Add Headers & Footers to PDF
Add a header, a footer or both to a PDF, at the top and bottom edges, aligned left, centre or right. Existing page content is copied unchanged.
Tool workspace
Nothing is uploaded. Files are read in this tab and stay on your machine.
Add a header and footer
Save your download before you leave the page — it exists only in this tab.
How do I add headers and footers to a PDF?
Select one PDF and check the page count shown.
Enter header text, footer text, or both, then set the position, font and page range.
Select Add headers and footers and save the result before leaving the page.
How are headers and footers added without changing the page?
Add a header, a footer, or both to a PDF. The header goes at the top edge and the footer at the bottom, and the existing page content is copied unchanged.
A header and a footer cannot be one stamp, because a single block of text sits in one place. They are applied as separate passes over the document, which is why the header stays at the top edge and the footer at the bottom. Both use the same six standard fonts and the same placement rules as the page-numbering tool, and both are added as new content rather than by redrawing the page.
How Xenmark makes it easy to add headers and footers to a PDF
Header, footer or both in one run
Fill in either field or both. An empty field is skipped, and each line you enter is placed at its own edge of the page.
Nothing leaves your machine
Nothing is uploaded. Files are read in this tab and processed in memory, with no account and no server for them to go to.
Aligned left, centre or right
Set the header and footer text against the left edge, in the centre or against the right edge, inset by a margin you choose.
The original drawing is kept separate
The existing page drawing is fenced off, so settings left over in it cannot shift or recolour your text, and your text cannot change it.
Only on the pages that need it
Leave the page field empty to cover every page, or enter a range such as 2-14 to keep covers and appendices clear.
Nothing to install
It runs in the browser you already have. There is no plug-in, no desktop application and no sign-up to get through first.
Limitations
What this tool does not do, stated up front.
Characters a standard font cannot write are refused rather than substituted.
Text is positioned within the margin you set, but long text at a large size can still reach the page edge; check the result before issuing it.
A digitally signed PDF will no longer validate once a header or footer is added; keep the signed original.
Questions
Can I put page numbers in the footer?
Not with this tool: header and footer text is printed exactly as typed, so {n} stays as {n}. Use Add Page Numbers to PDF with the position set to the bottom.
Will this overwrite existing headers?
No. Anything already on the page stays. The new text is added over it, so check the position if the page already has content near the edge.
Can the header be on the left and the footer on the right?
Not in one pass. Both take the same across-page position. Run the tool twice if you need them to differ.
Why did Xenmark build a free header and footer tool?
Xenmark AS is a Norwegian software company building browser-based drawing review tools for owners, consultants, operators and other teams that receive and review technical drawings. Those teams handle PDFs every day, and not every file should be sent to a website just to merge, split or check it — a tender document, a client’s drawing set, a revision that is not released yet. So these everyday tools are free and run entirely in your browser: no account, no upload step, and no server ever receives the file. You can check that yourself — open your browser’s network tab, add a footer to a few pages, and watch nothing leave. What this tool cannot do is listed under Limitations above.
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