How to Watermark Photos for Free (Name, Text, ID Copies)

To watermark photos for free, open our watermark image tool, choose your photos, type your name or website, set the position and opacity, and download. It works on phone or computer, handles several images at once, and runs entirely in your browser, so your photos are not uploaded anywhere. For documents, watermark PDF adds text across every page of a PDF.

How to watermark images for free (step by step)

1. Open watermark image and choose one or more photos (JPG, PNG, WebP or iPhone HEIC).
2. Type the watermark text. It starts as "© Your Name". Replace it with your name, studio name, website or a short note.
3. Choose the position: Bottom right, Bottom left, Center, or Tiled diagonally, which repeats the text across the whole image.
4. Adjust size, colour and opacity. The preview updates as you change them. White at 30–50% opacity suits most photos; use a dark colour on bright, white backgrounds.
5. Press Apply watermark and download each file. They are saved with -watermarked in the name, so the originals stay untouched.

The tool adds a soft shadow behind the text so it stays readable on both light and dark parts of a photo.

Which watermark position to use

A small corner watermark is easy to crop out in seconds. If protection matters more than looks, use the tiled option.

Name or logo watermark

The image tool adds text watermarks only. It cannot place a logo image on your photos. In practice, a text watermark with your brand name, Instagram handle or website does the same job for most people, and it is easier to read at small sizes. Use the © symbol for a classic copyright look.

If you really need a graphic logo, design tools such as Canva, Photoshop or GIMP let you place a PNG logo with transparency on top of a photo. Keep a transparent PNG of your logo for this; our guide to JPG vs PNG vs WebP explains why PNG is the right format for logos.

Watermark images in bulk

Choose several photos at once in watermark image, and the same text and style are applied to every one. The size is set as a percentage of each image's width, so the watermark looks proportionate on both large and small photos. This is useful for photographers sending proofs, sellers listing products, or anyone posting a set of pictures.

Protect photos: what a watermark can and cannot do

A watermark makes it clear who owns a photo and makes casual reuse less attractive. It is not unbreakable:

• Corner watermarks can be cropped off.
• Faint or small watermarks can be painted out with editing tools, and AI-based removal tools exist.
• Tiled, semi-transparent watermarks across the main subject are the hardest to remove cleanly.

So pick the balance you want between protection and a clean look. For your best work, share smaller, watermarked previews and keep the full-resolution originals to yourself. If you want to change a photo's look before sharing it (brightness, contrast or a subtle blur on a preview), image filters can do that first.

Watermark ID copies "for X purpose only"

A good habit in India is to mark copies of your Aadhaar, PAN, passport or bank documents with the purpose before handing them over, so the copy is harder to misuse elsewhere. For example:

Only for KYC at ABC Bank, 23 Oct 2026

How to do it:

1. Photo or scan of the card: open watermark image, type the purpose and date, choose Tiled diagonally, a dark colour such as grey or dark blue, and opacity around 30%. The text should cover the card but leave the name and number readable.
2. PDF copy: open watermark PDF, type the same text, choose Diagonal angle, and set the opacity to about 20–30%. It is stamped in the centre of every page.

Both tools run in the browser, which matters for ID documents, since the files are not uploaded to a server. Our post on whether online PDF and image tools are safe explains what to look for.

Some institutions may still ask for an unmarked copy, but a clearly stated purpose and date is widely recommended for photocopies and scans you share.

Watermark a PDF for free

Watermark PDF adds one line of text to every page, such as CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT or SAMPLE. You can set the text, font size, opacity, colour and choose a diagonal or horizontal angle. The watermark is placed in the centre of each page. It is text only, like the image tool, and it applies to all pages; to mark only some pages, pull them out with extract PDF pages, watermark that file, and put the document back together with merge PDF.

Common mistakes

• Watermark too strong, so it ruins the photo. Lower the opacity until it is visible but not distracting.
• Watermark too faint or tiny, so it disappears on a phone screen.
• Corner-only marks on ID copies, which are easy to crop off. Tile them.
• No date on document copies. Adding the date limits misuse later.
• Watermarking the only copy. Always keep the clean original; our tool saves a new file and never changes the original.

Questions