How to use HTML to print header and footer on every printed page of a document?

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Is it possible to print HTML pages with custom headers and footers on each printed page?

I'd like to add the word "UNCLASSIFIED" in Red, Arial, size 16pt to the top and bottom of every printed page, regardless of the content.

To clarify, if the document was printed onto 5 pages, each page should have the custom header and footer.

Does anybody know if this is possible using HTML/CSS?

footer header stylesheet printing css
22 Answers

The magic solution is really putting everything in a single table.

  • thead: this is for the repeated header.

  • tfoot: the repeated footer.

  • tbody: the content.

and make a single tr, td and put every thing in a div

CODE::

<table class="report-container">
   <thead class="report-header">
     <tr>
        <th class="report-header-cell">
           <div class="header-info">
            ...
           </div>
         </th>
      </tr>
    </thead>
    <tfoot class="report-footer">
      <tr>
         <td class="report-footer-cell">
           <div class="footer-info">
           ...
           </div>
          </td>
      </tr>
    </tfoot>
    <tbody class="report-content">
      <tr>
         <td class="report-content-cell">
            <div class="main">
            ...
            </div>
          </td>
       </tr>
     </tbody>
</table>

table.report-container {
    page-break-after:always;
}
thead.report-header {
    display:table-header-group;
}
tfoot.report-footer {
    display:table-footer-group;
}

extra: to prevent overlapping with multiple pages. like:

<div class="main">
    <div class="article">
        ...
  </div>
    <div class="article">
        ...
  </div>
    <div class="article">
        ...
  </div>
  ...
  ...
  ...
</div>

which results in overflow that will make things overlap with the header within the page breaks..

so >> use: page-break-inside: avoid !important; with this class article.

table.report-container div.article {
    page-break-inside: avoid;
}
user_48468590

Muhammad Musavi's comment is the best answer, so here it is surfaced as an actual Answer:

thead/tfoot are automatically repeated on the top and bottom of each page. However, tfoot isn't sticky to the bottom of the last page.

position: fixed in print will repeat on each page, and the footer will stick to the bottom of all pages including the last one - but, it won't create space for its contents.

Combine them:

HTML:

<header>(repeated header)</header>

<table class=paging><thead><tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>

(content goes here)

</td></tr></tbody><tfoot><tr><td>&nbsp;</td></tr></tfoot></table>

<footer>(repeated footer)</footer>

CSS:

@page {
    size: letter;
    margin: .5in;
}

@media print {
    table.paging thead td, table.paging tfoot td {
        height: .5in;
    }
}

header, footer {
    width: 100%; height: .5in;
}

header {
    position: absolute;
    top: 0;
}

@media print {
    header, footer {
        position: fixed;
    }
    
    footer {
        bottom: 0;
    }
}

There are a lot of niceties you can add in here, but I've intentionally slashed this to the bare minimum to get a cleanly rendering header and footer, appearing once on-screen and at the top and bottom of every printed page.

https://medium.com/@Idan_Co/the-ultimate-print-html-template-with-header-footer-568f415f6d2a

user_1768770 

footer {
  font-size: 9px;
  color: #f00;
  text-align: center;
}
header {
  font-size: 9px;
  color: #f00;
  text-align: center;
}

@page {
  size: A4;
  margin: 11mm 17mm 17mm 17mm;
}

@media print {
  footer {
    position: fixed;
    bottom: 0;
  }
   header {
    position: fixed;
    top: 0;
    overflow: avoid;
  }

