burn-in-footer

Burn-In Footer

Permanently overlay a footer label on every page of a PDF.

Inputs

• Input PDF path (required).
• Footer text (required) — pick from presets or pass arbitrary text:
  • CLIENT CONFIDENTIAL
  • PRIVATE
  • FAMILY DISTRIBUTION
  • DRAFT
  • EMBARGOED UNTIL: <date> (substitute the date)
  • Custom string
• Font (optional) — default Helvetica Bold. Accepts any font available to ReportLab/Typst.
• Size (optional, pt) — default 10.
• Color (optional) — default black; accept hex or named colors.
• Position (optional) — bottom-center (default), bottom-left, bottom-right, top-center, top-left, top-right.
• Vertical offset (optional) — default 20pt from the page edge.
• Output path (optional) — defaults to <input>-<slug>.pdf.

Tooling

Same overlay-and-stamp pattern as add-watermark: generate a 1-page overlay PDF that matches the input page size with the footer text drawn at the requested position, then stamp every page using qpdf --overlay.

Overlay generation (Python + ReportLab)

from reportlab.pdfgen import canvas
c = canvas.Canvas("overlay.pdf", pagesize=(w, h))
c.setFont(font_name, size)
c.setFillColorRGB(*rgb)
if position == "bottom-center":
    c.drawCentredString(w/2, vertical_offset, footer_text)
elif position == "bottom-left":
    c.drawString(36, vertical_offset, footer_text)
# ... etc
c.save()

Stamp

qpdf input.pdf --overlay overlay.pdf -- output.pdf

Verification (mandatory)

Before committing, render a preview PNG and inspect placement:

gs -sDEVICE=png16m -r150 -o /tmp/footer-check-page1.png -dFirstPage=1 -dLastPage=1 output.pdf

Check:

• Footer text fully visible (not clipped at bottom edge).
• Doesn't overlap body text or existing page numbers.
• Font/size renders as intended.

If the user is present, offer to show the PNG before finalising. If verification fails (clipping, collision), adjust vertical_offset or size and re-render.

Workflow

1. Probe page size with pdfinfo.
2. Resolve preset → text (e.g. EMBARGOED UNTIL requires a date — ask if not given).
3. Generate overlay.
4. Stamp.
5. Render preview PNG, verify, then report.

Output

Footer-stamped PDF. Original preserved.