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Add Header & Footer to PDF

Put a running head or foot on every page. Free, and runs entirely in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded, stored or sent to a server.

About Header & Footer

A running head, a running foot, or both, written across every page: the document's title, a client name, a confidentiality line, a date, a file name for the version somebody is holding in a meeting.

The text is a template, which is what makes one field serve a whole document. {n} is the page number, {total} the page count, {filename} the file's own name, {date} today's date written out, {iso} the same as 2026-09-23, and {year} the year. Anything else in braces is left exactly as typed, so {revision} stays {revision}.

Like every mark here, the line is drawn over the page rather than pushed into a reserved margin — PDF has no concept of reflowing content out of the way. On a document with normal margins that is invisible; on one whose text runs to the edge, it will overlap.

Where it helps

  • Header and footer in one pass, with independent text.
  • Tokens for the page number, the total, the file name and the date, so one line covers a whole document.
  • Real text rather than an image: selectable, searchable, and almost free in file size.
  • Applies to named pages, so a cover can be left clean.
  • The document stays in your browser.

Limits

  • Drawn over the page — there is no reflow, so a page with no margin will have the line on top of its content.
  • One line each. Multi-line running heads need several passes at different distances from the edge.
  • Standard PDF fonts are Latin-1 only; characters outside that repertoire are substituted.
  • The same text goes on every page in the run: a chapter-aware running head is beyond a single stamp.
  • Password-protected files must be unlocked first.

Frequently asked questions

Which tokens can I use?

{n} for the page number, {total} for the count, {filename} for the file's name, {date} for a written date, {iso} for 2026-09-23 and {year} for the year. Anything else in braces is left alone.

Can I put text on the left and the right of the same footer?

Run it twice — once aligned left with one text, once aligned right with the other. Both are drawn at the same distance from the edge, so they line up.

Why is my footer overlapping the text?

Because the page has no free margin to put it in. Increase the distance from the edge if there is room, or use N-Up or a scaling step to make one.

Does this change the page size?

No. Nothing is resized or moved; the line is drawn onto the page exactly where you asked for it.

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