diff --git a/src/gui/qgssvgannotationitem.cpp b/src/gui/qgssvgannotationitem.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/***************************************************************************
+                              qgssvgannotationitem.cpp
+                              ------------------------
+  begin                : November, 2012
+  copyright            : (C) 2012 by Marco Hugentobler
+  email                : marco dot hugentobler at sourcepole dot ch
+ ***************************************************************************/
+
+/***************************************************************************
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify  *
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by  *
+ *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or     *
+ *   (at your option) any later version.                                   *
+ *                                                                         *
+ ***************************************************************************/
+
+#include "qgssvgannotationitem.h"
+#include "qgsproject.h"
+#include <QDomDocument>
+#include <QDomElement>
+
+
+QgsSVGAnnotationItem::QgsSVGAnnotationItem( QgsMapCanvas* canvas ): QgsAnnotationItem( canvas )
+{
+
+}
+
+QgsSVGAnnotationItem::~QgsSVGAnnotationItem()
+{
+
+}
+
+void QgsSVGAnnotationItem::writeXML( QDomDocument& doc ) const
+{
+    QDomElement documentElem = doc.documentElement();
+    if ( documentElem.isNull() )
+    {
+      return;
+    }
+
+    QDomElement svgAnnotationElem = doc.createElement( "SVGAnnotationItem" );
+    svgAnnotationElem.setAttribute( "file", QgsProject::instance()->writePath( mFilePath ) );
+    _writeXML( doc, svgAnnotationElem );
+    documentElem.appendChild( svgAnnotationElem );
+}
+
+void QgsSVGAnnotationItem::readXML( const QDomDocument& doc, const QDomElement& itemElem )
+{
+    QString filePath = QgsProject::instance()->readPath( itemElem.attribute( "file" ) );
+    setFilePath( filePath );
+    QDomElement annotationElem = itemElem.firstChildElement( "AnnotationItem" );
+    if ( !annotationElem.isNull() )
+    {
+      _readXML( doc, annotationElem );
+    }
+}
+
+void QgsSVGAnnotationItem::paint( QPainter* painter )
+{
+    if( !painter )
+    {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    drawFrame( painter );
+    if ( mMapPositionFixed )
+    {
+      drawMarkerSymbol( painter );
+    }
+
+    //keep width/height ratio of svg
+    QRect viewBox = mSvgRenderer.viewBox();
+    if( viewBox.isValid() )
+    {
+        double widthRatio = mFrameSize.width() / viewBox.width();
+        double heightRatio = mFrameSize.height() / viewBox.height();
+        double renderWidth = 0;
+        double renderHeight = 0;
+        if( widthRatio <= heightRatio )
+        {
+            renderWidth = mFrameSize.width();
+            renderHeight = viewBox.height() * mFrameSize.width() / viewBox.width() ;
+        }
+        else
+        {
+            renderHeight = mFrameSize.height();
+            renderWidth = viewBox.width() * mFrameSize.height() /viewBox.height() ;
+        }
+
+        mSvgRenderer.render( painter, QRectF( mOffsetFromReferencePoint.x(), mOffsetFromReferencePoint.y(), renderWidth,
+                                          renderHeight ) );
+    }
+    if ( isSelected() )
+    {
+      drawSelectionBoxes( painter );
+    }
+}
+
+void QgsSVGAnnotationItem::setFilePath( const QString& file )
+{
+    mFilePath = file;
+    mSvgRenderer.load( mFilePath );
+}
diff --git a/src/gui/qgssvgannotationitem.h b/src/gui/qgssvgannotationitem.h
@@ -0,0 +1,44 @@
+/***************************************************************************
+                              qgssvgannotationitem.h
+                              ------------------------
+  begin                : November, 2012
+  copyright            : (C) 2012 by Marco Hugentobler
+  email                : marco dot hugentobler at sourcepole dot ch
+ ***************************************************************************/
+
+/***************************************************************************
+ *                                                                         *
+ *   This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify  *
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by  *
+ *   the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or     *
+ *   (at your option) any later version.                                   *
+ *                                                                         *
+ ***************************************************************************/
+
+#ifndef QGSSVGANNOTATIONITEM_H
+#define QGSSVGANNOTATIONITEM_H
+
+#include "qgsannotationitem.h"
+#include <QSvgRenderer>
+
+class QgsSVGAnnotationItem: public QgsAnnotationItem
+{
+    public:
+
+    QgsSVGAnnotationItem( QgsMapCanvas* canvas );
+    ~QgsSVGAnnotationItem();
+
+        void writeXML( QDomDocument& doc ) const;
+        void readXML( const QDomDocument& doc, const QDomElement& itemElem );
+
+        void paint( QPainter* painter );
+
+        void setFilePath( const QString& file );
+        QString filePath() const { return mFilePath; }
+
+    private:
+        QSvgRenderer mSvgRenderer;
+        QString mFilePath;
+};
+
+#endif // QGSSVGANNOTATIONITEM_H
diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgsconfigparser.h b/src/mapserver/qgsconfigparser.h
@@ -142,6 +142,12 @@ class QgsConfigParser
     /**Return feature info in format SIA2045?*/
     virtual bool featureInfoFormatSIA2045() const { return false; }
 
