Watermarking didn't apply to a delivered PDF
Six causes account for nearly every unstamped delivery. Match the symptom to the cause, then apply the fix. Most cases resolve once the per-product toggle or the plan tier is corrected.
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Customer received an unstamped PDF | Your shop is on the Free plan | Upgrade to Basic, Pro or Enterprise in your Shopify billing. The PDF Watermarking settings page and the per-product toggle become available immediately. |
| Customer received an unstamped PDF | Per-product toggle is off on the product mapping | Open the product mapping in the Alva admin and switch on Enable PDF watermarking for this product. Subsequent orders are stamped. |
| Customer received an unstamped PDF | The file is not a PDF (audio, video, ZIP, image) | Only PDFs are stamped. Non-PDF files pass through unchanged. Sell the watermark-protected version as a PDF if leak traceability matters. |
| Customer received an unstamped PDF | The PDF is encrypted or password-protected | Re-export the PDF without password protection. Alva Digital Downloads rejects encrypted PDFs during the safety pre-check and serves the original unstamped. |
| Customer received an unstamped PDF | The PDF is over 100 MB | Split or compress the file. Alva Digital Downloads stamps PDFs up to 100 MB; anything larger passes through unchanged. Most product PDFs fit comfortably under this cap. |
| Customer received an unstamped PDF | The product is a personalised product | Personalised products always pass through unstamped — the per-customer file already acts as the watermark. |
The PDF Watermarking toggle isn't showing on my product
If the per-product Enable PDF watermarking control is missing from the product mapping page, one of two conditions is blocking it. Check each in turn:
- The product mapping has no PDF attached. Add a PDF file or a pack containing a PDF.
- Your shop is on the Free plan. Upgrade your plan.
The download email is taking too long
When watermarking is enabled, Alva Digital Downloads holds the download email until every PDF in the order is stamped — usually 1–3 seconds, longer for large PDFs (a 30 MB PDF can take 30–60 seconds). A 10-minute reconciliation sweep catches any orders stuck mid-stamp and releases the email. If an email is more than 10 minutes late, contact support with the order number.
The forensic marker doesn't appear in the PDF metadata
The forensic marker is embedded in the PDF document structure, not in the visible metadata you see in Reader's File → Properties. Open the PDF in a PDF inspection tool (e.g. pdftotext, qpdf --json, mutool show) to surface it. If asked to verify, email the leaked PDF to support and Alva can identify the original order.
A previously-downloaded order shows as unstamped on re-download
Alva Digital Downloads backfills older orders lazily. The first re-download after you opt the product in triggers a fresh stamp; subsequent re-downloads of the same file serve the stamped copy from cache. If the very first re-download is still unstamped, retry after 10 seconds — there's a brief processing window.
Frequently asked questions
PDF watermarking runs each delivered file through a stamp worker, which adds operational cost per order. Paid plans cover that cost. Free plan stores get the rest of Alva Digital Downloads — file delivery, fraud protection, custom emails — but not the stamping feature.
100 MB per PDF. Larger files pass through unstamped to keep stamping latency predictable. Compress or split oversized files before uploading, or accept that they ship as the original unstamped version.
Wait 10 minutes first. Alva Digital Downloads holds the download email until stamps finish, and a reconciliation sweep runs every 10 minutes to catch stuck jobs. If the email is still missing after that window, resend it from the order page in the Alva admin — Alva won't double-stamp; the second attempt reuses the existing stamped output.
See also
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Last updated 2026-05-28