Add Headers & Footers to PDF — Free

All three stamp text onto every page, but they're built for different jobs. This tool places small, professional text in the margin — document title, date, company name, confidentiality line — using the {page} and {total} tokens for composed formats like "Page 3 of 24". The dedicated Page Numbers tool is a faster path when you only need a bare running number. The Watermark tool is for large, styled, often diagonal text (DRAFT, CONFIDENTIAL) meant to be visually prominent rather than a discreet margin note. Pick by visual intent: subtle reference info → headers/footers; simple numbering → page numbers; bold status marking → watermark.

The tokens let you compose formats a plain page-number tool can't: "Page {page} of {total}" reassures a reader that a printed or forwarded copy is complete, "{page}/{total}" is a compact variant for narrow footers, and combining a token with static text — "Confidential — Draft v3 — Page {page}" — packs status and position into one line. Because the total is computed automatically, this stays accurate even if you add or remove pages before finalizing the document.

For businesses sending recurring documents — invoices, proposals, statements — the same header/footer configuration (company name left, page count right, consistent font and color) applied to every document creates a recognizable, professional pattern recipients see repeatedly. Because settings aren't saved between sessions, keeping a note of your standard configuration (text, alignment, start page) makes reapplying it to the next document a quick copy-paste rather than a re-design.