About Header & footer
A header or footer is the small line of text that runs along the top or bottom of every page: a case name, a confidentiality notice, a date, a document title, a page count. Adding one to a Word file is easy. Adding one to a PDF that has already been exported is not, and that is the situation most people are in when they need it.
This tool stamps the text of your choice onto the pages of a PDF you already have. There are four boxes, two along the top and two along the foot, so a left-hand label and a right-hand date can sit on the same line without spaces padded in to push them apart. The work is done in your browser; the file is not uploaded.
How to add a header or footer to a PDF
- Choose the PDF.
- Fill in any of the boxes: Top left, Top right, Foot left and Foot centre. You do not need to fill them all. Leave a box empty and nothing is written in that position.
- Use placeholders where you want something that changes. {n} becomes the page number, {total} the number of pages, {date} today’s date and {name} the file’s name. "Page {n} of {total}" gives "Page 3 of 18". Anything else you type is written exactly as you typed it.
- If you only want the text on some pages, write them in the Pages box, for example "2-10". Left empty, it goes on every page.
- Press the button. If every box is empty, the tool tells you to write something first rather than returning an unchanged file. Check the preview and save.
When you would use it
- Putting a case name and reference on every page of a legal document.
- Adding "Confidential" or "Draft for review" to a document that is about to be circulated.
- Stamping a filing date on each page of a scanned bundle.
- Adding "Page X of Y" to a file so a reader knows if a page is missing.
- Putting your company name and a document reference in the footer of an exported report.
What it will not do
- The text is one line per position and one style. There is no choice of font, colour or size.
- The footer has a left and a centre box; there is no right-hand footer box. For a number in the bottom right, use Page numbers.
- It writes onto the page, so it cannot tell whether something is already printed there. If your document already has a header, the new text can overlap it.
- It adds text. It does not remove an existing header; to take words off a page use Redact.
- For a fixed-width numbered sequence with a prefix, such as ABC000001, use Bates numbering.
How it compares
A watermark spreads across the page and is meant to be noticed. A header or footer sits in the margin and is meant to be ignored until you need it. If the message is "this is a draft", a watermark says it more loudly; if the message is a case number or a date, a header says it more tidily.
The advantage over editing the source document is that you do not need the source document. If you only have the final PDF, this is the way to add the line.
Tips
- Keep the text short. A header that is wider than the page is cut off at the edge.
- Use {name} to put the file name in the foot. It is a quick way to see which version a printed page came from.