Three finishing touches before you share
A PDF is often almost ready, needing only a small finishing pass: a watermark to mark its status, page numbers so readers can refer to it, and a rotation fix for any sideways scans. Each is a separate, quick edit, and they apply cleanly one after another.
Do them on a copy and keep the original, so you can redo a step if a watermark comes out too dark or a number lands in the wrong corner.
Add a text watermark
A watermark stamps text such as Draft, Sample, or Confidential across every page. Keep the text short and the opacity low enough that the document stays readable underneath — the mark should be obvious without fighting the content.
A diagonal angle helps the watermark stand out on busy pages and makes it harder to crop out of a screenshot.
- Use short text like Draft or Confidential
- Keep opacity low so pages stay readable
- Angle it for visibility on busy pages
Add page numbers
Page numbers make a long document easy to reference in an email or a meeting. Choose a consistent position — bottom-centre suits most reports — and add a prefix like Page only when the footer needs that context.
If the PDF is one part of a larger set, set the starting number so its pages continue from the previous document instead of restarting at one.
- Pick one consistent position
- Add a prefix only if it helps
- Set the start number for multi-part sets
Rotate sideways pages
Scanners often produce a few pages turned the wrong way. Rotate the whole document if everything is sideways, or target specific page ranges to fix only the pages that are wrong while leaving the rest untouched.
Re-open the downloaded file afterward to confirm every page now reads upright before you send it.
- Rotate all pages or a selected range
- Use 90, 180, or 270 degrees
- Re-open the file to confirm the result