· Written and maintained by Nonimo
A Kansas 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 a Kansas 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 a Kansas 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; a generic COPY proves nothing.
For Prairie View 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 is the exception. Form I-9 is completed with your original, unexpired documents: your employer generally examines them in your physical presence, or, if it is enrolled in E-Verify, over a live video call under the DHS alternative procedure, where you first send clear, unaltered copies and then show the same originals on camera. The employer may make its own copies of what it reviewed, and a watermarked picture has no place in any of it. The line is for the copies that simply get emailed and stored: a landlord, an insurer, a car rental desk, a medical office, or an employer’s onboarding file when HR asks for one. 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.
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 a Kansas license shows on the copy
Kansas licenses are issued by the Division of Vehicles of the Kansas Department of Revenue. Its REAL ID page says Kansas began issuing REAL ID credentials in August 2017 and that a compliant credential has a gold star in the upper right corner. When the department introduced that design, its August 2017 announcement described the mark as a gold circle with a white star cutout, and said every new card would carry either that mark or the words “not for federal ID.” The sample on the REAL ID page shows the second card with “Not for Federal ID” in the upper right, where the star would be.
The same page says REAL ID is not a required credential. Since federal enforcement began on May 7, 2025, though, you need the star, a passport or another accepted document to board a domestic flight. The 2017 announcement added that a card without the star is still valid as a driver’s license and state ID.
Before that, the department announced a redesigned license in October 2012. Its release listed multi-colored holograms, tactile printing you can feel, and two ghost images of your portrait in addition to the main photograph, plus ultraviolet images of the state flower and, on the back, of your portrait and date of birth. The release said the ultraviolet images are viewable with UV light, so an ordinary photo of the card won’t show them.
None of that changes with a watermark: your name, photo, license number, the gold star or the “Not for Federal ID” line all stay readable under it. Send the back only when asked.
What Kansas law says about license data
Kansas defines personal information as your first name or first initial and last name linked to, among other things, your driver’s license number, when the data is neither encrypted nor redacted. The same section says a redacted license number shows no more than its last four digits. A watermark doesn’t truncate anything, so the full number stays on a watermarked copy.
Any holder of personal information, meaning anyone who collects or keeps it in the ordinary course of business, must use reasonable procedures and reasonable care to protect it. When the holder no longer intends to keep the records, it has to take reasonable steps to destroy them by shredding, erasing or otherwise making the information unreadable. A business or government agency that owns or licenses computerized data with personal information must investigate a security breach, and if misuse has occurred or is reasonably likely, it must notify the affected Kansas residents as soon as possible.
The Kansas identity theft statute also lists a driver’s license number or card as personal identifying information, and makes identity theft a felony.
Those rules govern what happens after a business holds your copy. A watermark works earlier: it ties each copy to the one place you sent it.
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 card, across the photo, 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 a Kansas license copy safely
Check who is asking first. The FTC’s warning about rental listing scams describes fake landlords who collect a picture of your driver’s license along with paystubs and other details, and then use them to steal identities. 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.
If the card itself is lost or destroyed, Kansas law lets you get a replacement from the Division of Vehicles by giving proof of the loss, including an affidavit stating the circumstances, and two documents proving your identity; the examiner also compares you with the division’s facial image records. If a copy went to the wrong person and your details are being used, report it to your local police. Within the limits of available resources, the Kansas Attorney General may assist identity theft victims with canceling fraudulent accounts, correcting false information in consumer reports and completing identity theft affidavits. IdentityTheft.gov builds a report and a recovery plan if your details are already being misused.
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, Arkansas, Mississippi, 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 Kansas driver's license?
Who the copy is for, what it's for, and the month and year, for example: For Prairie View 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 Kansas REAL ID?
No. A watermark hides nothing; it is text laid across the card, and everything under it stays readable. The Kansas Department of Revenue says a REAL ID compliant credential has a gold star in the upper right corner, and its sample of the other card reads Not for Federal ID in that same corner. Someone checking your copy will still see either one, along with your name, photo and license number. Lower the Opacity if you want the line lighter.
Does a Kansas business have to protect the license copy it keeps?
Yes. Kansas law treats your name linked to an unencrypted, unredacted driver's license number as personal information. A business that collects or keeps it in the ordinary course of business must use reasonable care to protect it and, once it no longer intends to keep the records, take reasonable steps to destroy them by shredding, erasing or otherwise making them unreadable. That law governs what the business does with the copy; the watermark shows where the copy was meant to go.
Do I need to send the back of my Kansas license?
Only if they asked for both sides. The front already shows your name, photo, license number and whether the card is REAL ID compliant. 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 Kansas 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 Kansas 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 Kansas 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: your employer examines the original card, in person or on a live video call, not a copy. The watermark only makes the copy hard to pass off for some other purpose.
What do I do if my Kansas license copy went to a scammer?
If the card itself is lost or destroyed, Kansas law lets you get a replacement from the Division of Vehicles with an affidavit explaining what happened and two documents proving your identity. If someone is using your details, report it to your local police and at IdentityTheft.gov. Kansas law also lets the Attorney General, within the limits of available resources, help identity theft victims with tasks like canceling fraudulent accounts and completing identity theft affidavits.