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Watermark photos and PDFs

Dropbox makes it simple to keep your important files safe. Watermark your work to protect it from unauthorized use—directly from your Dropbox account.

the watermark interface in Dropbox with toggles for selecting the watermark image as well as the position, opacity, and size of the watermark
Watermark any file—right from Dropbox

Sharing digital files has never been easier—making sure your work isn’t used without your permission is a must. With our watermarking feature, it’s a snap to add a logo or text watermark to images and PDFs—no third-party service required. So you can rest assured that the content you share can't be reused or altered without your permission.

An image of a mother holding their child with a “draft” watermark overlaying the image

How to use a watermark—three ways

Maintain privacy, confidentiality, and control of your brand

The watermark icon in Dropbox

Graphic design: Files, company logos, layouts, portfolio work

It’s all too easy to copy valuable creative ideas and visual files when they’re digital. Adding a watermark helps protect your creative work from potential theft.

A lease agreement with form-fill boxes for specific information

Legal materials: Contracts, financial records, documents requiring eSignature

Watermark sensitive materials to help keep confidential files from being shared without consent.

An image of a mother holding their child with a “draft” watermark overlaying the image

Personal images: Wedding photos, modeling headshots

Watermarking helps protect personal or professional photos you don’t want to be shared all over the internet.

Design custom watermarks with personalization

You can create a custom watermark to your unique specifications—without needing a dedicated watermark app. Just sign in to your Dropbox account from your desktop or laptop, click on an image, and you’ll see all the tools you need. From there, you can:

  • Use your own logo - Personalize your watermark using your brand logo or select the default stamp
  • Change the position and rotation - Reposition and rotate the watermark to your liking
  • Edit the transparency and size - Create fully or semi-transparent watermarks by adjusting the opacity and enlarging or reducing their size
A custom watermark being applied to an image in Dropbox
Watermarks are simple to apply—and remove

It is best to watermark a file by saving both the original image or PDF and the watermarked version as copies. This way, you always have the original if you need it. And when you store your files in Dropbox, if you accidentally overwrite your original photo or file, you can just use version history to restore it back.

It’s simple for you to remove a visual watermark but not so easy for your client or customer. Whether you send someone an overwritten original or a copy, your watermarked file remains intact. In other words, no one but you can remove the watermark.

A user clicking the ‘restore’ button to recover a file that had been overwritten
An extra layer of file protection

Just by storing your files in your Dropbox folder, you can relax knowing that all your watermarked content is safe in the cloud. Your files are securely backed up, 24/7.

Business administrators can also turn the watermarking feature on or off for their company files. They can see who made changes to specific documents and what those changes were. This gives businesses greater oversight, control, and security of every file.

An image file being backed up to multiple cloud locations

Frequently asked questions

A watermark is a translucent word or logo that is superimposed over an image. You should watermark photos, PDFs, and other files. This helps you to make clear that your work belongs to you and stop copies of your work from ending up in the wrong hands.

With Dropbox, you can add a watermark to these types of files: JPEG, PNG, BMP, and PDF.

Ideally, an image watermark should cover enough of the photo so that it can’t be easily cropped out. To further protect your property, you can cover the entire image or file with a watermark.

In Dropbox, you can use the tile feature that places the watermark in a repeating pattern over the image or file. This helps to mitigate the risk of unauthorized users cropping out the watermark.

Even though you can put a watermark on the original photo, we don’t advise it. While you can always use version history to restore it, it’s a good idea to keep the original on hand and make another copy using the watermark.

Watermarking is currently available as part of Dropbox Professional, Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise plans.

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