  .content-block, p {
    page-break-inside: avoid;
    position: relative;
    width: 100%;
    top:1em;   //match size of header
    left:0px;
    right:0px;
  }

  html, body {
    width: 210mm;
    height: 297mm;
  }
  .hidden-print{
  display: none;
}
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head></head>
  <body>
  <button class="hidden-print" onClick="window.print()">Print</button>
  <header>unclassified<br><br></header>
    <h1>
      Example Document
    </h1>
    <div>
      <p>
        This is an example document that shows how to have a footer that repeats at the bottom of every page, but also isn't covered up by paragraph text.
      </p>
    </div>
    <div>
      <h3>
        Example Section I
      </h3>
      <p>
        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc vestibulum metus sit amet urna lobortis sollicitudin. Nulla mattis purus porta lorem tempor, a cursus tellus facilisis. Aliquam pretium nibh vitae elit placerat vestibulum. Duis felis ipsum, consectetur id pellentesque in, porta sit amet sapien. Ut tristique enim sem, laoreet bibendum nisl fermentum vitae. Ut aliquet sem ac lorem malesuada sodales. Fusce iaculis ipsum ex, in mollis dolor dapibus sit amet. In convallis felis in orci fermentum gravida a vel orci. Sed tincidunt porta nibh sit amet varius. Donec et odio eget odio tempus auctor ac eget ex.
        
        Pellentesque vitae augue sed purus dictum ultricies at eu neque. Nullam ut mauris a purus tristique euismod. Sed elementum, leo id placerat congue, leo tellus pharetra orci, eget ultricies odio quam sit amet ipsum. Praesent feugiat, lorem at commodo egestas, felis ligula pharetra sapien, in placerat mauris nisi aliquet tortor. Quisque nibh lectus, laoreet vel mollis a, tincidunt vel ipsum. Sed blandit vehicula sollicitudin. Donec et sapien justo. Ut fermentum ipsum imperdiet diam condimentum, eget varius sapien dictum. Sed sed elit egestas libero maximus finibus eu eget massa.
        
        Duis finibus vestibulum finibus. Nunc lobortis lacus ut libero mattis tempor. Nulla a nunc at nisl elementum congue. Nunc eu consectetur mauris. Etiam non placerat massa. Etiam eu urna in metus tempus molestie sed eget diam. Nunc sem velit, elementum sit amet fringilla in, dictum sit amet sem. Quisque convallis faucibus purus dignissim dictum. Sed semper, mi vel accumsan sollicitudin, massa massa pellentesque justo, eget auctor sapien enim ac elit.
        
        Nullam turpis augue, lacinia ut libero ac, rhoncus bibendum ligula. Mauris ullamcorper maximus turpis, a consequat turpis bibendum sit amet. Nam vitae dui nec velit hendrerit faucibus. Vivamus nunc diam, porta tristique augue nec, dignissim venenatis felis. Proin mattis id risus in feugiat. Etiam cursus faucibus nisi. In in nisi ullamcorper, convallis lectus et, ornare nulla. Cras tristique nulla eros, non maximus odio imperdiet eu. Nullam egestas dignissim est, et fringilla odio pretium eleifend. Nullam tincidunt sapien fermentum, rhoncus risus ac, ullamcorper libero. Vestibulum bibendum molestie dui nec tincidunt. Mauris tempus, orci ut congue vulputate, erat orci aliquam orci, sed eleifend orci dui sed tellus. Pellentesque pellentesque massa vulputate urna pretium, consectetur pulvinar orci pulvinar.
        
        Donec aliquet imperdiet ex, et tincidunt risus convallis eget. Etiam eu fermentum lectus, molestie eleifend nisi. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Nullam dignissim, erat vitae congue molestie, ante urna sagittis est, et sagittis lacus risus vitae est. Sed elementum ipsum et pellentesque dignissim. Sed vehicula feugiat pretium. Donec ex lacus, dictum faucibus lectus sit amet, tempus hendrerit ante. Ut sollicitudin sodales metus, at placerat risus viverra ut.
        
        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc vestibulum metus sit amet urna lobortis sollicitudin. Nulla mattis purus porta lorem tempor, a cursus tellus facilisis. Aliquam pretium nibh vitae elit placerat vestibulum. Duis felis ipsum, consectetur id pellentesque in, porta sit amet sapien. Ut tristique enim sem, laoreet bibendum nisl fermentum vitae. Ut aliquet sem ac lorem malesuada sodales. Fusce iaculis ipsum ex, in mollis dolor dapibus sit amet. In convallis felis in orci fermentum gravida a vel orci. Sed tincidunt porta nibh sit amet varius. Donec et odio eget odio tempus auctor ac eget ex.
        
