How to Add a Seal to a PDF or Word Document

Once you've designed a seal, the last step is getting it onto your document so it looks stamped rather than pasted. The key in every app is the same: use a transparent PNG and let it float over the text. Here's how to do it in the most common tools.

Step 1: export a transparent PNG

Before anything else, export the seal with a transparent background so it doesn't sit in a white box on top of your content. The full walkthrough is in how to create a transparent PNG seal — in short: export PNG (transparent by default), and pick a 2×–4× resolution if it will be printed or enlarged.

Step 2: place it in Microsoft Word

Insert → Pictures and choose your PNG.
Select the image, then set its wrap to In Front of Text (the layout / wrap-text option). This is the crucial step — it lets the seal overlap text instead of shoving paragraphs aside.
Drag it over the signature line or area, and resize from a corner to keep proportions.

Step 3: place it in a PDF

Most PDF editors have an Add Image or Stamp tool:

Open the PDF in your editor.
Use Add Image (or the Stamp tool) and select the transparent PNG.
Position and scale it over the target area.

If your editor only supports flat annotations, importing a transparent PNG as an image still overlays cleanly because the background is see-through.

Step 4: place it in an image

In any image editor, open your base image, add the seal PNG as a new layer, then move and scale it. Because the PNG is transparent, only the seal shows — no white rectangle.

Keep proportions and subtlety

Always resize from a corner so the seal doesn't stretch.
A slight rotation and modest size often look more natural than a perfectly upright, oversized stamp.
If you added aging effects, keep them light — see the design notes in how to design a company seal.

An important reminder

Placing a seal image makes a document look stamped; it does not give it legal effect. For anything binding, use a compliant signing system. See are image seals legally valid? and electronic seal vs. electronic signature.

Ready to make one? Open the seal generator.