Watermark

Add a watermark to PDF files without installing anything or handing your documents to a stranger's server. PDFora stamps your custom text — DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, your company name, a client reference — across every page of the document. The whole process runs inside your browser using local processing, so the file never leaves your computer. That matters when the PDF you are marking is exactly the kind of document you would not want floating around.

You control how the watermark looks. Type any text you like, adjust the font size to suit the page, and set the opacity anywhere from a faint 0.1 ghost to a bold, fully opaque stamp. Flip on the 45-degree diagonal option and the text sweeps across the page the way classic DRAFT stamps do. The mark is applied consistently to every page, so a 200-page contract takes the same few seconds as a two-page memo.

PDFora is free, with no signup and no file limits. Worth saying plainly: many watermark tools add their own branding to your output. We never do. The only watermark on your finished PDF is the one you chose to put there. Use it once or a hundred times a day — nothing is counted or throttled.

How to add a watermark to a PDF online

1. Open the watermark tool at getpdfora.com and select your PDF, or drag the file straight onto the page.
2. Type the watermark text you want stamped on every page — for example CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, or your business name.
3. Set the font size so the mark is readable without burying the content underneath.
4. Adjust the opacity slider between 0 and 1 — around 0.2 to 0.3 gives a subtle mark that leaves the text legible.
5. Tick the diagonal option if you want the text angled at 45 degrees across the page, or leave it off for a horizontal stamp.
6. Click to apply, then download your watermarked PDF. Everything happens locally in your browser.

When to use this tool

• Stamp DRAFT across a contract before sending it to the other side, so nobody signs a version that was never final.
• Mark internal reports CONFIDENTIAL before circulating them beyond your immediate team.
• Add your studio or firm name to design proofs and proposals so they cannot be quietly passed off elsewhere.
• Label sample chapters or preview copies of an ebook with NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION.
• Tag invoices or statements with PAID or COPY so originals and duplicates never get confused.
• Watermark student handouts or exam papers with a course code and term so old versions are easy to spot.

Tips for the best results

• Keep opacity low — 0.15 to 0.3 — when the document still needs to be read closely; save 0.6 and above for pages meant to be unusable as copies.
• The 45-degree diagonal covers more of the page with a single line of text, which makes the mark harder to crop out.
• Short text in a large font size reads better than a long sentence in a small one; 'DRAFT — v3' beats a full disclaimer.
• Watermark a copy, not your only original. The tool never touches your source file, but keeping a clean master is good habit anyway.
• For legal or client documents, put the recipient's name in the watermark — leaked copies then identify themselves.