Add a watermark
Stamp text like CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT or your name across any PDF. 100% in your browser, works offline, — the file never leaves your device.
Drop a PDF file here
or click to choose from your device
Choose a PDFHow to watermark a PDF
- Drop your PDF or click to choose it.
- Type the watermark text (CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, your name — up to 80 characters).
- Pick a layout: centered, single diagonal, or a tiled repeat.
- Set the font size, color and opacity.
- Click "Add watermark" — your file downloads instantly.
What is "Watermark PDF"?
A watermark is a visible text stamp placed on every page of a PDF — typically partly transparent, often diagonal across the page — that conveys status, ownership, or restrictions to anyone reading it. The word "CONFIDENTIAL" stamped diagonally in pale red is the canonical example, but watermarks have a much wider use: "DRAFT", "SAMPLE", "DO NOT COPY", an internal document ID, a recipient's name, or a copyright notice.
PDFtez lets you control three things about the watermark:
- Text — up to 80 characters of any string.
- Layout — three positions: Centered (one mark on the centre of each page), Diagonal (one mark stamped diagonally across each page), or Tile (multiple repeats spread evenly).
- Style — font size (24 to 96 pt), colour, and opacity (10–100%). The default 35% opacity diagonal in red is what most "CONFIDENTIAL" stamps look like.
When to use Watermark PDF
Watermarks are the right tool whenever the file's status or audience matters to the reader:
- Marking drafts. Stamping "DRAFT" across every page of a contract, report, or proposal makes it impossible for a reader to mistake it for the final version — even when forwarded without context.
- Confidential business documents. "CONFIDENTIAL" or "INTERNAL ONLY" on board papers, pricing decks, and strategy memos sets reader expectations and is often a precondition for sharing under NDA.
- Sample documents. A real-estate marketing template, an example contract on your website, or a sample worksheet for a course — stamp "SAMPLE" so it can't be reused as the real thing.
- Per-recipient watermarks. When sharing a leaked-risk document with multiple parties (e.g. an investor data room), put each recipient's name on their copy. If a copy surfaces externally, you know which copy.
- Copyright notices on published PDFs. Stamp "© 2026 [Author Name]" diagonally on a downloadable PDF so screenshots and printouts still carry the attribution.
- Document version IDs. Stamp "v1.3 — 20 May 2026" on every page so anyone working off a printout knows which version they have.
How PDFtez watermarks your PDFs (under the hood)
PDFtez's Watermark tool runs entirely inside your browser. When you click Add watermark, pdf-lib opens your PDF, walks every page, and draws the watermark text directly onto the page using PDF drawing primitives — embedded text in the chosen font, colour, and opacity, positioned and rotated according to your layout choice.
For Tile layout, PDFtez computes how many repeats fit at the chosen font size and spaces them evenly. For Diagonal, the text is rotated to follow the page diagonal regardless of page orientation. The watermark is real PDF text — meaning it's vector-sharp at any zoom level and stays crisp when printed — not a rasterised image.
The file never leaves your device. You can verify this in DevTools → Network while you watermark.
How is PDFtez Watermark different?
Most online watermark tools (iLovePDF, SmallPDF, PDF24, Sejda) upload your file before letting you choose the watermark text. The watermark itself is identical across these tools — there is no proprietary watermark magic, just text drawn on a page — but the privacy trade-off is unique. PDFtez does the operation locally, so a sensitive draft contract never leaves your browser just to acquire a "DRAFT" stamp.
The other difference is friction: no sign-up, no daily limits, no upgrade prompts, no watermark on the watermark output (some "free" tools add their own ad-watermark to free output, which is exactly what you don't want when you're applying a corporate watermark).
Frequently asked questions
Is the watermark removable later?
In the simple sense, no — once you save, the watermark text is embedded into each page's content stream as if it were always part of the document. There is no "remove watermark" toggle. In a determined sense, yes — anyone with a desktop PDF editor (Adobe Acrobat Pro, PDF Expert) can identify and delete the watermark objects from the content stream. For a permanently-bonded watermark (impossible to remove), you'd need to flatten the pages to images, which destroys the searchable text layer. For most practical purposes — discouraging casual reuse, marking status — the default behaviour is sufficient.
Can I watermark a password-protected PDF?
PDFtez will attempt to read encrypted PDFs in compatibility mode and will watermark them if the encryption permits modification. If the file is tightly locked, use the Protect PDF tool first to remove the password (you'll need to know it), then watermark.
Will the watermark appear when printed?
Yes. The watermark is real PDF text — vector-sharp at any size — and prints the same way the page does, at the chosen opacity. Diagonal watermarks at 30–40% opacity are still very visible on printed paper.
Can I add an image watermark (a logo)?
Currently the tool supports text watermarks only. Image / logo watermarks are on the roadmap. As a workaround, use the Sign PDF tool to upload your logo image and stamp it on every page — the underlying mechanics are similar.
Does the watermark appear behind or in front of the page content?
In front. PDFtez draws the watermark on top of the existing content so it remains visible even on dense pages. The opacity setting determines how strongly the watermark obscures the text underneath — 30–40% is a good default that's visible without making the document hard to read.
Does it work on mobile?
Yes — Safari on iOS and Chrome on Android both work. The font-size, color, and opacity controls are touch-friendly. For longer watermark text (close to 80 characters) a wider screen makes the input easier to handle.