Before you start
The per-file Watermark checkboxes appear once PDF watermarking is enabled for the product. They need a paid plan, a non-personalised product, and Individual files delivery — products delivered as a single ZIP are not watermarked, so there is nothing to choose.
Where the checkboxes live
Open the product's mapping page in the Alva Digital Downloads admin. In the file list, every PDF row — direct files and files inside packs — shows a Watermark checkbox. Non-PDF rows have none, because only PDFs are ever watermarked. A file that appears twice (directly and inside a pack) shares one setting: ticking or unticking either row changes both.
Untick a file to deliver it unchanged
Untick the checkbox and save. From that moment the file is delivered as the original, unwatermarked PDF — on new orders and on re-downloads of old orders alike — while the product's other PDFs keep their per-buyer watermark. Typical uses: a bonus file, a printing-instructions PDF, or a licence sheet every customer should receive identically.
Newly attached PDFs always start ticked. Adding a file to the product can never silently drop protection — you opt files out, never in.
PDFs with security restrictions are excluded automatically
Some PDF export settings apply security restrictions — for example "prevent copying" or "prevent editing". Buyers open these files normally (there is no password), but the restrictions make it impossible to add a watermark. Alva Digital Downloads detects such files at upload, excludes them from watermarking automatically, and delivers the original unchanged. Their Watermark checkbox shows as disabled, with a short note explaining why.
To watermark one of these files, re-export the PDF without security restrictions and replace the file in Alva. The replacement is checked again automatically and the checkbox re-enables.
If every PDF is excluded
When all of a product's PDFs are unticked (or excluded automatically), the product behaves as if watermarking were off: the download email goes out immediately and nothing waits for stamping. The product's toggle can stay on — re-tick any file to start watermarking it again.
Personalised products always pass through unstamped — the per-customer personalisation is the watermark, so they never show the checkboxes.
Frequently asked questions
The PDF has security restrictions (for example "prevent copying"), so it cannot be watermarked. Alva Digital Downloads excludes it automatically and customers receive it unchanged. To watermark it, re-export the PDF without security restrictions and replace the file — the checkbox re-enables automatically.
The original, unwatermarked file. Excluding a file applies to everyone from that moment on — new orders and re-downloads of old orders alike. Ticking it again restores watermarking for subsequent downloads.
The product behaves as if watermarking were off: the download email is sent immediately and nothing is held for stamping. The toggle can stay on, so re-ticking a file later re-enables watermarking for it.
Yes. The setting is an exclusion list, not an inclusion list — every newly attached PDF starts with its Watermark checkbox ticked, so adding a file can never silently drop protection.
See also
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Last updated 2026-07-27