How to add a text watermark to a PDF document using Microsoft Flow or Azure Logic Apps

A watermark that states "Confidential" or "For internal use only" can be a reminder to others about how they should be handling the document. For example, people who have access to a document may be more conscious of leaving it open on their computer screen while they walk away from it if it states "Confidential".

Show the status of a document

You may also use the text type watermark to show the status of a document — such as Reviewed, Approved, or Draft — so that other users immediately recognize the status of the document you have shared.

Identify the perpetrator if the document is leaked

Imagine you need to send confidential documents outside of your organization. Adding a watermark that identifies the recipient can be an effective deterrent for people who might disseminate the information. Besides the email address, you may also use such information as the person's name and the time/date to protect PDF document and identify the leak if copies of the protected documents suddenly start circulating.

Let's have a look at an example.

Let's say you have a list of recipients in your SharePoint site:

You need to send them a confidential document you would prefer not be spread around. For example, a price list.

You can create a flow that is started on a particular item from the list:

Here is how the entire flow looks like:

Flow trigger

Please navigate to MS Flow, create a flow and find For a selected item action from the SharePoint connector. Using this trigger will allow you to start the flow on a selected item manually. Set your Site Address and the List name:

Get item data using Get item action from the SharePoint connector. Put here ID from the output of the For a selected item action:

Get the file you are going to send with help of Get item action from SharePoint connector:

This is an action from Plumsail Documents connector.

Choose Text type of the watermark. Put here File content from the output of the Get file content action and the recipient's Email from the output of Get item action.

We set custom values for Angle, Font Size, Color, Watermark position, and Opacity. You may check detailed information on how to use these and other settings here.

We used Send an email action from Office 365 Outlook connector, but you can choose another one. Attachment content is the output from Add watermark to PDF action.

That is it. The recipient will receive the price list with their email address as the watermark. It will potentially discourage leaks by identifying the recipient.