I love Google Docs. It allows me to draft up documents or quickly make changes to existing ones on the go, on a whim, no matter if I'm on my smartphone or a computer — all you need is a browser and a keyboard. But for some reason, Docs has always felt a bit lacking when it comes to non-core features, especially when compared to Microsoft Word. But starting today, Google Docs is catching up to its competitors in one meaningful way: watermarks.

Now, users of Google Docs will be able to put watermarks on their documents, both in the form of images and text. Additionally, if you upload a Word document with one, it will also be preserved — same if you export a file from Docs to a local format. In order to insert a watermark in your document, just head over to the top bar, click on "Insert" and scroll down until you see the "Watermark" option. The feature is not available on the mobile version of the app — if you want to add one, you'll need to head over to a desktop browser.

AP Docs Watermark

Watermarks repeat across all pages, and allow you to indicate a document's status to the reader: if it's a non-final draft that you need to show someone to make changes, or it's something of confidential nature, you'll want to add a watermark to clarify that, saying "Draft" or "Confidential". You can also add image watermarks — maybe your company's logo needs to be emblazoned across the document for whatever reason.

The feature will be rolling out from today, and might take up to 15 days for it to show up as available.

Google Docs Developer: Google LLC
Price: Free
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