Update Headers and Footers - Header Management API

PDF4me Update Headers and Footers enables you to add or modify headers and footers in Word documents with comprehensive HTML content support and professional styling options. This API service processes Word files and applies headers and footers to different page layouts including first page, even/odd pages, and all pages with automatic application of professional default styling, HTML content processing, and flexible page-specific formatting. The API receives Word document content through REST API calls, utilizing Base64 encoding for secure transmission. With support for page number fields (PAGE, NUMPAGES, SECTION, SECTIONPAGES), HTML formatting, and automatic professional styling, this solution is ideal for document branding, page numbering, and professional document presentation workflows.

Authenticating Your API Request

To access the PDF4me REST API, every request must include proper authentication credentials. Authentication ensures secure communication and validates your identity as an authorized user of the REST API.

Get your api Key

Key Features

• Multiple Page Types: Support for all pages, first page, even/odd pages
• HTML Content Support: Rich HTML content with professional styling
• Automatic Styling: Professional default styling for plain text content
• Page Number Fields: Support for PAGE, NUMPAGES, SECTION, SECTIONPAGES
• Flexible Layout: Different headers/footers for different page types
• Culture Support: Locale-specific document processing
• Format Preservation: Maintains original document structure
• Professional Appearance: Automatic application of professional styling

REST API Endpoint

The PDF4me REST API uses standard HTTP methods to interact with resources. All header and footer update operations are performed through a single endpoint:

• Method: POST
• Endpoint: office/ApiV2Word/UpdateHeadersAndFooters

REST API Parameters

Complete list of parameters for the Update Headers and Footers REST API. Parameters are organized by category for better understanding and implementation.

Important: Parameters marked with an asterisk (*) are required. Advanced parameters provide fine-grained control over page-specific headers and footers.

Required Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
document*	Object	Document descriptor. Must include Name (string): output Word file name with .docx extension	{ "Name": "document.docx" }
docContent*	Base64	Word document content encoded in Base64. Headers and footers are added to this document. Must be valid Word document (.docx, .doc formats)	base64EncodedDocumentContent

Optional Parameters (Header/Footer HTML)

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
headerContent	String	Simple header content (used with footerContent when isHtml/isHtmlMode control format)	"Company Name"
footerContent	String	Simple footer content	"Page PAGE of NUMPAGES"
isHtml	Boolean	Whether header/footer content is HTML	true
isHtmlMode	Boolean	Use HTML mode for content processing	true
allPagesHeaderHtml	String	Header HTML for all pages. Supports PAGE, NUMPAGES, SECTION, SECTIONPAGES	"<div style='text-align: center;'>Company Name</div>"
firstPageHeaderHtml	String	Header HTML for first page only	"<div style='text-align: center;'>Title Page</div>"
evenPagesHeaderHtml	String	Header HTML for even-numbered pages	"<div style='text-align: right;'>Book Title</div>"
oddPagesHeaderHtml	String	Header HTML for odd-numbered pages	"<div style='text-align: left;'>Chapter Title</div>"
allPagesFooterHtml	String	Footer HTML for all pages	"Page PAGE of NUMPAGES"
firstPageFooterHtml	String	Footer HTML for first page only	"<div style='text-align: center;'>Confidential</div>"
evenPagesFooterHtml	String	Footer HTML for even pages	"<div style='text-align: center;'>Page PAGE</div>"
oddPagesFooterHtml	String	Footer HTML for odd pages	"<div style='text-align: center;'>Page PAGE</div>"

Optional Parameters (Typed header/footer)

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
allPagesHeader	Object	Typed header content for all pages (HeaderFooterContentInUpdate)	—
firstPageHeader	Object	Typed header for first page	—
evenPagesHeader / oddPagesHeader	Object	Typed header for even/odd pages	—
allPagesFooter / firstPageFooter / evenPagesFooter / oddPagesFooter	Object	Typed footer content per page type	—

Optional Parameters (General)

Parameter	Type	Description	Example
cultureName	String	Culture code for document processing (e.g., "en-US", "fr-FR", "de-DE"). Default: null. Affects document language and formatting	en-US

HTML Content Support

The API supports HTML content in all header and footer parameters:

