How to Add a Watermark to a PDF
Stamp your PDF with custom text or logo watermarks. Control opacity, position, size, and rotation. Add to specific pages or entire document.
Introduction
Watermark PDF is a free online tool that adds text or image watermarks to your PDF documents. Watermarks are essential for branding documents, marking drafts as "DRAFT" or "CONFIDENTIAL", protecting copyright, and adding professional stamps. Unlike other watermarking tools that upload your files to remote servers, PDFly applies watermarks entirely in your browser using client-side JavaScript. Your documents never leave your device, ensuring complete privacy. The tool offers full customization — control opacity, position (9 positions), size, rotation angle, and page selection. You can apply watermarks to all pages or specific pages only. There are no file size limits, no daily usage caps, no watermarks added by PDFly itself, and no account required. This tutorial covers every watermarking option, with pro tips, troubleshooting, and FAQs.
Step-by-Step Guide
Upload Your PDF
Drag and drop your PDF onto the workspace, or click to browse and select it.
Choose Watermark Type
Select "Text watermark" for custom text (e.g., "CONFIDENTIAL"), or "Image watermark" to upload a logo.
Configure Settings
Set opacity (0-100%), position (9 positions), size, rotation angle, and choose which pages to watermark.
Apply and Download
Click "Apply Watermark" to stamp the PDF. The watermarked file downloads instantly.
Pro Tips & Best Practices
Use 20-30% opacity for subtle watermarks that don't obscure content.
Apply watermarks to all pages for consistent branding.
For text watermarks, choose a bold font and large size for visibility.
Image watermarks with transparent backgrounds blend seamlessly.
Common Use Cases
Brand Documents
Add company logos to PDFs for professional branding.
Mark Draft Documents
Stamp "DRAFT" or "CONFIDENTIAL" on documents to prevent misuse.
Copyright Protection
Watermark creative works with copyright notices.
Key Features
Text & Image Watermarks
Add custom text or upload a logo image.
Full Customization
Control opacity, position, size, and rotation.
Page Selection
Watermark all pages or specific ones.
100% Private
All watermarking happens in your browser.
Frequently Asked Questions
Apply one watermark at a time. To add both, apply text first, then upload the result and add the image watermark.
Watermarks applied by PDFly are permanently embedded in the PDF content. They cannot be easily removed.
PNG (with transparency), JPG, and BMP images are supported.
Common Issues & Solutions
Watermark is too prominent or too subtle
Adjust the opacity slider. 20-30% opacity is ideal for subtle watermarks that don't obscure content. For bold stamps like "DRAFT", use 50-70% opacity with a large font size.
Watermark is on the wrong pages
Check the page selection settings. By default, watermarks are applied to all pages. Use the page range option to target specific pages only (e.g., 1, 3-5, 10).
Image watermark has a white background
Use a PNG image with a transparent background. JPG and BMP formats don't support transparency. You can create a transparent PNG using any image editor.
Want both text and image watermarks
Apply one watermark at a time. First apply the text watermark, download the result, then re-upload and apply the image watermark on top.
Ready to Try Watermark PDF?
Put this tutorial into practice right now. Watermark PDF is free, browser-based, and requires no signup.
Open Watermark PDF