Add Page Numbers and Watermark to PDF

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confidential watermark on pdf

CONFIDENTIAL watermark on PDF: diagonal text, tiles and logo

Switch on the Text watermark layer, pick CONFIDENTIAL from the ready-made texts and see the result on the thumbnails before downloading. The default is 45 degrees and 25% opacity.

Centered, tiled, logo or stamp: when to use each

The centered watermark is the classic one: a big word on the diagonal, translucent, in the middle of the page. With Fit the size to the page on, the tool computes the largest size at which the rotated text fits in 80% of the width and height. For CONFIDENTIAL in bold Helvetica, at 45 degrees, on a letter sheet of 612 x 792 points, the result is about 79.1 points of font size, with the text about 597 points long. The angle goes from -90 to 90 degrees and the opacity from 5% to 100%; the default 25% leaves the text underneath readable. The ready-made texts are CONFIDENTIAL, COPY, DRAFT, APPROVED and URGENT, in English or Portuguese, and you can type any other.
In tile mode, the text repeats in a grid aligned to the angle, with horizontal and vertical gaps in points, and alternate rows are shifted by half a cell. It suits documents where a single text in the middle would be easy to crop or hide, and it makes it harder to crop the page keeping only a clean part. Each page gets at most 400 repeats, so the file does not grow out of control. The logo works the same way: upload PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF or SVG, and choose centered, in a corner or tiled, the width as a percentage of the page, the opacity and the angle. The image is converted to a PNG of up to 2000 pixels and embedded just once, even if it shows on every page.
The stamp is another layer, with a rectangular frame and bold text: CONFIDENTIAL in red, COPY in blue, DRAFT in gray, APPROVED in green and URGENT in orange, or your own text in capitals. You choose the corner, the angle (default -15 degrees), the size and the opacity. Use the stamp for a one-off status (a corner of the first page) and the watermark for the whole document. About security: none of these marks protects the content. Anyone with a PDF editor can remove them or rebuild the file without them. They signal status and discourage misuse, and that is all. For real secrecy, control who receives the file, and use a password or a digital signature where it applies.

Computed values

Automatic size

Input: CONFIDENCIAL, Helvetica negrito, 45 graus, folha 612 x 792 pt
Expected output: Corpo de 79,09 pt

Limited by width: 612 x 0.8 divided by 6.19 (rotated box at size 1).

Tiles with no angle

Input: Folha 300 x 200 pt, ladrilho 100 x 100 pt, espaço 0, ângulo 0, sem deslocamento
Expected output: 9 ladrilhos (3 colunas x 3 linhas)

Centers at x = 50, 150, 250 and y = 0, 100, 200; the top and bottom ones are half cut.

Ready-made text in two languages

Input: Carimbo CÓPIA
Expected output: CÓPIA em português; COPY em inglês

The accent is preserved: Ó is in the WinAnsi set of the standard fonts.

Repeat cap

Input: Texto de 10 x 10 pt em folha de 5000 x 5000 pt
Expected output: 400 repetições por página (limite)

Without the cap there would be hundreds of thousands of copies.

Full tool FAQ

How do I number only from the second page, without counting the cover?

Turn on Skip the first page. The cover stays unnumbered and the second page gets the start number (1 by default). The total "of N" follows: in a 10-page PDF, page 2 comes out as "Page 1 of 9" and page 10 as "Page 9 of 9". If you would rather have the second page show "2", set the start number to 2; the total becomes 10.

Which page number formats are available?

What is Bates numbering and how do I set it up?

Which variables can I use in the header and footer?

Does a watermark protect the document from copying?

How do the tiled watermark and the automatic fit work?

Can I use a logo as a watermark?

Do the marks sit correctly on rotated pages and pages of different sizes?

Does it work with password-protected PDFs?

Which fonts and characters can I use in the marks?

Frequently asked questions

Does the watermark sit behind or in front of the text?

In front, with transparency. The original content is not changed, and the mark is added on top. At 25% opacity, the text underneath stays readable.

Can I mark only some pages?

