When to watermark a PDF
Sometimes you have to show a quote or a drawing before anything is signed. Hand it over plain and you end up arguing about which version was on the table — or watching a draft circulate as if it were final.
This tool lays a line of text diagonally across the middle of every page. It draws on top of your document rather than replacing anything, so the original content stays where it was.
How to use it
- 1Upload the PDF you want to mark. Password-protected files open fine here.
- 2Type your text. CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, or any script you like — Korean, Japanese, and Chinese all work.
- 3Adjust opacity and size, and check that the text underneath is still readable.
- 4Press "Add watermark and download" to get the new file.
Common questions
- Can I use non-Latin text?
- Yes. Korean, Japanese, and Chinese all come through. Latin-only text is engraved as real text, which keeps the file slightly smaller; anything else is drawn as an image instead, which adds a little to the size.
- Where exactly does it appear?
- Centred on every page, tilted 45 degrees up to the left, in grey. The position and angle aren't adjustable.
- Can I remove this watermark later?
- Not with our Remove PDF Watermark tool. That one lifts off stamp and annotation layers, while this watermark is drawn directly into the page content. Keep an unmarked copy of the original before you start.
- Will it hide the text underneath?
- At the default 25% opacity the content shows through clearly. You can raise it, but check that the person receiving the file can still read the document.