WaterMark PDF for WooCommerce – Stamp PDFs with Customer Data

FAQ

Something is wrong

1. Is WooCommerce installed, and do you have a PDF product in your shop to watermark?
2. Have you checked the box at the top of your settings page (Woocommerce -> Settings -> Watermark) so that watermarking is enabled?
3. Have you entered your PDF file names correctly in the second field if you’ve entered any at all?
4. Is your Y fine-tuning adjustment off the page? Read more below under “Why does the watermark go off the page, create blank pages?”.
5. Check your WP debug logs (link to instructions below). If logs suggest your PDF is “goofy” or “template does not exist,” try using Apple Preview application to resave your PDF by clicking “Export as PDF” in the menu. Preview might fix bad PDF syntax and allow your PDF to be processed for watermarking.
6. It may also help to increase your PHP time limit and memory limits if they are set low. Server limitations can stop this plugin from functioning.

Further things to try:

1. Make sure your WooCommerce downloads work WITHOUT WaterWoo activated, to narrow the problem.
2. Try watermarking a different PDF (one you didn’t create). If your PDF has goofy syntax (and many do – correct PDF syntax is “optional” for some PDF builders), WaterWoo will not be able to read it. Look into using WooStamper instead
3. Read through the support forum. Tip: it has a search feature! Your answer is probably there by now since this plugin has been around a long time.

Please do get in touch with your issues via the WordPress.org support forum before leaving negative feedback about this free plugin.

If requesting help using the WordPress.org support forum, please state which versions WordPress/WooCommerce/WaterMark PDF you are using, and what error messages if any you are seeing. You will find more detailed error messaging if you turn on WordPress debugging. Screenshots and clear descriptions of the steps it takes to reproduce your problem are also very helpful. Please also make your support request TITLE descriptive. If the answer to your question can be found on this page, you might be waiting a while to hear from me, as I must prioritize support requests. Thanks for understanding.

Do not use the WordPress.org support forum for help with the Premium (paid) version of WaterMark PDF – that is against WordPress.org rules.

Where do I change watermark settings?

You can find the WaterMark PDF settings page by clicking on the “settings” link under the Watermark PDF for WooCommerce plugin title on your WordPress plugins panel, or by navigating to the WooCommerce->Settings->Watermark tab.

My watermark isn’t English

Select the “Deja Vu,” “Furat,” or “M Sung” font in the plugin settings panel if your language uses accent characters and find out if one supports characters in your language.

A primary reason watermarks do not show up is when the watermark contains special characters but a font which doesn’t support those characters is in use. 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 Premium version of this plugin, which supports font uploads.

How do I test my watermark?

Maybe set your PDF to $0 (free) and “Privately Published”. Or maybe create a coupon in your Woocommerce 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 an easier go of it (on-the-fly testing), purchase the Premium version of this plugin.

Why does the watermark go off the page, create blank pages?

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.

Where do the watermarked files go?

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.

However, if you are using Woo FORCED downloads, the plugin attempts to delete the watermarked files after being delivered. If you don’t like that behavior, you can change it with the ‘wwpdf_do_cleanup’ filter hook (set it to FALSE).

Will Watermark PDF for WooCommerce watermark images?

Watermark PDF for WooCommerce is intended to watermark PDF (.pdf) files. If you are specifically looking to watermark image files (.jpg, .jpeg, .gif, .png, .etc), you may want to look into a plugin such as Image Watermark.

Does this work for ePub/Mobi files

No, sorry. This plugin is just for PDF files.

The plugin seems to break my PDF

Watermark PDF for WooCommerce is a plugin which bridges WooCommerce and the open-source PDF reading TCPDI and PDF writing TCPDF library. WaterMark PDF functions by parsing/reading your PDF into memory the best it can, then adding a watermark to the PDF syntax and outputting a revised file. Between the reading and output, certain features may be lost and other features (interactive PDF elements like internal links and fillable forms) will be lost. This is a limitation of a third-party library and the wild-west nature of PDF syntax, and not the fault of WaterWoo. If you are serious about watermarking and/or encrypting complex PDF files, consider purchasing WooStamper. Ultimately, Watermark PDF for WooCommerce is best for simple, smaller-sized PDFs.

Is there a fallback in case watermarking fails?

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.