Add a watermark to PDF: confidential, draft or brand marking

2 min read·25 July 2026

A watermark protects your document and communicates its status. Learn how to add a watermark and when it is most useful.

Why use a watermark

Watermarks serve multiple purposes: "CONFIDENTIAL" on internal reports indicates it must not be shared; "DRAFT" on a design document prevents an early version from being treated as final; "SAMPLE" on a portfolio piece protects your work from unauthorized use; a company logo as a watermark reinforces brand identity.

Add a watermark with PDFrust

Use the Watermark tool on PDFrust. You can choose a text watermark (e.g. "CONFIDENTIAL", "DRAFT") or an image watermark (e.g. a logo as transparent PNG). Set the transparency (40–60% is standard — visible but not blocking), position (center, diagonal, repeating pattern) and font size. Download the watermarked file.

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Repeating watermark for maximum protection

A watermark that appears once in the center can easily be cropped away if someone misuses the document. A repeating watermark across the entire page makes this harder. Choose a repeating pattern in the Watermark tool for documents you want to protect against screenshot or scan misuse.

Remove a watermark from a received PDF

If you received a PDF with a watermark you want to remove (e.g. a proof PDF from a printer), use the Remove Watermark option in the Edit tool on PDFrust. Note: some watermarks are flattened (baked into the text) and cannot be removed without affecting the text.

Combine watermark with flatten

A watermark added as a separate layer over a PDF can be removed by a tech-savvy person. Flatten your document after adding the watermark with the Flatten tool — the watermark becomes permanently embedded and can no longer be removed as a separate layer.