Watermark a document before it leaves your hands
A watermark exists for one moment: the moment a document is about to be somewhere you cannot control. A draft read as final, a quote read as an invoice, an internal paper forwarded on. DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, COPY or a client name across the page is what stops that, and it only works if the mark survives the journey.
Drop your document here and sign it now. PDF, Word and Excel all work: a .docx or .xlsx is laid out in your browser exactly as it was written, so there is nothing to convert first. Add a signature, a date, a company stamp or a watermark, then download it sealed. Free to start, no account, and the file is never uploaded to open it.
What you get
- PDF, Word and Excel, with the .docx or .xlsx laid out exactly as written rather than converted first
- A permanent watermark: the mark becomes part of the page, so there is no object for the recipient to select and delete
- One page, a range, or a watermark on every page of a PDF, which is what a draft that will be printed and separated needs
- Text or an image: a client name watermark, a pale logo that reads as letterhead, or a strong one that reads as a stamp
- Watermark and sign in the same pass, sealed together under one fingerprint
- The original file is untouched. What you send is a marked copy
How it works
- Drop the document in, PDF, Word or Excel. Nothing is uploaded to open it, and a .docx or .xlsx does not need exporting first.
- Choose the mark and the weight, DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, COPY, a client name, or your logo. Set the angle and how faint it is, and look at it on the busiest page rather than the title page.
- Apply it and download, One page or all of them. The mark is written into the page, and the file can be sealed at the same time so any later change to it is detectable.
Frequently asked questions
Can the recipient remove the watermark?
Not without altering the document. This is the difference from the Word watermark button: a Word watermark is an object in an editable file, and Design, Watermark, Remove Watermark takes it off in two clicks. Applied here the mark is part of the page, so there is nothing to select.
How do I add a watermark in Excel?
Excel has no watermark button at all, which is why this search exists. The usual workarounds are a header image, which only appears in Print Layout and is invisible in the normal view people work in, or WordArt floating over the grid, which moves when rows are inserted. Drop the .xlsx in here instead and the sheet is laid out the way Excel prints it, with the mark on each printed page.
Will it print?
Yes, because it is part of the page. That is usually the point: a printed copy of a draft should still say draft.
Can I use my logo instead of a word?
Yes. Upload the image and set how faint it should be. A pale logo behind the text reads as letterhead and a strong one reads as a stamp, and those send different signals, so pick deliberately.
Does watermarking change my original file?
No. The file you dropped in is not modified. What you get back is a separate marked copy, which is the right way round: the day you need to edit the document again you do not want to be unpicking a watermark from it.
Can I remove a watermark from a document somebody sent me?
If it is a Word watermark, the sender left it removable and Word will remove it. If it is flattened into the page, it is part of the image of the page, and there is nothing to remove without altering the document, which is exactly what the sender intended.
How do I add a watermark to every page of a PDF?
Choose all pages rather than the current one. For anything that will be printed, forwarded or split up, every page is the right answer: pages get separated, and a mark on page one tells the person holding page seven nothing.
How do I stop the recipient removing my watermark?
Send it flattened rather than as an editable file. A Word watermark is an object in a .docx and Design, Watermark, Remove Watermark takes it off in two clicks, which is fine for a house style and useless as a warning. A permanent watermark has to be part of the page, and that means the document leaves as a sealed PDF, or as a Word or Excel file whose pages are finished pages.
How do I remove a watermark from a PDF?
If somebody flattened it into the page, you do not, and that is the point: removing it would mean altering the document. If it was left as an annotation or a separate layer, some editors will take it off. Before trying, it is worth asking whether the mark was put there for a reason that still applies.
How faint should a watermark be?
Faint enough that the busiest page is still readable, strong enough to register at a glance. Judge it on the densest page rather than the title page, because that is where a heavy watermark does its damage and where people start ignoring it. Around fifteen to twenty five per cent opacity suits most text documents.
Watermark vs stamp: which does my document need?
A watermark says what the document is: a draft, confidential, a copy. A stamp says who acted on it: approved, paid, received, or the company seal. If you are warning the reader, you want a watermark. If you are attesting to something, you want a stamp. Documents that need both can take both in one pass.
How do I watermark a contract before sending to a client?
Drop the contract in, set the mark to DRAFT or to the client name, apply it to every page, and download. A client name watermark is the underrated one: it makes a leaked document traceable to whoever it was sent to, which changes how carefully people treat it.
What is the difference between a watermark and a stamp?
A watermark says what the document is: draft, confidential, a copy. A stamp says who acted on it: approved, paid, received, or the company seal. They answer different questions and plenty of documents want both, which is why they can go on in the same pass.
What PDF Verified is, and what it is not
An identity check establishes that a document was presented and, where liveness is used, that a live person presented it. It does not establish everything about a person, and it does not discharge an obligation a regulator has placed on you: your KYC, KYB and anti-money-laundering duties come from your own regulator and your own risk assessment, not from a signing tool. A verified identity is also not authority to act for somebody else, and signing in another person name without their authority is forgery.
PDF Verified is a tool for preparing, signing, stamping and checking documents. It is not a law firm, a compliance service or a forensic examiner, and nothing here is legal, financial or compliance advice. Requirements differ by country, by document type and by the party asking, so check what applies to your document before you rely on it, and take advice where the document matters. You are responsible for the documents you create, sign and send, and for having the authority to do so: signing or stamping in somebody else name, or as an organisation you do not represent, is forgery whatever tool is used. To the extent the law allows, we accept no liability for how a document made with this tool is used or relied on. The full position is in our terms of service.
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