Installed via NuGet

PM> Install-Package Spire.PDF

Related Links

To prevent your PDF document from being used in an unauthorized manner, you can watermark the document with text or an image. In this article, you will learn how to programmatically add text watermarks (single-line and multi-line watermarks) to PDF in C# and VB.NET using Spire.PDF for .NET.

Install Spire.PDF for .NET

To begin with, you need to add the DLL files included in the Spire.PDF for.NET package as references in your .NET project. The DLLs files can be either downloaded from this link or installed via NuGet.

  • Package Manager
PM> Install-Package Spire.PDF 

Add a Text Watermark to PDF

Spire.PDF does not provide an interface or a class to deal with watermarks in PDF files. You could, however, draw text like "confidential", "internal use", or "draft" on each page to mimic the watermark effect. The following are the main steps to add a text watermark to all pages of a PDF document.

  • Create a PdfDocument object and load a sample PDF document using PdfDocument.LoadFromFile() method.
  • Create a PdfTrueTypeFont object, specify the watermark text, and measure the text size using PdfFontBase.MeasureString() method.
  • Traverse all the pages in the document.
  • Translate the coordinate system of a certain page by specified coordinates using PdfPageBase.Canvas.TraslateTransform() method, and rotate the coordinate system 45 degrees counterclockwise using PdfPageBase.Canvas.RotateTransform() method. This ensures that the watermark will appear in the middle of the page at a 45-degree angle.
  • Draw the watermark text on the page using PdfPageBase.Canvas.DrawString() method.
  • Save the document to a different PDF file using PdfDocument.SaveToFile() method.
  • C#
  • VB.NET
using Spire.Pdf;
    using Spire.Pdf.Graphics;
    using System.Drawing;
    
    namespace AddTextWatermarkToPdf
    {
        class Program
        {
            static void Main(string[] args)
            {
                //Create a PdfDocument object
                PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument();
    
                //Load a sample PDF document
                pdf.LoadFromFile(@"C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\sample.pdf");
    
                //Create a PdfTrueTypeFont object
                PdfTrueTypeFont font = new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("Arial", 50f), true);
    
                //Set the watermark text
                string text = "CONFIDENTIAL";
    
                //Measure the text size
                SizeF textSize = font.MeasureString(text);
    
                //Calculate the values of two offset variables,
                //which will be used to calculate the translation amount of the coordinate system
                float offset1 = (float)(textSize.Width * System.Math.Sqrt(2) / 4);
                float offset2 = (float)(textSize.Height * System.Math.Sqrt(2) / 4);
    
                //Traverse all the pages in the document
                foreach (PdfPageBase page in pdf.Pages)
                {
                    //Set the page transparency
                    page.Canvas.SetTransparency(0.8f);
    
                    //Translate the coordinate system by specified coordinates
                    page.Canvas.TranslateTransform(page.Canvas.Size.Width / 2 - offset1 - offset2, page.Canvas.Size.Height / 2 + offset1 - offset2);
    
                    //Rotate the coordinate system 45 degrees counterclockwise
                    page.Canvas.RotateTransform(-45);
    
                    //Draw watermark text on the page
                    page.Canvas.DrawString(text, font, PdfBrushes.DarkGray, 0, 0);
                }
    
                //Save the changes to another file
                pdf.SaveToFile("TextWatermark.pdf");
            }
        }
    }
Imports Spire.Pdf
    Imports Spire.Pdf.Graphics
    Imports System.Drawing
    
    Namespace AddTextWatermarkToPdf
        Class Program
            Shared  Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
                'Create a PdfDocument object
                Dim pdf As PdfDocument =  New PdfDocument()
    
                'Load a sample PDF document
                pdf.LoadFromFile("C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\sample.pdf")
    
                'Create a PdfTrueTypeFont object
                Dim font As PdfTrueTypeFont =  New PdfTrueTypeFont(New Font("Arial",50f),True)
    
                'Set the watermark text
                Dim text As String =  "CONFIDENTIAL"
    
                'Measure the text size
                Dim textSize As SizeF =  font.MeasureString(text)
    
                'Calculate the values of two offset variables,
                'which will be used to calculate the translation amount of the coordinate system
                Dim offset1 As single = CType((textSize.Width * System.Math.Sqrt(2) / 4), single)
                Dim offset2 As single = CType((textSize.Height * System.Math.Sqrt(2) / 4), single)
    
                'Traverse all the pages in the document
                Dim page As PdfPageBase
                For Each page In pdf.Pages
                    'Set the page transparency
                    page.Canvas.SetTransparency(0.8f)
    
                    'Translate the coordinate system by specified coordinates
                    page.Canvas.TranslateTransform(page.Canvas.Size.Width / 2 - offset1 - offset2, page.Canvas.Size.Height / 2 + offset1 - offset2)
    
                    'Rotate the coordinate system 45 degrees counterclockwise
                    page.Canvas.RotateTransform(-45)
    
                    'Draw watermark text on the page
                    page.Canvas.DrawString(text, font, PdfBrushes.DarkGray, 0, 0)
                Next
    
                'Save the changes to another file
                pdf.SaveToFile("TextWatermark.pdf")
            End Sub
        End Class
    End Namespace

C#/VB.NET: Add Text Watermarks to PDF

Add Multi-Line Text Watermarks to PDF

There are times when you may want to add more than one line of text watermarks to your document. To achieve the tiled watermark effect, you can make use of PdfTilingBrush class, which produces a tiled pattern that is repeated to fill a graphics area. The following are the main steps to add multi-line watermarks to a PDF document.

