Open the PDF you want to watermark and select Edit.
Last updated on
Sep 23, 2025
Learn how to add text or image watermarks to your PDFs using Acrobat on desktop.
A watermark is fixed text or an image added to a PDF to indicate ownership, display branding, or mark content as confidential. Unlike stamps, watermarks are embedded into the page. You can add one or more watermarks to specific pages in one or multiple PDFs. For image watermarks, use transparent PNGs for best results.
Note
Only PDF, JPEG, and BMP images can be used as watermarks.
Try it in the app
Add watermarks to PDFs for branding and document protection in a few simple steps.
Select Watermark > Add from the left pane.
In the Add Watermark dialog box, choose your watermark options:
- Source: Select Text to add a text watermark, or File to use an image.
- Appearance: Adjust opacity, rotation, and size.
- Position: Set the vertical and horizontal placement.
Tip
Use the Appearance settings to control when and how your watermark appears—adjust visibility, lock size across pages, or scale it manually or relative to the page size.
To apply the watermark to multiple files, select Apply to Multiple Files, add your PDFs, select OK, and choose where to save them in the Output Options dialog.
Select OK.
