Orpheus

Watermark a PDF

Mark a draft as a draft, on every page.

Every tool runs entirely in your browser. Your files are never uploaded to a server.

A watermark is text drawn across each page at low opacity, usually diagonally. It becomes part of the file, so it appears in every reader and prints with the document.

How to use Add Watermark to PDF

  1. Add your PDF. Drag it in or click to browse. Several files can be marked in one run.
  2. Type the text. DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL and SPECIMEN are the usual choices.
  3. Set opacity and angle. Around 15 to 25% stays visible without obscuring the content.
  4. Download. The original file is untouched; this writes a new one.

About adding a watermark to a PDF

A watermark is text drawn across each page of a document at reduced opacity, and its purpose is communication rather than protection. It tells a reader that what they are holding is a draft, a specimen, an uncontrolled copy or confidential material — a status that is otherwise invisible once a page has been printed and separated from the email it arrived in. The typographic choices are conventional for good reasons. Diagonal placement crosses the body text without aligning to any line of it, so it reads as a separate layer rather than as part of the content, and it cannot be removed by cropping the way a banner along the top can. Opacity between fifteen and twenty-five percent is the practical range: low enough to read through, high enough to survive a monochrome print. A larger point size covering most of the page width is more effective than a small one repeated, because it stays legible even on a partial photocopy. What a watermark is not is a security measure. It is ordinary page content and can be edited out by anyone with a PDF editor, so it deters casual misuse and nothing more. Documents that genuinely must not be redistributed need access controls rather than a visual marker. It is also worth remembering that a watermark says nothing about the metadata underneath — a file marked CONFIDENTIAL can still carry its author name and the software that produced it in its document properties.

Frequently asked questions

What opacity should I use?
Between 15 and 25 percent for most documents. Below 10 it disappears when printed on a monochrome printer, and above 40 it starts competing with the text underneath and makes the document harder to read than it needs to be.
Can the watermark be removed?
By anyone with the right tools, yes. It is page content, not a lock, and a determined person can edit it out. A watermark communicates status to an honest reader; it is not a security control and should not be relied on as one.
Why diagonal?
Because it crosses the text without aligning to any line of it, which makes it readable as a separate layer rather than as part of the document. It is also harder to crop off than a horizontal band at the top or bottom.
Does it work on scanned documents?
Yes. The watermark is drawn on top of whatever the page contains, including a scanned image, so it works identically on a scan and on a text document.
Is my file uploaded?
No. The PDF is read and rewritten in your browser. That matters for the documents people usually watermark, which are drafts and confidential material by definition.

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