  • Create a PdfDocument object and load a sample PDF document using PdfDocument.LoadFromFile() method.
  • Create a custom method InsertMultiLineTextWatermark(PdfPageBase page, String watermarkText, PdfTrueTypeFont font, int rowNum, int columnNum) to add multi-line text watermarks to a PDF page. The parameters rowNum and columnNum specify the row and column number of the tiled watermarks.
  • Traverse all pages in the document, and call the custom method InsertMultiLineTextWatermark() to apply watermarks to each page.
  • Save the document to another file using PdfDocument.SaveToFile() method.
  • C#
  • VB.NET
using System;
    using Spire.Pdf;
    using Spire.Pdf.Graphics;
    using System.Drawing;
    
    namespace AddMultiLineTextWatermark
    {
        class Program
        {
            static void Main(string[] args)
            {
                //Create a PdfDocument instance
                PdfDocument pdf = new PdfDocument();
    
                //Load a sample PDF document
                pdf.LoadFromFile(@"C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\sample.pdf");
    
                //Create a PdfTrueTypeFont object
                PdfTrueTypeFont font = new PdfTrueTypeFont(new Font("Arial", 20f), true);
    
                //Traverse all the pages
                for (int i = 0; i < pdf.Pages.Count; i++)
                {
                    //Call InsertMultiLineTextWatermark() method to add text watermarks to the specified page
                    InsertMultiLineTextWatermark(pdf.Pages[i], "E-ICEBLUE CO LTD", font, 3, 3);
                }
    
                //Save the document to another file
                pdf.SaveToFile("MultiLineTextWatermark.pdf");
            }
    
            //Create a custom method to insert multi-line text watermarks to a page
            static void InsertMultiLineTextWatermark(PdfPageBase page, String watermarkText, PdfTrueTypeFont font, int rowNum, int columnNum)
            {
                //Measure the text size
                SizeF textSize = font.MeasureString(watermarkText);
    
                //Calculate the values of two offset variables, which will be used to calculate the translation amount of coordinate system
                float offset1 = (float)(textSize.Width * System.Math.Sqrt(2) / 4);
                float offset2 = (float)(textSize.Height * System.Math.Sqrt(2) / 4);
    
                //Create a tile brush
                PdfTilingBrush brush = new PdfTilingBrush(new SizeF(page.ActualSize.Width / columnNum, page.ActualSize.Height / rowNum));
                brush.Graphics.SetTransparency(0.3f);
                brush.Graphics.Save();
                brush.Graphics.TranslateTransform(brush.Size.Width / 2 - offset1 - offset2, brush.Size.Height / 2 + offset1 - offset2);
                brush.Graphics.RotateTransform(-45);
    
                //Draw watermark text on the tile brush
                brush.Graphics.DrawString(watermarkText, font, PdfBrushes.Violet, 0, 0);
                brush.Graphics.Restore();
    
                //Draw a rectangle (that covers the whole page) using the tile brush
                page.Canvas.DrawRectangle(brush, new RectangleF(new PointF(0, 0), page.ActualSize));
            }
        }
    }
Imports System
    Imports Spire.Pdf
    Imports Spire.Pdf.Graphics
    Imports System.Drawing
    
    Namespace AddMultiLineTextWatermark
        Class Program
            Shared  Sub Main(ByVal args() As String)
                'Create a PdfDocument instance
                Dim pdf As PdfDocument =  New PdfDocument()
    
                'Load a sample PDF document
                pdf.LoadFromFile("C:\Users\Administrator\Desktop\sample.pdf")
    
                'Create a PdfTrueTypeFont object
                Dim font As PdfTrueTypeFont =  New PdfTrueTypeFont(New Font("Arial",20f),True)
    
                'Traverse all the pages
                Dim i As Integer
                For  i = 0 To  pdf.Pages.Count- 1  Step  i + 1
                    'Call InsertMultiLineTextWatermark() method to add text watermarks to the specified page
                    InsertMultiLineTextWatermark(pdf.Pages(i), "E-ICEBLUE CO LTD", font, 3, 3)
                Next
    
                'Save the document to another file
                pdf.SaveToFile("MultiLineTextWatermark.pdf")
            End Sub
    
            'Create a custom method to insert multi-line text watermarks to a page
            Shared  Sub InsertMultiLineTextWatermark(ByVal page As PdfPageBase, ByVal watermarkText As String, ByVal font As PdfTrueTypeFont, ByVal rowNum As Integer, ByVal columnNum As Integer)
                'Measure the text size
                Dim textSize As SizeF =  font.MeasureString(watermarkText)
    
                'Calculate the values of two offset variables, which will be used to calculate the translation amount of coordinate system
                Dim offset1 As single = CType((textSize.Width * System.Math.Sqrt(2) / 4), single)
                Dim offset2 As single = CType((textSize.Height * System.Math.Sqrt(2) / 4), single)
    
                'Create a tile brush
                Dim brush As PdfTilingBrush =  New PdfTilingBrush(New SizeF(page.ActualSize.Width / columnNum,page.ActualSize.Height / rowNum))
                brush.Graphics.SetTransparency(0.3f)
                brush.Graphics.Save()
                brush.Graphics.TranslateTransform(brush.Size.Width / 2 - offset1 - offset2, brush.Size.Height / 2 + offset1 - offset2)
                brush.Graphics.RotateTransform(-45)
    
                'Draw watermark text on the tile brush
                brush.Graphics.DrawString(watermarkText, font, PdfBrushes.Violet, 0, 0)
                brush.Graphics.Restore()
    
                'Draw a rectangle (that covers the whole page) using the tile brush
                page.Canvas.DrawRectangle(brush, New RectangleF(New PointF(0, 0), page.ActualSize))
            End Sub
        End Class
    End Namespace

C#/VB.NET: Add Text Watermarks to PDF

Apply for a Temporary License

If you'd like to remove the evaluation message from the generated documents, or to get rid of the function limitations, please request a 30-day trial license for yourself.

See Also