· Written and maintained by Nonimo
The US passport card is the wallet-size passport, and plenty of people carry it as everyday ID: it fits next to your credit cards, it proves citizenship, and it doesn’t print your home address. So when a landlord, a new employer or a membership desk asks for a copy of your ID, the card is often what you send. A watermark across that copy says who it was for and when, so it can’t quietly be reused somewhere else.
The tool above lets you watermark a passport card copy in your browser: add a photo or PDF of the card, write who it’s for and download it. Your card never leaves your device. It’s one part of Nonimo, the privacy layer between US businesses and AI, which also redacts client data in text and files.
If what you were asked for is the passport book, go to watermark a passport copy.
How to watermark a passport card copy
1. Add a photo or PDF of the card
Drop the image into the tool, or choose it on your phone, where it opens the camera or your photos. JPG, PNG, WEBP, HEIC and PDF all work. Lay the card flat on a dark surface for the picture; if it comes out tilted, the crop and rotate controls straighten it. The tool has two zones, Front and Back; leave the Back zone empty unless they asked for both sides.
2. Write who the copy is for
The Watermark text field starts with a ready line, “For this application only”, followed by this month and year. Leave it, edit it to add the recipient and the reason, or choose another from Suggested text, then pick a Layout: Tiled, Diagonal or Horizontal. Examples are below.
3. Download the watermarked copy
As PNG, JPG or PDF, with the watermark burned into the pixels. With both sides in, Download both sides as PDF puts them on one page. The image is re-encoded, so it carries no EXIF data, no GPS location and no camera model, the kind of detail covered in removing metadata from PDFs and photos.
What to write on a passport card copy
The recipient, the reason and the month. The card often goes where a driver’s license would, so the lines look different from the ones you’d put on a passport book.
For Elm Street apartment application use only · October 2026
For new patient registration use only · October 2026
For downtown gym membership use only · October 2026
For credit union account opening use only · October 2026
Two official facts explain why the card gets copied so often. It is on the USCIS list of acceptable Form I-9 documents as a List A document, together with the passport book, so it covers both identity and work authorization when you start a job. For that form the employer examines the original card in your presence, or, if it uses E-Verify, on a live video call under the DHS alternative procedure, after you send it clear, unaltered copies of both sides. An employer may choose to copy it, and one that uses E-Verify must copy both sides for photo matching; either way, that copy comes straight from the original and is kept with your I-9, so it is not the one to watermark. And the State Department designed it for land and sea crossings from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and some Caribbean countries; it is not valid for international flights, but TSA accepts it at domestic airport checkpoints.
Where the watermark goes on the card
Diagonally across the data, never in a corner or along the edge. The passport card is small, so a line in a corner is cropped off with almost no loss, and the copy is clean again.
Tiled repeats your line across the whole card, over the photo, your name and the card number. It leaves no strip to cut away, which is what you want for an online application, a landlord you have not met or any company you won’t deal with again.
Diagonal and Horizontal place a single, quieter line that leaves the rest easy to read, good for an office you already know, such as your employer’s HR team.
No layout hides any data, which is why a watermarked copy still does its job. On the front, the line runs over the photo, your name, the card number, the dates and the serial numbers printed along the bottom and the edge. If they also want the back, add it in the Back zone.
Check who is asking before you send it. The FTC’s page on rental listing scams describes fake landlords collecting ID and personal details to steal identities. Brokerages handling these applications can see how to use AI with rental applications while the applicant’s details stay on the agent’s computer. And don’t upload the clean photo to a chatbot to read the details back; what ChatGPT keeps from a photo of an ID can outlast the chat itself. Licenses 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, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, Wyoming and DC each have their own watermark page. If you’re a permanent resident, there’s also a page to watermark your Green Card. A non-driver state ID has its own page as well: add a watermark to a state ID card copy. When a lender or landlord also wants to see your Social Security card, a Social Security card copy with a watermark shows who it went to and when.
Common questions
What should I write on a passport card copy?
Who it's for, what for, and the month and year, for example: For Elm Street apartment application use only, October 2026. A specific line exposes the copy if it ever turns up in another application or account. A generic word like COPY fits any use, so it protects nothing. Put the line across the card, not in a corner.
Why use a passport card instead of a driver's license for a copy?
Because the passport card doesn't print your home address, and a driver's license does. For a landlord or a gym that only needs to confirm who you are, a copy of the card gives away less. It is also a List A document for Form I-9, covering identity and work authorization on its own, but for that form your employer examines the original card itself, not just a copy.
Do I need to watermark both sides of the passport card?
Only if they asked for both sides. Then add the back in the Back zone and use Download both sides as PDF: one page, front above back, each side watermarked. Many requests only need the front, with your photo, name and card number. An employer that uses E-Verify must keep a copy of both sides with your Form I-9, and that copy comes from your original card: the employer makes it, or, for a remote check, you send clear, unaltered copies. Either way, it is not one you watermark.
Can a watermark be removed from a passport card copy?
A watermark on a separate layer, as some PDF editors add it, can be deleted in a click. One burned into the pixels and repeated over the data can only go by retouching the whole image, and that usually shows. The tool on this page burns it into the image when you download.
Can I watermark my passport card on my phone?
Yes. The tool runs in the browser on your phone: adding the card opens the camera or your photos, and HEIC pictures from an iPhone work too. Write the line, choose a layout, and download the copy as PNG, JPG or PDF without installing anything or signing up.
Will a watermark stop my passport card copy from being accepted?
It shouldn't. A watermark hides no data, so your name, photo, card number and dates stay readable and the recipient can check them. What it removes is the chance to reuse that copy elsewhere. If someone still asks for a clean copy, ask what for, and whether seeing the card in person would do.
Does the photo of my passport card leave my phone?
No. Your card never leaves your device: it is read and watermarked in your browser, and nothing is uploaded. The file you download carries no location or camera data either.
What about my passport book?
The book is a different document, with a data page, a signature line and two machine readable lines at the bottom. If that is what you were asked for, there is a separate page on how to watermark a passport copy of the book, with examples written for it. Each document gets its own copy and its own line.