Add and customize watermarks in Dropbox DocSend

When creating links, you can add custom watermarks to documents and Spaces, providing greater control and security over sensitive content. This additional layer of security over your shared content is especially helpful for deterring unauthorized downloading and sharing.

Add a watermark to a link

Watermarks can be configured separately for each link. You can type in any static text you would like to be shown in the watermark (e.g., Confidential, Do Not Share). DocSend also offers dynamic watermark elements that you can also add to your link.

With dynamic watermarks, you can create adaptive watermarks to reflect the current visitor's information, which helps secure your content even further. You can select any combination of these visit elements to automatically apply to your document:

• Email address
• IP address
• Account name
• Date (in UTC)
• Time (in UTC)

To enable and customize watermarks on a link:

1. Select the document or Space you want to share.
2. Click Create link or the link settings icon next to an existing link.
3. Check the box next to Add watermark.
4. In the text field, type in any static text and add dynamic fields by clicking the blue buttons below the field.
   • Optional: Click Customize for more options.
5. Then, click Create Link or Update Link.
    

Customize and preview watermarks

You can further customize and configure any of the following elements in the watermark:

• Tiled: Repeats the watermark text across the document.
• Position: Positions the watermark (only applicable if Tiled is disabled).
• Rotation: Rotates the watermark 45, 90, or 180 degrees within the document.
• Font color: Applies a custom color to the watermark text.
• Font size: Adjusts the size of the watermark text.
• Transparency: Adjusts the transparency of the watermark text between 0 and 75%.

As updates are made to the watermark, the preview image will update to reflect your current configuration.
 

Visitor experience

When a visitor opens a watermarked document or Space, they'll immediately see the text and any dynamic elements you've configured. 

Default watermark options

If you're an account owner or admin, you can set a default watermark configuration from the Permissions page. Once configured, any newly created links will automatically reflect those settings when Add watermark is enabled. Adding a watermark will also convert any document into a .pdf file which will disable all .gifs. You can’t create watermarks on Agreements or signable documents.