        Duis finibus vestibulum finibus. Nunc lobortis lacus ut libero mattis tempor. Nulla a nunc at nisl elementum congue. Nunc eu consectetur mauris. Etiam non placerat massa. Etiam eu urna in metus tempus molestie sed eget diam. Nunc sem velit, elementum sit amet fringilla in, dictum sit amet sem. Quisque convallis faucibus purus dignissim dictum. Sed semper, mi vel accumsan sollicitudin, massa massa pellentesque justo, eget auctor sapien enim ac elit.
        
        Nullam turpis augue, lacinia ut libero ac, rhoncus bibendum ligula. Mauris ullamcorper maximus turpis, a consequat turpis bibendum sit amet. Nam vitae dui nec velit hendrerit faucibus. Vivamus nunc diam, porta tristique augue nec, dignissim venenatis felis. Proin mattis id risus in feugiat. Etiam cursus faucibus nisi. In in nisi ullamcorper, convallis lectus et, ornare nulla. Cras tristique nulla eros, non maximus odio imperdiet eu. Nullam egestas dignissim est, et fringilla odio pretium eleifend. Nullam tincidunt sapien fermentum, rhoncus risus ac, ullamcorper libero.
      </p>
    </div>
    <div class="content-block">
      <h3>Example Section II</h3>
      <p>
        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc vestibulum metus sit amet urna lobortis sollicitudin. Nulla mattis purus porta lorem tempor, a cursus tellus facilisis. Aliquam pretium nibh vitae elit placerat vestibulum. Duis felis ipsum, consectetur id pellentesque in, porta sit amet sapien. Ut tristique enim sem, laoreet bibendum nisl fermentum vitae. Ut aliquet sem ac lorem malesuada sodales. Fusce iaculis ipsum ex, in mollis dolor dapibus sit amet. In convallis felis in orci fermentum gravida a vel orci. Sed tincidunt porta nibh sit amet varius. Donec et odio eget odio tempus auctor ac eget ex.
        
        Pellentesque vitae augue sed purus dictum ultricies at eu neque. Nullam ut mauris a purus tristique euismod. Sed elementum, leo id placerat congue, leo tellus pharetra orci, eget ultricies odio quam sit amet ipsum. Praesent feugiat, lorem at commodo egestas, felis ligula pharetra sapien, in placerat mauris nisi aliquet tortor. Quisque nibh lectus, laoreet vel mollis a, tincidunt vel ipsum. Sed blandit vehicula sollicitudin. Donec et sapien justo. Ut fermentum ipsum imperdiet diam condimentum, eget varius sapien dictum. Sed sed elit egestas libero maximus finibus eu eget massa.
      </p>
      <p>
        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc vestibulum metus sit amet urna lobortis sollicitudin. Nulla mattis purus porta lorem tempor, a cursus tellus facilisis. Aliquam pretium nibh vitae elit placerat vestibulum. Duis felis ipsum, consectetur id pellentesque in, porta sit amet sapien. Ut tristique enim sem, laoreet bibendum nisl fermentum vitae. Ut aliquet sem ac lorem malesuada sodales. Fusce iaculis ipsum ex, in mollis dolor dapibus sit amet. In convallis felis in orci fermentum gravida a vel orci. Sed tincidunt porta nibh sit amet varius. Donec et odio eget odio tempus auctor ac eget ex.
        
        Pellentesque vitae augue sed purus dictum ultricies at eu neque. Nullam ut mauris a purus tristique euismod. Sed elementum, leo id placerat congue, leo tellus pharetra orci, eget ultricies odio quam sit amet ipsum. Praesent feugiat, lorem at commodo egestas, felis ligula pharetra sapien, in placerat mauris nisi aliquet tortor. Quisque nibh lectus, laoreet vel mollis a, tincidunt vel ipsum. Sed blandit vehicula sollicitudin. Donec et sapien justo. Ut fermentum ipsum imperdiet diam condimentum, eget varius sapien dictum. Sed sed elit egestas libero maximus finibus eu eget massa.
        
