How to add a photo or logo to an existing PDF

Want to add image to PDF pages you already have, such as a passport photo on a form, your company logo on a quotation, or a stamp on a letter? Open the file in our free PDF Studio, switch to Advanced, choose Image on the Edit tab, click where the picture should go and pick it from your phone or computer. Drag it into place, resize it from the corner and press Save PDF. Everything happens in your browser, so the document is never uploaded.

This guide covers the steps, how to prepare the picture so it looks sharp, how to repeat a logo on every page, and what to do when something looks wrong.

What you need before you start

• The PDF. Any normal PDF works, including scanned ones. If it is locked with a password, remove the password first (see how to remove the password from a bank statement PDF).
• The picture. JPG, PNG and other formats your browser can open. For a logo, a PNG with a transparent background looks cleanest, because it shows only the logo and not a white box around it.
• A rough idea of the size. A passport photo is usually small; a letterhead logo is wide and short. You can resize on the page, but starting from a sensible picture saves time.

If your photo is huge (for example straight from a phone camera), it is still fine: PDF Studio scales any picture down to at most 1,800 pixels on its longest side before placing it. If you want a smaller file, shrink it first with Resize Image.

Add image to PDF in PDF Studio, step by step

1. Open the PDF. Go to PDF Studio and click Open PDF files, or drop the file onto the page. The pages appear in the middle, with small thumbnails on the left.
2. Switch to Advanced. PDF Studio starts in Simple mode, which shows only Fill & Sign, Pages and Save. Tap More tools, or choose Advanced at the top of the Settings panel on the right. Your choice is remembered next time.
3. Choose Image. On the Edit tab, click Image in the ribbon. The hint says "Click where the picture goes, then choose it."
4. Click on the page. Click roughly where the picture should sit. A file picker opens; choose your photo or logo.
5. Place it. The picture appears centred on the spot you clicked. Drag it to move it, and drag the corner to resize. The proportions are kept, so a photo never gets stretched.
6. Repeat if needed. Choose Image again for a second picture, on the same page or another one.
7. Save. Press Save PDF (or Ctrl+S). A new file named after the original with -edited added, such as quotation-edited.pdf, goes to your downloads. Your original file is not changed.

If you place something by mistake, select it and press Delete, or press Ctrl+Z to undo.

On a phone

The same steps work in Chrome on Android and Safari on iPhone. Tap instead of click, and pinch or use the zoom buttons to get close to the spot. When you choose the picture, your phone offers the gallery, the camera or the Files app.

Getting a clean result

What you see	Why it happens	What to do
A white box around the logo	The picture is a JPG or a PNG without transparency	Use a PNG with a transparent background
The photo looks blurry	The picture was small to begin with, then made bigger on the page	Start from a larger picture, or place it smaller
The logo covers text	It was placed on top of the page content	Drag it to an empty area, or make it smaller
The file is much larger	Photos add their own data	Turn on compression before saving (see below)

A picture is always drawn on top of what is already on the page. If you need to replace an old logo, first cover it with Whiteout (also on the Edit tab), then place the new picture on top. Whiteout only hides what is under it; the old content is still inside the file.

Keeping the file size down

Every photo you add makes the PDF larger. Before you press Save PDF:

• In Simple mode, open the Save tab and switch on Make the file smaller.
• In Advanced mode, open the Compress tab and switch on Compress on save in the Settings panel. Balanced is a good default; Strong gives the smallest file for email.

PDF Studio keeps the compressed version only when it really is smaller. If an online form still rejects the file, our guide on how to compress a PDF to under 1 MB walks through the options in Compress PDF.

The same logo on every page

PDF Studio places one picture at a time, on the page you click. That is ideal for a photo on a form or a stamp on the last page, but slow for a logo on all 30 pages of a report.

For that job, use Add Watermark to PDF:

1. Choose your PDF, then pick an image watermark and choose your logo.
2. Set the position to a corner, such as Top left or Top right.
3. Set the opacity to 100% if the logo should look solid, and the rotation to 0°.
4. Choose all pages, check the live preview and download.

You can then open the result in PDF Studio for anything else, such as a signature on the last page.

Common problems and how to fix them

Nothing happens when I click on the page

Check that Image is still selected in the ribbon. After a picture is placed, PDF Studio goes back to Select, so choose Image again for the next one.

My picture won't open

PDF Studio accepts any image your browser can open. An iPhone HEIC photo may not open in every browser on Windows; convert it to JPG first, or take a screenshot of it and use that.

I can't see the Edit tab

You are in Simple mode. Tap More tools or choose Advanced on the right.

I closed the tab before saving

PDF Studio keeps unfinished work in your browser for a week. Open it again and you are offered to continue where you left off.

Quick checklist

• PDF unlocked, if it had a password
• Logo saved as a transparent PNG; photos reasonably sized
• Advanced mode on, Edit tab, Image
• Picture placed, moved and resized; nothing important covered
• Compression switched on if the file must be small
• Saved copy opened and checked before you send it