· Written and maintained by Nonimo
An Arkansas driver’s license gets copied far more often than it gets shown: a landlord, a new employer, an insurance agent, a car rental desk or a medical office may all want one. Each copy then sits in an inbox or a chat for years. A watermark across the card names the person or company you sent it to and the month you sent it, so a copy that shows up anywhere else gives itself away.
The tool above adds that watermark in your browser: add the front of your license, and the back if they asked for it, write who the copy is for and download it. The photo of your license never leaves your device.
How to watermark an Arkansas driver’s license
1. Add the front, and the back only if it was requested
The tool has two zones, Front and Back. In each one, choose Photos to pick a picture you already took or Camera to take one now; on a computer you can also drop the file in. JPG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC (the iPhone’s photo format) and PDF all work. Lay the card flat on a dark surface for the picture. Leave the Back zone empty unless the request mentions both sides.
2. Write who the copy is for
The Watermark text field comes prefilled with a complete line, “For this application only”, followed by the current month and year. Keep it as is, or edit it to say who gets the copy and why. The Suggested text buttons offer COPY, Not valid as ID, For verification only or Do not copy or distribute, though a specific line protects more.
The panel called Customize your watermark holds the rest: Layout (Tiled, Diagonal or Horizontal), Font, Color, Opacity, Size and Angle. Reset settings puts everything back. To move the watermark, drag it on the card.
3. Download the watermarked copy
Each side has its own Download button, as PDF, PNG or JPG. With both sides in, Download both sides as PDF gives you a single page with the front above and the back below, each with its watermark. The text is burned into the image, and the new file carries no EXIF or GPS metadata, the hidden detail explained in removing metadata from PDFs and photos.
What to write on an Arkansas license copy
Three things: who it’s for, what for, and the month. A line that names one apartment or one job exposes any other use of the copy, which a generic COPY never does.
For Maple Avenue apartment lease use only · October 2026
For new patient registration use only · October 2026
For auto policy quote use only · October 2026
For airport car rental pickup use only · October 2026
A new job works differently. Form I-9 is completed with your original, unexpired documents: the employer examines them in person or, if it uses E-Verify and offers the DHS alternative procedure, on a live video call after you send clear, unaltered copies. The employer may photocopy the card itself, but a watermarked copy stands in for none of that. On the USCIS list of acceptable Form I-9 documents, a driver’s license issued by a state is a List B document: it proves identity, and it goes with a List C document such as a Social Security card. The watermark is for the copies that simply get emailed and stored, like the ones above, or an employer’s own onboarding file when they ask for one.
Put the month, not just the year. If a copy you sent for an October lease shows up on a car loan in March, the date alone tells you it was reused.
What an Arkansas license shows on the copy
In Arkansas the card comes from the Office of Driver Services of the Department of Finance and Administration (DFA), while the knowledge and driving tests are run by the Arkansas State Police driver examination program. When DFA introduced its new card design in 2018, its brochure on the new cards said a card with a gold star in the top right corner is an Arkansas REAL ID driver’s license or state ID. Since federal enforcement began on May 7, 2025, that star gets the card through airport security.
The same brochure describes the security features of that design: your personal information, your photo with a second “ghost” image and your signature are printed on a highly durable card material, under a security laminate that makes the card more tamper resistant. The color of the wording tells you the type of card at a glance: blue for a regular driver’s license, maroon for a commercial driver’s license, red for a learner’s license, orange for an intermediate license and green for an identification card that is not a driver’s license. A card that isn’t REAL ID, the brochure adds, is marked Not for Federal Identification.
In that design, drivers under 21 get a vertical card instead of a horizontal one, so it reads as an underage document, and every vertical card shows the date the holder turns 18 or 21.
None of that changes with a watermark: your name, photo, license number and the star all stay readable under the line.
The back matters more than it looks. DFA’s 2018 brochure says the two-dimensional barcode there includes all the information from the front of the document except the photo and signature, which means your name, address and date of birth. Send it only when asked.
Arkansas law adds a duty on the business side. The Personal Information Protection Act, enacted in 2005 and codified at Ark. Code section 4-110-101 and following, treats your name combined with your driver’s license number as personal information. A business that holds it must keep reasonable security procedures in place and take reasonable steps to destroy customer records it no longer keeps, and the Attorney General’s office takes breach reports under the same law.
Where the watermark goes: Tiled, Diagonal or Horizontal
Across the data, never in a corner. A line along the edge can be cropped off in a second, and the copy is clean again.
