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Headers & Footers

Configure headers and footers for both left-hand (verso) and right-hand (recto) pages with complete control over positioning and content. Header sizing depends on your trim and margins — set those first in trim sizes and page margins and pair with book page layout and fonts for body typography.

Page Areas

Each page has six areas where you can place elements:

Top leftTop centerTop rightBottom leftBottom centerBottom right

You can configure different layouts for left pages (verso) and right pages (recto).

Page Elements

Drag these elements into the page areas above. You can drag and drop to rearrange them, and configure separately for left and right pages.

Page NumberCurrent page number
Section TitleTitle of the current section (chapter, prologue, etc.)
Section SubtitleSubtitle of the current section
Author NameAuthor of the book
Book TitleTitle of the book
Part TitleTitle of the current book part
Volume TitleTitle of the current book volume
Custom TextCreate custom combinations using tokens

Custom Text with Tokens

Custom text gives you granular control over exactly what appears in your headers and footers. You can mix plain text with dynamic tokens that automatically pull in page numbers, section titles, author names, book parts, volume names, and more.

Example: {author-name} - {page-number} displays your author name and page number separated by a dash.

Example: {part-prefix} {part-number}: {part-name} displays the full book part label with its number and name.

Global Settings

These settings are not affected by presets.

Chapter Opening Pages

Control headers, footers, and page numbers on the first page of each chapter.

  • Hide headers/footers on chapter openings — Remove headers and footers from the first page of each chapter.
  • Show page numbers on chapter openings — Display page numbers even when headers/footers are hidden.

Need different headers, footers, or page numbering for a single chapter? Override these globals using per-section print settings. When you’re ready, export a print-ready PDF for KDP and IngramSpark.

Header & Footer Typography

Customize the font, size, and style for your headers and footers independently.

  • Font — Choose a font family for your headers or footers.
  • Size — Set the font size.
  • Style — Select Regular, Italic, Bold, or Bold Italic.
  • Transform — Change the text case:
    • None — Keep original capitalization
    • CAPS — ALL UPPERCASE
    • lower — all lowercase
    • Title — Title Case

Header & Footer Spacing

Control the vertical spacing for your header and footer areas. Both header and footer have the same two settings:

  • Total Space — The full distance from the edge of the page to where your body text begins. The header or footer sits within this space.
  • Safe Zone — The minimum margin from the absolute edge of the page. Increase this if your headers or footers are getting cut off during printing.

Header & Footer Borders

Add decorative border lines beneath your header or above your footer to give your pages a polished, professional look. You can configure header and footer borders independently using separate tabs.

Toggle Enable Border to turn the border on for the selected area. Once enabled, you have full control over the line’s appearance and placement.

Line

  • Thickness — Set the border line thickness from 0.5 to 6 px.
  • Style — Choose a line style:
    • Solid — A continuous line
    • Dashed — A series of short dashes
    • Dotted — A series of small dots

Size & Position

  • Width — Control how far the border line extends across the page, from 1% to 100% of the available space.
  • Position — Choose where the border line sits horizontally:
    • Left — Aligned to the left edge on every page
    • Center — Centered on every page
    • Right — Aligned to the right edge on every page
    • Mirror Out — Opens the line outward from the spine (left-aligned on left pages, right-aligned on right pages)
    • Mirror In — Reaches the line inward toward the spine (right-aligned on left pages, left-aligned on right pages)

Spacing

  • Gap — Set the distance between the header or footer text and the border line, from 0 to 24 px.