Add Page Numbers
Insert page numbers into a PDF, choosing the position, the starting number and the format.
Processed on your device — no upload
How to add page numbers
- Choose the PDF you want to number.
- Pick a position and format, and say whether the cover page should be skipped.
- Press add. The numbered PDF downloads to your device.
How it works
Each number is drawn as real text onto the page, using a built-in font that every PDF reader already has. Because it is text rather than a picture, the numbers stay sharp at any zoom, they can be searched and selected, and they add only a few bytes per page.
Positioning is done in PDF points — 72 to the inch — measured from the bottom-left corner of each page, which is where the PDF coordinate system starts. The tool insets the number 28 points, a little under a centimetre, from the edges. For a centred position it measures the width of the number in the chosen font and subtracts half of it from the page centre, so “9” and “10 of 24” are both genuinely centred rather than merely starting at the same place.
Two settings do different jobs and are easy to confuse. Skip the first page controls whether the cover gets a number printed on it. Start numbering at controls what the first numbered page is called. A report whose cover is unnumbered but whose first chapter should read “1” needs skip enabled and start left at 1; a second volume continuing from page 120 needs start set to 121.
The numbers are painted over whatever is already on the page. If your document already has a footer, choose a position that does not collide with it — there is no way for the tool to know what is underneath.
A worked example
You have handbook.pdf: 48 pages, with a designed cover as page 1. The printer wants numbers in the bottom-right corner, and the cover must stay clean.
Choose the file. Set the position to Bottom right and the format to Page 1. Set Cover page to Skip the first page, and leave Start numbering at on 1.
Press Add numbers and download. You get handbook-numbered.pdf and the message Numbered 47 pages. The cover carries nothing; the page after it reads Page 1, and the final page reads Page 47.
Now a subtlety worth understanding. Had you chosen the 1 of 24 format instead, the total shown counts the pages actually numbered, not the pages in the file — so this document would read 1 of 47, not 1 of 48. That is the correct behaviour for a document with an unnumbered cover, and it is the detail most tools get wrong.
If the pages are not yet in the right sequence, put them in order with the reorder tool before numbering — otherwise the numbers will faithfully record the wrong order.
Questions
Is this the same as pagination?
Yes. The numbers are stamped onto each page as real content, so they survive printing and later editing. Putting a folio in the header or the footer is a position choice here.
Is my PDF uploaded to be numbered?
No. The numbers are drawn in your browser on your own device. This site is static files with no backend, so the document is never transmitted.
What is the difference between skipping the first page and changing the start number?
Skipping controls whether the cover gets a number printed on it. The start number controls what the first numbered page is called. A report with an unnumbered cover whose first chapter should read "1" needs skip on and start at 1.
Can I start numbering from something other than 1?
Yes. Set "Start numbering at" to any whole number — useful for a second volume that continues from where the first ended.
The numbers overlap my existing footer. What can I do?
Choose a different position. The tool draws on top of the page and cannot see what is already there, so pick a corner your layout leaves empty.
Are the numbers searchable and selectable?
Yes. They are drawn as real text in a standard font, not as images, so they behave like any other text in the document.
What does the "1 of N" format count?
The pages actually numbered, not the pages in the file. If you skipped a cover, a 48-page document reads "1 of 47" — which is what a reader of the numbered sequence expects.
Does it work on scanned documents?
Yes. The number is drawn over the page whether the content beneath is text or a scanned image.
How much does it add to the file size?
Almost nothing — a few bytes per page, since the font is one the reader already has and does not need embedding.