A watermark automatically added to all slides in PPT templates helps avoid adding branding manually. Whether you’re a freelance consultant or need to represent your company, adding watermarks, such as CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT or the company logo, ensures your slides reflect and represent your brand requires making a few adjustments to the parent master slide in PowerPoint.
How to Add Watermark for PowerPoint Presentations
While you can manually insert an image or text-based watermark into your slides, this can be time-consuming and laborious. To avoid this, you can easily insert a watermark in PowerPoint presentations using the Slide Master View. By editing the slide layout in Slide Master view, you can add watermarks like CONFIDENTIAL, DRAFT, COPYRIGHTED, or your company logo to all the slides of your presentation.
To get started, go to PowerPoint and edit the master slide via View -> Slide Master.
Select the parent master slide to add your watermark.
Insert Picture Watermark in PowerPoint
To insert a picture watermark into a PowerPoint presentation, such as a logo, go to Insert -> Images -> Pictures and select your image from your device or an online source.
Insert the watermark according to the branding guidelines of your organization or in a place on the slides that is unobtrusive. Once done, save the changes and close Slide Master.
This will reflect the changes across all slides in the presentation. If your watermark appears hidden in some slides, you might need to send a few slide elements back via right-click menu or Shape Format -> Send Backwards / Send to Back to reveal your watermark image.
How to Insert Text Watermark in PowerPoint
To insert a text watermark in PowerPoint, go to Text -> Text Box and place the text in a location on the master slide where you would like to add the watermark to all slides in the presentation.
The watermark can either be plain text or stylized using options from the Shape Format tab in the Ribbon menu.
You can adjust the text color and style to display in your PowerPoint slides based on your requirements. If the watermark is hidden, you might need to adjust slide elements, such as sending them behind the watermark via Shape Format -> Send Backwards / Send to Back.
Unless you want to insert a company logo as a watermark in your presentations, the typical text watermarks in PowerPoint includes a term that is configured in a diagonal text shape. Here is a more realistic example of a watermark inserted in PowerPoint with the term PREVIEW, which denotes the research presentation being presented is a preview, and not the final presentation.
How to Insert a Diagonal Text Watermark in PowerPoint Slide
Following the example above, we can also insert the diagonal text watermark. In the following example we can see how we inserted a DRAFT text over the slide in a financial presentation.
A diagonal text watermark with the text DRAFT is a semi-transparent overlay placed on the document, where the word DRAFT is written across the content at an angle, typically from one corner to the opposite corner (e.g., top-left to bottom-right). The purpose of this watermark is to indicate that the document is still in a preliminary or incomplete state and not the final version.
The watermark usually appears in a light gray or white color, so it is visible but does not obscure the underlying content. The text is often set in a large, bold font to ensure it is noticeable. The diagonal placement helps to cover a significant portion of the document without being too obtrusive.
Inserting a DRAFT text watermark into a PowerPoint presentation does not differ from the procedure we described above. You can edit the Slide Master view to edit all the slides, or you can just add a text layer on top of the slide and rotate the text shape to a diagonal position.
What Are Other Popular Terms Used as Watermarks in PowerPoint?
Inserting watermarks in PowerPoint is not just for branding but also for communicating the status, sensitivity, or intended use of a presentation. While DRAFT and CONFIDENTIAL are among the most commonly terms used as watermarks in PowerPoint presentations or documents, there are several other popular terms that can be used to convey specific messages to your audience. Here are some of the most widely used watermark words in PowerPoint presentations:
- COPY: Used to indicate that the slide deck is a duplicate of the original, helping to differentiate between the original document and its copies.
- SAMPLE: Marks the presentation as an example or demonstration, often used for showcasing templates or concepts that are not yet finalized.
- TOP SECRET: A watermark that signifies the highest level of sensitivity, ensuring that the content is treated with utmost confidentiality.
- CLASSIFIED: Indicates that the content is restricted to authorized individuals, often used in government, military, or corporate settings.
