Watermarking a PDF

Watermarking a PDF with

JavaScript and Acrobat X
https://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/watermarking-a-pdf-with-javascript

Learn how to use the Acrobat watermarking tool

to add logos, overlays, backgrounds, headers,
footers, special marks and more.
By Thom Parker April 21, 2011

A watermark on an old-style DTF (dead-tree-format) was literally just that, a shadowy mark on the page created by
applying water to the document. Since water has a very different effect on electronic equipment, a watermark on a
PDF is quite different. For a PDF, the term watermark means over- or under- laying text and/or images onto a page.
The PDF watermark can be used to create the exact effect produced by the old-style watermarking, but it also has
many other uses.
Nearly any type of static content (text, image files and pages from another PDF) can be applied to a PDF as a
watermark. The Acrobat watermarking tool (Figure 1) allows the user to select the location, page range, opacity,
scaling and many other parameters. This rich feature set means that the Acrobat watermarking tool can be used to
add logos, overlays, backgrounds, headers, footers, special marks or any other kind of (post-creation) content to a
PDF.

Figure 1 The watermarking tool provides a wealth of options

But theres more. When Acrobat creates a watermark, it places the watermark content into an OCG (optional content
group), more commonly referred to as a PDF layer. OCGs allow page content to be turned on and off based on
parameters such as the zoom level. However, the most useful feature is that OCGs can be turned on and off with a
script, as shown in the Creating and Using Layers (OCGs) with Acrobat JavaScript article. This feature allows the
form creator to add dynamic content to the PDF with only Acrobat Professional and JavaScript. No external tools are
needed.

Automating watermarks
If a watermark needs to be applied to more than one PDF, it can be automated through an Action. However, the
watermark settings have to be set by hand. Once set, the watermark is applied to all PDF files using the same
parameters. If more flexibility is required-- for example, if different text or images need to be applied to different
documents-- then the only solution is JavaScript.

Applying a watermark with a script

The Acrobat JavaScript model provides two watermark functions that have just as many options as the watermarking
tool shown in Figure 1. JavaScript is just as rich and can do everything the standard watermark tool can do. In fact,
watermarking is one of the most powerful features in the Acrobat JavaScript model. It can be used in a wide variety of
ways that go beyond what is practical with the standard watermarking tool, such as scaling and tiling pages.
The two watermarking functions are Doc.addWatermarkFromFile() and Doc.addWatermarkFromText(). There are
only two differences between these functions. First, one uses a text string as the source for the watermark content,
and the other uses an image or PDF file. The second difference is in how the functions operate.
Because Doc.addWatermarkFromFile() accesses the users file system, it is considered a privileged function and
can only run from a trusted context. TheDoc.addWatermarkFromText() function can be run from any scripting
context. Other than these differences, both functions apply the watermark with exactly the same rich set of options
used by the standard watermarking tool shown in Figure 1.
Heres a simple script for adding a text watermark to the current PDF page. Run it from either the Console Window or
the action on a form button.
this.addWatermarkFromText({
cText:"DRAFT\n\nCOPY",
nTextAlign:app.constants.align.center,
cFont:"HelveticaBold",

nFontSize:36,
aColor:color.red,
nStart:this.pageNum,
nOpacity:0.5
});
In all, there are 19 different input parameters to this function, but the only required input parameter is cText. All the
other parameters have reasonable defaults. In the code above, the first five input parameters are all properties of the
text and are unique to the Doc.addWatermarkFromText() function. The other 14 parameters are shared by both
watermark functions. In this script, only two are specified-- nStart and nOpacity. The watermark is applied to all
pages by default, so the nStart parameter is used to restrict the watermark to the current page.
The nOpacity parameter indicates that the watermark will be 50 percent transparent so the text underneath the
watermark will still be visible.
Many of the parameters not specified in the script relate to the positioning of the watermark. The defaults for these
parameters will center the watermark in the middle of the page at 100 percent size and zero rotation. There are also
parameters that relate to the state of the watermark, or to be more precise, the state of the OCG to which the
watermark is attached. The bOnScreen parameter determines whether the watermark will be displayed when the
PDF is viewed on the computer screen, and bOnPrint determines whether it will be displayed when the PDF is
printed. By default, both are set to true.
The following code places the same watermark on the PDF as the previous code, except that the watermark state is
set so it is only visible when printed.
this.addWatermarkFromText({
cText:"DRAFT\n\nCOPY",
nTextAlign:app.constants.align.center,
cFont:"HelveticaBold",
nFontSize:36,
aColor:color.red,
nStart:this.pageNum,
nOpacity:0.5,
bOnScreen:false
});
The bOnPrint parameter does not need to be specified since the default is true. It is only necessary to turn off the
screen visibility.
One very good use for this function in an automation script is for adding customized headers and footers. For
example, a footer that includes a copyright or other date. An automation script would ensure that the watermark is
always applied with the correct date. Another use is for personalizing documents, where the script builds the
watermark from data acquired from an external data source (XML, CSV, etc.). Here is a script that applies a footer to
all pages of the current document. Run it from the Console Window.
varcMyText="copyright\xa9"+util.printd("yyyy",newDate);
this.addWatermarkFromText({
cText:cMyText,
nFontSize:10,
nHorizAlign:app.constants.align.left,
nHorizValue:36,//inchfromleft
nVertAlign:app.constants.align.bottom,
nVertValue:36,//inchabovebottom
});
The first line uses the current date to create a text string. The next line calls the watermark function with some
parameters that havent been covered yet. The nHorizAlign parameter aligns the watermark to the left side of the
page. Therefore, thenHorizValue parameter indicates the distance the watermark is offset from the left side of the
page in points. In Acrobat JavaScript, there are 72pts/inch. If nHorizAlign was set to the center of the page,
then nHorizValue would indicate the amount of offset from the center. The vertical parameters work in a similar
fashion. This script uses those parameters to place the watermark one-half inch from both the left and bottom sides
of the page.
Everything discussed so far about positioning is also true for the Doc.addWatermarkFromFile() function. As stated
earlier, the only real difference between these functions is that one uses images instead of text. As such,
the Doc.addWatermarkFromFile()function is very useful for applying logos, backgrounds, specialty graphics or other
types of images repeated on every page.
Another interesting use is for scaling pages. The following automation script creates a copy of the current PDF where
the pages are shrunk by 50 percent. Run the code below from the Console Window. Since this particular
watermarking function is privileged, the code cannot be run from a script in a document.
varpgRct,oNewDoc;
for(vari=0;i<this.numPages;i++){

