What are running heads and feet, and how does Pressbooks use them in my book? – Pressbooks Help Desk

Traditional print books typically have running content either in the top margin or the bottom margin of the body pages. This includes information such as the book's title, the chapter's title, or the author's name.

In Pressbooks, your exported PDF files will automatically create this running content. In most themes, the default is:

Left running head: Book Author
Right running head: Book Title

In our most recently updated themes, you can customize your running content by going to Appearance Theme Options PDF Options. Look for the Running Heads & Feet section on this page and customize your running content however you'd like.

If you're using an older theme, you can still customize running content as long as you're willing to do some customizing of your CSS. See the Running Heads & Running Feet chapter in our user guide.

NOTE: EPUBs don’t have running heads or footers, though many ereading platforms insert the title and sometimes the author to generate running headers. Pressbooks has no control over how ebook platforms display their running headers.