PDF Watermark
Stamp a text watermark — DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, custom — onto every page of a PDF. Lossless overlay, runs in your browser. Built for circulation control of pre-release drafts.
Drop a PDF to add a text watermark
DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL — never uploaded, lossless overlay
How to add a PDF watermark online
Drop your PDF. Type the watermark text — or pick a preset like DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, or DO NOT DISTRIBUTE. Choose a position (diagonal across the page, tiled repeat across every page, or any corner). Adjust font size, rotation, opacity (5–100%), and color. Click Apply watermark and ToolChop overlays the text on every page using pdf-lib — losslessly, with no rasterization, so the original page content stays byte-identical and the watermark is real selectable PDF text.
Why a local watermarker matters
Watermarks are typically applied immediately before sending a document outside an organization — a draft to a counterparty, a confidential internal report to a regulator, a sample to a vendor. The un-watermarked file is exactly what the watermark is meant to control, and uploading it to a third-party tool first is the leak you are trying to manage. ToolChop watermarks entirely in your browser. DevTools → Network confirms no request fires.
What you can do
- Type custom watermark text or use a preset (DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, SAMPLE, FOR REVIEW ONLY)
- 6 positions: diagonal center, tiled repeat, or any of the 4 corners
- Configurable font size (16–200pt), rotation (−90° to +90°), opacity (5–100%)
- Color picker for visible or subtle stamps
- Lossless: page content untouched; watermark added as real PDF text
- Signatures on the page content remain cryptographically valid
Frequently asked questions
How do I add a watermark to a PDF online for free?
Drop your PDF. Type the watermark text (or use a preset — DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, etc.). Pick position (diagonal center, tiled, or any corner). Adjust font size, rotation, opacity, and color. Click Apply watermark and ToolChop overlays it locally with pdf-lib. Download the result. No account, no upload, no daily limit.
Does ToolChop upload my PDF?
No. The PDF is opened and modified entirely in your browser. The original and the watermarked output both stay on your device — essential because PDFs being watermarked are typically pre-circulation drafts, sensitive internal documents, signed contracts, and other private material.
Why is the privacy story for PDF watermarking important?
Watermarks are usually applied immediately before sending a document to someone outside the organization — a counterparty, a regulator, a vendor. Uploading the un-watermarked draft to a third-party tool first is exactly the leak you are trying to manage. ToolChop runs entirely in your browser. DevTools → Network confirms no request fires.
Is the watermark lossless? Will the PDF quality change?
Yes, completely lossless for the existing content. ToolChop uses pdf-lib's drawText to overlay text on top of each page — the page content (text, images, signatures, fonts) is left untouched byte-for-byte. The only thing added is the watermark text in your chosen position with your chosen opacity.
Can the watermark be removed by the recipient?
Technically yes — text overlays in PDFs can be removed by anyone with a PDF editor (Acrobat Pro, certain online tools). Watermarks are a deterrent and a clear-intent signal, not a security mechanism. For true tamper-resistance, you would need to flatten the PDF (rasterize each page after watermarking), which is heavier work and loses text selection.
What watermark text should I use?
Common conventions: DRAFT for unfinished documents in review, CONFIDENTIAL for restricted material, DO NOT DISTRIBUTE for documents that should not be forwarded, FOR REVIEW ONLY for circulation among reviewers, SAMPLE for examples. ToolChop has these five as presets, or type any custom text.
What does Tiled position do?
Repeats the watermark across the entire page in a grid pattern. Useful when you want the watermark to be unmissable — every visible area of every page shows it. Adjust Tile spacing to control density.
Why does the diagonal center watermark have a slight visual offset?
When text is rotated, pdf-lib's draw anchor is at the bottom-left corner of the unrotated bounding box. ToolChop compensates so the visible text appears centered on the page regardless of rotation. If you set rotation to 0 the offset disappears entirely.
Can I make the watermark very faint?
Yes. Drop the opacity slider to 5–20% for a subtle watermark that does not interfere with reading the underlying document. 15–20% is typical for 'DRAFT' style overlays — visible but unobtrusive. Higher opacity (60%+) for bold 'CONFIDENTIAL' stamps that demand attention.
Will signatures on the PDF remain valid?
Signatures on the original content remain cryptographically valid because the page content is not modified. The document's overall signature (if any) will break because the file's bytes changed — that is true of any PDF modification. Re-sign after watermarking if a single-file signature is required.
Why does the bold-text version look soft?
ToolChop uses Helvetica-Bold (built into PDF, no font embedding needed). Apparent softness comes from the PDF viewer's font rendering. The text data is sharp and selectable; how it renders depends on the viewer.
Why use ToolChop instead of an online watermarker that uploads my PDF?
Privacy. Watermarks are usually applied to drafts, contracts, and confidential material — the exact category of file you do not want to send to a third-party server. ToolChop watermarks entirely in your browser and preserves the original document byte-identically except for the added text.