What headers and footers do for a PDF
A header is text stamped at the top of every page. A footer is text stamped at the bottom of every page. Together they're how a multi-page document tells you what it is and where you are in it. Open a quarterly report and the top of every page reads "ACME Corporation - Q3 2026 Earnings"; the bottom reads "Page 7 of 24 | Confidential." You can flip to any page, get oriented in two seconds, and know what you're looking at.
The Microapp Add Header & Footer to PDF tool stamps custom text at the top and/or bottom of every page in a PDF, with token substitution for page numbers, alignment per stripe, and zero file upload. It runs entirely in your browser via pdf-lib. The file you stamp doesn't leave your machine. There's no upload queue, no daily limit, no signup, no watermark on the output, no ads.
If you've used iLovePDF, SmallPDF, PDF24, or Sejda for this — same job, different shape: upload your file, wait, download. Every one of them sends your PDF to a server. For an earnings report, an HR letter, or an under-NDA technical spec, that's a tradeoff worth questioning.
How to use Add Header & Footer to PDF
Two text fields, two alignment pickers, one button.
- Drag a PDF onto the drop zone, or click to pick one. Up to 100 MB.
- Type the header text (top of every page) and/or the footer text (bottom). At least one is required; both is fine. Use
{page}for the current page number and{total}for the total page count. - Pick alignment for each — left, center, or right. The header and footer can be aligned independently. A common setup: header centered, footer right-aligned.
- Click Add header & footer. Output is named after the original —
report.pdfbecomesreport-stamped.pdf— and downloads to your machine.
The result renders in Helvetica 10pt dark grey, with about a 0.4 inch margin from the top and bottom of each page. Clean and unobtrusive. No font, color, or size pickers in v1 — see the section below on why.
The {page} and {total} tokens
The two tokens give you page-aware text without forcing a separate pagination pass. Wherever {page} appears in your header or footer, it gets replaced with the current page's number. Wherever {total} appears, it gets replaced with the total page count.
| You type | On page 1 of a 12-page PDF | On page 7 of a 12-page PDF |
|---|---|---|
Page {page} of {total} | Page 1 of 12 | Page 7 of 12 |
{page} / {total} | 1 / 12 | 7 / 12 |
ACME Corp - p.{page} | ACME Corp - p.1 | ACME Corp - p.7 |
Confidential | {page}/{total} | Confidential | 1/12 | Confidential | 7/12 |
Draft 2026-05 - Page {page} | Draft 2026-05 - Page 1 | Draft 2026-05 - Page 7 |
You can use one token, both, or neither. A header like "ACME Corporation - Q3 2026 Earnings" with no tokens is fine; it just stamps the same string on every page.
A worked example: a 24-page quarterly report
You're shipping a quarterly earnings deck to the board. The PDF is 24 pages and has no headers or footers from the source. You want:
- Top of every page: company name and report period, centered
- Bottom of every page: pagination on the left, confidentiality marker on the right
The right-aligned confidentiality marker is the tricky part — you actually want two strings in the footer, one on each side. The tool stamps one footer line per pass, so do this in two passes:
- Pass 1. Header:
ACME Corporation - Q3 2026 Earnings, centered. Footer:Page {page} of {total}, left-aligned. Click. Save asq3-earnings-stamped.pdf. - Pass 2. Re-open the output. Header: (leave empty — already done). Footer:
Confidential - Board Use Only, right-aligned. Click. Save asq3-earnings-final.pdf.
The result: every page has the company name and report period centered at the top, page X of 24 at the bottom-left, and the confidentiality marker at the bottom-right. Total time, both passes: under a minute. The PDF never leaves your machine in either pass.
If you don't need text on both sides of the footer — most documents don't — one pass does it. The two-pass pattern is the workaround for the "header has one thing, footer has two things on different sides" case. Pair this with the PDF Watermark tool for documents that also need a diagonal DRAFT stamp.
Add Header & Footer vs Add Page Numbers — which to pick
Both tools can put a page number on a PDF. The Add Page Numbers tool does exactly that — number, in one of six grid positions, in one of four format presets. This tool does richer text, with tokens for pagination thrown in.
| Add Page Numbers | Add Header & Footer | |
|---|---|---|
| The job | Stamp just a number | Stamp richer text, with pagination optional |
| Inputs | Position (6 options), format (4 presets), start number | Two free-text fields, alignment per field, {page} and {total} tokens |
| Customizable text | No — four presets only | Yes — any text up to a reasonable length |
| Both top AND bottom in one pass | No — one corner | Yes — header and footer at once |
| Start number control | Yes — for chapters that start mid-book | Implicitly always starts at 1 via {page} |
Pick Add Page Numbers if a number is all you need. The UI is tighter and the format presets cover the common cases without you having to type "Page {page} of {total}". Pick Add Header & Footer if you want company name + pagination, or pagination + confidentiality marker, or anything that needs words alongside the number. Both tools are the same engine underneath — same pdf-lib, same in-browser execution, same no-upload guarantee.