pgRct=this.getPageBox("Crop",i);
if(!i){
//Setup
oNewDoc=app.newDoc(pgRct[2]/2,pgRct[1]/2);
}else
{
//AddPage
oNewDoc.newPage(i,pgRct[2]/2,pgRct[1]/2);
}
oNewDoc.addWatermarkFromFile({
cDIPath:this.path,
nSourcePage:i,
nStart:i,
nScale:0.5,
nRotation:this.getPageRotation(i)
});
}
To verify the change in page size, activate the Rulers (Ctrl-R) or drag a page from the new, scaled document into the
old one.
The script works by looping through the original document pages. For each page, it creates a new page in a new
document that is half the size of the original page. Then it uses the Doc.addWatermarkFromFile() function to
basically copy page content from the original document into the new document, except that the content is scaled by
50 percent in the process. Notice also that the nRotation parameter is used. This parameter is needed to ensure that
the inserted page content is properly oriented on the new, smaller pages.

Summary:
The watermark functions are a bit of a misnomer. While they can be used to create a watermark effect, they do
much more. A better description of these functions is that they inject content into existing PDF pages. Both functions
provide a variety of options for controlling how the injected content is positioned and displayed on the target page. In
the larger scheme of things, these functions are really general-purpose content-manipulation tools.
For more information, look these functions up in the Acrobat JavaScript Reference,
Doc.addWatermarkFromFile() and Doc.addWatermarkFromText().

Follow this step by step tutorial to learn how to add different kinds of watermarks using JavaScript in
Acrobat.
Don't forget to check out our site http://howtech.tv/ for more free how-to videos!
http://youtube.com/ithowtovids - our feed
http://www.facebook.com/howtechtv - join us on facebook
https://plus.google.com/1034403827176... - our group in Google+
To customize your PDF files you can use JavaScript. With that you can enable automated handling,
commenting and a lot of other things. You can apply the JavaScript to a particular document, page, field,
or even use it to add a watermark in Acrobat. In this tutorial we will add a book mark using the JavaScript
in Acrobat.
Step # 1 -- Copy the Script
We have a document here on which we want to add a watermark.
this.addWatermarkFromText({
cText: "DRAFT\n\nCOPY",
nTextAlign:app.constants.align.center,
cFont: "Helvetica-Bold",
nFontSize:36,
aColor: color.red,
nStart: this.pageNum,
nOpacity: 0.5,
bOnScreen: false
});
On this page there is a JavaScript for adding a watermark to your documents, copy the JavaScript to
Acrobat by pressing "Ctrl + C".
Step # 2 -- Click on the "Create New" action button
After copying the JavaScript return to your Adobe Acrobat X and go to the "Tools" task pane, from the
different panels click on the "Action Wizard" panel. A drop down menu will appear having different
buttons. Click on the "Create New Action" button.
Step # 3 -- Choose "Execute JavaScript" Button
After the dialog box opens, click on the "More Tools" panel which is on the left side of the box and a list
will appear. From the list select "Execute JavaScript" button. After that click on the "Options" button of the
"Steps" section which will be on the right side of the box which will open a small dialogue box.
Step # 4 -- Paste the Java Script
Give a title to your script and hit "Enter" to go to the new line, paste the script. You can make changes to
the script like the font size and the font type. Here we only changed what we want in the water mark to
appear. Previously it was draft and copy and we changed it to "Water mark test". Click on the "OK" button
and then on the "Save" button. Write a name for your action and hit the "Save" button to add the
Watermark in Acrobat.
Step # 5 -- Execute the Action
Return to your main document and then click on the action which is saved under the name of "water mark
test" and click on the "next" button. After the water mark will be added you will be required to save your
document.