How to automatically stamp processed PDFs on Mac

What this does

When paperwork moves through more than one folder or more than one rule, it helps to have a visual marker showing a document has already been dealt with. This rule stamps the word “Filed” onto every PDF that lands in the folder, so a quick glance at the page tells you it’s already been processed, without opening it.

What you’ll build

A rule that matches every PDF, then stamps “Filed” onto it.

Open the rule editor

This walkthrough happens inside FilesAutomator itself, so install it from the Mac App Store first if you have not already, then open it. In its toolbar, choose Add, then New Automation Rule.

Name the rule and choose a folder

Name it something like “Stamp my filed PDFs” and use Add Folder to choose the folder you want this applied to.

Build the condition

Add a single condition: Extension is pdf.

FilesAutomator

Add the action steps

Step 1: Stamp text on PDF

Choose Add Step, then Stamp text on PDF. Type “Filed” into the “Stamp text” field. Leave Stamp style and Stamp position at their defaults, a small corner stamp is enough to mark a page as processed at a glance.

Set “Keep the original file as” to Left untouched, new file created separately, and “Mark the new file as” to “filed”, so the stamped copy is easy to tell apart from an unstamped one.

FilesAutomator

Turn it on

Select Create Automation Rule, then switch the rule on. Every PDF that lands here now gets stamped automatically, and the stamping is undoable from Activity.

A faster way

The template gallery inside FilesAutomator already has this rule ready to install, named Stamp filed PDFs.