A label such as DRAFT or REVIEW COPY can help readers recognize a document’s purpose. PDF Watermark adds the same gray text to every page of a PDF. It is a visible annotation for communication, not access control or a guarantee that the file cannot be copied.
Choose text and appearance
Upload one unencrypted PDF, up to 30 MB and 100 pages. Enter a short watermark using characters supported by the built-in Latin font. Keep it to 80 characters or fewer; long wording is harder to read and may be scaled down to fit the page width.
Set opacity between 0.05 and 1. A value near 0.2 creates a lighter overlay, while 1 is fully opaque. Font size ranges from 8 to 100. These are independent controls: larger text need not be darker, and a faint label can still cover a large portion of a page.
The watermark is horizontal, centered across the page width, and placed around the page’s vertical midpoint. It is not a diagonal repeating pattern. There is no page-range field, so prepare an excerpt first if only part of a document should receive the label.
Make a review-copy example
For a three-page draft, enter REVIEW COPY, choose opacity 0.2, and set size 40. Create and download the PDF. All three pages receive the same label, including a cover or intentionally blank page.
Inspect a page with dense text and one with a diagram. The useful question is whether the label is visible without obscuring content that reviewers need. If a diagram’s key sits across the midpoint, even a pale watermark may interfere with it. Adjust the settings using the original PDF and generate a fresh copy.
On a narrow page, the tool can reduce the text size to fit horizontally. Consequently, the same nominal size may not appear identical on every page of a mixed-size document. Review representative page shapes before sharing.
Keep the watermark’s role clear
All processing remains in your browser. PDF rewriting can affect digital signatures, interactive forms, bookmarks, and attachments. Preserve the source and test any document feature a recipient relies on. A visible label does not validate authorship or establish legal ownership.
Unsupported characters may produce a font error; shorten the wording or use supported Latin text. The watermark cannot hide confidential material, because adding a label does not redact underlying content. Use PDF Splitter to prepare only the intended pages first. PDF Compressor can attempt a structural rewrite afterward, with no promise that the labeled file becomes smaller.