How to Add a Watermark to a PDF to Protect Your Work
Why freelancers, photographers and legal teams stamp drafts before sharing them, and how to do it without ruining readability.
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Security
Watermark PDF Without Adobe
Adobe Acrobat can do this, but the full version is a paid subscription, and Adobe's free Reader doesn't include this feature. My PDF does the same job for free, in your browser, with no Adobe account and no subscription.
- No registration required
- Files deleted automatically
- Works in any browser
Why This Matters
What Is a PDF Watermark Tool?
Adobe Acrobat can do this, but the full version is a paid subscription, and Adobe's free Reader doesn't include this feature. My PDF does the same job for free, in your browser, with no Adobe account and no subscription.
A PDF watermark tool stamps custom text diagonally across every page of a document, at an adjustable size and transparency, without permanently altering the underlying content beneath it. The result is a document that visibly carries a label — "DRAFT," "CONFIDENTIAL," a company name — on every single page, in a way that is difficult to simply crop or edit out.
Step by Step
How to Watermark PDF Without Adobe
1
Upload Your PDF
Drag in the document you want to watermark, or click to browse and select it.
2
Enter Your Watermark Text
Type the text you want stamped across every page, and adjust its font size and opacity.
3
Click Add Watermark
Our server stamps the watermark diagonally across every page, typically within seconds.
4
Download the Watermarked File
Save your PDF with the watermark applied consistently throughout.
Get Better Results
Tips
- Lower the Opacity for Legibility — A lighter, more transparent watermark keeps the underlying content fully readable while still being clearly visible.
- Increase Font Size for Emphasis — If the goal is to make the watermark impossible to miss, use a larger font size alongside a higher opacity.
- Adobe's own free online tools require a free Adobe account to use most editing features — this tool doesn't require any account at all.
- If you only need this task occasionally, a subscription to a full Adobe plan is unlikely to be worth it compared to a free tool that does the same job.
Avoid These
Common Mistakes
- Uploading a file that is already password-protected without unlocking it first — most operations require an unencrypted starting file.
- Assuming a converted or compressed file replaces the need for the original — keep your source file until you have confirmed the result looks right.
- Not checking the 50 MB upload size limit before starting, then wondering why a very large scan fails to upload.
- Assuming Adobe Acrobat is the only way to handle PDFs professionally — many everyday PDF tasks don't actually require it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes — enter any text you like, such as "DRAFT," "CONFIDENTIAL," your name, or a company label.
Yes — the same watermark is stamped across every page of the document in one operation.
Yes — adjust the opacity to make it more subtle or more prominent, and the font size to control how large it appears.
No — this tool does not require any Adobe software or account.
For this specific task, the output is a standard, fully compliant PDF — it will open correctly in Acrobat or any other PDF reader.
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