How to Add a Watermark to a PDF Free — Text & Image Watermarks
Watermarks protect your work, mark documents as confidential, and brand every page of a PDF with your logo or company name. Most tools that handle this properly either charge for it or require uploading your document to a remote server.
RightPDFKit adds text and image watermarks to any PDF entirely in your browser. Your file never leaves your device.
How to add a watermark to a PDF — step by step
Open RightPDFKit
Go to rightpdfkit.com and click Watermark in the sidebar under Annotate.
Upload your PDF
Drag and drop your PDF onto the dropzone or click to browse. Nothing is uploaded to any server — the file loads directly in your browser.
Choose text or image watermark
Select Text to type your watermark (e.g. "CONFIDENTIAL", "DRAFT", your company name) or Image to upload a PNG logo. Set the font, size, colour, rotation, opacity and position.
Apply and download
Click Add Watermark. RightPDFKit embeds the watermark across all pages and the download starts immediately.
Text vs image watermarks — which should you use?
📝 Text watermarks
Best for marking documents as CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, COPY, FOR REVIEW, or adding your company name. Crisp at any size, no image file needed, works on any background.
🖼 Image watermarks
Best for branding — add your company logo to every page. Use a PNG with a transparent background for the cleanest result. Ideal for proposals, reports and client deliverables.
Watermark settings explained
- Opacity — how visible the watermark is. 20–40% is subtle, 60–80% is prominent.
- Rotation — diagonal watermarks (45°) are traditional and harder to crop out. Horizontal (0°) looks cleaner.
- Position — centre covers most of the page. Corner positions are less obtrusive.
- Size — for text, 36–72pt works for most pages. For logos, 20–30% of page width is usually right.
- Colour — grey or light colours for subtle marks. Red for urgent labels like DRAFT or VOID.
- Pages — apply to all pages or specify a range (e.g. pages 2–10 only).
Common uses for PDF watermarks
🔒 Confidential documents
Mark contracts, financial statements, HR files and legal documents as CONFIDENTIAL before sharing. Makes unauthorised distribution traceable and clearly labelled.
📋 Draft versions
Add DRAFT to any PDF you're sharing for review but not yet finalising. Prevents the draft from being mistaken for the final approved version.
🏢 Brand watermarking
Add your company logo to proposals, reports and presentations before sending to clients. Keeps your brand visible even if the document is forwarded.
📸 Photography and creative work
Watermark proofs and sample images embedded in PDFs before sending to clients. Protects your work before payment is received.
✅ Copy control
Mark distributed copies with COPY, FOR REVIEW ONLY or a recipient's name to track distribution and discourage unauthorised sharing.
PDF watermark tools compared
| Tool | Uploads file? | Text watermark | Image watermark | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RightPDFKit | No — local | ✓ | ✓ | Free |
| iLovePDF | Yes | ✓ | ✓ | Limited |
| Smallpdf | Yes | ✓ | ✓ | 2/day |
| Adobe Acrobat online | Yes | ✓ | ✓ | Trial only |
| PDF24 | Yes | ✓ | ✓ | Free |
Frequently asked questions
Can I add a watermark to a scanned PDF?
Yes. RightPDFKit applies the watermark as a layer on top of each page — it works on scanned PDFs, image-based PDFs and text PDFs alike.
Can I watermark a password-protected PDF?
Unlock it first using RightPDFKit's Unlock PDF tool, then add your watermark. Both tools are free and process locally.
Will the watermark reduce the PDF quality?
No. The watermark is embedded as a vector or image layer — the underlying PDF content is not re-compressed or degraded.
Can I remove the watermark after adding it?
Watermarks added by RightPDFKit are embedded directly into the page content and are not easily removable. This is intentional — it makes them effective as security or branding marks.
Can I add a watermark on specific pages only?
Yes. In the watermark settings, choose which pages to apply it to — all pages, odd/even pages only, or a specific page range.