How to create watermarks in Word 2002 and in Word 2003

Watermarks are used to print text or a graphic behind document text. Watermarks are transparent, and therefore any text or inserted object printed over a watermark is clearly visible.

This article describes how to do the following in a Microsoft Word document:

• Create text or picture watermarks
• Change the position of a watermark on a page
• Specify the pages on which a watermark appears

How to add a text watermark

To add a text watermark to a Word document by using the Printed Watermark command, follow these steps:

1. Start Word.
2. On the Format menu, point to Background, and then click Printed Watermark.
3. In the Printed Watermark dialog box, click Text watermark.
4. In the Text box, type My Watermark.
5. In the Font box, click Century Gothic.
6. In the Size box, click Auto.
7. In the Color box, click Turquoise.
8. Click to select the Semitransparent check box (default setting).
9. Click the Diagonal option next to Layout.
10. Click OK. The watermark that you just created is visible on the document sheet.

How to add a picture watermark

To add a picture watermark to a Word document by using the Printed Watermark command, follow these steps:

1. Open a new Word document.
2. On the Format menu, point to Background, and then click Printed Watermark.
3. In the Printed Watermark dialog box, click Picture watermark.
4. Click Select Picture.
5. Browse to select the picture that you want, and then click Insert.
6. In the Scale box, click Auto.
7. Click to select the Washout check box (default setting).
8. Click OK. The watermark that you just created is visible on the document sheet.

NOTES

• If you click to select the Disable features introduced after check box (click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the Save tab), the Printed Watermark command is not available.
• If you view the document in Web Layout, the watermark does not appear.

How to change the position of a watermark

By default, when you insert a watermark, Word centers the watermark on the page. Watermarks are included in the Header and Footer layer of the Word document. Therefore, to change the position of a watermark, you work in the Header and Footer layer. To do this, follow these steps:

1. On the View menu, click Header and Footer.
   
   You can now change the watermark.
2. Click the watermark one time to select it.
3. If the watermark is a text watermark, click WordArt on the Format menu.
   
   If the watermark is a picture, click Picture on the Format menu.
4. Click the Layout tab, and then click Advanced.
5. On the Picture Position tab, use the options that are under Horizontal and Vertical to change the position of the watermark.

How to specify the pages on which a watermark appears

Because watermarks are included in the Header and Footer layer, you can use sections to specify the pages on which a watermark appears. This is because you can have different headers and footers in different sections of a document. To create sections, you insert section breaks. Then, you delete the watermark from the sections where you do not want the watermark to appear. To do this, follow these steps:

1. In the Word document, click the top of a page in which you do not want the watermark to appear.
2. On the Insert menu, click Break.
3. Under Section break types, click Next page, and then click OK.
4. Click a page in the section in which you do not want the watermark to appear.
5. On the View menu, click Header and Footer.
6. On the Header and Footer toolbar, click Link to Previous.
   
   This breaks the connection between the header and the footer in the current section and the header and the footer in the previous section. Same as Previous no longer appears in the upper-right corner of the header or the footer.
   
   Note If you do not see Link to Previous, you may be in the first section of the document. The status bar in Word indicates the section where the cursor is currently located.
7. Click the watermark one time, and then press DELETE.
   
   The watermark is deleted from all the pages in the current section.

For more information about section breaks and headers and footers, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about issues you may experience with printing a watermark, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: For more information about how to add a watermark to a document, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type add a background or watermark in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.
For more information about how to remove a watermark from a document, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type remove a background or watermark in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.
For more information about how to troubleshoot watermarks, click Microsoft Word Help on the Help menu, type troubleshoot backgrounds and watermarks in the Office Assistant or the Answer Wizard, and then click Search to view the topic.