+    /**Possibility to draw specific items on a WMS image (e.g. annotation items from the QGIS project file)
+        @param dpi resolution of the output image
+        @param width width of output image
+        @param height height of output image*/
+    virtual void drawOverlays( QPainter* p, int dpi, int width, int height ) const { Q_UNUSED( p ); Q_UNUSED( dpi ); Q_UNUSED( width ); Q_UNUSED( height ); }
+
   protected:
     /**Parser to forward not resolved requests (e.g. SLD parser based on user request might have a fallback parser with admin configuration)*/
     QgsConfigParser* mFallbackParser;

diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.cpp b/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "qgscomposershape.h"
 
 #include "QFileInfo"
+#include <QTextDocument>
 #include "QTextStream"
 
 
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ QgsProjectParser::QgsProjectParser( QDomDocument* xmlDoc, const QString& filePat
   setSelectionColor();
   setMaxWidthHeight();
 
-  //accelerate search for layers and groups
+  //accelerate the search for layers, groups and the creation of annotation items
   if ( mXMLDoc )
   {
     QDomNodeList layerNodeList = mXMLDoc->elementsByTagName( "maplayer" );
@@ -73,6 +74,7 @@ QgsProjectParser::QgsProjectParser( QDomDocument* xmlDoc, const QString& filePat
     }
 
     mRestrictedLayers = restrictedLayers();
+    createTextAnnotationItems();
   }
 }
 
@@ -83,6 +85,7 @@ QgsProjectParser::QgsProjectParser(): mXMLDoc( 0 )
 QgsProjectParser::~QgsProjectParser()
 {
   delete mXMLDoc;
+  cleanupTextAnnotationItems();
 }
 
