PDF Page Numbers
A report, a thesis or a pile of scanned receipts is easier to print, staple and discuss once every sheet carries its number. Choose the spot, check the preview of page 1 and save a numbered copy.
Add one PDF to number.
or drop a file here
Your PDF is handled inside this browser tab and is never uploaded.
How to use it
- Drop one PDF on the page, or find it with ‘Choose a file’. The options and a ‘Preview of page 1’ appear once the file has loaded.
- Under ‘Position’, pick where the number goes: ‘Bottom left’, ‘Bottom center’, ‘Bottom right’, ‘Top center’ or ‘Top right’. It starts on ‘Bottom center’.
- ‘Style’ sets how the number reads: 1 on its own, 1 / 10 with the last number after a slash, or - 1 - between dashes. ‘Text size’ is ‘Small’, ‘Medium’ or ‘Large’.
- In ‘Start at’, enter the number the first numbered page should carry, from 1 to 9999. Tick ‘Skip the first page (cover)’ to leave page 1 bare and begin the count on page 2.
- Watch the preview, which redraws after every change, then click ‘Add page numbers’.
- Click ‘Download’. The numbered copy keeps your file name with -numbered added.
What it does
Five places on the page
Three spots along the bottom edge and two along the top; there is no top left. The digits sit about 0.4 inch (10 mm) in from the edge on a Letter or A4 page, and the gap grows or shrinks with the page size.
Three styles
The number can stand alone (3), carry the last number after a slash (3 / 12) or sit between dashes (- 3 -).
Any starting number
‘Start at’ takes a whole number from 1 to 9999. If the file continues a longer document, enter the number its first page should carry and the pages after it count up from there.
A cover left bare
‘Skip the first page (cover)’ gives page 1 no number and page 2 your starting number. The preview still draws a sample on page 1 so you can judge the position, but the saved file leaves that page clean.
Real text in three sizes
‘Small’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Large’ are 9, 11 and 15 points, set in near-black Helvetica. The digits are text on the page, not a picture, so they stay sharp when you zoom or print.
Your last choices are remembered
Position, style and size are kept in this browser for next time. ‘Start at’ and the cover tick begin fresh on every visit.
Good to know
A numbered page has an address that everyone shares, whether it comes up in a meeting, an email thread or a note in the margin. That helps most with a report, a thesis, a contract assembled from several files, or an expense claim backed by scanned receipts. If the pieces are still separate files, put them in order with Merge PDF first and number the single result.
Every page is numbered, except the cover if you skip it. There is no page range here, so for numbers on only part of a file use PDF Header & Footer, where {page} still prints each page’s true number. The numbers are plain digits: Roman numerals, letters and wording such as Page 3 of 12 are not offered, though PDF Header & Footer can write Page {page} of {total} for you.
The number is drawn in the margin, so look at the preview. A scan cropped tight to the edge, or a page that already has a footer, can collide with it; try another position or ‘Small’. The preview shows page 1 only. A page that the file stores rotated still gets an upright number, placed by how the page looks on screen. Your original file is not changed; the numbered copy is a new PDF.
Questions and answers
Can the title page stay unnumbered?
Yes. Tick ‘Skip the first page (cover)’. Page 1 stays bare and page 2 carries the number from ‘Start at’, which is 1 unless you changed it.
Can I show Page 3 of 12, or use Roman numerals?
Not here. The styles are 3, 3 / 12 and - 3 -, and the numbers are plain digits, so Roman numerals and letters are not available. PDF Header & Footer prints Page {page} of {total} if you type that into a footer box.
Can I number only some pages?
Not in this tool: every page gets a number, apart from an optional cover. PDF Header & Footer has a page range, and its {page} placeholder still shows each page’s true number.
The number lands on my text. What now?
Look at the preview before you save, then try another position, such as the top, or pick ‘Small’. The preview covers page 1 only, so glance at the saved copy if later pages are laid out differently.
What does the second figure in 1 / 10 mean?
It is the number the last numbered page will carry. Counting from 1 with no skipped cover, it equals the page count. Start a 10-page file at 5 and it reads 5 / 14 on the first page and 14 / 14 on the last. Skip the cover of a 10-page file that starts at 1 and its second page reads 1 / 9.
Is my PDF uploaded, and is the original changed?
Nothing is uploaded: the numbers are added inside your browser tab. They go into a separate file, so your original stays exactly as it was.