Add Watermark to PDF Online for Free

A watermark is a simple way to mark a document as yours, flag its status, or discourage unauthorised reuse. Whether it's a faint "CONFIDENTIAL" across a report, a "DRAFT" stamp on a work in progress, or your name and website over a portfolio, a watermark communicates ownership and intent at a glance. PDFOrca lets you add text watermarks across every page of a PDF in a few clicks.

You control the wording, and the watermark is applied consistently to the whole document so no page is left unmarked. It's the quickest way to brand or label a batch of pages without editing each one.

Common uses

• Marking status — DRAFT, COPY, SAMPLE or CONFIDENTIAL across sensitive files.
• Branding — adding your company name or website to shared documents.
• Protecting creative work — labelling portfolios, proofs and previews before delivery.
• Discouraging misuse — making it clear a document isn't the final, licensed version.

Getting a professional result

A good watermark is legible without overwhelming the content beneath it — a semi-transparent, diagonal label usually strikes the right balance. Keep the text short so it reads clearly at a glance, and remember that a watermark deters casual reuse but isn't a security control on its own. If you need to genuinely restrict who can open a file, combine a watermark with a password using Protect PDF.

Practical tips for effective watermarks

• Keep the text short — one or two words like "DRAFT" or "CONFIDENTIAL" are more effective than a full sentence. Short labels remain readable even when rotated diagonally across a page.
• Use 30–50% opacity — this range makes the watermark clearly visible without making the underlying content difficult to read. Go higher (60–70%) only for proofs or samples where you deliberately want to discourage reuse.
• Save the original — always keep an unwatermarked copy of your PDF. Once a watermark is embedded it becomes part of the document's visual layer, so having the clean original lets you re-watermark with different settings later.
• Combine with password protection — a watermark labels a document but doesn't prevent someone from opening it. For truly confidential files, add a password via Protect PDF after watermarking.

Related tools

Watermarking pairs well with the rest of your workflow: merge documents first so a single watermark covers the whole bundle, then compress the result for sharing. To lock the watermarked file so it can't be opened without a password, finish with Protect PDF.