 int QgsProjectParser::numberOfLayers() const
@@ -2396,3 +2399,144 @@ void QgsProjectParser::sublayersOfEmbeddedGroup( const QString& projectFilePath,
     }
   }
 }
+
+QgsRectangle QgsProjectParser::projectExtent() const
+{
+  QgsRectangle extent;
+  if ( !mXMLDoc )
+  {
+    return extent;
+  }
+
+  QDomElement qgisElem = mXMLDoc->documentElement();
+  QDomElement mapCanvasElem = qgisElem.firstChildElement( "mapcanvas" );
+  if ( mapCanvasElem.isNull() )
+  {
+    return extent;
+  }
+
+  QDomElement extentElem = mapCanvasElem.firstChildElement( "extent" );
+  bool xminOk, xmaxOk, yminOk, ymaxOk;
+  double xMin = extentElem.firstChildElement( "xmin" ).text().toDouble( &xminOk );
+  double xMax = extentElem.firstChildElement( "xmax" ).text().toDouble( &xmaxOk );
+  double yMin = extentElem.firstChildElement( "ymin" ).text().toDouble( &yminOk );
+  double yMax = extentElem.firstChildElement( "ymax" ).text().toDouble( &ymaxOk );
+
+  if ( xminOk && xmaxOk && yminOk && ymaxOk )
+  {
+    extent = QgsRectangle( xMin, yMin, xMax, yMax );
+  }
+
+  return extent;
+}
+
+void QgsProjectParser::drawOverlays( QPainter* p, int dpi, int width, int height ) const
+{
+  //consider DPI
+  double scaleFactor = dpi / 88.0; //assume 88 as standard dpi
+  QgsRectangle prjExtent = projectExtent();
+
+  //text annotations
+  QList< QPair< QTextDocument*, QDomElement > >::const_iterator textIt = mTextAnnotationItems.constBegin();
+  for ( ; textIt != mTextAnnotationItems.constEnd(); ++textIt )
+  {
+    QDomElement annotationElem = textIt->second;
+    if ( annotationElem.isNull() )
+    {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    int itemWidth = annotationElem.attribute( "frameWidth", "0" ).toInt();
+    int itemHeight = annotationElem.attribute( "frameHeight", "0" ).toInt();
+
+    //calculate item position
+    double xPos, yPos;
+    if ( !annotationPosition( annotationElem, scaleFactor, prjExtent, width, height, itemWidth, itemHeight, xPos, yPos ) )
+    {
+      continue;
+    }
+
+    drawAnnotationRectangle( p, annotationElem, scaleFactor, xPos, yPos, itemWidth, itemHeight );
+
+    //draw annotation contents
+    p->translate( xPos / scaleFactor, yPos / scaleFactor );
+    textIt->first->drawContents( p, QRectF( 0, 0, itemWidth, itemHeight ) );
+  }
+}
+
+void QgsProjectParser::createTextAnnotationItems()
+{
+  cleanupTextAnnotationItems();
+
+  if ( !mXMLDoc )
+  {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  //text annotations
+  QDomElement qgisElem = mXMLDoc->documentElement();
+  QDomNodeList textAnnotationList = qgisElem.elementsByTagName( "TextAnnotationItem" );
+  QDomElement textAnnotationElem;
+  QDomElement annotationElem;
+  for ( int i = 0; i < textAnnotationList.size(); ++i )
+  {
+    textAnnotationElem = textAnnotationList.at( i ).toElement();
+    annotationElem = textAnnotationElem.firstChildElement( "AnnotationItem" );
+    if ( !annotationElem.isNull() && annotationElem.attribute( "mapPositionFixed" ) != "1" )
+    {
+      QTextDocument* textDoc = new QTextDocument();
+      textDoc->setHtml( textAnnotationElem.attribute( "document" ) );
+      mTextAnnotationItems.push_back( qMakePair( textDoc, annotationElem ) );
+    }
+  }
+}
+
+void QgsProjectParser::cleanupTextAnnotationItems()
+{
+  QList< QPair< QTextDocument*, QDomElement > >::const_iterator it = mTextAnnotationItems.constBegin();
+  for ( ; it != mTextAnnotationItems.constEnd(); ++it )
+  {
+    delete it->first;
+  }
+  mTextAnnotationItems.clear();
+}
+
+bool QgsProjectParser::annotationPosition( const QDomElement& elem, double scaleFactor, const QgsRectangle& projectExtent, int width, int height,
+    int itemWidth, int itemHeight, double& xPos, double& yPos )
+{
+  if ( projectExtent.isEmpty() )
+  {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  double itemMapPosX = elem.attribute( "mapPosX" ).toDouble();
+  double itemCanvasPosX = elem.attribute( "canvasPosX" ).toDouble();
+  int maxCanvasX = itemCanvasPosX / ( itemMapPosX - projectExtent.xMinimum() ) * projectExtent.width();
+  xPos = width - ( maxCanvasX - itemCanvasPosX ) * scaleFactor - itemWidth / 2.0 + 100;
+
+  double itemMapPosY = elem.attribute( "mapPosY" ).toDouble();
+  double itemCanvasPosY = elem.attribute( "canvasPosY" ).toDouble();
+  int maxCanvasY = itemCanvasPosY / ( projectExtent.yMaximum() - itemMapPosY ) * projectExtent.height();
+  yPos = height - ( maxCanvasY - itemCanvasPosY ) * scaleFactor - itemHeight + 100;
+  return true;
+}
+
+void QgsProjectParser::drawAnnotationRectangle( QPainter* p, const QDomElement& elem, double scaleFactor, double xPos, double yPos, int itemWidth, int itemHeight )
+{
+  if ( !p )
+  {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  QColor backgroundColor( elem.attribute( "frameBackgroundColor", "#000000" ) );
+  backgroundColor.setAlpha( elem.attribute( "frameBackgroundColorAlpha", "255" ).toInt() );
+  p->setBrush( QBrush( backgroundColor ) );
+  QPen framePen( QColor( elem.attribute( "frameColor", "#000000" ) ) );
+  framePen.setWidth( elem.attribute( "frameBorderWidth", "1" ).toInt() );
+  p->setPen( framePen );
+
+  p->save();
+  p->scale( scaleFactor, scaleFactor );
+  p->drawRect( QRectF( xPos / scaleFactor, yPos / scaleFactor, itemWidth, itemHeight ) );
+  p->restore();
+}
diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.h b/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.h
@@ -23,6 +23,8 @@
 #include <QList>
 #include <QPair>
 
