A watermark is a design that is meant to identify the owner or maker of a document. It is inserted on every page of the document. To make sure that you can read the text in the document, the watermark is transparent.
You can share the watermarked document with other people. The people you share it with cannot claim that the document is theirs, because of the watermark. Hence, watermarking prevents other people from copying your work.
Watermarks can also be used on images. For example, the photos on the iStock website are watermarked. This prevents people from downloading the images without paying.
Google Docs doesn’t have an option that allows you to automatically insert watermarks. However, there are several workarounds that you can use.
2 methods of inserting a watermark in Google Docs:
- Inserting a watermark from the Drawing window
- Inserting a watermark in the header or footer of your document
Method 1: Inserting a watermark from the Drawing window
The first method involves using the Drawing window to create and insert the watermark. The benefit of this method is that it gives you a lot of options for customization and formatting. You can change the font style, color and size of your text. If you are inserting a shape or text box, you can also change things like the background color and border color. There is also a word art option that allows you to format your text in interesting ways.
The downside of this method is that it is tedious to use in large documents. This is because you would have to copy and paste the watermark in each page. You would also have to change the text for each page. If the document you would like to watermark has more than 2 to 3 pages, we recommend that you use one of the other 2 methods.
Step 1: Open your Google Docs document.
Step 2: Click on the ‘Insert’ tab at the top left corner of the screen.
The ‘Insert’ tab is located in the top left corner of the screen. Click on it to open the ‘Insert’ drop down menu.
Step 3: Click on or hover over the ‘Drawing’ option.
The third option in the Insert drop down menu is the ‘Drawing’ option. Click on it or hover your cursor over it to open a smaller drop down menu.
Step 4: Click on the ‘New’ option from the Drawing drop down menu.
The first option in the Drawing drop down menu is the ‘New’ option. Click on it to open the Drawing window. Here, you will create your watermark. If you already have a watermark image ready, you can also upload it to this window.
Step 5: Create or insert your watermark.
This step is only for those who don’t already have a watermark. If you already have a watermark you would like to use in your document, skip this step.
There are different ways in which you can create a watermark in the Drawing window. The first way is by using the Word Art option. This method is useful if your watermark is a word (instead of an image or shape). Click on the ‘Actions’ option at the top left corner of the window. This will open a drop down menu. From this menu, click on the ‘Word Art’ option.
A small dialog box will appear on the screen. Here, enter the word you would like to use as your watermark then press the Enter (or Return) key on your keyboard.
The text you entered should appear on the screen in a large font. You can now customize this text. To do this, click on the word and format the word using the options in the toolbar. For example, you can change the color of the word, width of its border and font style. Make sure to choose light colors as this will serve as the background image for your text.
Another method of creating a watermark is by using shapes. There is an option in the toolbar of the Drawing window that allows you to insert shapes.
You can choose a shape from the drop down menu, draw it and format it.
If you already have a watermark, you can insert it in the Drawing window. To do this, click on the image icon in the toolbar.
This will open another window where you can insert your image. First, choose a method of inserting the image (e.g. from your computer or Google Drive). Second, upload the image to the window.
Make sure that your image is transparent so that you can read the text in front of it. You cannot adjust the transparency of the image in the Drawing window. You will have to do this on your computer.
Step 6: Insert a text box.
Click on the text box icon in the toolbar of the Drawing window. Drag your cursor across the screen to create a text box.
Step 7: Copy and paste the text of your document in the text box.
Next, copy the text of your document and paste it in the text box. You can do this by opening the document in a new window.
Step 8: Send the image or text behind the text box.
Make sure that your image or text (e.g. word art) is behind the text box containing the text of your document. You can do this by right clicking on the object which will open up a drop down menu. From this menu, click on ‘Send to back.’
There are also other ways of inserting an image behind text in Google Docs. Read this article to learn how.
Step 9: Adjust the text box and watermark.
Make any final adjustments to the text box or the watermark. Make sure that the size of your text box is equal to the size of a page in your Google Docs document. Also, ensure that the watermark is in the position you want it to be. Generally, the watermark is in the middle of the text.
Step 10: Click on the ‘Save and Close’ button at the top right corner of the screen.
Once you have finalized the formatting, you can insert the text box along with the watermark in your document. To do this, click on the ‘Save and Close’ option at the top right corner of the screen.
Step 11: Adjust the text box on the screen.
Make sure that the text box covers the entire page. You can do this by clicking on the text box and dragging at anchors on it. Do this until you are happy with the position of the text box.
If you want to make any further edits, just double click on the text box.
Method 2: Inserting a watermark in the header or footer of your document
This method involves inserting a watermark in the header or footer of your document. The benefit of this method is that it is more convenient than the previous method. This is because you don’t have to manually insert the watermark in every page of your document. Hence, this method is especially useful if your document has multiple pages.
Step 1.1: Insert your watermark in your document.
This step is only for those who already have a watermark. If you don’t already have a watermark, so you need to create one from scratch, move on to the next step.
To insert your image, click on the Insert tab at the top left corner of the screen. From the Insert drop down menu, click on the first option. Select a method of inserting the image then upload the watermark.
Step 1.2: Create your watermark.
This step is only for those who don’t yet have a watermark. If you already have a watermark, you can skip this step and move on to the next step.
You can do this in the Drawing window. Click on the Insert tab at the top left corner of the screen and click on the Drawing option. From the new drop down menu that appears, click on New. This will open the Drawing window where you can create your watermark.
For example, you can go to Actions then select Word Art to create artistic text. You can also insert shapes.
Once you are done, click on the Save and Close option at the top right corner of the screen. This will insert the watermark in your document.
Step 2: Drag your watermark to the header or footer.
Next, decide whether you would like to have your watermark in the header or footer of your document (or both). Then, drag your watermark to the location where you would like it to appear.
You can change the size of your watermark to make sure that it properly fits.
Conclusion
That brings us to the end of this article!
Thank you for reading!