· Written and maintained by Nonimo
A Maine driver’s license gets copied far more often than it gets shown: a landlord, a new employer, an insurance agent or a car rental desk may all want one, and each copy then sits in an inbox or a chat for years. A watermark across the card names who 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 Maine 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 Maine 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 Harbor Street 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. A Green Card is a List A document and covers both on its own; for the copies of it that do get emailed, here’s how to watermark a Green Card.
Put the month, not just the year: a copy sent for an October lease that turns up on a car loan in March has been reused.
What a Maine license shows on the copy
Maine licenses are issued by the Bureau of Motor Vehicles, part of the Department of the Secretary of State. State law sets the minimum: a license must state your name, date of birth, place of residence, or mailing address if it’s different, and the permanent number assigned to you. Except for a temporary license, it must also bear a full-face photograph or digital image, and your signature.
The BMV began issuing REAL ID credentials on July 1, 2019, and the Secretary of State calls them optional for Mainers. On a Maine REAL ID the star is a gold State of Maine outline with a white star cutout in the center. A standard card has no gold star and carries text indicating it is not for federal purposes; since late November 2019 that text reads “Not intended for federal purposes.” Both are valid ID for every in-state purpose, but since federal enforcement began on May 7, 2025, a standard card alone won’t get you through airport security.
The card design changed the same year. As the Secretary of State announced in April 2019, the new design shows an outline of Maine with the white pine cone and tassel and the black-capped chickadee, plus a potato field with a barn, a lighthouse, a sailboat, a mountain and a sunrise. It replaced the moose and mountain design of 2010, added overt, covert and forensic security elements, and was to be phased in at renewal.
Two other marks may appear on yours. Maine law requires a license issued to anyone under 21 to bear a distinctive design layout or marking, and since July 8, 2015 the BMV has offered a military service designation with a flag indicator for people serving or honorably discharged. All of it stays readable under a watermark.
What Maine law says about license data
The BMV’s driver privacy page counts your name, address, license number, Social Security number and photograph among your personal information, and says the personal information on your motor vehicle records won’t be provided to sales and marketing organizations or the general public without your authorization. The same page lists who federal and state law does allow to obtain it, among them “businesses and employers to verify personal information.” That covers the BMV’s own records, not a copy you send yourself.
Once a business keeps your copy, Maine’s Notice of Risk to Personal Data law takes over. It defines personal information as your first name or first initial and last name combined with, among other things, your driver’s license number, when either the name or the number is not encrypted or redacted. A person or business that maintains that data on a computer system and becomes aware of a breach must investigate and notify the Maine residents affected if misuse has occurred or is reasonably possible. Unless law enforcement has asked for a delay, the notice is due no more than 30 days after the business becomes aware of the breach and identifies its scope. A watermark removes nothing, so the full number stays on a watermarked copy; what it adds is a record of 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, and leaves no clean strip to cut away. Use it for a landlord you haven’t met or anyone you won’t deal with again.
Diagonal and Horizontal place a single, quieter line that suits an office you already know, such as your employer’s HR team. Drag it until it crosses your name and license number, not the margin.
Sending a Maine 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 comes through a listing site or a text from a number you don’t know, look up the landlord or company on your own and reach them that way. Prefer the company’s own upload portal over email or a chat app, where the photo stays in both phones for good.
The BMV’s identity fraud advice adds two habits for the card itself: it is unlawful to loan your license to other people, and you should cut up your old license after it expires. If a copy went to the wrong person, follow the steps on that page for identity theft victims, use the BMV’s online complaint form, and order a new card online, at a branch or by mail, as the duplicate license page explains. 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, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Idaho, West Virginia, Hawaii, New Hampshire, 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 Maine driver's license?
Who the copy is for, what it's for, and the month and year, for example: For Harbor Street 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 REAL ID mark on my Maine license?
No. A watermark hides nothing; it is text laid across the photo of your card, and everything under it stays readable, including the gold outline of Maine with the white star cutout that marks a REAL ID, or the federal purposes disclaimer on a standard card. Lower the Opacity if you want the line lighter.
Does a Maine business have to protect the license copy it keeps?
Maine's Notice of Risk to Personal Data law counts your name together with your license number as personal information, and a business that keeps it on a computer system has to investigate a security breach and, if misuse has occurred or is reasonably possible, notify the Maine residents affected. That applies after a breach; a watermark works before it, by tying the copy to the one place you sent it.
Do I need to send the back of my Maine license?
Only if they asked for both sides. Most requests only need the front, which carries your name, photo, date of birth, address and license number. 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 Maine 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 Maine 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 Maine 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 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 reuse for something else.
What do I do if my Maine license copy went to a scammer?
The Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles tells identity theft victims to contact their local police department, their creditors, the fraud offices of the three major credit reporting agencies and its own Enforcement Services Division, so that their license, registration and driving record aren't affected. If your details are already being misused, report it at IdentityTheft.gov.