+class QTextDocument;
+
 //Information about relationship between groups and layers
 //key: group name (or null strings for single layers without groups)
 //value: containter with layer ids contained in the group
@@ -123,6 +125,9 @@ class QgsProjectParser: public QgsConfigParser
     /**Return feature info in format SIA2045?*/
     bool featureInfoFormatSIA2045() const;
 
+    /**Draw text annotation items from the QGIS projectfile*/
+    void drawOverlays( QPainter* p, int dpi, int width, int height ) const;
+
   private:
 
     //forbidden
@@ -144,6 +149,8 @@ class QgsProjectParser: public QgsConfigParser
     QHash< QString, QDomElement > mProjectLayerElementsByName;
     /**Names of layers and groups which should not be published*/
     QSet<QString> mRestrictedLayers;
+    /**Watermark text items*/
+    QList< QPair< QTextDocument*, QDomElement > > mTextAnnotationItems;
 
     /**Creates a maplayer object from <maplayer> element. The layer cash owns the maplayer, so don't delete it
     @return the maplayer or 0 in case of error*/
@@ -206,6 +213,29 @@ class QgsProjectParser: public QgsConfigParser
     QSet<QString> restrictedLayers() const;
     /**Adds sublayers of an embedded group to layer set*/
     static void sublayersOfEmbeddedGroup( const QString& projectFilePath, const QString& groupName, QSet<QString>& layerSet );
+    /**Returns visible extent from the project file (or an empty rectangle in case of error)*/
+    QgsRectangle projectExtent() const;
+
+    void createTextAnnotationItems();
+    void cleanupTextAnnotationItems();
+    /**Calculates annotation position to provide the same distance to the lower right corner as in the QGIS project file
+    @param width output image pixel width
+    @param height output image pixel height
+    @param itemWidth item width in pixels in the QGIS project (screen pixels)
+    @param itemHeight item height in pixels in the QGIS project (screen pixels)
+    @param xPos out: x-coordinate of the item in the output image
+    @param yPos out: y-coordinate of the item in the output image*/
+    static bool annotationPosition( const QDomElement& elem, double scaleFactor, const QgsRectangle& projectExtent, int width, int height,
+                                    int itemWidth, int itemHeight, double& xPos, double& yPos );
+
+    /**Draws background rectangle and frame for an annotation
+    @param elem <Annotation> xml element
+    @param scaleFactor dpi related scale factor
+    @param xPos x-position of the item
+    @param yPos y-position of the item
+    @param itemWidth item width in pixels in the QGIS project (screen pixels)
+    @param itemHeight item height in pixels in the QGIS project (screen pixels)*/
+    static void drawAnnotationRectangle( QPainter* p, const QDomElement& elem, double scaleFactor, double xPos, double yPos, int itemWidth, int itemHeight );
 };
 
