Stamp PDFs with CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, INTERNAL USE, REVIEW COPY, or custom text. Set opacity, rotation, and tiling. Combine with page numbering. Your PDF never leaves your browser.
Add page numbers, Bates labels, and watermarks directly in the browser.
Preview appears when safe; very large PDFs skip preview and keep download fast.
Add a watermark to PDF free in your browser — no server upload required. Upload your PDF, type your watermark text (CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, or any custom text), set opacity and rotation, and process. Your watermarked PDF downloads instantly from the browser without any file being sent to a server.
CONFIDENTIAL watermarks are used for restricted distribution documents: pre-merger financial statements, legal correspondence, draft contracts, medical records, personnel files, and government advisories. The watermark signals to any recipient that the document should not be forwarded, copied, or published. DRAFT watermarks are standard in approval workflows, client review rounds, contract negotiations, and report drafts circulating for comment before final publication. INTERNAL USE ONLY watermarks mark documents for staff that should not be distributed externally. REVIEW COPY stamps are used by publishers, exam boards, and content teams for pre-release materials.
Opacity is the most important watermark setting. Too low and the watermark is not visible when printed. Too high and it obscures the underlying document text. For documents where readability is primary — draft contracts, review documents, approval copies — use 20–35% opacity. For documents where the watermark must be clearly visible — CONFIDENTIAL packets, pre-release materials, sensitive distributions — use 40–60%. For maximum security emphasis — where discouraging unauthorized distribution is the main goal — use 60–80%. Avoid 100% opacity for any document with dense text, tables, signatures, or form fields.
A centered watermark places one instance in the middle of each page. It is the most common choice for DRAFT and CONFIDENTIAL stamps. A tiled watermark repeats the text in a grid pattern across the entire page. Tiled watermarks are more secure because cropped screenshots and partial page copies still retain the watermark text — a centered watermark can be removed from a screenshot by cropping to the text area. Use tiling for highly sensitive documents where the watermark must survive any partial reproduction attempt.
Professional document submissions often need both a watermark and page numbers. A tender submission might be stamped DRAFT in the review phase and then renumbered and re-stamped with FINAL before official submission. This tool supports both watermarking and page numbering in a single processing pass — combine them in the options panel before clicking Process. See also: add page numbers to PDF and Bates numbering for legal and audit formats.
PDF watermark tools from Smallpdf, Sejda, PDF24, and ilovepdf upload your PDF to remote servers. For a document you need to watermark as CONFIDENTIAL — precisely because it contains sensitive information — uploading to a third-party server is contradictory. Number My Document processes the entire watermarking operation in your browser using PDF-lib. Your file never leaves your device, making the tool appropriate for the most sensitive documents that need watermarking.
Common questions about adding text watermarks to PDF files online.
Upload your PDF, type CONFIDENTIAL in the text field, set opacity to 30-40%, choose 45 degree diagonal rotation, and click Process. Downloads instantly from your browser — no server upload, no account.
Yes. Processing runs entirely in your browser using PDF-lib. Your file never leaves your device — safe for confidential documents, draft contracts, pre-release reports, and internal PDFs.
20-35% for readable draft documents. 40-60% for clearly visible confidential stamps. 60-80% for security-first distribution. Avoid 100% as it obscures text, tables, and signatures beneath.
Yes. Enable both watermark and page number options before processing. You get a PDF with both elements in one pass — no need to process twice.
Yes. Tiling stamps the watermark in a grid across each page. Tiled watermarks survive partial screenshots and cropped copies better than a single-center stamp.
45 degrees diagonal is standard — most visible while minimally obscuring text. 0 degrees horizontal works for header and footer stamps. Custom angles (30, 60 degrees) suit branded watermarks.
Yes. Type DRAFT in the text field or use the preset. Set opacity to 25-40% so the document remains readable. Standard for client review, approval workflows, and pre-publication documents.
Smallpdf and Sejda upload your file to remote servers. Number My Document processes in your browser — your file never leaves your device. Also supports combining watermarks with page numbers and Bates stamps in one session.