use colour rather than more opacity.
Can I have a watermark that does not cover the text?
What you want is one that does not obscure the text, which is an opacity setting rather than a position. Putting the watermark behind the text sounds like the answer and is not: behind the text it vanishes on a dark scan and disappears in a photocopy, exactly when it was supposed to be working. Over the text at low strength is the version that holds up.
Can I watermark a scanned document?
Yes. A scan is a PDF of images, so the watermark is drawn over the top the same way. Worth knowing: the page underneath has no text layer, so nothing there is searchable before or after, and a slightly stronger watermark reads better over a grey scan than over white paper.
How to add a watermark to a PDF?
Upload the PDF, switch the watermark on, type a word or upload a logo, then drag it where it should sit. It goes on every page at once, and the strength, colour, size and angle are all yours to set.
Estamplab is a design tool. This page describes common commercial practice rather than giving legal, tax or financial advice, and practice changes. Where a specific document matters, check the requirement with the body receiving it. Only produce a mark your own organisation or your own credentials are entitled to use.