How to Add Page Numbers and a Watermark to a PDF
Updated 16 October 2026 · 5 min read
Number a report or contract the way readers expect, and mark drafts or confidential files with a text or logo watermark.
Page numbers make a long document easy to discuss (“see page 12”) and a watermark tells everyone at a glance whether a file is a draft, confidential or a sample. Both take less than a minute once you know which settings to choose.
Adding page numbers
Open Add Page Numbers, add your PDF and pick a Position, Format and Size. The preview shows the real result on the first page.
| Document | Suggested setting |
|---|---|
| Reports, essays and theses | Bottom centre, “1” or “Page 1” |
| Contracts and legal documents | Bottom right, “Page 1 of 10”, so missing pages are obvious |
| Printed booklets and handouts | Bottom centre or right, “1” |
| Anything with a cover page | Tick “Don't number the first page” |
Start at lets you begin from a number other than 1, which helps when a document continues from another file. To number several files as one continuous sequence, merge them first.
Adding a watermark
Open Watermark PDF and choose Text or Image or logo.
- Text suits labels such as DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, SAMPLE or COPY.
- Image or logo suits branding on proposals, designs and price lists. A PNG with a transparent background looks best.
Then set the Angle, Diagonal for the classic stamp look or Straight for a level label, and the Layout, Once, centred for a single mark or Repeated to cover the whole page.
Keep opacity around 20–35% for text over content. It stays clearly visible without making the document hard to read.
Good to know
- The built-in fonts draw Latin letters, numbers and common symbols. To use another script, make the text as an image and add it with Image or logo.
- A watermark labels a document and discourages copying, but it is not security. Anyone with a PDF editor can remove it.
- Both tools accept several PDFs at once and apply the same settings to each, with a ZIP download for the batch.
- Files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.