Yes. The Apply to block covers every layer: all pages, only odd, only even or a range like 1-3, 5. The thumbnail preview shows which pages got marked.

Does my logo need a transparent background?

It does not have to, but it looks better. A PNG with transparency blends into the page; a JPG with a white background makes a translucent white rectangle. When in doubt, use the PNG.

Next steps

Centered, tiled, logo or stamp: when to use each

The centered watermark is the classic one: a big word on the diagonal, translucent, in the middle of the page. With Fit the size to the page on, the tool computes the largest size at which the rotated text fits in 80% of the width and height. For CONFIDENTIAL in bold Helvetica, at 45 degrees, on a letter sheet of 612 x 792 points, the result is about 79.1 points of font size, with the text about 597 points long. The angle goes from -90 to 90 degrees and the opacity from 5% to 100%; the default 25% leaves the text underneath readable. The ready-made texts are CONFIDENTIAL, COPY, DRAFT, APPROVED and URGENT, in English or Portuguese, and you can type any other.

In tile mode, the text repeats in a grid aligned to the angle, with horizontal and vertical gaps in points, and alternate rows are shifted by half a cell. It suits documents where a single text in the middle would be easy to crop or hide, and it makes it harder to crop the page keeping only a clean part. Each page gets at most 400 repeats, so the file does not grow out of control. The logo works the same way: upload PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF or SVG, and choose centered, in a corner or tiled, the width as a percentage of the page, the opacity and the angle. The image is converted to a PNG of up to 2000 pixels and embedded just once, even if it shows on every page.

The stamp is another layer, with a rectangular frame and bold text: CONFIDENTIAL in red, COPY in blue, DRAFT in gray, APPROVED in green and URGENT in orange, or your own text in capitals. You choose the corner, the angle (default -15 degrees), the size and the opacity. Use the stamp for a one-off status (a corner of the first page) and the watermark for the whole document. About security: none of these marks protects the content. Anyone with a PDF editor can remove them or rebuild the file without them. They signal status and discourage misuse, and that is all. For real secrecy, control who receives the file, and use a password or a digital signature where it applies.

Computed values

Automatic size

Input: CONFIDENCIAL, Helvetica negrito, 45 graus, folha 612 x 792 pt
Expected output: Corpo de 79,09 pt

Limited by width: 612 x 0.8 divided by 6.19 (rotated box at size 1).

Tiles with no angle

Input: Folha 300 x 200 pt, ladrilho 100 x 100 pt, espaço 0, ângulo 0, sem deslocamento
Expected output: 9 ladrilhos (3 colunas x 3 linhas)

Centers at x = 50, 150, 250 and y = 0, 100, 200; the top and bottom ones are half cut.

Ready-made text in two languages

Input: Carimbo CÓPIA
Expected output: CÓPIA em português; COPY em inglês

The accent is preserved: Ó is in the WinAnsi set of the standard fonts.

Repeat cap

Input: Texto de 10 x 10 pt em folha de 5000 x 5000 pt
Expected output: 400 repetições por página (limite)

Without the cap there would be hundreds of thousands of copies.

Full tool FAQ

How do I number only from the second page, without counting the cover?

Which page number formats are available?

What is Bates numbering and how do I set it up?

Which variables can I use in the header and footer?

Does a watermark protect the document from copying?

How do the tiled watermark and the automatic fit work?

Can I use a logo as a watermark?

Do the marks sit correctly on rotated pages and pages of different sizes?

Does it work with password-protected PDFs?

Which fonts and characters can I use in the marks?

Frequently asked questions

Does the watermark sit behind or in front of the text?

In front, with transparency. The original content is not changed, and the mark is added on top. At 25% opacity, the text underneath stays readable.

Can I mark only some pages?

Yes. The Apply to block covers every layer: all pages, only odd, only even or a range like 1-3, 5. The thumbnail preview shows which pages got marked.

Does my logo need a transparent background?

It does not have to, but it looks better. A PNG with transparency blends into the page; a JPG with a white background makes a translucent white rectangle. When in doubt, use the PNG.