Header and footer on a PDF
A title, a date, a confidentiality notice — repeated on every page, at the top or at the bottom, aligned left, center or right.
Free · 100% local — nothing is uploaded- 1Open your PDF.
- 2Write the text and choose where it sits on the page.
- 3Download the document.
How to add a header or a footer to a PDF
Open the document, write the text to repeat — a title, a date, a case name, a “Confidential” or “Restricted circulation” notice — choose whether it sits at the top or the bottom, left, center or right, and download. The notice is added as real text on every page, with an embedded font, so it is readable everywhere and crisp in print. It sits in the margin: Vélin sets its height so as not to come over the page’s content, and you can adjust the distance from the edge. It is the action missing from most documents received as attachments, and it makes all the difference when a printed page ends up alone on a desk. The file never leaves your device. Nothing stops you laying a header AND a footer: the two settings are independent.
A date, a page number, a legal notice
Today’s date is inserted at the moment you lay it down: it is written out in the document, and will not change again — which is what you want for a dated printout. For a page number that increments, the page-numbering tool is made for it, and the two stack without getting in each other’s way since they occupy separate spots. Legal or confidentiality notices often go in the footer; if you want them to run across the whole page, a watermark is what you need.
Frequently asked questions
Can the text differ on odd and even pages?
The tool puts the same notice on every page it targets. For a facing-page layout, apply it twice over two page ranges.
Does the header cover the content?
It sits in the margin. If your document has none, it will run over the content: choose then the position — top or bottom, left, center or right — where the text is least dense.
Can I insert today’s date?
You write whatever text you want, a date included. Nothing is computed when the file is opened: what is written stays written.
Is the header text or an image?
Real text, in the document’s font: it searches, it copies and a screen reader reads it. For a logo, go through the overlay tool.
How do I add the page number to my footer?
The two tools stack: lay down your notice first, then the pagination at another position. Each keeps its own place and alignment.