PDF Watermark Tool
Mark a document as a draft, a copy or confidential, without flattening the pages underneath.
Click to choose a PDF, or drag & drop it
PDF only · stamped in your browser, never uploaded
Short is better — the text scales to the page, so a long sentence becomes very small.
Leave blank to stamp the whole document.
Done
What this tool does
This tool draws text across the pages of a PDF — a diagonal CONFIDENTIAL, a footer with a client name, a tiled pattern marking every page of a preview copy.
The watermark is added as a real text object drawn on top of each page, not by flattening the page into an image. That distinction is what makes the result good: the original text, fonts, images and links all survive underneath, the file grows by roughly the length of the string rather than being re-encoded, and the watermark itself is selectable and searchable like any other text in the document.
Size is expressed as a proportion of the page's short edge rather than a fixed point size, so a single setting works across a document that mixes A4 pages with fold-outs. A 24-point stamp that looks right on A4 is invisible on a large drawing and overflows a small receipt.
How to use it
- Drop in your PDF and wait for the page count to appear.
- Type the watermark text — short phrases work best, since the text is scaled to fit the page.
- Choose a style, size, colour and opacity. Grey at around 18% is the combination that stays readable as a watermark without competing with the text above it.
- Optionally limit the pages field, then press Apply watermark. The stamped copy downloads immediately.
Common use cases
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Draft and review copies
Mark a document DRAFT so a version cannot be mistaken for the final one once it has been emailed around.
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Confidential material
Stamp CONFIDENTIAL across a document that has to be shared but should not be forwarded casually.
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Client and project marking
Put the recipient's name in the footer of a proposal so the copy is traceable to who received it.
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Preview copies
Tile a watermark across every page of a sample so it cannot be passed off as the paid version.
Frequently asked questions
Does watermarking flatten or degrade the PDF?
No. The stamp is drawn on top of each page as an ordinary text object. The original content stream is not touched, nothing is re-encoded, and the underlying text stays selectable and searchable. If you need to preview the difference, the file size barely moves.
Can I remove a watermark afterwards?
Not with this tool. Because the stamp is drawn into the page content rather than stored as a separate layer, removing it cleanly would mean reconstructing the page. Keep the original before you watermark it.
Why does my long watermark text come out tiny?
The text is scaled to a proportion of the page, so the longer the string, the smaller each character has to be to fit across it. One or two words work best — "CONFIDENTIAL" or "DRAFT" rather than a full sentence.