Add Page Numbers to PDF

How to use the Add Page Numbers to PDF

1. Drop your PDF onto the box or click to choose it.
2. Click one of the six spots on the little page to choose where the number goes, then pick a format such as “Page 1 of N”.
3. Set the first number, font, size, color and distance from the edge. Limit numbering to a range or skip the cover page if needed.
4. Check the live preview, then click Add page numbers to download the numbered PDF.

Features

• Six positions: top or bottom, left, center or right
• Formats: 1, Page 1, Page 1 of N, 1 / N and - 1 -
• Custom first number, font, size, color and margin
• Number a page range and skip the cover page
• Live preview of the first numbered page
• Numbers stay upright on rotated and landscape pages

Why page numbers still matter

Page numbers let people talk about a document precisely: “see the table on page 14” works on a call, in a review comment and in a printed meeting pack. Courts and agencies often require numbered pages in filings, universities expect them in theses, and a “Page 3 of 12” footer shows at a glance that a contract or a faxed form arrived complete. Yet PDFs exported from scanners, design tools or merged from several sources frequently have no numbers at all.

Choosing a format

In the “of N” formats, N is the last number printed, so it stays correct when you skip a cover or number only part of the document.

First number, ranges and covers

The first page that gets a number shows your first number, and each following numbered page counts up by one. That covers three common needs:

• Skip a cover. Tick “Skip the first page” and the cover stays clean. With a first number of 1, the second page shows 1; set it to 2 if you want the cover counted.
• Number only the main text. Type a range such as 5-end to leave a title page, contents and preface unnumbered.
• Continue from another file. If chapter one ended on page 36, start chapter two at 37. When you later combine the files with Merge PDF, the numbering flows on.

Position, size and margin

Bottom center is the most neutral choice and works for single- and double-sided printing. Top or bottom right suits documents read on screen or printed on one side. Sizes between 9 and 12 points read comfortably without competing with the body text. Keep at least a quarter inch from the edge: many desktop printers cannot print right up to the paper edge, and binders and staples need room too. The preview shows exactly where the number will land on the first numbered page, using the font metrics of the real output.

How the numbers are added

Each number is written onto its page as real text in one of the standard PDF fonts (Helvetica, Times or Courier), so it is sharp at any zoom, selectable and searchable, and adds almost nothing to the file size. Pages that are rotated or in landscape are measured as they appear on screen, so the number sits where you expect and reads the right way up. The existing content of your pages is not altered or re-compressed.

Tips

• Number the final version: if you later reorder or remove pages with Organize PDF, the printed numbers will no longer be in sequence.
• If the document already has numbers in the footer, choose a different position or remove the old pages first.
• Want a label or stamp rather than numbers? Try Watermark PDF.

Frequently asked questions