How to Watermark a Copy of Your ID – What to Write, How to Place It, and How to Do It on Your Phone

An ID image has everything needed to impersonate you: name, address, date of birth and photo. A watermark like “For ABC Corp. only” makes the image hard to reuse for another application, and if it leaks, it shows where it came from.

A watermark doesn’t make misuse impossible, but it’s a quick and widely used safeguard.

Include these three things:

• Who it’s for: the company, landlord or service
• What it’s for: “identity check only”, “for the rental application only”
• When: the date or month you send it

Example: “ABC Corp. ID check only, October 2026”. Japanese recipients may find a Japanese version clearer, such as 「〇〇株式会社 本人確認用 2026年10月」; the tool supports Japanese text.

• Let it overlap part of the photo and name (a watermark only in the margin can simply be cropped off)
• Tile it across the whole page so it survives cropping
• Keep it light (about 20–40% opacity) so the details stay readable
• Use a different watermark for each recipient, and keep an unmarked original yourself

Some recipients require an unedited image. In particular, online identity checks where you photograph your ID with your phone’s camera (eKYC) won’t accept edited images. If you’re not sure a watermark is OK, ask first.

The back of the My Number card shows your Individual Number. Send only the front unless you’re specifically asked for the number.

Text added in a phone photo editor usually sits in one spot only, which is easy to crop off.

With this site’s tools you can put your ID photos into one PDF and tile a light watermark across every page. Neither the photos nor the PDF is uploaded; everything runs on your device.

1. In JPG & PNG to PDF, put the photos of your ID (front, and back only if needed) into one PDF
2. Open Watermark PDF and choose that PDF
3. Type your text, such as “ABC Corp. ID check only, October 2026” (up to 40 characters)
4. Set the layout to “Tiled across the page”, choose opacity, color and size, and check in the preview that the details are still readable
5. Tap “Add watermark” and download the PDF

If the recipient wants an image (JPG), turn the watermarked PDF back into images with PDF to JPG.

Watermarks also work for “CONFIDENTIAL” on internal documents, “SAMPLE” on quotes, or “DRAFT” on work in progress. For important documents, consider adding a password as well.