Add watermarks to PDFs

Add watermarks to PDFs

About watermarks

A watermark in a document is either text or an image that appears either in front of or behind existing content, akin to a stamp. For instance, you might use a "Confidential" watermark on sensitive data pages. Multiple watermarks can be added to one or more PDFs, each added individually. Also, you can just specify the pages or page ranges where each watermark should appear.

Unlike a stamp, a watermark becomes a fixed element within PDF pages. Stamps, on the other hand, are PDF comments that readers can open to view, edit, or delete text annotations.

Add a watermark to a PDF

  1. 1. Open the PDF to which you want to add a watermark. 

  2. 2. From the global bar on the upper left, select Edit.

  3. 3. Under ADD CONTENT, select More and then select Watermark > Add.

  4. 4. In the Add Watermark dialog, adjust the source, appearance, and position as required. You can also save the settings for future use. Once you have set everything as required, select OK. 

    Add Watermark settings window
    Add Watermark settings window

Add watermark settings

Page Range Options: To apply the watermark to individual pages, select Page Range Options, specify a page range, and choose a Subset option, as needed.

Text: To create a text watermark, select Text and type the text in the box. Adjust the text formatting options as needed.

Save Settings: To reuse the watermark and watermark options you create, select Save Settings, provide a name for your settings, and select Ok.

File: To use an image as a watermark, select File and select the desired image file. If the file has multiple pages with images, specify the Page Number you want.

Note

Only PDF, JPEG, and BMP images can be used as watermarks.

Appearance Options: Select Appearance options to adjust the appearance if watermark as needed

  • To specify when the watermark appears, select or deselect Show when printing and Show when displaying on screen.
  • To control variations in a PDF with pages of varying sizes, select or deselect. Keep the position and size of watermark text constant when printing on different page sizes.

Apply to Multiple Files: You can apply the same settings to additional PDFs. Select Apply to Multiple Files options > Add Files. Select the files and specify your folder and filename preferences in the Output Options dialog box. Select OK.

Change the size of an image watermark: 

Absolute Scale: To resize the watermark to the original image file size, enter a percentage in the Absolute Scale option (in the Source area of the dialog box).

Scale relative to target page: To resize the watermark relative to the PDF page dimensions, enter a percentage in the Scale relative to target page (in the Appearance area of the dialog box).

Add a watermark in component PDFs in a PDF Portfolio

  1. 1. Select one or more component PDFs in a PDF Portfolio.

  2. 2. Follow the steps mentioned in the previous section Add a watermark to a PDF.

Update a watermark

  1. 1. Open the PDF in which you want to update the watermark. 

  2. 2. Select Edit from the Global bar. 

  3. 3. In the Edit pane under ADD CONTENT, select More. 

  4. 4. Select Watermark and then select Update. 

  5. 5. Make the desired changes and then select OK.

Note

If you've multiple watermarks in a PDF, this procedure will update only the first watermark you added and discards all other watermarks.

Remove watermarks from a PDF

  1. 1. Select Edit from the Global bar. 

  2. 2. In the Edit pane under ADD CONTENT, select More. 

  3. 3. Select Watermark and then select Remove. 

  4. 4. Select Yes in the confirmation dialog box. 

Remove watermarks from multiple PDFs

  1. 1. Close all the open PDFs. 

  2. 2. In the Acrobat home view, select See All tools > Edit a PDF. 

  3. 3, From the Edit pane under ADD CONTENT, select More. 

  4. 4. Select Watermark and then select Remove. 

  5. 5. In the dialog box that opens, select Add files. Select the files from which you want to remove watermarks, select Add files, and then select OK.

  6. 6. In the Output Options dialog box, specify your folder and filename preferences and select OK. 


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