Google Docs users can now insert text or image watermarks to protect their work

What’s one of the features that Google Docs is missing in your opinion? What’s that, you say the ability to add a watermark to your document? I thought that was already available! Wasn’t that something that most services have had since the early 2000s? Nope.

Google Docs is actually adding it in 2022, and it will be rolling out over the next two weeks for Rapid Release domains. Anyone with a Scheduled Release domain will have to wait for up to two weeks post-February 14, 2022 so that they have time to educate their organization on the change. All Workspace tiers including anyone with a G Suite Basic or Business license can expect to have this update by the time it’s fully rolled out.

So, why add a watermark to your document anyway? Well, the most obvious use for this feature is to indicate the validity of a legal document or to protect confidential information. Another use case is to mark something as a draft so that no one reading it mistakes it for a final copy while changes are still being made.

Google states that adding a watermark will cause it to repeat on every page of the document, and will even be preserved across the board upon export from Docs and import elsewhere. You can add text or image watermarks behind or in front of text, making it easy to communicate or protect the content therein.

Simply visit the “Insert” menu on the top row of Docs, click “Watermark”, which will be marked with a blue “new” badge, and then utilize the tools in the right-hand sidebar to type in specific text, to select an image, or to modify the formatting and transparency of either.

You can also choose the scale and the diagonal or horizontal positioning of the watermark, so this is a full-fledged implementation that should work for pretty much anyone who has need of this nifty, little tool. Let me know in the comments section if you will be utilizing Watermarks in your organization and if you’re willing to share, please tell me what for!