Creating a Custom Header and Footer
In this section we will discuss the steps taken to create a custom header and footer, styled just the way you need them to be!
Step 1: Assign the Header/Footer a Paragraph Style
Navigate to View > Style Designer and click on the Paragraph Styles tab.
Create two new Paragraph Styles. Name these appropriately according to your Header and Footer. These Styles will contain the styling information for the Header and Footer.
Apply style properties as needed, and then move to Step 2 so we can render them on the page.
Step 2: Assigning the Paragraph Styles to the Page
Click on the Page Styles tab.
Create a new Page Style for the page you would like the Header and Footer to appear on. If you would like them to render on all pages except for pages that were named otherwise (ex. Title Page, TOC), name the style Default.
With the new Page Style highlighted from the list, click on the Target Options tab. This tab holds the information that will be used to generate the Header and Footer.
Below is a table explaining the values of each of the fields in this Target Options section. Prefixes of the Names (Even, Odd, First, Last) have been substituted for an underscore to avoid repetition.
Name |
Value |
_ page footer style |
The name of the Paragraph Style that will be used to apply style settings to the Footer. |
_ page footer text |
The text value that will be displayed in the footer.* |
_ page header style |
The name of the Paragraph Style that will be used to apply style settings to the Header. |
_ page header text |
The text value that will be displayed in the footer.* |
Generate output |
Indicates whether pages with this Style Name should be generated or not. |
* The use of variables is permitted here
The values of _ page footer style and _ page header style must match the names of the Paragraph Styles created in Step 1, or the styles will not render. Make sure they match!
If you find you need more space allotted to the header or footer, refer to PageRegions to get a visual perspective on the layout of a PDF page, and how to change the regions to suit your needs.