Stamp a text label or a logo across every page, with the opacity, angle and position set by hand. The mark is drawn on this device and the original file stays as it was.
Document format work by OnlinePCApps since 2013
Each of these carries a meaning the page itself does not state. A watermark says it on every page at once.
A version still being worked on can be mistaken for the final one. A DRAFT or CONFIDENTIAL label across each page makes the status plain and lowers the chance of the wrong copy being acted on.
A proposal or a report sent to a client reads as anonymous without a name on it. A faint logo in the corner or behind the text ties the document to its source and looks considered.
A preview or a sample shared widely can be passed on as though it were free to take. A SAMPLE or copyright mark tiled across the page marks ownership and is awkward to crop away.
Choose a PDF or drag it onto the panel above. It loads on the machine ready for a mark, and no copy is sent out.
Type a label or upload a logo, then set the opacity, the angle and where it sits. A live preview shows the mark on the page before it is applied.
The watermarked file downloads beside the original. The source PDF is left untouched, so a clean master is always kept.
A watermark is text or an image painted over each page. The control over how it looks is what keeps it readable without hiding the content.
A text watermark carries a typed label such as DRAFT or CONFIDENTIAL, while an image watermark carries an uploaded logo or stamp. Text suits a status, an image suits a brand.
An opacity from faint to solid decides how much shows through, and a rotation sets the mark upright or on a diagonal so it does not follow the text lines.
The mark sits where it is placed, whether a corner for subtle branding or the center for a stamp. It can also tile across the page so cropping it away takes the content too.
A watermark covers the whole document or only the pages picked, so a cover can stay clean while the body pages carry the label.
Adding a watermark, stamping a document and applying an overlay all name the same action. This tool draws the mark into a new copy and leaves the source file untouched.
Both stamp a label or a logo onto a PDF. The difference is where the file goes and how many can be done at once.
| Point of comparison | This tool Marked in the browser Stamped on the device | Hosted markers Uploaded and stamped on a server |
|---|---|---|
| Where the file goes | Held on the device | Sent off to a server |
| Text and image marks | Both, with a preview | Usually both |
| A mark of their own added | Never, only the mark set | Some stamp a free-tier tag |
| Whole libraries at once | One file in the browser | Batch on their hardware |
| Lock it right after | A separate step | Often chained in one flow |
Those two rows at the bottom are where a hosted service earns its upload. Marking a whole library at once fits a server, and a hosted suite can stamp then lock in a single pass. Everywhere else the browser wins, and the document stays on the machine.
Drawing a label onto a page is a small edit the browser makes on the file it already holds. There is no processing that needs a server, so the mark is added on the device with nothing sent out.
The file is never received, so there is no stored copy to guard and no retention policy to take on trust. A contract stamped as CONFIDENTIAL never has to leave the machine to earn the label.
A watermark is a set of choices about what the mark says and how it sits on the page. These are the controls behind it.
| Setting | Range | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| Type | text or image | A typed label carries a status or a name. An uploaded PNG or JPG carries a logo, a stamp or a signature mark. |
| Opacity | faint to solid | How much of the mark shows through. A low value keeps body text readable, while a high value makes the mark the first thing seen. |
| Rotation | any angle | The tilt of the mark. A diagonal near forty-five degrees is the classic stamp and avoids lining up with the text. |
| Position | nine points or custom | Where the mark sits. A center placement covers the most area, and a corner is subtler but easier to crop off. |
| Tile | single or repeated | One mark, or the mark repeated in a grid across the page, sometimes called a mosaic, so it survives a crop and reads as deliberate. |
| Layer | over or behind | The mark drawn on top of the content, or behind it so the text stays crisp and fully readable on top. |
| Pages | all or a range | Every page, or only the pages picked such as the odd or even set or a custom range, so sensitive pages carry the label and a cover can stay clean. |
| Text fonts | base PDF fonts | Helvetica, Times and Courier render the same everywhere, since they are the standard fonts a PDF reader always has. |
| Flatten | bakes the mark in | Flattening merges the mark into the page as fixed content, which drops the separate layer and makes the watermark harder to strip. It is a one-way step. |
| File size | text tiny, image more | A text mark adds a few kilobytes. A logo adds more, from roughly fifty to two hundred kilobytes for one image. |
A Label, Not a Lock
A watermark is drawn onto the page as ordinary content. It states a status, carries a brand and deters casual reuse, but it does not encrypt anything. A determined reader can crop or strip a mark, which is why a tile is harder to remove than a corner. It is also why a document that must stay shut needs a password as well. The standards below define the page content a mark is drawn into.
Each of these stamps a page. They differ in the control they offer and whether they run on the device.
Each of these keeps the file on the computer it opened on, apart from hosted markers that ask for an upload. The tool above does the same.
A watermark is easy to overdo or to make pointless. These three keep it useful.
A mark around twenty to thirty percent opacity reads clearly while the text underneath stays legible. Push it much higher and the watermark starts to fight the content it sits on.
A corner mark is subtle but simple to crop away. A centered diagonal, or a tile across the page, covers the content and is far harder to remove without taking the page with it.
A watermark labels and deters, but it can be removed by someone set on it. When a file truly must be protected, add a password as well so the content cannot be opened or copied freely.
The browser tool marks one document at a time, held in memory. A library of contracts, or a batch where each file carries a name for tracking, is work for the desktop edition, which reads from disk and stamps every file without a tab open.
Point it at a directory and every PDF inside is stamped with the same text or logo in one pass.
Each copy can carry a recipient name or a date, which marks who a document was sent to for tracking.
A saved stamp marks a folder on a schedule, which suits a set of documents that goes out each week.
Free, no sign-up and no upload. The mark is drawn on the device and the original file is left untouched.