Add text or image watermarks to PDF files online for free. Control position, opacity, rotation, and page range — 100% browser-based, no upload, preserves original quality.
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Add text or image watermarks — processed entirely in your browser
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PDF Watermark adds text labels (e.g., "CONFIDENTIAL", "DRAFT", company name) or logo images to every page — or selected pages — of a PDF document. All rendering is done locally in your browser using pdf-lib, so your documents and logos never leave your device. The watermarked copy preserves the original text, fonts, and vector graphics — the watermark is drawn as a new layer on top of (or underneath) existing content.
1,3,5-7.Essential terms and definitions related to PDF Watermark Adder — Text & Image Watermarks.
A recognizable image or text overlay added to a document, typically semi-transparent, used to indicate ownership, status, or classification. Digital watermarks on PDFs serve the same purpose as physical paper watermarks — marking documents as drafts, copies, confidential, or branded with a company identity.
The degree to which a watermark obscures the content behind it, expressed as a percentage. 100% means fully solid (content hidden behind); 0% means fully transparent (invisible). Watermarks typically use 20-50% opacity to remain visible without interfering with readability of the underlying document.
A watermark repeated diagonally across the entire page in a regular grid. Tiling makes it much harder to crop or screenshot content without capturing the watermark as well — a common choice for draft, confidential, and legal preview documents.
The drawing instructions embedded in each PDF page that describe text, images, shapes, and their positions. Adding a watermark appends new drawing commands to this stream, leaving all original content intact.
No. The tool uses pdf-lib to read the PDF, draw the watermark, and save the result entirely in your browser. Neither the PDF nor the watermark image ever leaves your device. This makes it safe for adding "CONFIDENTIAL" marks to contracts, logos to financial reports, or identifying tags to sensitive internal documents.
No. pdf-lib draws the watermark as a new overlay on each page without touching the original text, fonts, or vector graphics — it simply adds drawing commands to the page content stream. The output PDF is identical to the source except for the added watermark layer, so text stays selectable and print quality is preserved.
PNG and JPG are supported. PNG is strongly recommended for logos because it preserves transparency — the logo will blend cleanly into page content. JPG images always have a solid rectangular background, which looks less polished when used as a watermark. For best results, use a PNG logo with a transparent background at 300+ DPI resolution.
Not in a single pass, but the workflow is easy: run the tool once for pages 1–5 with watermark A, download the result, then run it again on that result for pages 6–10 with watermark B. The custom page range input accepts expressions like "1,3,5-7" to precisely target pages.
Tile repeats the watermark diagonally across the entire page in a grid pattern. This is the pattern commonly seen on confidential legal documents and preview copies — it makes content difficult to screenshot-and-crop without the watermark being visible. Combine tile position with 30° rotation and 25% opacity for the classic "repeated diagonal label" look.
A visible watermark added via this tool can be removed by anyone with PDF editing software, since it is a drawing layer on top of content. For stronger protection, combine this tool with the Protect PDF tool to encrypt the file with a password, and with Flatten tools to merge layers. For truly tamper-resistant marking, consider server-side digital signatures — those are cryptographically bound to the document and cannot be altered without invalidating the signature.
Common errors developers encounter and how to resolve them.
Watermark position looks off-center when rotated pdf-lib anchors rotated text/images by their lower-left corner, so rotation with non-center positions may shift placement slightly. For best visual results with rotation, use position "Center" or "Tile" — both account for rotation naturally.
Image watermark has a visible white background You are using a JPG image, which has no alpha channel. Export your logo as a PNG with transparency preserved and re-upload. Most vector graphic apps (Illustrator, Figma, Inkscape) can export transparent PNGs directly.
Watermark is too small or too large For text: increase or decrease "Font Size" (try 72 for large headers, 32 for subtle marks). For images: adjust the "Image Size" slider which scales the logo as a percentage of page width — 20-30% is typical for corner placement, 50%+ for centered brand displays.
Watermark not visible on scanned PDF pages Scanned PDFs are typically page-sized raster images, and the watermark IS drawn on top — it just may blend into busy scanned content. Try increasing opacity to 70-90%, using a contrasting color (black on light scans, white on dark scans), or choosing the tile position to ensure visibility across the entire page.