        Duis finibus vestibulum finibus. Nunc lobortis lacus ut libero mattis tempor. Nulla a nunc at nisl elementum congue. Nunc eu consectetur mauris. Etiam non placerat massa. Etiam eu urna in metus tempus molestie sed eget diam. Nunc sem velit, elementum sit amet fringilla in, dictum sit amet sem. Quisque convallis faucibus purus dignissim dictum. Sed semper, mi vel accumsan sollicitudin, massa massa pellentesque justo, eget auctor sapien enim ac elit.
        
        Nullam turpis augue, lacinia ut libero ac, rhoncus bibendum ligula. Mauris ullamcorper maximus turpis, a consequat turpis bibendum sit amet. Nam vitae dui nec velit hendrerit faucibus. Vivamus nunc diam, porta tristique augue nec, dignissim venenatis felis. Proin mattis id risus in feugiat. Etiam cursus faucibus nisi. In in nisi ullamcorper, convallis lectus et, ornare nulla. Cras tristique nulla eros, non maximus odio imperdiet eu. Nullam egestas dignissim est, et fringilla odio pretium eleifend. Nullam tincidunt sapien fermentum, rhoncus risus ac, ullamcorper libero. Vestibulum bibendum molestie dui nec tincidunt. Mauris tempus, orci ut congue vulputate, erat orci aliquam orci, sed eleifend orci dui sed tellus. Pellentesque pellentesque massa vulputate urna pretium, consectetur pulvinar orci pulvinar.
        
        Donec aliquet imperdiet ex, et tincidunt risus convallis eget. Etiam eu fermentum lectus, molestie eleifend nisi. Orci varius natoque penatibus et magnis dis parturient montes, nascetur ridiculus mus. Nullam dignissim, erat vitae congue molestie, ante urna sagittis est, et sagittis lacus risus vitae est. Sed elementum ipsum et pellentesque dignissim. Sed vehicula feugiat pretium. Donec ex lacus, dictum faucibus lectus sit amet, tempus hendrerit ante. Ut sollicitudin sodales metus, at placerat risus viverra ut.
        
        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Nunc vestibulum metus sit amet urna lobortis sollicitudin. Nulla mattis purus porta lorem tempor, a cursus tellus facilisis. Aliquam pretium nibh vitae elit placerat vestibulum. Duis felis ipsum, consectetur id pellentesque in, porta sit amet sapien. Ut tristique enim sem, laoreet bibendum nisl fermentum vitae. Ut aliquet sem ac lorem malesuada sodales. Fusce iaculis ipsum ex, in mollis dolor dapibus sit amet. In convallis felis in orci fermentum gravida a vel orci. Sed tincidunt porta nibh sit amet varius. Donec et odio eget odio tempus auctor ac eget ex.
        
        Duis finibus vestibulum finibus. Nunc lobortis lacus ut libero mattis tempor. Nulla a nunc at nisl elementum congue. Nunc eu consectetur mauris. Etiam non placerat massa. Etiam eu urna in metus tempus molestie sed eget diam. Nunc sem velit, elementum sit amet fringilla in, dictum sit amet sem. Quisque convallis faucibus purus dignissim dictum. Sed semper, mi vel accumsan sollicitudin, massa massa pellentesque justo, eget auctor sapien enim ac elit.
        
        Nullam turpis augue, lacinia ut libero ac, rhoncus bibendum ligula. Mauris ullamcorper maximus turpis, a consequat turpis bibendum sit amet. Nam vitae dui nec velit hendrerit faucibus. Vivamus nunc diam, porta tristique augue nec, dignissim venenatis felis. Proin mattis id risus in feugiat. Etiam cursus faucibus nisi. In in nisi ullamcorper, convallis lectus et, ornare nulla. Cras tristique nulla eros, non maximus odio imperdiet eu. Nullam egestas dignissim est, et fringilla odio pretium eleifend. Nullam tincidunt sapien fermentum, rhoncus risus ac, ullamcorper libero.
      </p>
    </div>
    <footer>
      This is the text that goes at the bottom of every page.
    </footer>
   
  </body>
</html>

user_123443330

I'm surprised and unimpressed that Chrome has such terrible CSS print support.