• HTML Tags: Standard HTML tags (div, span, p, b, i, u, etc.)
• CSS Styling: Inline CSS styles for formatting
• Plain Text: Plain text automatically receives professional default styling
• Mixed Content: Combine HTML and plain text as needed

Default Styling for Plain Text:

• Headers: Left alignment, border-bottom, 10px font
• Footers: Center alignment, border-top, 9px font

Page Layout Options

The API supports different page layouts for headers and footers:

Layout Type	Description	Required Parameters
All Pages	Same header/footer on all pages	allPagesHeaderHtml, allPagesFooterHtml (or typed allPagesHeader, allPagesFooter)
First Page	Different header/footer on first page	firstPageHeaderHtml, firstPageFooterHtml (or typed equivalents)
Even/Odd Pages	Different headers/footers for even and odd pages	evenPagesHeaderHtml, oddPagesHeaderHtml, evenPagesFooterHtml, oddPagesFooterHtml (or typed equivalents)

Output

The PDF4me Update Headers and Footers REST API returns a JSON response. On success the API returns the Word document as a Base64-encoded string in the document field (ApiV2WordApiCallRes), not as binary data.

Success Response

Success Response

Status Code: 200 OK

Content-Type: application/json

Response Body:

{
  "document": "UEsDBBQABgAIAAAAIQDfpNJsWgEAACAFAAATAAgCW0NvbnRlbnRfVHlwZXNdLnhtbCCiBAIooAAC...",
  "fileName": "document.docx",
  "success": true,
  "errorMessage": null
}

Response Fields:

• document (string): The Word document with updated headers and footers, encoded as Base64
• fileName (string): The output Word file name
• success (boolean): Whether the operation succeeded
• errorMessage (string): Error message if success is false; otherwise null

How to Use:

1. Check success; if true, extract the document field from the JSON response
2. Decode the Base64 string to get the binary Word document data
3. Save or process the Word file using fileName

Example (JavaScript):

const response = await fetch(url, options);
const data = await response.json();
if (!data.success) throw new Error(data.errorMessage);
const base64 = data.document;
const binary = atob(base64);
const blob = new Blob([binary], { type: 'application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document' });
const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
const a = document.createElement('a');
a.href = url;
a.download = data.fileName;
a.click();

Error Responses

Error Responses

The API returns standard HTTP error codes with error details:

400 Bad Request

• Invalid request parameters
• Missing required fields (document, docContent)
• Invalid Base64 encoding in docContent
• Invalid or corrupted Word document
• Invalid HTML content provided
• Invalid culture name provided
• Page number field not supported (use PAGE, NUMPAGES, SECTION, SECTIONPAGES)

401 Unauthorized

• Invalid or missing API key
• API key not properly Base64 encoded in Authorization header
• Missing Authorization: Basic header

500 Internal Server Error

• Server-side processing error
• Word document processing failure
• Error updating headers and footers
• Error loading document from bytes
• Error converting document to bytes

Error Response Format:

{
  "error": "Error message describing what went wrong"
}

Response Format Details

Response Format Details

Important: The API always returns JSON with Base64-encoded Word document content, never binary Word data directly.

Response Structure (ApiV2WordApiCallRes):

{
  "document": "string",    // Base64-encoded Word document content
  "fileName": "string",   // Output Word file name
  "success": true,
  "errorMessage": null
}

Content-Type Header:

• Success: application/json
• The Word document is embedded as a Base64 string within the JSON response

Why Base64?

• JSON-safe encoding for binary data
• Easy to transmit over HTTP
• Compatible with all programming languages
• Can be directly embedded in JSON without escaping issues

Processing the Response:

JavaScript/Node.js:

const response = await fetch(url, options);
const data = await response.json();

const base64 = data.document;
const binary = atob(base64); // Browser
// OR
const binary = Buffer.from(base64, 'base64'); // Node.js

Python:

import base64
response_data = response.json()
word_bytes = base64.b64decode(response_data['document'])
with open('output.docx', 'wb') as f:
    f.write(word_bytes)

C#:

var response = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<UpdateHeadersFootersResponse>(jsonResponse);
byte[] wordBytes = Convert.FromBase64String(response.document);
File.WriteAllBytes(response.fileName, wordBytes);

Request Example

Header

Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Basic YOUR_BASE64_ENCODED_API_KEY

