Add Watermark to an Excel Document

Unfortunately, the printed watermark feature is not available on any version of Excel (including Excel 2007, 2010). However, there are some workaround methods to add text or images into an Excel document that would result something similar to a watermark.

The followings are examples of Excel Documents with text and image "watermark":

Step-by-step procedure to add a watermark to an Excel document (applied for Microsoft Word 97-2010):

A. TEXT WATERMARK: 
The trick is to place a WordArt on the background of the Excel sheet. 

Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP (2002)/2003:

1. Open the Excel document that you want to add watermark to.
2. Select "Insert" from the top menu, then select "Picture" > "WordArt...".
3. In the "WordArt Gallery" dialog, select a WordArt style that you like then click "OK".
4. In the "Edit WordArt Text" dialog, type in your desired text, select the font style and size, then click "OK".
5. Right-click on the newly inserted WordArt on the Excel document, then select "Format WordArt...".
6. In the "Format WordArt..." dialog, select "No fill" for "Fill"/"Color".
   Also select a brighter color (i.e. gray) for "Line"/"Color" then click "OK".
7. Right-click on the WordArt on the Excel document, then select "Order." > "Send to Back".
8. Click and drag the WordArt to position it where you like.
   Note: The WordArt needs to be manually placed on each page of the document.

Microsoft Excel 2007/2010:

1. Open the Excel document that you want to add watermark to.
2. Select the "Insert" tab from the top menu, then in the group "Text", select "WordArt".
3. Select the WordArt style you want, then type the text for your watermark.
4. Under "Drawing Tools", select "Format".
5. In the group "WordArt Styles" change "Text Fill" to "No fill".
6. Also in the same group "WordArt Styles", change "Text Outline" to "Automatic".
7. In the group "Arrange" select "Send to Back".
8. Click and drag the WordArt to your preferred position.
   Note: The WordArt needs to be manually placed on each page of the document.

B. IMAGE WATERMARK: 
To insert an image watermark, use the header feature in Excel as follows... 

Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP (2002)/2003:

1. Open the Excel document that you want to add watermark to.
2. Select "View" from the top menu, then select "Header and Footer".
3. In the "Page Setup" dialog, click on the "Custom Header..." button in the middle of the dialog.
4. In the "Header" dialog, click on the middle box "Center section"
5. In the middle of this dialog box, there are some tool buttons. We're going to use the last two buttons to insert and format the image.
6. Click on the Insert Picture button (the second-to-last button with an image of a mountain)
7. Navigate to the folder where your watermark image is located. Select the image and click "Insert".
8. A text "&[Picture]" is now placed in the middle box named "Center section".
9. Click on the Format Picture button (the last, right-most button).
10. Adjust the scale and size if you wish, then select the "Picture" tab. Change the "Color" under "Image Control" to "Washout", then click "OK".
11. At this point, you can click "OK" to finish, and do a "Print Preview" to see your watermark. However, you will notice that the image is placed far on the top of the page, which doesn't look usual for watermarks. To fix this, click on the middle box named "Center section" again and enter a few blank lines before the text "&[Picture]".
12. Once you're all done, click "OK" to exit and open "Print Preview" to see your watermark. (The watermark will not be displayed in normal view.)

Microsoft Excel 2007/2010:

1. Open the Excel document that you want to add watermark to.
2. Select the "Insert" tab from the top menu, then in the group "Text", select "Header & Footer".
3. Excel will now switch to Page Layout view, and the cursor will be moved to the center top of the page.
4. On the "Design" Tab, in the group "Header & Footer elements" Select "Picture".
5. Navigate to the folder where your watermark image is located. Select the image and click "Insert".
6. A text "&[Picture]" is now placed in the middle box of the header.
7. To move the picture down on the page, click on the header and place the cursor before the text "&[Picture]", then hit Enter a few times.
8. To see the watermark, either open the "Print Preview" or click on any cell of the document.