Watermark is a signature and symbol of professionalism; it is usually used in the corporate world on official company letterheads and other vital documents. Since Google Docs is frequently used for making official documents nowadays, most users want to watermark Google Docs.

Watermark Google Docs To Secure Your Documents

Google Docs is an essential real-time collaboration tool. To give a personalized touch to the document, you can insert a signature in Google Docs, and also different headers in Google Docs for better clarity. Google Docs watermark serves to be a good option for branding on company documents. Also, the content on a document with a watermark cannot be copied or used illegally by third parties.

It serves to be an excellent form of maintaining the security of your content. Not only documents, but users can also protect their photographs from illegal use by adding watermark across the images. Let’s check how to watermark Google Docs.

How To Add Watermark In Google Docs

You cannot watermark Google Docs directly. Users need to create a Google Docs watermark manually and then insert it into a document.

To start with, open a Google Doc from your Google Drive.

Open a Doc to watermark google docs
Open a Google Doc

To create a text box, navigate to the Insert tab, click on it, and select the Drawing option. Then, click on the ‘New’ button. It will open a new Google Drawing sheet.

Open a Drawing sheet from the Insert tab
Open a Google Drawing sheet from the Insert tab

Once the sheet has opened, click on the Text icon in the menu bar. Doing so will create a text box in which you can fill the text to watermark Google Docs.

Fill the text box as per your requirement and click on the Save button.

Select the text to watermark google docs
Select the text button, create a text box and fill it with text

The above picture shows how it will look once you watermark Google docs.

how to watermark google docs
View the watermarked document

You can enlarge the text box and select the font size for the watermark as per your requirement. Also, you can use different colors for the text from the color palette. You can also rotate the text and fixate it at a specific angle to make it look like a Google Docs background image.

How To Insert Watermark In Headers and Footers

You can add the drawing text to all the pages in a document with a single click; you will have to watermark Google Docs in the header or footer area for this to materialize. To begin with, go to the Insert tab, and click on Headers & Footers.

You can choose to add a header or a footer according to your requirement from the side menu. Here, we will add a header. You can also insert both if it fits your needs.

how to insert watermark google docs
Click on Insert and add Headers or Footers

Once you are on the required page, click on the Insert tab, select Drawing, and click on From Drive.

insert drawing from drive
Click on the Insert tab and add the watermark saved in Google Drawings

In the dialog box that opens, choose the watermark and click on the Select button.

Insert the drawing
Insert the drawing

Once you have carried out this step, you will see an Insert Drawings pop-up menu with two options. If you don’t want to add the watermark from your Google Drive but wish to link it, you can select the Link to Source option.

If you want to insert the watermark, select the Insert unlinked option.

Choose an option in the Insert drawing dialog box
Choose an option in the Insert drawing dialog box

You will immediately see that the selected text has been added as the watermark to the document.

view the google docs watermark
View the added watermark in the header

Adding watermarks in headers and footers is also regarded as a good practice for branding a document. If you have documents that talk about a particular topic, you can always use the name of the topic as the watermark in a header or a footer.

How To Change The Watermark’s Transparency

As mentioned before, there are no direct tools to watermark Google Docs. However, after you have created the textbox and written the text, you can use trademark colors like grey for coloring the text from the color palette.

To start with, open a Google Doc that contains a watermark.

Open to watermark in google docs 10
Open a Google Doc that contains a watermark

Now, open the Google Drawing file that contains your watermark from your Google Drive.

Open the Google Drawings file and select Format Options
Open the Google Drawings file and select Format Options

Now, right-click on the Format Options button. It will bring up the Format Options window on the right pane. In that window, move the Transparency bar to the left and right and decide how light you wish to keep the text in your image.

format the watermark in google docs
Adjust the Transparency

A level of 50% or higher should be acceptable. Once you are done with this, add the name to your Google Drawing file and save it. Then, view the changed Google Docs watermark.

check the watermark in google docs
View the results

Since your drawings are automatically saved to your Drive Storage, you can return to your Google Docs document. This process can also be used if you have an image to watermark Google Docs.

How To Put Image Behind Text In Google Docs Using Google Slides

Using a Google Docs background image is usually done to enhance the look and feel of the documents. Additionally, it also prevents the theft of content on that document. Users can quickly insert an image behind the text in a Doc using Google Slides.

To begin with, go to Google Slides and open a new slide.

Open Google Slides presentation by clicking on the Blank option
Open a Google Slides presentation by clicking on the Blank option

Then, navigate and click on the File tab.

Now, select Page Setup from the drop-down menu.

Select File and click on Page setup
Select File and click on Page setup

Once the Page setup dialog box has opened, select Custom in the first field.

You can now resize your page to the following dimensions: Height: 11-inch Width: 8.5-inch. Doing so will resize the slide to a Google Docs document.

Click on Custom, enter the values, and select Apply
Click on Custom, enter the values, and select Apply

Now, click on the Slide tab and then select Change Background. Doing this will open up the Background dialog box.

Click on the Slide tab and select Change background
Click on the Slide tab and select Change background

In the dialog box, click on Choose image in front of the Image field. Browse an image from your computer and add one as per your requirement.

Click on Done after you have selected the image.

Click on Choose image, add the image, and select Done
Click on Choose image, add the image, and select Done

This is how the document will look once you change the background.

View the background image
View the background image

Then, paste the text you want on the image into the text box.

Paste the text in the document
Paste the text in the document

Save the presentation in a pdf format so that you can view it in a Google Doc document later.

Save the Google Slides presentation as a PDF
Save the Google Slides presentation as a PDF

Adding a Google Docs background image in the text is an easy process to execute in Google Docs, albeit it might look lengthy for those who are doing it for the first time.

Conclusion

Having a watermarked document prevents the theft of content, and also adds a professional look and feel to the document. Google Docs offers no direct method for adding a watermark to a Google Doc. However, there are several ways to add one. If you are a beginner, you will need to learn how to add a text box in a Doc, followed by how to watermark Google Docs.

Google Drawing is a crucial tool used for adding a watermark. Also, it happens to be the most common method for adding a watermark. Users can also choose to add a watermark through Google Slides. The choice of method depends upon the user’s needs and requirements. Users can also check the various Google Docs Tutorials for professional documentation.

(Updated on 11th December 2020)