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How to Add Watermarks to Google Docs

Put your personalized watermark on any document

By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on February 2, 2021 Reviewed by Ryan Perian Reviewed by Ryan Perian Western Governors University Ryan Perian is a certified IT specialist who holds numerous IT certifications and has 12+ years' experience working in the IT industry support and management positions. lifewire's editorial guidelines Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Google Apps Docs Sheets Slides

What to Know

First, create the watermark in Google Drawings. Select Insert > Image. Copy the doc's text. Go to the drawing, Insert > Text box. Then, Edit > Paste to import the text. Once it's formatted to your liking, go back to Docs, select Insert > Drawing > From Drive, select the file. This article explains how to add a watermark to a Google Doc using Google Drawings and covers the formatting options you can use. These steps work for any operating system that runs a modern browser, like Edge, Chrome, Firefox, etc.

How to Create a Google Docs Watermark

Using a watermark in Google Docs lets you protect a document with your logo or mark something as a draft, confidential, copyrighted, etc. The watermark can be any image or text you want.

Make an Image Watermark

There isn’t a watermarking utility built-in to Docs, but you can make one with Google Drawings. This tool lets you create a watermark background with your text on top or a watermark that sits over the text. Using it in Docs is as easy as importing the drawing. From Google Drawings, go to Insert > Image to choose where to get your picture from. Once it’s imported, drag it around the screen however you wish it to appear. Use the corner boxes to resize it, or the circular button on top to rotate it. With the image selected, choose Format options in the menu, or go to Format > Format options. From the Adjustments section, increase Transparency to whatever works for you. The idea here is to make it light enough that the document will be visible when it goes on top, but dark enough that it still serves as a watermark. Name the watermark. You’ll need to know it later. Skip down to the How to Use a Watermark With Google Docs section. Learn more ways to add a background image in Google Docs

Make a Text Watermark

Sometimes, all you really need is a text watermark, a word or phrase that shows lightly over the document. For example, you might want to use the word 'Draft' on a draft document so that you know what version you're using. Here's how to make a text watermark in Google Docs. From Google Drawings, go to Insert > Text box. Click and drag to make a space for where you want the watermark to go. You can change this later. Type the watermark text into the box and edit it as needed. You can make it larger or smaller, change the font type, rotate it, etc. How to Make the Copyright Symbol on Your Computer Choose the menu's text color option to change the text to a light grey or whatever color you want the watermark to be. This is necessary because, unlike images, there isn’t a transparency setting for text. Pick a name for the watermark so that you’ll know which drawing to select later. Skip down to the next section.

How to Use a Watermark With Google Docs

As handy as it’d be to import the watermark into Google Docs so that you can write under or over it normally, you can’t do it like that. Instead, you’re forced to copy all of the document’s text into Google Drawings. Open the Google doc that has the text you want to be fitted with a watermark, and copy it all (or whatever selection you want). There’s a Select all and Copy option in the Edit menu to make this easy. Return to the drawing you made and go to Insert > Text box. Click and drag from wherever you want the text to start to where it should end, like from the top-left corner to the bottom-right corner. Go to Edit > Paste to import the Google Docs contents. Make any adjustments to the text as needed. Choose how to layer the watermark. You can place it in front of the text or behind it to make a watermark background. To do that, right-click the watermark or the text you pasted, and then choose Order to pick how to layer them. For example, if your watermark is dark and you want it to hide some of the text, edit the text box's layer to be Send to back. Return to the original document or open a blank one, and go to Insert > Drawing > From Drive. Select the watermark you just made and then choose Select. Pick either Link to source or Insert unlinked, and then choose Insert. The former provides a link to Drawings for easy editing. The watermarked drawing will be added to the doc. If you imported with the source link, you can find it at the top-right; selecting it opens it in Google Drawings. How to Watermark Your Photos Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire How to Download an Image From Google Docs Microsoft Publisher Tutorial for Beginners How to Add a Border in Google Docs How to Email a Google Doc How to Change a Google Docs Background to a Picture How to Rotate an Image in Google Docs How to Add Accents in Google Docs The 9 Best Free PDF Editors (October 2022) How to Unshare a Google Doc How to Make a Flowchart in Google Docs How to Open Google Docs How to Change Margins in Google Docs How to Draw on Google Docs How to Wrap Text in Google Slides How to Add a Hyperlink in a Google Doc How to Use Text Boxes in Microsoft Word Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies