> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.pd4ml.com/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.pd4ml.com/features/pdf-header-and-footer-generation.md). # PDF Header and Footer Generation PD4ML has long supported three levels of header/footer complexity: a plain text-only template, rich HTML-formatted content, and inline tags with fine-grained per-page-range scoping. This page first documents that original, pre-v4 approach -- built around a `PD4PageMark` object -- exactly as it has existed for a long time, then walks through how each of the same four patterns looks under the current v4 API, which replaces `PD4PageMark` with direct, string-based calls. ## The legacy approach: `PD4PageMark` ### 1. Text-only headers/footers The simplest form sets a page-number template plus a handful of presentation properties -- alignment, color, font size -- either as attributes on the `` JSP tag or as setters on a `PD4PageMark` object from the Java API: ```jsp ``` ```java PD4PageMark footer = new PD4PageMark(); footer.setPageNumberTemplate("page $[page] of $[total]"); footer.setTitleAlignment(PD4PageMark.LEFT_ALIGN); footer.setPageNumberAlignment(PD4PageMark.RIGHT_ALIGN); footer.setColor(new Color(0x008000)); footer.setInitialPageNumber(1); footer.setPagesToSkip(1); footer.setFontSize(14); footer.setAreaHeight(18); pd4ml.setPageFooter(footer); ``` `pagesToSkip` excludes the given number of leading pages from getting a footer at all, and `initialPageNumber` lets the visible page count start somewhere other than 1 -- both useful for documents with an unnumbered cover page. ### 2. HTML-formatted headers/footers (PD4ML Pro) For anything beyond plain text, the same tag/object pair instead takes a full HTML fragment. Setting `areaHeight` to `-1` asks PD4ML to compute the reserved height automatically from the content, rather than specifying it up front: ```jsp page $[page] of $[total] ``` ```java PD4PageMark footer = new PD4PageMark(); footer.setHtmlTemplate("page $[page] of $[total]"); footer.setAreaHeight(-1); pd4ml.setPageFooter(footer); ``` ### 3. Inline headers/footers with scope control (PD4ML Pro) Rather than going through the Java API or a single JSP tag at all, `` can be declared directly in the source HTML. Without a `scope`, it applies to every page; with one, it targets a specific page or range, and a later occurrence in the document overrides an earlier one from that point on: ```html footer: $[page] of $[total] ``` ```html first page footer: $[page] of $[total]
 footer: $[page] of $[total]
 ``` The example above defines one footer for the first page and a different one from the second page onward. `scope` also understands `even`, `odd`, and `skiplast` modifiers, combinable with explicit pages and ranges in one comma-separated expression: ``` scope="2,5-10,even,skiplast" ``` ### API-based per-page conditional content For logic too dynamic to express as a static scope string, subclassing `PD4PageMark` and overriding `getHtmlTemplate(int pageNumber)` computes different markup for every page individually -- alternating left/right-aligned content by odd/even page, in this example: ```java PD4PageMark footer = new PD4PageMark() { public String getHtmlTemplate(int pageNumber) { if (pageNumber % 2 == 0) { return "some left aligned stuff..."; } else { return "some right aligned stuff..."; } } }; pd4ml.setPageFooter(footer); ``` `PD4PageMark` exposes the same per-page override pattern for other properties too, when a single static value across the whole scope isn't enough: ```java PD4PageMark.getPageNumberTemplate(int pageNr); PD4PageMark.getPageNumberAlignment(int pageNr); PD4PageMark.getTitleTemplate(int pageNr); ``` See also this [PDF header/footer forum discussion](http://old.pd4ml.com/support/html-pdf-faq-f1/pdf-page-headers-footers-definition-options-t41.html) from PD4ML's own support archive for further worked examples of this API. ## The current (v4) API v4 removes the `PD4PageMark` object from this picture entirely. A header or footer is just an HTML string passed to `setPageHeader(...)`/`setPageFooter(...)`, together with a pixel height and an optional scope string -- the same scope grammar used elsewhere in v4 for page size and margins (see the Programmer's Manual's [§7, Page layout](/pd4ml-manual.md)): a single page number, a range, `"N+"` for "this page onward", and modifiers including `odd` (the Programmer's Manual's own scope-grammar examples show `odd`; whether `even` and the legacy `skiplast` modifier specifically carry over is worth confirming against the current Javadoc before depending on them). The same content can equally be declared inline via ``/``, which take effect for the current and all following pages until superseded by a later occurrence -- a positional form of scoping, rather than an explicit `scope` attribute on the tag itself. ### Text-only becomes plain HTML plus CSS There's no dedicated "text-only" mode in v4 -- the individual `PD4PageMark` properties (`titleAlignment`, `pageNumberAlignment`, `color`, `fontSize`) are simply ordinary CSS on whatever HTML string is passed in, and `pagesToSkip` becomes a matter of choosing a scope that starts later rather than a dedicated property: ```java pd4ml.setPageFooter( "
page $[page] of $[total]
", 18, "2+"); // "2+" skips the footer on page 1, in place of pagesToSkip="1" ``` `initialPageNumber` -- relabeling page 1 as some other starting number -- has no documented v4 equivalent as of this writing; a deployment relying on it should confirm current support before migrating. ### HTML-formatted footer The `areaHeight="-1"` auto-sizing behavior doesn't carry over -- a v4 footer's height is always given explicitly, as the second argument: ```java pd4ml.setPageFooter("page $[page] of $[total]", 24); ``` ### Inline, scoped headers/footers ```html footer: $[page] of $[total] ``` ```html first page footer: $[page] of $[total]
 footer: $[page] of $[total]
 ``` Or, from the API, with an explicit scope string instead of relying on document position: ```java pd4ml.setPageFooter("first page footer: $[page] of $[total]", 18, "1"); pd4ml.setPageFooter("footer: $[page] of $[total]", 18, "2+"); ``` ### Per-page conditional content, without a callback Where the legacy API needed an anonymous `PD4PageMark` subclass overriding `getHtmlTemplate(int pageNumber)` to alternate content by page, v4's plain-string API reaches the same result with two scoped calls instead of a callback -- odd/even is exactly what the scope grammar's modifiers are for: ```java pd4ml.setPageFooter("
some left-aligned stuff...
", 20, "even"); pd4ml.setPageFooter("
some right-aligned stuff...
", 20, "odd"); ``` ## See also * [PD4ML Programmer's Manual](/pd4ml-manual.md) -- §8 covers `setPageHeader`/`setPageFooter`, the built-in `$[page]`/`$[total]`/`$[title]` placeholders, and `setDynamicData(...)` for custom placeholders beyond those three. * [PD4ML v3 to v4 Migration Guide](/pd4ml-v3-to-v4-migration-guide.md) -- §4 walks through the same `PD4PageMark`-to-string-API change side by side. --- # Agent Instructions This documentation is published with GitBook. GitBook is the documentation platform designed so that both humans and AI agents can read, navigate, and reason over technical content effectively. Learn more at gitbook.com. ## Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter, and the optional `goal` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.pd4ml.com/features/pdf-header-and-footer-generation.md?ask=&goal= ``` `ask` is the immediate question: it should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. `goal` is optional and describes the broader end goal you are ultimately trying to accomplish on behalf of the user. GitBook uses it to tailor the answer towards what is most useful for that goal. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.