markpdf - Watermark PDF files using image or text

A tiny command line tool for watermarking PDF files using image or text. With simple options to configure position, opacity, rotation, stretch etc.

Highlights -

• Very simple and easy to use
• Extreamly fast!
• Stretching watermark image to height or weight proportionately
• Options to adjust position, opacity, rotation of image
• Placeholder for text watermark
• Tile image watermark all over the page
• Free and open source

Install

It's just a single binary file, no external dependencies. Just download the appropriate version of executable from latest release for your OS. Then rename and give it execute permission.

mv markpdf_linux-amd64 markpdf  
sudo chmod +x markpdf

If you want to install it globally (run from any directory of your system), put it in your systems $PATH directory.

sudo mv markpdf /usr/local/bin/markpdf

Done!

Building

If the binaries linked above don't work, one can re-compile them manually with (the instructions in) build.sh. To avoid dependending on C-libraries it may be benefitial to add CGO_ENABLED=0, als pointed out here.

How to use

Image watermarking

Command options are shown in both, shorthand and full name.

# watermark with all default options (on top left corner with 50% opacity)
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf"

# watermark at center
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" --center
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" -c

# watermark at right top with 20px offset from edge and full opaque
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" --offset-x=-20 --offset-y=20 --opacity=1.0
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" -x -20 -y 20 -o 1.0

# watermark at left bottom with 100px offset and 45 degree rotation
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" --offset-x=100 --offset-y=-100 --angle=45
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" -x 100 -y -100 -a 45

# stretch full with of page at page middle, with 30% opacity
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" --scale-width-center --opacity=0.3
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" -Wo 0.3
# Note the capital "W" 

# stretch full with of page at page bottom
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" --scale-width --offset-y=-10
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" -wy -10

# Scale the image to desired percentage
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" --scale=30

# Add image as tiles all over the page
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" --tiles

# Add image as tiles with interleaved spacing
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "img/logo.png" "path/to/output.pdf" --tiles --spacing=20

Text watermarking

# watermark text at right top with 20px offset from edge
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "The Company Name" "path/to/output.pdf" --offset-x=-20 --offset-y=20
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "The Company Name" "path/to/output.pdf" -x -20 -y 20

# Place text at center with bold-italic "Times Roman" font in blue color
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "The Company Name" "path/to/output.pdf" --center --font=times_bold_italic --color=0000FF
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "The Company Name" "path/to/output.pdf" -cf times_bold_italic -l 0000FF

# Place text at center with large bold-italic "Times Roman" font in blue color
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "The Company Name" "path/to/output.pdf" --center --font=times_bold_italic --font-size=24.0 --color=0000FF
markpdf "path/to/source.pdf" "The Company Name" "path/to/output.pdf" -cf times_bold_italic -s 24.0 -l 0000FF

Using placeholders with text watermark

The following placeholder can be used in text watermark:

• {{.Page}} prints the current page number
• {{.Pages}} prints the total page numbers
• {{.Filename}} prints name of the source file

# Using placeholders in text watermark
markpdf "path/to/083.pdf" "File: {{.Filename}} Page {{.Page}} of {{.Pages}}" "path/to/voucher_083.pdf" -x -20 -y 30

Allowed font identifiers

Currently the following font names are supported:

• Courier: courier, courier_bold, courier_oblique, courier_bold_oblique
• Helvetica: helvetica, helvetica_bold, helvetica_oblique, helvetica_bold_oblique
• Times Roman: times, times_bold, times_italic, times_bold_italic

Additional notes

• Specifying Colors: write them as 6 or 3 digit hexadecilal as used in CSS, without the #

• --color, --font and --font-size flag has no impact for Image watermarking

• --scale-*, --tiles and --opacity flag has no impact for Text watermarking

• Negative offset will set content positioning from opposite side (right for offsetX and botom from offsetY)

• Text with opacity is not supported at this moment. Instead, you can create a transperent background PNG image with your text and then use it for watermarking.

Roadmap

✅ Draw image on every page of PDF
✅ Configure Opacity option
✅ Configure watermark position by X and Y offset
✅ Allow negative values to for offset to adjust from opposite direction
✅️ Easy option for positioning image at center
✅ Configure image rotation angle
✅ Options to Stretch watermark to page width or height, proportionately
✅ Options to Stretch watermark to page width or height at the middle of page
✅ Tile Image all over the page
✅ Render text on every page
✅ Configure text color, style and font
⏺ Configure text opacity
✅ Configure text rotation angle
✅ Text placement by offset
✅ Put text at page center

Contribute

If you fix a bug or want to add/improve a feature, and it's alligned with the focus of this tool - watermarking PDF with ease, I will be glad to accept your PR. :)

Thanks

This tool was made using the beautiful Unidoc library. Thanks and ❤️ to Unidoc.

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"This is the Book about which there is no doubt, a guidance for those conscious of Allah" - Al-Quran