How to Add a Text Watermark to a PDF
Load your PDF
Drag your PDF onto the upload area or click Choose PDF File to select it. PDF.js reads the file in the browser when supported. For sensitive documents, confirm the active workflow before processing.
Set the text and appearance
Type your watermark text, then pick a font size, color, and opacity. Choose a position: center places the text diagonally across the page, while the four corner options anchor it near an edge. Opacity ranges from 5 to 100 percent.
Apply and download per page
Click Add Watermark. Each page is rendered to a canvas at high resolution, the watermark is drawn on top, and every page becomes a separate JPG you download individually.
Watermark Position Options Compared
This tool offers five placement modes. Center is the only mode that rotates the text diagonally; the corner modes draw it horizontally with a fixed 20 pixel margin from the page edge. Use the table below to pick the right one for your document.
| Position | Rotation | Typical Use | Visibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Center (diagonal) | Tilted about 30 degrees | CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, SAMPLE | Highest, spans the page |
| Top Left | None | Document status or owner tag | Moderate, near header |
| Top Right | None | Version or date label | Moderate, near header |
| Bottom Left | None | Source or copyright note | Lower, near footer |
| Bottom Right | None | Page reference or initials | Lower, near footer |
Choosing the Right Watermark Settings
Marking drafts clearly
Pick the center diagonal position with a larger font size and a higher opacity around 50 to 70 percent. The tilted text is hard to ignore and signals that the document is not final.
Subtle branding
Use a corner position with a smaller font, a light gray or muted color, and a low opacity of 15 to 30 percent. The mark stays readable without competing with the page content.
Confidentiality stamps
Type text such as CONFIDENTIAL or your company name, choose center placement, and keep opacity moderate so the underlying text remains legible while the warning stays prominent on every page.
Sharing as images
Because each page is exported as a JPG, this tool fits cases where you want flat, easy-to-view images for email, chat, or slides rather than an editable PDF with selectable text.
Common Problems and Fixes
The watermark is too faint or too strong
Adjust the opacity slider, which runs from 5 to 100 percent. Combine a higher value with a darker color to make the mark stand out, or lower it and use a light color for a subtle effect.
Long text gets cut off in a corner
Corner positions keep the text near the edge, so very long phrases can run past the page boundary. Use the center position for long text, or reduce the font size so the wording fits within the margin.
I expected a PDF but got JPG files
This browser tool renders each page to a canvas and saves the result as a JPG image. Writing a watermark back into the PDF binary requires server-side editing, so the output is one image per page by design.
A large PDF is slow to process
Pages are rendered one at a time at high resolution, so multi-page or image-heavy PDFs take longer. Wait for the status message to report each page, and avoid switching tabs until processing finishes.