How to Add a Background Picture to a Microsoft Word Document

Techwalla may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story. Learn more about our affiliate and product review process here.
Customize your own watermark in Word 2013.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

With Microsoft Word 2013, it's quite easy to insert a picture to use as a background for any document. To add a background picture to a single page, with full control over its tone, color and transparency, use the Insert Picture option. If you want the same image to appear on every page as a semi-transparent watermark, use the Watermark option under the Design tab.

Advertisement

Manually Inserting Background Images

Video of the Day

Step 1

Insert picture choices are under the Insert menu.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

Launch your Word document and go to the page where you want the picture to appear. Click the "Insert Menu" and then select "Pictures" to get an image from your computer or "Online Pictures" to get an image online, including royalty-free images from the Office.com Clip Art Gallery.

Advertisement

Video of the Day

Step 2

Send the image behind the text.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

Click the "Layout Options" icon located beside your newly-inserted image. Select the "Behind Text" option.

Advertisement

Step 3

Resize the photo.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

Resize the image as needed by dragging the square "Handles" on its border. Dragging a corner "Handle" keeps the picture's aspect ratio intact.

Advertisement

Step 4

Formatting options are under the Picture Tools Format menu.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

Click the "Format" menu, then the small "Dialog Box Launcher" beside Picture Styles. The Picture Styles dialog box opens on the right of your document.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Step 5

Click the "Format Picture" icon.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

Select the "Picture" icon in the Format Picture menu. Expand the Picture Corrections, Picture Color and Crop sections by clicking the Arrow icon beside each title.

Advertisement

Step 6

Click the "Presets" menu.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

Adjust the brightness and contrast, color saturation and tone, or crop the image as desired. Clicking the "Presets" menu in the Picture Corrections section, or the "Recolor" menu in the Picture Color section give you a variety of preset image settings to choose.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Step 7

Adjust the brightness and contrast.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

Adjust the brightness and contrast as necessary after selecting any preset to tweak the image's appearance. Make sure the image is bright enough that the text in front of it is clearly legible.

Advertisement

Adding a Watermark

Step 1

Select the "Custom Watermark" option.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

Launch your Word document. Click the "Design" tab, select "Watermark" and click the "Custom Watermark" option.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Step 2

Select "Picture Watermark."
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

Click the "Picture Watermark" option and then click the "Select Picture" button. You can select from pictures on your computer or pictures online, including royalty-free Office.com Clip Art pictures.

Advertisement

Step 3

Use the "Washout" and "Semitransparent" options.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of Microsoft.

Click the "Washout" and "Semitransparent" check boxes to select them if they aren't checked already. Click "OK." The selected image is added to every page in your document as a watermark.

Advertisement

Advertisement

references

Report an Issue

screenshot of the current page

Screenshot loading...