Putting a watermark on a PDF

It is there to discourage a confidential document from circulating: whoever opens or downloads it finds it with a wording across it.

To put a watermark on a PDF:

1. Right-click on the PDF.
2. Hover over «Security and preservation» — it has an arrow on the right.
3. Choose «Set watermark» (or «Edit watermark», if there is one already).
4. In the window that opens, choose:
   • the text — “CONFIDENTIAL”, “DRAFT”, the recipient’s name, whatever is needed;
   • the position — diagonal, header, footer, header and footer, or centred;
   • opacity and colour, to keep it readable without hiding the document.

In the list, files with a watermark have a blue drop next to the name. You find them all together under «Collections» in the left-hand menu, tab «Watermark».

The mode that really earns its keep: the viewer’s email

Instead of a fixed text you can choose the email of whoever is viewing: each person sees the document with their own address printed on it. If that PDF then circulates, you know which copy it came from.

With a public link, whoever opens it is asked for their address before the document is shown.

Downloading it without

Open the preview with a double click on the file: in the «Actions» menu, at the top right, there is «Download original» next to the normal download — if you have the right to it.

If the entry isn’t there

The watermark is an extension the company has to have active, and you also need the «Watermark» permission on the folder. It only works on PDFs: on a Word file or an image the entry does not appear at all.

Questions this guide answers

• how do I put the word confidential on a document
• how do I protect a pdf before sending it
• what is the watermark
• how do I remove the watermark
• I want to know who downloaded the file
• set watermark
• watermark on a pdf
• download the original without the watermark
• watermark with the viewer's email
• remove the watermark