Why no font, color, or size picker
Same answer as for Add Page Numbers. The default is Helvetica 10pt dark grey. It reads on every PDF we've tested it against — white backgrounds, off-white book stock, colored covers, scanned forms. It's unobtrusive. It looks like a header or footer should look.
The argument for a font picker is that companies have brand typography and want their stamped headers to match. The argument against is that decisions about typography belong in the source document (Word, Pages, InDesign), not in a post-processing step on a PDF that's already been exported. If your brand needs custom serif headers, build them into the report template before exporting; don't stamp them on afterward. The 10-15% of cases where the post-stamp typography really matters are exactly the cases where you want layout-level control, not a font dropdown on a stamping tool.
So we don't ship the dropdown. The defaults handle 95% of real use; the other 5% should go through the source document. Decision avoided, screen stays clean.
What survives the stamp, what doesn't
pdf-lib adds text drawings to each page without re-rendering anything else. That means:
- Bookmarks and TOC entries survive intact.
- Hyperlinks in the body still work.
- Form fields remain fillable.
- Existing headers/footers in the PDF, if any, are not removed. The tool draws over them. If your source PDF already has headers at the top-center, and you stamp a new header at the top-center, you'll get overlap. Pick a different alignment, or strip the existing ones at the source.
- Digital signatures will be invalidated by any modification to a signed PDF — true of every tool that touches a signed PDF, not unique to ours.
- File size grows by a few KB total for the text and embedded font, regardless of page count.
To do something more invasive — rotate pages, delete some, reorder — chain this with Rotate PDF, Delete PDF Pages, or Reorder PDF Pages. Each runs the same way: in your browser, no upload.
How this compares to the upload-based tools
iLovePDF, SmallPDF, PDF24, and Sejda all offer some flavor of header/footer stamping. They all share the same fundamental shape: you upload your file, their server stamps it, you download the result. The differences are in caps and customization.
- iLovePDF has a "Page numbers" tool but not a dedicated header/footer tool. Three files per day on the free tier.
- SmallPDF same story — page numbers exist as a tool, custom headers don't have first-class UI. Two free tasks per day plus ads.
- Sejda has the most flexible header/footer UI of the four — multiple lines, custom positioning, image headers. Free tier caps at three tasks per hour and 200 pages, then it's paid.
- PDF24 has a desktop client that works locally; the web tool uploads. Mixed model.
The Microapp version is opinionated: token-based pagination, alignment per stripe, header and footer in one pass, no font/color picker. In exchange, no upload, no daily cap, no ads, no signup, no watermark stamped on the output. If you need Sejda's level of header customization (image logos, multi-line, per-section styling), use Sejda. If you need to stamp company-name-and-pagination on a confidential PDF without sending it to a server, use this.
Frequently asked questions
How is this different from Add Page Numbers?
Add Page Numbers is tighter — just a number, in one of six positions, in one of four format presets. This tool is for richer text where the number is one ingredient among others. Both can produce "Page 7 of 12"; this one can also produce "ACME Corp - Confidential | Page 7 of 12 | Draft 2026-05." Use Page Numbers for the simple case; use this for everything else.
What's the {page} and {total} syntax?
Wherever {page} appears in your text, it's replaced per-page with the current page number. Wherever {total} appears, it's replaced with the total page count. So "Page {page} of {total}" on a 12-page PDF becomes "Page 1 of 12" on page 1, "Page 2 of 12" on page 2, and so on. Use one, both, or neither.
Can I have header AND footer at the same time?
Yes — that's the main reason this tool exists. Fill in both fields and both get stamped on every page. Each is independently aligned, so you can have a centered header and a right-aligned footer in one pass.
Can I have two different strings on the same line — say, page number on the left and confidentiality marker on the right?
Not in one pass — the footer takes one string with one alignment. The workaround is to run the tool twice: first pass writes the left-aligned string, second pass writes the right-aligned string on the output. Two clicks total; both still in your browser.
Can I customize the font or color?
Not in v1. Default is Helvetica 10pt dark grey — fits any document without being distracting. We don't ship the customization panel because three extra controls slow the tool down without meaningfully improving the common case. If your brand really needs custom typography in headers, build it into the source document before exporting.
Is my PDF really not uploaded?
Correct. The stamp runs entirely in your browser via pdf-lib. Your file goes from your disk to browser memory to the downloaded output. Open the network tab during the stamp — zero outbound requests. There is no server in this flow.
Will it overwrite existing headers in my PDF?
No — it draws on top of whatever is there. If your source PDF already has headers at the top of each page, and you stamp a new header at the top, you'll see both, possibly overlapping. Either pick a different alignment for the new one, or remove the existing headers at the source before stamping.