My task required showing a slightly different footer on each page. In the simplest case, just an incrementing chapter and page number. In more complex cases, more text in the footer - for example, several footnotes - which could expand it in size, causing what is on that page's content area to be shrunk and part of it to reflow to the next page.

CSS print cannot solve this, at least not with shoddy browser support today. But stepping outside of print, CSS3 can do a lot of the heavy lifting:

https://jsfiddle.net/b9chris/moctxd2a/29/

<div class=page>
  <header></header>
  <div class=content>Content</div>
  <footer></footer>
</div>

SCSS:

body {
  @media screen {
    width: 7.5in;
    margin: 0 auto;
  }
}

div.page {
  display: flex;
  height: 10in;    
  flex-flow: column nowrap;
  justify-content: space-between;
  align-content: stretch;
}

div.content {
  flex-grow: 1;
}

@media print {
  @page {
    size: letter;  // US 8.5in x 11in
    margin: .5in;
  }

  footer {
    page-break-after: always;
  }
}

There's a little more code in the example, including some Cat Ipsum; but the js in use is just there to demonstrate how much the header/footer can vary without breaking pagination. The key really is to take a column-bottom-sticking trick from CSS Flexbox and then apply it to a page of a known, fixed height - in this case, an 8.5"x11" piece of US letter-sized paper, with .5" margins leaving width: 7.5in and height: 10in exactly. Once the CSS flex container is told its exact dimensions (div.page), it's easy to get the header and footer to expand and contract the way they do in conventional typography.

What's left is flowing the content of the page when the footer, for example, grows to 8 footnotes not 3. In my case the content is fixed enough that I don't need to worry about it, but I'm sure there's a way to do it. One approach that leaps to mind, is to turn the header and footer into 100% width floats, then position them with Javascript. The browser will handle the interruptions to regular content flow for you automatically.

user_1768770

the best solution came from biskrem muhammad.

but there is a little problem with its answer. when page count bigger than 1, footer not locating to the footer of the last page.

add this little css to your element collapsed by footer-info

position: fixed;
bottom: 0;
user_32489890

The real trick is to use position: fixed for it to show on every page, and a <tfoot> element to avoid overlap on multiple pages. The only drawback is you need to know the footer height, but this can be dynamic if you use JS. Something like this $('.footer').height($('.footer').children().first().height()). A header can be added the same way using a <thead>.

@page {
  size: 8.5in 11in;
}

.page {
  page-break-after: always;
}

.footer {
  height: 75px;
}

.footer>div {
  position: fixed;
  bottom: 0;
}

body {
  font-size: 42px;
  font-family: sans-serif;
}
<button onclick="print()">print</button>

<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>
        <div class="page">PAGE 1</div>
        <div class="page">
          <div>PAGE 2 OVERFLOWING</div>
          <div>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute
            irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur
            adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate
            velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
          </div>
        </div>
        <div class="page">PAGE THREE</div>
      </td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
  <tfoot>
    <tr>
      <td class="footer">
        <div>© 1999 Footer Example</div>
      </td>
    </tr>
  </tfoot>
</table>

user_82859700

Try this, for me it's working on Chrome, Firefox and Safari. You will get header and footer fixed to each page without overlapping the page content

CSS

<style>
  @page {
    margin: 10mm;
  }

  body {
    font: 9pt sans-serif;
    line-height: 1.3;

    /* Avoid fixed header and footer to overlap page content */
    margin-top: 100px;
    margin-bottom: 50px;
  }

  #header {
    position: fixed;
    top: 0;
    width: 100%;
    height: 100px;
    /* For testing */
    background: yellow; 
    opacity: 0.5;
  }

