Do you need to add a watermark to your Excel worksheet?

A watermark is a semi-transparent logo, image, or text written in the background of a document. This can be used as an important visual cue for the status of the document.

For example, you might want a watermark to signal to the reader the document is a draft, final version, copy, or confidential. The possibilities are endless.

If the document is watermarked DRAFT, recipients are more likely to know that the document is still in the early development stages and should not be taken as a final version.

Equally, a watermark can be used for branding and marketing purposes to display your company logo.

The watermark displays only in Page Layout view and on printed pages.

This blog post explains how to insert a watermark in Excel. Get your copy of the example workbook used in this post to follow along!

Use Excel WordArt to create a DRAFT Watermark

In Excel, there is no direct option to insert a watermark. But you can use an image or text as a watermark.

In this section, you will explore how to use WordArt to create a DRAFT watermark picture in Excel. it is a basic method to create a watermark.

Steps to use WordArt to create a DRAFT watermark

1. Go to the Insert menu.
2. Click on the Text command.
3. Select the WordArt option in the Text group
4. Click any WordArt text style, you can see the list of styles in the group.

The above steps add a WordArt to your Excel sheet and you can many different formatting options in the Shape Format menu to customize the appearance.

5. Type the text DRAFT in the text box.
6. Select the More Rotation Options… in the Rotate group in the Shape Format menu, to open the Format Shape pane on the right side of the application.

7. Type the number 330 in the Rotation box, to rotate the watermark text. This will give your watermark text a slanted look.

You can also use the handle at the top of the shape to rotate the object using a click and drag with the mouse.

Since WordArt overlays the sheet, you will want to apply transparency so it doesn’t interfere with the content of your spreadsheet.

Here are the steps to use the Text Options to Color the text and apply transparency to the DRAFT watermark

1. Select the Text Options in the Format Shape dialog box.
2. Click the Text Fill & Outline command.
3. Choose the desired Color you want to fill the text. The grey color is selected in this example.
4. Adjust the Transparency percentage. A higher value such as 80% will make the object more transparent.

5. Click the Text Effects command in the Text Options.
6. Select the None option in the Presets item to remove the shadow and all other text effects.

Once you have the watermark formatted to your liking, you can convert it to a picture so it can’t be edited.

7. Select the DRAFT WordArt text, Click the right click with the mouse and select the Save as Picture… option, to open the Save As Picture dialog box.
8. Select the desired folder path, enter the File Name, and Press the Save button.

Now you can insert this image into the workbook and use it as your watermark.

Insert a DRAFT Watermark in an Excel spreadsheet

Another alternative is to insert the watermark into the header or footer section.

This section will show you how to use the Excel Header & Footer picture element to add a watermark.

Steps to insert DRAFT watermark in the Excel document.

1. Go to the Data sheet.
2. Click the Page Layout command in the View tab.

3. The above step displays the worksheet in the Page Layout view. You can notice that the Header & Footer menu appears in the ribbon. There are three sections in the header and footer, by default, the cursor is in the center section.
4. Click the Picture element in Header & Footer Elements group, to open the Insert Pictures dialog box. You have multiple options to insert the picture. You will use the first one From a file.
5. Select the Browse in the From a File option.

6. Browse the computer to find the watermark picture draft.png and Press the Insert button.
7. Click anywhere else on the worksheet and the DRAFT watermark displays in the center section of the header on all pages.
8. The inserted DRAFT watermark displays at the top of the header. You need to move the picture down a little bit.
9. So, you press Enter as many times as needed until the picture moves to the center place of the document.

Remove the Watermark in Excel

Sometimes, you may need to remove the watermark completely instead of editing it. You need to click on the header where the watermark is added. Select all the contents in the center section of the header and press the Delete or Backspace key to remove the inserted DRAFT watermark from the header section.

Insert a DRAFT Watermark with VBA

VBA is a programming language. It allows you to automate repetitive tasks in Excel such as generating graphs, formatting cells, and processing data. It helps you to record the actions, debug scripts and write custom functions.

Sub AddDraftWatermark()

    ' the DRAFT Picture File Name and Path, which need to insert in the header center section
    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterHeaderPicture.Filename = ThisWorkbook.Path & "\Images\draft.png"
    
    
    For i = 1 To 10
    
        ' Move the picture to the center of the page by adding 10 new lines before the DRAFT picture.
        ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterHeader = ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterHeader & "" & Chr(10)
    
    Next
    
    ' Add the picture in the header
    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterHeader = ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterHeader & "&G"
    
    ' Resize the inserted watermark
    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterHeaderPicture.Height = 700
    ActiveSheet.PageSetup.CenterHeaderPicture.Width = 800
End Sub

Insert the above VBA code into the VBE Module.

The first line of the script assigns the DRAFT watermark picture file path to the Filename attribute. Next, the macro inserts 10 new lines before the watermark using for loop to move the image to the center of the page. Insert the picture in the header section. The inserted picture is small, so finally update the height and width of the picture.

To Run the AddDraftWatermark macro in Excel

Go to the sheet VBA, Press the keyboard shortcut key Alt + F8, to open the Macro dialog box, Select the AddDraftWatermark Macro in the Macro list, and then Press Run.

Conclusion

You have used the headers to insert watermarks, which are located at the top of the page in the margin area. Generally, you can see the document information such as COPY, DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL, DO NOT COPY, ORIGINAL, etc., This information is very useful for the readers.

Now, you learned about the watermark, how to use WordArt, create a watermark, format the WordArt picture, and insert the DRAFT watermark image in the header & footer element. You explored editing and removing the inserted watermark from the header section.

VBA script will be useful for your automation projects to insert the watermark.

If you know any other method to add Watermark in Excel, let us know in the comments section at the bottom of this page.