Add a watermark to a Word document
Upload the .docx, type the watermark, and download a copy with it across every page. It is burned into the page, so it cannot be deleted out of the file.
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 Word document 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.
Word does have a watermark feature, and it lives in a place most people never find, because it is implemented as a picture in the page header. That is why deleting it means going into the header view, and why it sometimes appears on some pages and not others when a document has section breaks. Uploading the document instead skips all of it.
What you get
- One setting, every page, regardless of how many section breaks the document has.
- No header and footer view, no Design tab, no picture that only appears on odd pages.
- Burned into the page in the copy you download, so a recipient cannot delete it out of the header and pass the document on unmarked.
- Any word and any colour, with a strength control that keeps the document readable.
- Your original .docx is untouched and stays editable.
- The same pass can place a company stamp, so a draft can be marked and signed off at once.
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
Why does Word put the watermark in the header?
Because the header repeats on every page, which is the cheapest way to get one mark onto every sheet. The side effect is that the watermark belongs to a section rather than to the document, so a file with several sections can end up marked in some places and not others.
Can the recipient remove it?
Not from the copy you download here. It is part of the page rather than an object in the header, so there is nothing to select and delete. That is the difference from Word own watermark, which is two clicks to remove for anybody who knows where it lives.
Will the stamped copy still be editable?
No. Burning the watermark into the page is what makes it stick, and that means the copy you send is final rather than a draft. Your original file is untouched, so the editable version is still there.
Does it work on .doc files?
Only .docx. Open an older .doc in Word and save it as .docx first, which takes a few seconds.
Can I watermark a Word document and a PDF the same way?
Yes, the same screen handles both, and the watermark comes out looking the same on either.
How do I watermark a Word document without changing the layout?
By not editing the document at all. The .docx is laid out from Word's own instructions and the watermark is drawn over the finished pages, so nothing reflows: page breaks stay where they were, the table that fitted on page three still fits, and your file is untouched because what you download is a new copy. Word's own watermark lives in the header, which is why it moves when a section break is added and why it looks different on a landscape page.
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.