Watermark PDF pages with a word or a picture, exactly where you want it
Put a word or a picture over the pages you choose, faint enough that the words underneath stay readable. Your PDF never leaves this device.
Choose a PDF file to watermark
One file · up to 80 MB · PDF bytes are checked on this device
Processed on this device
Selecting and processing files stays in this browser.
Checking offline readiness
Offline availability is confirmed after this tool loads.
Why there is no daily limit, and no upload
How to watermark a PDF
- Open the PDF you want to mark.
- Choose a word or a picture, and how faint, how big and how turned it should be.
- Put it once in the middle or repeat it across the page, and pick the pages.
- Select Create watermarked PDF, then Download to save it.
Watermark a PDF and keep the file, not a picture of it
PDFCheetah writes the mark onto each chosen page, on this device. The document is not rebuilt: what you get back is your own file with a mark added, so the text already on the page stays selectable, vector artwork stays sharp, and form fields, bookmarks and page labels come through. The mark goes in front of the page's own content by default, faint enough that the words underneath stay readable, and can be moved behind. It is placed against the page as you see it, so a page stored on its side is marked the way it reads. A repeated mark uses one copy of the picture for the whole document, however many times it appears.
What a watermark does not do
A watermark marks a document; it does not protect one. The mark is ordinary page content, so anyone who can open the file can remove it with the same kind of tool that added it. A mark placed in front of the page covers content without removing it, and what is underneath is still in the file and still selectable.
Current limitations
Words are written in one bundled font family, which covers Latin and Devanagari scripts. Different marks on different pages, marking several files at once, and placeholders that fill in a date or a page number are not included. Repeating a very small mark across a large page is refused rather than written, because the number of copies is what would grow without limit. Always verify signed, certified, tagged, form-heavy, or archival PDFs in the reader used by the recipient.
Common questions
- Is my PDF uploaded to add a watermark?
- No. The pages are measured and the mark is written in your browser, and the file never leaves this device. Download the result, or use Share on a phone.
- Does a watermark stop someone copying or changing my PDF?
- No. A watermark marks a document; it does not protect one. The mark is ordinary page content, so anyone who can open the file can remove it with the same kind of tool that added it. Use it to say how a document should be treated.
- Will the watermark cover the text underneath it?
- It sits in front by default, at 25% opacity, so the words stay readable through it. It covers content without removing it — what is underneath is still in the file and still selectable. You can move it behind the page's own content instead.
- Can I use my own logo instead of a word?
- Yes. Choose a PNG or a JPG. The file's own contents decide whether it can be used, not its name, and a photo carrying a camera turn is refused rather than placed the wrong way up.
- Can I put the watermark on some pages and not others?
- Yes. Every page is selected when the document opens; deselect the ones you want left alone, and only the chosen pages are marked.
- Why can I not repeat a very small mark across a large page?
- Because the number of copies is what would grow without limit — halving the mark quadruples the copies. Past a ceiling the tool refuses rather than writing a file no reader could open. Make the mark larger, widen the spacing, or place it once in the middle.
- Does the repeated watermark make the file much bigger?
- No. One copy of the picture is stored for the whole document however many times it appears, so what grows is the instruction to draw it again, not the picture.
- Which alphabets can the word use?
- Latin and Devanagari, from a font bundled with the tool so nothing is fetched from the internet. A word using characters outside those scripts is refused rather than printed as empty boxes.