  #footer {
    position: fixed;
    bottom: 0;
    width: 100%;
    height: 50px;
    font-size: 6pt;
    color: #777;
    /* For testing */
    background: red; 
    opacity: 0.5;
  }

  /* Print progressive page numbers */
  .page-number:before {
    /* counter-increment: page; */
    content: "Pagina " counter(page);
  }

</style>

HTML

<body>

  <header id="header">Header</header>

  <footer id="footer">footer</footer>

  <div id="content">
    Here your long long content...
    <p style="page-break-inside: avoid;">This text will not be broken between the pages</p>
  </div>

</body>
user_12529200

My document has big header and footer, over 250px. The header, footer need to be sticked at the top and the end of the document. My solution is combined by both ideas from Biskrem Muhammad, Chris Moschini.

Idea:

  • Put your header in <thead> like Biskrem's
  • Put your footer in <div class="footer"> like Chris's

HTML:

<body>
    <table class="report-container">
        <thead class="report-header">
            <tr>
                <th class="report-header-cell">
                    <div class="header-info">
                        (your header)
                    </div>
                </th>
            </tr>
        </thead>
        <tbody class="report-content">
            <tr>
                <td class="report-content-cell">
                    <div class="main">
                        (your body)
                    </div>
                </td>
            </tr>
        </tbody>
        <tfoot class="report-footer">
            <tr>
                <td>
                    <div class="footer-space">&nbsp;</div>
                </td>
            </tr>
        </tfoot>
    </table>
    <div class="footer">
        (your footer)
    </div>
</body>

CSS:

  table.report-container {
    page-break-after:always;
    width: 100%;
  }

  thead.report-header {
    display:table-header-group;
  }

  tfoot.report-footer {
    display:table-footer-group;
  }

  .footer-space, .footer {
    height: 270px;// this is my footer height
  }

  .footer {
    position: fixed;
    bottom: 0;
  }
  @media print {
    tr td {
      word-wrap: break-word;
      overflow-wrap: break-word;
    }
  }

I use ejs to generate html for printing, so I don't need to work on the display in normal webpage.

Problem: This works in Chrome printer, but for Safari in my code, the footer is not showed, I don't know the root cause yet. Maybe it will have problem with other platforms too.

user_15114710

I found one solution. The basic idea is to make a table and in thead section place the data of header in tr and by css force to show that tr only in print not in screen then your normal header should be force to show only in screen not in print. 100% working on many pages print. sample code is here

<style> 
    @media screen {
        .only_print{
            display:none;
        }
    }
    @media print {
        .no-print {
            display: none !important;
        }
    }
    TABLE{border-collapse: collapse;}
    TH, TD {border:1px solid grey;}
</style>
<div class="no-print">  <!-- This is header for screen and will not be printed -->
    <div>COMPANY NAME FOR SCREEN</div>
    <div>DESCRIPTION FOR SCREEN</div>
</div>

<table>
    <thead>
        <tr class="only_print"> <!-- This is header for print and will not be shown on screen -->
            <td colspan="100" style="border: 0px;">
                <div>COMPANY NAME FOR PRINT</div>
                <div>DESCRIPTION FOR PRINT</div>
            </td>
        </tr>
        <!-- From here Actual Data of table start -->
        <tr>
            <th>Column 1</th>
            <th>Column 2</th>
            <th>Column 3</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <tr>
            <td>1-1</td>
            <td>1-2</td>
            <td>1-3</td>
        </tr>
        <tr>
            <td>2-1</td>
            <td>2-2</td>
            <td>2-3</td>
        </tr>
    </tbody>
</table>
user_61984290

@Daniel made a comment on the question in 2012 about the lack of support for the CSS3 features: top-center & bottom-center.

Well, In Chrome 73+, the following snippet works, where header and footer are <header></header> and <footer></footer> elements defined within the page.

@page {
    @top-center { content: element(header) }
}
@page { 
    @bottom-center { content: element(footer) }
}
user_35095910
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