How do I add a watermark to a PDF?
To add a watermark, upload your PDF to FixDoks's Add Watermark tool, choose text or an image logo, then set font or scale, opacity, rotation and position, or turn on tiling to repeat it across the page. Check the live preview, choose all pages or a range, then click Add watermark. Everything runs inside your browser.
Add Watermark to PDF at a glance
| Input | PDF plus optional PNG or JPG logo |
|---|---|
| Output | Watermarked PDF |
| Processing | In your browser; your files are not uploaded |
| Price | Free, no watermark |
| Download | Free Google sign-in |
| Works on | Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox on Windows, Mac, Android and iPhone |
How to use Add Watermark to PDF
- Click Select PDF file to upload your document.
- Choose Text watermark and type your text, or Image watermark and upload a PNG or JPG logo.
- Set font, size, colour, opacity, rotation and position, or switch on Tile across the page, and check the live preview on the first page.
- Choose to apply it to all pages or a page range, then click Add watermark and download.
Text or image, your choice
A watermark is a piece of text or a logo stamped semi-transparently over the pages of a PDF, usually to mark a document as a draft, confidential, or belonging to a particular company. FixDoks supports both a text watermark, where you type the words yourself, and an image watermark, where you upload a PNG or JPG logo.
Text watermark options
Pick a font from Helvetica, Times or Courier, with a bold option for extra weight, then set the size, colour and opacity. A low opacity, around 15 to 30%, lets the watermark sit over the page without blocking the text underneath, which is the usual look for a "Draft" or "Confidential" stamp. Rotation lets you angle the text, a 45 degree diagonal across the page is the classic watermark look, though 0 degrees works fine for a corner stamp.
Image watermark options
Upload a PNG with a transparent background for the cleanest result, since a JPG will bring its own white or coloured background along with it. Scale controls how large the logo appears relative to the page, and opacity works the same way as for text, lower values are more subtle.
Position or tile
Choose a fixed spot, centre of the page or one of the corners, for a single watermark that sits in one place on every page. Or switch to Tile across the page, which repeats the watermark in a grid pattern over the whole page, making it much harder to crop or paste out a single clean instance of the content, useful for protecting draft images or sensitive scanned documents.
Preview before saving
A live preview on the first page updates as you change settings, so you can judge opacity, size and position before applying the watermark to the whole document. This saves you from downloading, checking, and starting over if the first attempt looks too strong or too faint.
All pages or a range
Apply the watermark to every page, or limit it to a page range, useful when only certain pages, like a set of drawings or an appendix, need marking, while a cover page or table of contents stays clean.
An honest note
A watermark is a visual deterrent, not a lock. It makes it obvious a document is a draft or belongs to someone, and it discourages casual reuse, but anyone with a PDF editor can still remove or crop out a watermark, especially a light, single-position one. For actual access control, look at password protection instead.
Common problems
- Watermark too strong or too faint. Adjust opacity and check the live preview before applying to the whole file.
- Logo has a white box around it. Use a PNG with transparency rather than a JPG, which always has a solid background.
- PDF is locked. Unlock it first at unlock PDF, since watermarking writes new content onto the file.