Choose a PDF, decide where the numbers go and how they read, and download it with every page numbered. Six positions are available, the top and bottom corners plus the centre of each edge, along with four formats: a plain 1, 1 of 12, Page 1, or Page 1 of 12.
The two settings people most often need are both here. You can start numbering on a later page, so a cover or title page stays clean, and you can start counting from any value, which is what you want when a document continues from an earlier one or an appendix should begin at 41.
Numbers are placed on each page as you see it. A landscape page in the middle of a portrait report gets its number at the bottom of the landscape view, not up the side, which is where many numbering tools put it.
How to add Page Numbers
- Add your PDF. Drop it on the box above or tap to choose it. One file at a time, up to 100 MB.
- Pick a position and format. Bottom centre with a plain number is the most common. Page 1 of 12 suits forms and contracts.
- Set where numbering starts. Choose the page that gets the first number and the number it shows. To skip a cover, start on page 2 at number 1.
- Number and download. Adjust the text size if you need to. The default of 11 points matches most body text.
Skipping a cover or starting from another number
Two settings work together here. Start numbering on page picks the first page in the file that gets a number. First number is the value printed on that page. Everything after it counts up by one.
To leave a cover unnumbered and have the first page of content show 1, start on page 2 with first number 1. To skip a cover and a contents page, start on page 3. To match a printed book where the cover counts as page 1 but does not show it, start on page 2 with first number 2.
For the “1 of 12” formats, the total is the last number that will be printed, not the number of pages in the file. Skip a cover in a 13-page file and the numbers run from 1 of 12 to 12 of 12, which is what a reader expects.
Where the number sits
Numbers are placed about 10 millimetres in from the edge, a little less on very small pages, in a neutral dark grey that prints cleanly in black and white. Corner positions line up with that same margin, so a number in the bottom right sits the same distance from both edges.
For a document that will be printed double-sided and bound, the centre positions are the safe choice. Corner numbers stay in the same corner on every page, so on a left-hand page they end up near the spine. Mirrored numbering, alternating outside corners on odd and even pages, is not available yet.
Text size runs from 6 to 32 points. Match it to the document: 9 to 11 for reports and letters, larger for slides exported to PDF, where 11 point numbers look lost on a widescreen page.
Limits worth knowing
Existing numbers are not detected. If the document already has page numbers, new ones are added alongside them. Pick a different position from the existing numbers, or the two will overlap.
Arabic numerals only. Roman numerals for front matter, such as i, ii and iii, are not available. A common workaround is to number the main body here, starting on the first page after the preface.
Numbers are real text. They stay sharp at any zoom, print cleanly, and can be selected and searched like the rest of the page.
Questions people actually ask
How do I add page numbers but skip the first page?
Set Start numbering on page to 2 and leave First number at 1. The first page stays blank and the second page shows 1. To skip two pages, a cover and a contents page for example, start on page 3 instead. The numbers then count up from there to the end.
Can I show "Page 1 of 10" on each page?
Yes. Choose Page 1 of 12 in the format list; the example only shows the style. The total is the last number printed, so if you skip a cover, a 13-page file is numbered Page 1 of 12 through Page 12 of 12 rather than counting the unnumbered cover.
Can numbering start at a number other than 1?
Yes. Set First number to whatever the first numbered page should show, anywhere from 0 to 9999. This is useful when a document continues from another one, or when an appendix supplied as a separate file should carry on from the page where the main report ended.
Will the numbers be in the right place on landscape pages?
Yes. Each page is numbered as it appears on screen, so a landscape page gets its number along the bottom of the landscape view. That includes pages stored as portrait and rotated for display, which is how many scanners and some office programs save landscape pages.
My PDF already has page numbers. What will happen?
New numbers are added and the old ones stay, because existing numbers are part of the page content and cannot be told apart from other text. Choose a position that does not clash with the old numbers, or remove them in the original document before exporting it to PDF again.