Tiled repeats your line diagonally over the whole photo of the card, across your picture, the name and the license number. It leaves no clean strip to cut away, so use it for a landlord you haven’t met or anyone you won’t deal with again.
Diagonal and Horizontal place a single line, quieter and easier to read around. They suit an office you already know, such as your employer’s HR team. Drag the line until it crosses your name and license number, not the margin.
Sending an Arkansas license copy safely
Check who is asking first. The FTC’s warning about rental listing scams describes fake landlords who ask for a picture of your driver’s license along with paystubs and other personal details. When a request arrives through a listing site or a text from a number you don’t know, look up the landlord or the company on your own and reach them that way before you send anything.
Prefer the company’s own upload portal over email or a chat app, where the photo stays in both phones for good. And when the check happens in person, DFA’s Arkansas Mobile ID lets you share only a selected set of information instead of the whole card, though DFA says you should still carry your physical license.
If a copy went to the wrong person, the Arkansas Attorney General’s page for identity theft victims lists the steps: a fraud alert with one of the national credit bureaus, a report with your local law enforcement agency and a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. Under Act 744 of 2005, a resident who suspects financial identity fraud and has filed a police report can ask the Attorney General for an Identity Theft Passport, a card that helps victims clear their name. IdentityTheft.gov builds the federal report and a recovery plan. If you need a new card, DFA takes duplicate license requests online and mails the card.
A license from another state works the same way, with its own details: see the pages to watermark a driver’s license from California, Texas, Florida, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, New Jersey, Virginia, Washington, Arizona, Tennessee, Indiana, Massachusetts, Missouri, Maryland, Wisconsin, Colorado, Minnesota, South Carolina, Alabama, Kentucky, Oregon, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Utah, Iowa, Nevada, Mississippi, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Idaho, West Virginia, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, Wyoming or DC. If you’d rather send a document without your home address, a watermarked passport card copy is the other option.
For the rest of what Nonimo does, including a desktop app that redacts client names and ID numbers before text reaches an AI tool, start at the Nonimo homepage.
Common questions
What should I write on a copy of my Arkansas driver's license?
Who the copy is for, what it's for, and the month and year, for example: For Maple Avenue apartment lease use only, October 2026. If the copy turns up on a different application, that line shows it doesn't belong there. A plain COPY fits any use, so it proves nothing.
Will a watermark hide the gold star on my Arkansas license?
No. A watermark hides nothing; it is text laid over the photo of your card, and everything under it stays readable. In its 2018 brochure on the new cards, the Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration said a REAL ID license carries a gold star in the top right corner, and someone checking your copy will still see it, along with your name, photo and license number. Lower the Opacity if you want the line lighter.
Does an Arkansas business have to protect the copy I send?
Arkansas's Personal Information Protection Act counts your name together with your driver's license number as personal information. A business that holds it has to keep reasonable security in place and take reasonable steps to destroy customer records it no longer keeps, by shredding, erasing or making them unreadable. The watermark adds a second layer: it shows who the copy was meant for if it ends up somewhere else.
Do I need to send the back of my Arkansas license?
Only if they asked for both sides. The Department of Finance and Administration's 2018 brochure says the two-dimensional barcode on the back includes all the information from the front of the card except the photo and signature, address included. If the back is requested, add it in the Back zone and use Download both sides as PDF: one page, front above back, each side watermarked.
Can I watermark my Arkansas license on my phone?
Yes. The tool runs in your phone's browser. In the Front zone, tap Camera to take the picture or Photos to choose one, and HEIC pictures from an iPhone work as they are. Write the line, choose a layout, drag the watermark into place with your finger and download a PDF, PNG or JPG without installing anything.
Is my Arkansas license uploaded anywhere when I use the tool?
No. Your license never leaves your device: the photo is read and watermarked in your browser, and nothing is sent to our servers or anyone else's. The file you download is a new image, re-encoded without EXIF or GPS metadata, so it doesn't carry your phone model or the place where you took the picture.
Will a landlord or employer in Arkansas accept a watermarked license copy?
They should, because every detail on the card stays readable under the line. A property manager can check your name against the rental application. Form I-9 is a different matter: it's done with the original card, not a copy. The watermark only makes the copy hard to pass off for some other purpose.
What do I do if my Arkansas license copy went to a scammer?
The Arkansas Attorney General suggests a fraud alert with a national credit bureau, an identity theft report with your local law enforcement agency, closing accounts that were tampered with and a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, which you can file at IdentityTheft.gov. Once you have filed a police report, you can also ask the Attorney General for an Identity Theft Passport. If you need a new card, the Department of Finance and Administration takes duplicate requests online and mails the card.