How to Add a Watermark to a PDF

Adding a watermark stamps translucent text — such as CONFIDENTIAL,DRAFT, or SAMPLE — across the pages of a PDF. It is a simple way to mark a document's status or ownership before sharing. IXPDF centers the watermark on each page with the font size and opacity you choose, and all processing happens locally in your browser.

Steps

1. Open the Add Watermark tool at/tools/add-watermark/.
2. Select your PDF. Drag the file onto the dropzone or click to browse. The file name and size appear below.
3. Enter watermark text. In the Watermark textfield, type the text to stamp, for example CONFIDENTIAL. This field is required — the run button stays disabled until it has content.
4. Set font size. The Font size slider runs from 10 to 200 and defaults to 50. Larger values make a bigger, more visible stamp.
5. Set opacity. The Opacity slider runs from 0.00 to 1.00 and defaults to 0.30. Lower values are more subtle; higher values are more prominent.
6. Optionally limit pages. The Page range field accepts values like 1,3,5-7. Leave it empty to watermark every page.
7. Run and download. Click Run Add Watermark, thenDownload result to save the watermarked PDF.

Tips

• A low opacity (0.20–0.35) is usually enough to mark a document without obscuring its content. Raise it for a stronger, harder-to-remove stamp.
• Use the page range to watermark only part of a document — for example, stamping DRAFT on the cover page only.
• Watermark before compressing. Stamp the final document, then run it through Compress PDF to optimize the output for sharing.

Common mistakes

• Empty text. The run button is disabled until the watermark text field has content, because an empty stamp does nothing.
• Opacity at 0. An opacity of 0.00 makes the watermark invisible. Use at least a small value so the stamp actually appears.
• Expecting an image watermark. This tool stamps text only. If you need a logo overlay, that is a different operation not offered here.