Watermarking a Draft Before You Share It
You're sharing an early thesis chapter with your supervisor, or a working manuscript with a co-author — but it isn't finished. A visible watermark reduces the risk that an incomplete version quietly circulates as if it were the final one.
Why this is worth doing
Documents get forwarded. A supervisor might share your draft with another committee member; a co-author might paste a figure from your working file into a different document. A visible "DRAFT" or "CONFIDENTIAL" stamp is a lightweight, low-effort signal that stays with the file wherever it goes, without needing anyone to remember the context of when it was shared.
Common situations where this helps
- Sharing a thesis chapter for feedback before it's submission-ready
- Circulating an internal report that shouldn't be forwarded externally yet
- Sending a manuscript to co-authors before it's ready for journal submission
- Distributing sample/example documents that shouldn't be mistaken for the real thing
Upload your PDF to Scitero's Watermark tool — free, no sign up.
Choose your text — DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, DO NOT DISTRIBUTE, or custom text like your name.
Adjust opacity and angle — lighter opacity keeps the underlying text readable; a diagonal angle is the most common convention.
Download — every page gets the same watermark as a new layer on top of the existing content.
⚠️ This doesn't password-protect or encrypt anything — it's a visible marking, not a security measure. Someone determined to remove it with the right software could. Its purpose is to prevent accidental confusion about a document's status, not to guarantee confidentiality.
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