PDF Header & Footer Editor
Add headers and footers to a PDF — left / center / right slots, placeholders for {page}, {total} and {date}, no upload.
Quick answer: Drop a PDF, fill in the six slots (header L/C/R + footer L/C/R), pick font and size, and we use pdf-lib to draw the text on every page. Placeholders {page}, {total}, {date}, {yyyy}, {mm}, {dd} are expanded per page. Everything runs locally; you download a new PDF.
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Frequently asked questions
- What placeholders can I use?
- {page} (current page number), {total} (total pages), {date} (today, ISO format), {yyyy}, {mm}, {dd} (year, month, day separately). They work in any of the six slots and combine freely, e.g. 'Confidential · {date} · Page {page}/{total}'.
- Can I have a different header on left, centre and right?
- Yes — six independent inputs (header L/C/R + footer L/C/R). Leave any slot blank to skip it.
- Will it overwrite existing headers/footers?
- No — pdf-lib draws on top of existing page content. Existing headers stay; the new text is layered over. To strip the originals first, you'd need to re-create the PDF without them.
- Can I skip the cover page?
- Yes — toggle 'Skip the first page' so headers/footers start from page 2. The {total} placeholder still shows the full page count.
- Does it support custom fonts?
- It supports the three PDF standard fonts: Helvetica, Times Roman and Courier. They embed at zero file-size cost. For brand fonts you'd need a designer tool — pdf-lib font subsetting is overkill for headers.
- Is anything uploaded?
- No — pdf-lib parses, edits and re-saves your PDF entirely in the browser.
- Can I change the colour?
- Yes — there's a colour picker. Default is dark grey (#444) so headers are subtle on white pages.
- What if the page is rotated 90°?
- The header is drawn relative to the page's MediaBox, ignoring rotation. For most rotated PDFs that's still correct, but inspect the output if you have a mix of orientations.
- Does it work on encrypted PDFs?
- Only if the file is encrypted with an empty password. Use Unlock PDF first if a real password is set.
- How is this different from Add Page Numbers?
- Add Page Numbers is the focused tool — one slot, one number. Header & Footer Editor is the full editor with six slots and date/text placeholders, useful for legal footers, confidentiality marks and chapter headings.