by Canyon Webworks 4.6 (51 reviews)

PDF Ink Lite - Free PDF Watermark & Password Protection

Name: PDF Ink Lite - Free PDF Watermark & Password Protection
Rating: 4.6 (51 reviews)
Author: Canyon Webworks

Watermark and password protect PDFs with WooCommerce, EDD, and Download Monitor. No Ghostscript required, PHP 8+ compatible. Since 2014 (FKA WaterWoo)

PDF Ink Lite ranks #4,473 among WordPress.org plugins with 2,000+ active installations, is #640 of 12,252 in the E-commerce category, a 4.6/5 rating from 51 reviews, and was last updated Sep 8, 2026. Data from WordPress.org, refreshed twice daily — see methodology.

Compatible with WP 7.1

v4.1.4 Current Version v4.1.4

Updated 1 week ago Last Update on 08 Sep, 2026

Refreshed 13 hours ago Last Refreshed on

#640 of 12,252 in E-commerce Top 10% by installs Downloads -76.5% this week Actively maintained

View on WordPress.org

Rank

#4,473

-1 this week

Active Installs

2K+

-31.7%

KW Avg Position

18.2

0.2 better

Downloads

83.4K

+18 today

Support Resolved

33%

— No change

Rating

92%

Review 4.6 out of 5

4.6 (51 reviews)

Next Milestone 3K

Total Progress 94.1%

2K+ 3K+

233

Ranks to Climb

Growth Needed

8,000,000

Active Installs

Pro

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Rank Changes

Current #4,473

Change

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Active Installs Growth

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Active Installs 0,000,000+

Growth +0.0%

Peak 0,000,000

Downloads Growth

Downloads

Growth

Peak

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Reviews & Ratings

4.6

51 reviews

Overall 92%

44 (86%)

1 (2%)

3 (6%)

2 (4%)

Support Threads Overview

Resolved

Unresolved

Total Threads

Resolved

Unresolved

33%

Resolution Rate

Security History

Source: WPVulnerability

No known vulnerabilities on record for PDF Ink Lite. Checked 1 month ago.

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Plugin Details

Version: 4.1.4
Last Updated: Sep 08, 2026
Requires WP: 7.0+
Tested Up To: 7.1
PHP Version: 7.4 or higher
Author: Canyon Webworks

Support & Rating

Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 4.6
Reviews: 51
Support Threads: 3
Resolved: 33%

Keywords

Woocommerce PDF digital downloads document protection pdf password pdf watermark

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TL;DR

AI summary of the plugin's readme

This plugin is for WordPress site owners selling PDFs through WooCommerce, Easy Digital Downloads, or Download Monitor. It watermarks and password-protects PDF downloads to deter unauthorized sharing, without requiring Ghostscript.

Customizable font face, color, size, placement
Dynamic customer data watermarks (name, email, date, phone)
Password protection for PDFs
Anti-copy and anti-print protections
Watermarks designated or all PDF downloads
Watermarks applied to all PDF pages
Supports multiple page sizes (letter, A4, legal)
WooCommerce, EDD, Download Monitor integration

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about PDF Ink Lite - Free PDF Watermark & Password Protection

Thanks for thinking of the countless volunteers who develop plugins for you to enjoy! In the PDF Ink Lite "Housekeeping" settings, you can check the "Attribution" box. This will add a super tiny, invisible watermark to page 2 of your PDF files, linking back to PDF Ink. The attribution mark is almost impossible to spot -- try it!

You can find the PDF Ink settings page by clicking on the "Settings for XXX" link under the PDF Ink Lite plugin title on your WordPress plugins panel. Something is wrong Here are some basic troubleshooting steps to start with. Below those is a link to further recommendations.

Have you checked the PDF Ink Lite settings checkbox to "Enable watermarking?" Make sure your PDF product downloads work without PDF Ink Lite activated, to narrow the problem. Try watermarking a different PDF (one you didn't create) to narrow the problem. Try using a different font (in settings). Turn on the PDF Ink Lite debugging in the settings, and review the logs after trying again. Increase your PHP time limit and memory limits if they are set low (but don't set too high, either). Server limitations can stop this plugin from functioning well. Try a different PHP version. Read more below under "Why does the watermark go off the page, create blank pages?". Please - definitely - get in touch with your issues via the WordPress.org support forum before leaving negative feedback about this free plugin. To request help using the WordPress.org support forum, start here. Do not use the WordPress.org support forum for help with the full (paid) version of PDF Ink - that is against WordPress.org rules. Conversely, use the WordPress.org support channel -- not email -- for PDF Ink Lite (free). My watermark isn’t English Try selecting a different font like “Deja Vu” in the plugin settings panel. One reason watermarks might not show up is because the watermark contains special characters but you're using a font which doesn’t support those characters. If none of the included fonts are subsetted for your language characters, you will need to programmatically add fonts yourself or look into purchasing the full version of this plugin, which has more built-in fonts and supports font uploads.

Maybe set your PDF to $0 (free) and "Privately Published" (for WooCommerce). Or maybe create a coupon in your shop to allow 100% free purchases. Don't share this coupon code with anyone! Test your watermark by purchasing PDFs from your shop using the coupon. It's a bit more tedious. If you want easier on-the-fly testing, purchase the full version of this plugin.

Your watermark text string is too big or long for the page, and goes off it! Try decreasing font size or using the Y fine tuners to move the watermark back onto the page. Try lowering your "y-axis" value. This number corresponds to how many millimeters you want the watermark moved down the page. For example, if your PDF page is 11 inches tall, your Y-axis setting should be a deal less than 279.4mm in order for a watermark to show. The built-in adjustments on the settings page ultimately allow for watermarking on all document sizes. You may need to edit your watermark if it is too verbose. You can use a negative integer value for your Y-tuner and measure up from the bottom of the page. This is especially helpful if your PDF has variable sized pages.

They are generated with a unique name and stored in the same folder as your original WordPress/Woo product media upload (usually wp-content/uploads/year/month/file). The unique name includes the order number and a time stamp. If your end user complains of not being able to access their custom PDF for some reason (most often after their max number of downloads is exceeded), you can find it in that folder, right alongside your original. If you are using Woo FORCED downloads, the plugin attempts to delete the watermarked files after being delivered. This isn't 100% reliable since it works on PHP shutdown. If you don't like attempted deletion, you can change it with the 'wwpdf_do_cleanup' filter hook (set it to FALSE). The paid version of this plugin allows you to choose how/if marked files are removed.

Yes, you can serve the file untouched if watermarking fails, and avoid any error messages, by using the following filter code in your (child) theme functions.php file: add_filter( 'wwpdf_serve_unwatermarked_file', '__return_true' ); If you do not know how to edit your functions.php file, you can use the Code Snippets plugin to easily add this code to your WP site frontend.