watermark type
Image watermark for a PDF
An image watermark places a logo or picture onto the page. Use it when the mark is about brand ownership rather than a status word — letterheads, certificates, portfolios, data sheets and anything that leaves your organisation carrying your name.
Image watermark — a logo placed at 30% of the page width
Transparency is what makes a logo look right
A logo pasted on at full strength looks like a sticker. The professional result comes from blending the image's transparency, so the page shows through it. We bake that transparency in during processing, which is why a semi-transparent logo looks identical whether it started as a PNG with an alpha channel or as a JPEG with none.
Upload a PNG with a transparent background wherever you can. It gives the sharpest edges, because there is no white box around the mark.
- PNG with transparency — best result
- JPEG or WebP — works, and we apply the transparency for you
- Maximum upload size: 5 MB
- Large images are downscaled automatically so the PDF does not balloon
Sizing and placement
Size is expressed as a share of the page width rather than in pixels, so the same logo looks correct on every page size. Starting around 30% of the page width gives a clear but not overwhelming mark. For a subtle letterhead, drop to about 15% and place it near the bottom.
Removing the logo's background is usually better than lowering the opacity. A transparent PNG at full strength reads as part of the document; a solid logo at low opacity reads as a grey rectangle.
Image watermark or text watermark?
Use an image when the mark is a brand asset with a recognisable form — a logo, a seal, a signature. Use text when the meaning is carried by the word itself: DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, SPECIMEN. Text is also far easier to read at small sizes and in low-resolution print.
Frequently asked questions
What image formats can I use for a watermark?
PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, BMP and TIFF. PNG with a transparent background gives the cleanest result because the logo blends into the page instead of sitting inside a visible box. The maximum image size is 5 MB.
Will adding a logo make my PDF much bigger?
Only slightly. The logo is embedded once and reused on every page rather than copied per page, and oversized uploads are downscaled before embedding. A typical logo adds a few tens of kilobytes to the whole document.
Can I put the logo behind the text instead of on top?
Yes. Choose the Behind the text style and upload the image. It is then placed underneath the page content, which is the right choice for letterheads where the reader must be able to read the document without a logo interfering.