Note:

• Get your API key from the PDF4me Dashboard
• The API key must be Base64 encoded and prefixed with "Basic " in the Authorization header
• Example: If your API key is abc123, encode it to Base64 and use Authorization: Basic YWJjMTIz

Payload

Basic Example (All Pages Header and Footer):

{
  "document": { "Name": "document.docx" },
  "docContent": "base64EncodedDocumentContent",
  "allPagesHeaderHtml": "<div style='text-align: center;'>Company Name</div>",
  "allPagesFooterHtml": "Page PAGE of NUMPAGES",
  "cultureName": "en-US"
}

Advanced Example (First Page + Even/Odd Pages):

{
  "document": { "Name": "document.docx" },
  "docContent": "base64EncodedDocumentContent",
  "firstPageHeaderHtml": "<div style='text-align: center;'>Title Page</div>",
  "firstPageFooterHtml": "<div style='text-align: center;'>Confidential</div>",
  "oddPagesHeaderHtml": "<div style='text-align: left;'>Chapter Title</div>",
  "evenPagesHeaderHtml": "<div style='text-align: right;'>Book Title</div>",
  "oddPagesFooterHtml": "<div style='text-align: center;'>Page PAGE</div>",
  "evenPagesFooterHtml": "<div style='text-align: center;'>Page PAGE</div>",
  "cultureName": "en-US"
}

HTML Content Example:

{
  "document": { "Name": "document.docx" },
  "docContent": "base64EncodedDocumentContent",
  "allPagesHeaderHtml": "<div style='text-align: center; color: #333; font-size: 12px; border-bottom: 1px solid #ccc; padding-bottom: 5px;'>Company Name | Department</div>",
  "allPagesFooterHtml": "<div style='text-align: center; color: #666; font-size: 9px; border-top: 1px solid #ccc; padding-top: 5px;'>Page PAGE of NUMPAGES | © 2024 Company Name</div>",
  "cultureName": "en-US"
}

Plain Text Example (headerContent/footerContent):

{
  "document": { "Name": "document.docx" },
  "docContent": "base64EncodedDocumentContent",
  "headerContent": "Company Name",
  "footerContent": "Page PAGE of NUMPAGES",
  "cultureName": "en-US"
}

Code Samples

The PDF4me Update Headers and Footers REST API provides code samples in multiple programming languages. Choose the language that best fits your development environment:

C#

C# (CSharp) Sample

Complete C# implementation for updating headers and footers in Word documents:

View C# Sample

Java

Java Sample

Java implementation with full error handling and response processing:

View Java Sample

JavaScript

JavaScript Sample

Node.js and browser-compatible JavaScript implementation:

View JavaScript Sample

Python

Python Sample

Python implementation with requests library and JSON handling:

View Python Sample

Salesforce

Salesforce Sample

Salesforce Apex implementation for CRM integration:

View Salesforce Sample

n8n

n8n Sample

n8n workflow implementation for automation:

View n8n Sample

Google Script

Google Script Sample

Google Apps Script implementation for Google Workspace integration:

View Google Script Sample

AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda Sample

Serverless AWS Lambda function implementation:

View AWS Lambda Sample

Industry Use Cases & Applications

Legal & Professional Services

Legal & Professional Services Use Cases

• Contract Headers: Add confidentiality notices and legal disclaimers
• Court Documents: Include case numbers and filing information
• Legal Briefs: Add attorney information and case details
• Compliance Reports: Include regulatory information and dates

Business & Enterprise

Business & Enterprise Use Cases

• Document Branding: Add company logos and headers to business documents
• Report Headers: Add consistent headers and footers to generated reports
• Proposals: Include company information and page numbering
• Corporate Communications: Apply consistent headers and footers across documents

Education & Research

Education & Research Use Cases

• Academic Papers: Add institution information and course details
• Research Reports: Include funding information and acknowledgments
• Medical and Research Documents: Add study information, ethics approval, and protocol details
• Administrative Documents: Include department and contact information

Finance & Banking

Finance & Banking Use Cases

• Financial Reports: Add company information and report dates
• Audit Documents: Include auditor information and report numbers
• Regulatory Filings: Add regulatory compliance information
• Investment Documents: Include risk disclaimers and legal notices

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