Watermarks, headers, footers and numbering

This article shows you how to add watermarks, headers and footers, page numbers, Bates numbers and document numbers to a PDF. You will also learn how to crop page margins.

Where to find the commands

Open a PDF and click the Tools tab. The rightmost group contains Watermark, Header & Footer and the Numbering menu. The Numbering menu contains Bates Numbering, Page Numbers, Page Labels and Document Number. Crop Pages is in the group to its left.

Each command opens a panel on the right for the active PDF. When you apply the change, the result opens in a new tab. The original document is not overwritten. Save the result with Save As (Ctrl+Shift+S).

Watermark

Requires Pro edition or higher

1. Click Tools › Watermark. The Add Watermark panel opens and a live preview appears on every page.
2. Under Watermark type, choose Text or Image.
3. For a text watermark, type in Text, then set Font size and Color. The default text is CONFIDENTIAL.
4. For an image watermark, choose a PNG or JPG file under Image (PNG or JPG), then set Image width as a percentage of the page width.
5. Set Opacity and Rotation. The defaults are 35% and -45°.
6. Choose one of the nine points under Position.
7. Click Apply Watermarks.

The watermark is added to every page. You can adjust the watermark on a single page directly in the preview:

• Drag the watermark to move it.
• Drag the square at its corner to resize it.
• Right-click it to move it to another page.
• Double-click it to jump to its text in the panel.

Header and footer

Requires Pro edition or higher

1. Click Tools › Header & Footer. A preview of page 1 appears at the top of the panel.
2. Under HEADER and FOOTER, fill in the left, center and right boxes as needed. The center footer already contains Page {page} of {pages}.
3. Use these tokens for automatic content: {page}, {pages}, {date}, {time}, {file} and {year}.
4. Set Text size, Margin (pt) and Colour.
5. In Pages, type all or ranges such as 1-3,7.
6. Set Start numbering at if page numbers should not start at 1.
7. Select Skip the first page (cover) to leave the cover page blank.
8. Click Apply.

Page numbers

1. Click Tools › Numbering › Page Numbers.
2. Choose a Position: Top left, Top center, Top right, Btm left, Btm center or Btm right.
3. Choose a Format: 1, 1 / 10 or Page 1 of 10.
4. Set Font size, Color and Starting number.
5. Select Skip first page (cover) if the first page should not be numbered.
6. Click Apply.

A preview of the first numbered page appears at the top of the panel.

Bates numbering

Bates numbering stamps a unique, sequential code on every page, for example FT-000001. It is common for legal, audit and archive documents.

1. Click Tools › Numbering › Bates Numbering. The Page Numbers panel opens with the Bates — PREFIX000001 format selected.
2. Fill in Bates prefix and Suffix if needed. The default prefix is FT-.
3. Set Start at for the first number and Digits for the number of digits. The default is 6 digits.
4. Choose the position, size and color as for page numbers, then click Apply.

Document number

Requires Pro edition or higher

Document Number stamps the next number from a counter that the app remembers. Each series has its own counter, for example for invoices, letters and contracts.

1. Click Tools › Numbering › Document Number.
2. Fill in Series, Prefix and Department.
3. Build the Number pattern with the tokens {prefix}, {dept}, {YYYY}, {YY}, {MM}, {DD}, {roman} and {seq:4}. The digit in {seq:4} sets the number of sequence digits.
4. Check the number in the NEXT NUMBER box.
5. Choose Counter resets: Every year, Every month or Never.
6. Set Label before the number (default No.), Position and Size.
7. Select Stamp on every page (otherwise only the first) if the number should appear on every page.
8. Click Issue Number.

The example uses the pattern {seq:3}/{prefix}/{dept}/{roman}/{YYYY}. It produces 001/SPH/FT/X/2026, with October written as the Roman numeral X.

The counter only advances after the numbered document is created. The result opens in a new tab, named after the number. If a numbered document is cancelled, click Roll back counter to step that series back by one.

Crop pages

1. Click Tools › Crop Pages. The Crop PDF panel opens.
2. Move the Top, Bottom, Left and Right sliders. Each side can be cropped by 0–40% of the page size.
3. The area to be cropped is shaded on the page, and a dashed line shows the new edge.
4. Click Crop All Pages.

Cropping applies to every page. Content outside the new edge is hidden but not removed from the file.