How to Add Watermarks to Documents Without Microsoft Word

Want to protect some confidential information and prove the ownership of your text documents? If so, it might be a good idea to insert a watermark to prevent anyone from making use of your files. Read this guide to find out more about watermarking and how to apply it without having Microsoft Word.

What is a watermark?

A watermark is a piece of text or logo embedded in a digital item (image, audio, video, document, etc.) to protect its contents from being copied or used without permission. Its main objective is to prevent the illicit use of the item by an unauthorized user.

In documents, a watermark is usually a faded background image displayed behind the text. You can see it in academic papers, e-books, legal documents, certificates, paper banknotes and so on.

What are watermarks used for?

Watermarking is a very popular technology that has been used for many years to protect different kinds of digital content. When it comes to electronic documents, the most common application scenarios are:

1. Ownership identification.

A watermark contains information about the owner of a document notifying other people that the document is copyrighted. This can help to prove its ownership in case of a legal dispute.

2. Distribution control.

Watermarking makes it possible to control the terms of distribution of a document and track illegal copies.

3. Content authentication.

Watermarking is often used to verify the authenticity of a document making sure that no significant alterations have occurred.

4. Status indication.

A watermark allows other users to know the current status of a document (draft, confidential, sample, etc.) without reviewing its contents in detail.

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ONLYOFFICE document editor, a Word alternative

Without doubts, Microsoft Word is one of the most popular and widely used word processors. It provides rich editing functionality and allows users to insert watermarks into their documents but its cost and subscription model is not suitable for all. Fortunately, there are other alternative applications that come with the watermarking feature. One of them is ONLYOFFICE, an open-source office suite that offers three editors for documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

The ONLYOFFICE editors are available as a self-hosted solution or can be accessed in the cloud. Apart from that, there is a free desktop application for Windows, Linux and macOS and mobile editors for Android and iOS.

The ONLYOFFICE document editor is a decent Word alternative because it is naively compatible with the Microsoft formats allowing you to open and edit DOCX files. It also supports other popular formats like PDF, ODT, TXT, DOTX, OTT, RTF, HTML, FB2 and EPUB.

The editor has a full set of editing and formatting tools that allow you to create all kinds of documents, from scientific papers to business reports and legal contracts. It is also designed for collaborative work, so you can share and co-edit documents in real-time with other people.

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Adding watermarks in ONLYOFFICE

To add a watermark, open the ONLYOFFICE document editor and access the Layout tab on the top toolbar. Then click the Watermark icon and select the Custom Watermark option. You will see a new window where you can adjust the settings of your watermark.

If you want to apply a piece of text as a watermark, choose the corresponding option and select your language. Specify the text to be displayed by using one of the default templates (ASAP, CONFIDENTIAL, COPY, DO NOT COPY, DRAFT, ORIGINAL, PERSONAL, SAMPLE, TOP SECRET and URGENT). Of course, you are also allowed to type your own text. If you like, you can adjust the font settings, choose the required transparency level and layout parameters (diagonal or horizontal). Click OK to save the changes.

To add an image, you just need to choose the Image watermark option in the Watermark settings window. Click Select Image and set up the required scaling option. Then click OK, and you will see the image behind the text.

If you want to make some changes to a watermark that already exists, you need to switch to the Layout tab, click the Watermark icon and select the Custom Watermark option. The Watermark icon can also be used to delete watermarks.

After adding a watermark, you can save the document to PDF so that nobody will be able to delete the watermark or change it somehow. Just click the File tab and select Save copy as… You will see a lot of available formats. Choose PDF to get this done.

That’s it. Now you know how to add text and image watermarks to your documents without Microsoft Word. If you find this guide useful, don’t forget to share it on Facebook or Twitter by clicking the corresponding button below.