ID Copy Watermark — Protect a Passport or ID Scan

An unmarked photo of a passport is a gift to anyone committing identity fraud. It is accepted as proof of identity by countless services, it can be attached to a credit application, and once it has been emailed to a letting agent or uploaded to a booking site you have no idea how many people can see it or how long it is kept.

A watermark does not stop someone stealing the file, but it changes what they can do with it. A scan covered in repeating text reading Only for identity verification by Rossi Lettings — 15/09/2026 is obviously a copy prepared for one specific purpose. Most services will reject it as proof of identity for anything else, and if the file turns up somewhere it should not be, the name printed across it tells you which recipient failed to look after it.

This is common enough in Europe that the French government runs its own watermarking service for exactly this reason. This tool does the same job for any document, in any language, without sending your scan to anyone — including us.

How to use this tool

Drop in a photo or scan of your document, or a PDF. JPG, PNG, WebP and PDF all work. Everything is read directly by your browser; nothing is uploaded.
Choose why you are sending it — renting a property, hotel check-in, bank or crypto verification, a job application, car hire, a phone contract — or write your own wording.
Type the name of the company or person receiving it. This is the part that matters: a generic COPY stamp is much weaker than one naming a single recipient and date.
Adjust opacity, density and angle until the text is clearly readable but the document underneath is still legible. If a verifier cannot read your details, they will ask for an unmarked copy.
Optionally drag a blur or black box over the parts nobody needs — the document number, your signature, or the machine-readable strip along the bottom of a passport.
Download as an image or a PDF and send that file instead of the original. Keep the original somewhere private.

Worked example

Renting a flat

A letting agent asks for your passport and a recent payslip. You set the purpose to renting, type Rossi Lettings as the recipient, and leave the date as today. The output carries Only for identity verification by Rossi Lettings — 15/09/2026 diagonally across every part of the page. If that scan later appears in a phishing kit, you know precisely which agency lost it.

Verifying a crypto or betting account

A service wants a photo of your ID card and a selfie. You watermark the card with the service's name, and use a black box over the document number because they have already confirmed it by other means. The identity photograph and your name stay perfectly readable, so the check still passes.

Common use cases

Tenants sending ID to letting agents, landlords or referencing agencies
Guests emailing passport details ahead of a hotel or apartment check-in
Anyone completing KYC checks for a bank, broker, crypto exchange or betting site
Job applicants sending proof of the right to work
Car hire, equipment rental and gym memberships that keep a copy on file
Parents sending a child's documents to a school, club or tour operator

Common mistakes

Using a generic stamp — COPY or NOT VALID tells you nothing. Name the recipient and the date — that is what makes the copy single-purpose and traceable.
Making it so faint it can be removed — A pale watermark in one corner can be cropped or cloned out in seconds. Tile it across the whole document and keep the opacity high enough that it overlaps the text underneath.
Blurring the photograph — The identity photo is usually the thing the verifier most needs to see. Obscure the document number or the machine-readable zone instead, not the face.
Sending the flattened file and keeping nothing — Keep your clean original in a safe place. Send only the watermarked copy, and make a fresh one with the new recipient's name each time you are asked.

Frequently asked questions

Is my passport scan uploaded anywhere?

No. The file is read by your browser from your own disk, drawn onto a canvas in your device's memory, and saved straight back to your downloads. There is no server involved. You can verify this in your browser's Network tab, or by disconnecting from the internet after the page loads — the tool keeps working.

Is a watermarked ID still legally valid as proof of identity?

That depends entirely on who is asking. Many organisations accept a watermarked copy for routine verification, and some — banks and letting agents in particular — actively prefer it. Others, especially government processes, require an unmarked or certified copy. Ask before you send, and keep the wording accurate so nobody is misled about what the copy is for.

Can someone just remove the watermark?

A faint mark in one corner, yes, easily. A dense tiled watermark that overlaps the text and photograph across the whole page is much harder to remove convincingly, and any attempt leaves visible damage. The goal is not to make removal impossible — it is to make the copy obviously purpose-limited and not worth the effort.

Does it work with a PDF, or only images?

Both. A PDF is rendered page by page in your browser, watermarked, and rebuilt as a new PDF. Note that the rebuilt PDF contains images rather than selectable text, which is usually what you want for a document copy.

Does it work on a phone?

Yes. You can photograph the document with your phone camera, open it here and watermark it without installing anything. Drag the blur boxes with your finger.

What should the wording actually say?

Something specific and dated, naming one recipient and one purpose — for example Only for identity verification by Rossi Lettings — 15/09/2026. Avoid claiming the document is invalid or forged, which could cause problems for a legitimate check.

Last updated 2026-09-15