Hello folks,



I've been trying to figure this out for a full 30 minutes and am stuck. Many people have asked similar questions, but mine seems to be a slightly different problem than what I've found on searches.

I'm using Word 2016, and just finished writing a two-page letter.

All I want to do is add a watermark to every page of the document. Simple enough, right?

The letter only has one section. I have "Different First Page" header/footer selected for a different header on the first page. I need the header different on the two pages.

When I add a watermark on the first page things are fine. When I then go to the second page and add a watermark there, the watermark on the first page disappears. When I put back the watermark on the first page, the one on the second page disappears. I can easily toggle between a watermark on the first page and second, but I can't get it to stay on both pages at the same time without using the same header on both pages. I've tried adding the watermark with text selected on the first page, with text selected on the second, and with all text selected. I've tried adding it with the header on the first page selected, and with the header on the second page selected. Regardless of what I do, adding the watermark to one of the pages causes the watermark on the other to disappear.

What's going on here? Software limitation? Bug? User stupidity?

A: Software limitation

Instead of using the 'watermark' tools, you could simply open the relevant header and use Insert>Picture, Insert>SmartArt or whatever to insert whatever you want to use for the odd/even pages. You might have to fiddle around with the positioning a bit, but you'll end up with two independent watermarks.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Hi，Analytics

First, you can justinsert a picture as watermark as Paul said.

Second, you can also create a new Word document. Then insert the watermark you want to show on second page on the new document.
Ensure the header is activated and select the watermark. then cut the “Cut”.
Go back to your document, and paste the watermark to the second page.

You can try to see if it works for you. Good luck.

Are you trying to get the same watermark on every page, or a different watermark on different pages?

Watermarks, in Word, are images in headers. When you use the Watermark tool, you run into things like you are experiencing. In your letter, you can copy the image created by the watermark tool from one header and paste it into the header of the page where it is not appearing.

Watermarks in Ribbon Versions of Word

Thank you for the responses, folks.

It looks like the consensus is that yes, there is a bug (or call it a software limitation if you wish) in the watermark tool. An effective workaround is to create an image of the watermark you want and paste it in the two headers. That did in fact work.

Thanks!

For those who may find this thread, to clarify, every section has three headers, which may or may not be displayed. A single page can have multiple sections. Only one of which's header will be displayed. This normally does not happen or cause problems.

If a problem does come up, the following tool can help.
Word Toolkit for Advanced Management of Word Headers and Footers

More information: Header/Footer Settings Recap