📑PDF Header & Footer

About this tool

Drop a PDF, type what should appear in the header and footer — left, centre and right — using the tokens {page}, {pages}, {date} and {file}, set the size, margin and colour, choose the pages (skip the cover if you like) and download the stamped PDF. Nothing is uploaded.

Headers and footers after the fact

Headers and footers are normally set in the word processor, but the PDF you need to send is often all you have: a scanned contract, a report exported without page numbers, a bundle merged from several files. Stamping them afterwards is how law firms number court bundles, how consultants add ‘Confidential — Draft 3’ to every page, and how anyone makes a merged document look like one. ‘Page {page} of {pages}’ is the most useful single line, because a printed copy that loses a page shows it immediately. The text is real, selectable text in Helvetica placed the same distance from the edge on every page size. Honest limits: the built-in PDF font covers Western European characters only, so other scripts print as ‘?’; and stamped text sits on top of the page, so a document with content in its margins needs a larger margin or smaller text. For numbering alone, the page numbers tool is one click; merge PDFs first if you are assembling a bundle, and the PDF watermark tool adds a diagonal mark. How PDF files work: why some have text and some are pictures explains why text on a PDF page is placed rather than flowed.

Frequently asked questions