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Header & footer

Stamp consistent header and footer text on every page of the PDF.

0 B uploaded to any server

Add a file first.

A running header or footer is what turns a stack of pages into a document: the reader always knows what they are holding, which page they are on and when it was produced. This tool adds text in six positions — left, centre and right, at the top and at the bottom — and fills in the changing parts for you with tokens: {page}, {pages}, {date}, {time} and {filename}.

That token substitution is the reason to do it here rather than typing the text yourself. "Page {page} of {pages}" becomes "Page 7 of 32" on page seven and "Page 8 of 32" on page eight, which is not something you can achieve by stamping the same text onto every page.

How it works

  1. Drop in a PDF.
  2. Type the header and footer text in the positions you want to fill.
  3. Insert tokens such as {page}, {pages}, {date} or {filename} where the value should change.
  4. Apply and download.

What people use it for

  • Putting the document title in the header and "Page X of Y" in the footer of a report.
  • Adding a date and a file name to a draft so printed copies can be told apart.
  • Marking every page of a bundle with a case reference before it is filed.

Frequently asked questions

Is my file uploaded to a server?
No. The file is opened by JavaScript and WebAssembly running inside your own browser tab. It is never uploaded, there is no server-side processing and nothing is stored — closing the tab discards everything.
Which tokens can I use?
{page} for the current page number, {pages} for the total, {date} and {time} for when the file is produced, and {filename} for the document's name. Anything else you type is used literally.
How is this different from the Page numbers tool?
Page numbers does one job well: a number, positioned and formatted. This does six positions of free text with tokens, so it is what you want when the header carries a title and the footer carries both a reference and a page count.
The text overlaps my content.
Headers and footers are drawn on top, in the margin area, and a document typeset edge to edge has no margin to give. Add one with Normalize size, which can put a margin around every page, then apply the header again.
Is the text real text?
Yes, so it can be selected, copied and searched. It is added over the page rather than replacing anything that was there.

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