Protecting your intellectual property online has always been challenging. For instance, let’s say that you uploaded a photo of yourself, and someone used it without your permission. Moreover, they didn’t even attribute any credit to you. This just shows how murky the worldwide web can be. It would’ve been a little bit fine if it’s just a photo, but it’s a different matter if the same thing happens with your PDFs.
Although you can’t erase the possibility that people would use your intellectual property without consent, we can put up some preventive measures so that people would know that the image or PDF that they’re using belongs to you. The easiest way to do that is to put a watermark on your files! Keep reading as we discuss what watermarks are, how you can add watermark to PDF, and why!
What is a watermark?
Watermarks are simply the images or text superimposed atop a specific document. If you often browse for stock photos on your web browser, you must know what watermarks are. They have a lot of uses in the areas of marketing, securing your files, indicating a PDF’s status, and many more!
Although you literally place the watermark on top of your document, it’s essential to note that you don’t necessarily make the file’s contents out of sight. An ideal watermark is translucent, in which you can still see the PDFs’ contents. The main goal here is to flash a specific message and not hinder access from the said file.
How do I watermark my PDFs?
If you are clueless on the ways to watermark your PDF files, then you are on the right page! To tell you honestly, you can find countless ways to watermark your files online. It only takes a single glance to have numerous choices of tools to do the watermarking process. However, you must pick one that provides you a convenient and secure experience.
In this regard, GogoPDF undoubtedly comes out on top. It is a free web-based tool that you can use to add watermarks to your PDFs. Moreover, it can provide you a seamless experience with its tight security and uncomplicated watermarking process. Here is how you can use GogoPDF to watermark your PDFs successfully.
- Go to GogoPDF.
- Upload your file.
- Pick the image or type the text that you want to use as the watermark.
- Click Add Watermark.
- Wait to finish and save it!
It’s best to use GogoPDF in watermarking your PDFs as it requires no software installation. Since it’s web-based, just connect to the Internet, and you can do the job! It can also finish the watermarking in just a few clicks. You’re also free to customize your watermarks and add a personal touch to them.
Pro-tip in crafting your watermark
You must make sure that your watermark suits the purpose that you want to convey. For example, you may want to say that this particular PDF file is confidential. You can type the word “CONFIDENTIAL” in all caps so that it catches their attention quickly. Adjust the size accordingly as well.
Though you must make it quickly noticeable, you would want to ensure that they can still see the file. So, adjusting the opacity is necessary. Keep in mind that you must place the watermark on the part where it cannot be easily edited out so that others can’t omit your watermark.
What are the uses of watermarks?
There are many uses of watermarks as you can apply them in many areas. For instance, as we’ve mentioned above, you can declare a particular PDF as confidential. Adding a watermark saying precisely that word can induce your files’ viewers to handle the file with more care. You can also use watermarks to indicate a PDF’s status.
For instance, you can put the phrase “FOR REVISION” as the watermark to signal that the file needs some editing. Similarly, you can place “FINAL COPY” to say that the file is finished! So you see, there are a lot of areas where you can apply the convenience of watermarking. You can use it how you want, it all depends on you!
Final thoughts
Indeed, given how vast the online world is, we can’t predict when and where someone uses your files without your permission. However, since we can’t tell, we can set up preventive measures that ensure that our work gets attributed to us at all times. You can do this by watermarking your PDF files.
The usage of watermarks doesn’t end with protecting your intellectual property. You can also use them to maintain a files’ confidentiality and indicate its current status. You can use your imagination to think of how you can utilize watermarks to your advantage! Go to GogoPDF now and add a watermark to your PDF!