 #endif // QGSPROJECTPARSER_H
diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgssldparser.cpp b/src/mapserver/qgssldparser.cpp
@@ -1564,6 +1564,14 @@ bool QgsSLDParser::featureInfoFormatSIA2045() const
   return false;
 }
 
+void QgsSLDParser::drawOverlays( QPainter* p, int dpi, int width, int height ) const
+{
+  if ( mFallbackParser )
+  {
+    mFallbackParser->drawOverlays( p, dpi, width, height );
+  }
+}
+
 #ifdef DIAGRAMSERVER
 int QgsSLDParser::overlaysFromUserStyle( const QDomElement& userStyleElement, QgsVectorLayer* vec ) const
 {

diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgssldparser.h b/src/mapserver/qgssldparser.h
@@ -89,6 +89,9 @@ class QgsSLDParser: public QgsConfigParser
     /**Return feature info in format SIA2045?*/
     bool featureInfoFormatSIA2045() const;
 
+    /**Forward to fallback parser*/
+    void drawOverlays( QPainter* p, int dpi, int width, int height ) const;
+
   private:
     /**Don't use the default constructor*/
     QgsSLDParser();

diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgswmsserver.cpp b/src/mapserver/qgswmsserver.cpp
@@ -538,6 +538,7 @@ QByteArray* QgsWMSServer::getPrint( const QString& formatString )
   else if ( formatString.compare( "png", Qt::CaseInsensitive ) == 0 || formatString.compare( "jpg", Qt::CaseInsensitive ) == 0 )
   {
     QImage image = c->printPageAsRaster( 0 ); //can only return the first page if pixmap is requested
+
     ba = new QByteArray();
     QBuffer buffer( ba );
     buffer.open( QIODevice::WriteOnly );
@@ -601,6 +602,11 @@ QImage* QgsWMSServer::getMap()
   QStringList selectedLayerIdList = applyFeatureSelections( layersList );
 
   mMapRenderer->render( &thePainter );
+  if ( mConfigParser )
+  {
+    //draw configuration format specific overlay items
+    mConfigParser->drawOverlays( &thePainter, theImage->dotsPerMeterX() / 1000.0 * 25.4, theImage->width(), theImage->height() );
+  }
 
   restoreLayerFilters( originalLayerFilters );
   clearFeatureSelections( selectedLayerIdList );

diff --git a/src/ui/qgisapp.ui b/src/ui/qgisapp.ui
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
      <x>0</x>
      <y>0</y>
      <width>1052</width>
-     <height>21</height>
+     <height>20</height>
     </rect>
    </property>
    <widget class="QMenu" name="mEditMenu">
@@ -1810,6 +1810,9 @@ Acts on currently active editable layer</string>
    </property>
   </action>
   <action name="mActionHtmlAnnotation">
+   <property name="checkable">
+    <bool>true</bool>
+   </property>
    <property name="icon">
     <iconset resource="../../images/images.qrc">
      <normaloff>:/images/themes/default/mActionFormAnnotation.png</normaloff>:/images/themes/default/mActionFormAnnotation.png</iconset>
@@ -1821,6 +1824,18 @@ Acts on currently active editable layer</string>
     <string>Html Annotation</string>
    </property>
   </action>
+  <action name="mActionSvgAnnotation">
+   <property name="checkable">
+    <bool>true</bool>
+   </property>
+   <property name="icon">
+    <iconset resource="../../images/images.qrc">
+     <normaloff>:/images/themes/default/mActionSaveAsSVG.png</normaloff>:/images/themes/default/mActionSaveAsSVG.png</iconset>
+   </property>
+   <property name="text">
+    <string>SVG annotation</string>
+   </property>
+  </action>
  </widget>
  <resources>
   <include location="../../images/images.qrc"/>