- CONFIDENTIAL: As with the Classified term, the CONFIDENTIAL term as a watermark shows the content of the presentation is restricted and must be treated confidentially by the audience. This may include sensible information that cannot be revealed to others.
- INTERNAL USE ONLY: Ensures that the presentation is circulated only within the organization, preventing external sharing.
- FOR REVIEW: Signifies that the content is under review and subject to change, making it clear that the information is not final.
- APPROVED: A watermark that shows the presentation has been reviewed and given the green light, signaling that it is ready for distribution or presentation.
- FINAL: Used to denote that the presentation is the completed version, with no further edits or revisions expected.
- PROPRIETARY: Marks the content as proprietary, indicating that it contains unique or protected information belonging to the organization.
- RESTRICTED: A watermark that restricts access to certain groups or individuals, ensuring that only those with the necessary permissions can view the content.
- VOID: Indicates that the presentation content is no longer valid, often used on outdated or superseded presentations.
- UNCLASSIFIED: Marks the content as unclassified, meaning it does not contain sensitive or restricted information.
- FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY: A watermark that restricts the content to official business within an organization or agency.
- PERSONAL: Used to indicate that the presentation is for personal use and not intended for distribution.
- ARCHIVE: Marks the presentation as archived, indicating that it is stored for historical reference and not for active use.
- PREVIEW: This text watermark signals the content is in a preview stage, allowing the audience of the presentation to view a preliminary version before the final content is released.
Conclusions
Adding a watermark to PPT is the same as inserting slide elements like text and images. The difference is that adding the watermark via the parent master slide in Slide Master will insert it in a specific place where you can continue editing your slides around it. In some cases, you might need to readjust the location of your watermark to make it suitably placed with your slide design. In such a case, you can return to the parent master slide in Slide Master to make the necessary changes.
FAQ’s
Adding a watermark helps brand your slides, protect your intellectual property, and ensure that your presentation consistently reflects your company or personal branding across all slides.
To access the Slide Master:
– Go to the View tab.
– Click on Slide Master.
– Select the parent master slide at the top of the slide hierarchy.
To add a picture watermark:
– In Slide Master view, select the parent master slide.
– Go to Insert > Images > Pictures.
– Select your image from your device or an online source.
– Adjust the size and position of the image as needed.
– Save changes and close the Slide Master.
To add a text watermark:
– In Slide Master view, select the parent master slide.
– Go to Insert > Text Box.
– Type the desired text for your watermark.
– Format the text using the Shape Format tab in the Ribbon menu.
– Adjust the position of the text box as needed.
– Save changes and close the Slide Master.
If your watermark is hidden:
– Select the slide where the watermark is hidden.
– Right-click the slide element that is hiding the watermark.
– Select Send Backwards or Send to Back from the context menu.
– Alternatively, use Shape Format > Send Backwards / Send to Back in the Ribbon menu.
Yes, you can adjust the transparency:
– Select the picture watermark in Slide Master view.
– Go to Picture Format > Transparency.
– Adjust the transparency level as needed.
To style a text watermark:
– Select the text box containing your watermark in Slide Master view.
– Use the Shape Format tab options to change the font, size, color, and other text effects.
– You can also adjust the transparency and add effects like shadow or reflection.
Yes, you can use both text and image watermarks:
– Add a picture watermark following the steps for inserting an image.
– Add a text watermark following the steps for inserting text.
– Adjust the size, position, and formatting of both elements as needed.
Yes, you can add a watermark to specific slides by directly inserting an image or text box onto them and formatting them accordingly. However, this method is more time-consuming and less consistent than using the Slide Master.
To add a confidential watermark in PowerPoint, insert a new text layer on top of the content of your presentation slide, then adjust the text properties to change it to uppercase. You may change the text color to light gray or add transparency to the text. Additionally, you may use Slide Master view to add the CONFIDENTIAL text as a watermark to all the slides of the presentation.
