How many times have you heard about files getting stolen and plagiarized online? Or worse, you may be one of the victims of this scenario. Having your files stolen could cost you a lot of money, can bring a lot of unwarranted stress, and could even jeopardize someone. For example, what if you are working on a trial prep and the document gets leaked? How can you trace the culprit? This is when watermarks can be very useful.
If you are working on confidential files digitally, it may be best if you add a watermark. Watermarks are symbols, texts, or images used to claim ownership over a digital file. It is commonly used by photographers to safeguard their photos, professionals for legally binding documents, or artists to copyright their works. Watermarks can be found across the page or it could be used subtly. Either way, it is another form to secure your files.
In this article, we will focus on how to add watermarks in your PDF files online and offline. Some common phrases that you may have seen before as a form of watermark are ‘For Your Eyes Only,’ ‘Confidential,’ or ‘Top Secret.’ It may be simple phrases but they can be legally binding if there is a breach in how the file should be used. Here are some ways on how to put watermarks on your PDF files.
Put a watermark using PDFBear Online
PDFBear is a trusted web-based tool used by millions of people around the world. When it comes to everything PDF-related, you can depend on PDFBear. PDFBear is also SSL-encrypted which means that there is another layer of security against cybercriminals. Users could use PDFBear’s tools without worrying about their security being compromised. To add watermark to PDF, follow these four easy steps:
- Go to PDFBear’s website. Make sure to choose the ‘Add Watermark’ tool.
- Upload the file that you want to add watermark to. You can also drag and drop the file or select from your Dropbox account. The upload time should only take a few minutes, depending on the file size of the PDF.
- Once the file has been uploaded, you may now type the text that you want to serve as a watermark. If you opt for an image, you may upload that as well. You may also position the watermark anywhere in the file.
- If you’re satisfied, click ‘Add Watermark’ then PDFBear will add your watermark to all pages of your PDF file. PDFBear will give you a few options on how to share and save your newly processed file. You may download the PDF file directly to your device or save it directly to your Dropbox account. PDFBear will also generate a link for you so you can view it via the web. You can even send the link to other people via social media platforms and messaging apps. Lastly, you may send the link through email. All you need is to input the email address and add an optional message to the email.
See how easy to safeguard your files? Aside from the share and save options, PDFBear will also suggest some tools that you can use directly to your processed files. You may convert your watermarked PDF into an editable Word file in seconds. Aside from that, you can also compress your watermarked PDF file. Compressing your PDF file reduces the file size of your PDF file. This makes it easier to send via email and other social media platforms. Don’t worry! PDFBear will not reduce the quality of your PDF file when you use the compress tool.
PDFBear is easy and all the basic tools are free to use! No need to sign up when you use the basic tools. Aside from that, no need to download any plug-ins, applications, or software that will occupy the memory storage of your device.
Add Watermarks Offline using Adobe Acrobat
If there are times that you don’t have any access to the internet whenever you need to watermark a PDF file, the best thing to do is to rely on the software you already have on your device. You may download any application or third-party software to help you. However, if you don’t want to download any additional software to your device, you may rely on your office suite. This could be time-consuming but still works. For example, you may use your Adobe Acrobat if you’re using a desktop or laptop. Here are the easy steps for how you can add watermarks offline:
- Open the PDF file using Adobe Acrobat. Go to Tools then Edit PDF. Under Edit PDF, click Watermark then Add.
- You may specify if you want to add the watermark in specific pages only.
- Add your watermark. You may type it if you’re using text or use an image. For image watermarks, go to File, Browse, then Select image. Only JPEG and BMP formats can be used as watermarks. You can scale the size of the watermark.
- Click OK once you are done.
As mentioned, adding watermarks offline can be tedious and could take a few minutes, whereas if you use an online tool like PDFBear, you will only spend seconds to accomplish the task. Furthermore, a tool like Adobe Acrobat required you to pay a minimum fee.
Add Watermarks whenever you want
Adding watermarks to your PDF files can be done online or offline. Some tools that you can rely on when it comes to your PDF files are PDFBear and Adobe Acrobat. However, you should be wary about the time you consume. If you are only adding watermarks as a one-time thing, Adobe Acrobat should suffice as well.