30

I have a PDF file and want to apply a watermark like the following on all pages and at 45 degrees:

watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark
watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark
watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark
watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark
watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark
watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark watermark
........................

How can I do this?

Gareth
  • 19,080
Narek
  • 1,461

8 Answers8

34

You can use pdftk as described in this answer. Sample command line:

pdftk original.pdf stamp watermark.pdf output final.pdf

It is especially convenient if you are on Linux as pdftk is included in many popular distributions.

For Windows users there is also free GUI version available.

More Options

Instead of stamping watermark over original document you can add it as background using background command (original pdf must be transparent). There is also a possibility to apply multi-page watermarks. Here is the documentation for the relevant commands:

  background <background PDF filename | - | PROMPT>
     Applies a PDF watermark to the background of a single input
     PDF.  Pass the background PDF's filename after background
     like so:

 pdftk in.pdf background back.pdf output out.pdf

 Pdftk uses only the first page from the background PDF and
 applies it to every page of the input PDF.  This page is
 scaled and rotated as needed to fit the input page.  You can
 use - to pass a background PDF into pdftk via stdin.

 If the input PDF does not have a transparent background (such
 as a PDF created from page scans) then the resulting back-
 ground won't be visible -- use the stamp operation instead.




multibackground <background PDF filename | - | PROMPT>
     Same as the background operation, but applies each page of
     the background PDF to the corresponding page of the input
     PDF.  If the input PDF has more pages than the stamp PDF,
     then the final stamp page is repeated across these remaining
     pages in the input PDF.


stamp <stamp PDF filename | - | PROMPT>
     This behaves just like the background operation except it
     overlays the stamp PDF page on top of the input PDF docu-
     ment's pages.  This works best if the stamp PDF page has a
     transparent background.


multistamp <stamp PDF filename | - | PROMPT>
     Same as the stamp operation, but applies each page of the
     background PDF to the corresponding page of the input PDF.
     If the input PDF has more pages than the stamp PDF, then the
     final stamp page is repeated across these remaining pages in
     the input PDF.
Yaroslav Stavnichiy
  • 441
11

Using qpdf:

qpdf --overlay overlay.pdf --repeat=1 -- input.pdf output.pdf

Alternatively

qpdf --underlay underlay.pdf --repeat=1 -- input.pdf output.pdf

See documentation.

dfcamara
  • 111
3

Many ways:

  • Use a commercial program (random example)
  • Use whatever tool was used to create the PDF (e.g. Acrobat)
  • Convert the PDF to a more tractable form.
Gareth
  • 19,080
RedGrittyBrick
  • 85,717
1

You can open the PDF file with Libreoffice (Draw will be used by default), and then export to PDF. In the dialog that appears, enter the watermark you wish to have.

lenooh
  • 581
0

pdftk works fine in windows. the important step is to create a transparent background with a non-transparent logo/watermark in it. for example you can open a standard new page (8.5x11) in photoshop, make the background opacity 0, insert the watermark or image at the position that you like at opacity 100 or less and then save it (as PDF) logo.pdf

use the command line as suggested pdftk original.pdf stamp logo.pdf output final.pdf

done you'll get a merged PDF with only the logo at the position that you saved the photoshop document , repeated on each page of the original pdf

note: if the background is not transparent then obviously the logo.pdf will replace the original pdf

0

Create a PDF with your watermarks and stamp the original PDF with such a tool: http://pdftools.softonic.de/

ceving
  • 2,007
-1

You may be interested using Dysprosium free software, I found useful.

  • You can select one page or selected pages or all pages of your document to be watermarked.
  • You can have the same text for those pages or different texts for each page.
  • You are able to watermark, as desired by your question, in many lines using different angles, fonts, and colours
  • Similarly, if you choose to watermark with images.
  • You can watermark one document with pages from another pdf document.
  • Using this software, you can convert an image or a set of images to pdf and then over-lay or under-lay the resulting pdf to your document.
  • You are able to decide for the font, colour, angle, opacity, and scale of watermark.
  • Software does not overwrite the original file, keeping it safe.
  • Software is non-commercial, unlimited, lightweight, and portable and cross-platform as a JAR file.

snapshot:

enter image description here

Any Body
  • 129
-1

You can use Adobe Acrobat Pro to add watermark on all or only a few pages of your PDF file.

You'll find this in the menu View / Tools Sets / Default Tools. Then the option to add watermark will be in the "pages" section on your sidebar.

It gives you the option to rotate your text, use any style or size you want, add it in front or behind the text, etc.

You can also use an image if you prefer.

Finally, you can save that watermark as a profile if you need to use it on other projects.

Make sure to keep a duplicate of your original file before testing this!

Adobe Acrobat Pro PDF watermarks

go-junta
  • 139