Add Page Numbers to PDF

How to add page numbers to a PDF

1. Drop a PDF file on the drop zone, or click it to choose one. A preview of the first numbered page appears under Preview.
2. Under Position, pick one of six spots: Top left, Top center, Top right, Bottom left, Bottom center or Bottom right.
3. Choose a Format: 1, Page 1, 1 / 10 or Page 1 of 10. Under Language of the text, choose English (“Page 1 of 10”) or French (“Page 1 sur 10”). On pages of this tool in another Latin-script language, such as German or Spanish, that language is offered too.
4. Set the Starting number and the Pages to skip at the start, for example 1 to leave a cover page blank.
5. Adjust the Font size (pt) and the Distance from the edge (mm) if needed. The preview follows every change.
6. Click Add page numbers, then Download. The file is named after the original, for example thesis_numbered.pdf.

Skipping pages and choosing the first number

Skipped pages are left without a number and don’t count. With Pages to skip at the start set to 2 and Starting number set to 1, page 3 of the file shows “1”, page 4 shows “2”, and so on. This is what you want for a document with a cover and a table of contents.

Change the Starting number when the PDF continues another document: a second chapter that starts at page 37, for instance. The starting number can also be 0.

In the formats with a total (1 / 10 and Page 1 of 10), the total is the last number printed, not the number of pages in the file. A 12-page file with 2 skipped pages and a start of 1 reads “1 / 10” to “10 / 10”, which matches what a reader expects.

Rotated and cropped pages

The numbers are placed on the page as it is displayed. If a page is stored sideways and shown in landscape, or if it has been cropped, the tool works out where the visible corners and edges are, positions the number inside the visible area, and turns the text so it reads the right way up. A document mixing portrait and landscape pages is numbered consistently.

Font, size and placement

The numbers use Helvetica, one of the standard PDF fonts, in black. It’s clean, readable, and adds almost nothing to the file size because every PDF reader already knows it. The size is set in points, from 4 to 72 pt; 9 to 12 pt suits most documents. The distance from the edge, from 0 to 100 mm, applies to the top or bottom edge and, for the left and right positions, to the side edge as well. About 10 mm keeps the number clear of most printers’ unprintable border.

The numbers are added on top of the existing content. The rest of the page is left untouched: text stays selectable and images aren’t recompressed. If a page already has something printed in that spot, pick another position or a larger distance from the edge.