Add page numbers to PDF

Why number a PDF after the fact

Page numbers are easy to forget until someone needs to refer to a specific page. Typical cases:

• A bundle built from several sources, such as a tender submission or a court filing, where each part had its own numbering or none at all.
• A scanned document that will be discussed in a meeting: "see page 14" only works if page 14 is labelled.
• Exhibits and appendices that must be numbered continuously after the main text.
• A thesis or report exported in parts that has to look consistent once combined.

Numbers are especially important for printed copies. Once a stack of loose sheets is dropped, unnumbered pages are hard to put back in order.

The options and what they produce

Position

Five placements are available: bottom center, bottom left, bottom right, top center and top right. Each sits about 10 mm (28 points) from the edges of the page. Bottom center is the convention for most documents; top right suits legal and business documents where a footer already carries other text.

Format

• 1 is the plain number.
• 1 / 10 and Page 1 of 10 include the total, so a reader can tell immediately if a page is missing.
• - 1 - is a traditional style common in manuscripts.
• Page 1 adds a word without the total.

Start at

The first page gets this number and every following page counts up from it. This is how you continue numbering across files: if part one ends on page 37, number part two starting at 38.

The total in 1 / 10 and Page 1 of 10 is the last number printed, not the page count of the file. A 10-page file starting at 38 is numbered "38 / 47" through "47 / 47". That keeps formats with a total consistent when a document is split across several files.

Font size

Any value from 6 to 48 points, default 12. For comparison, body text in most documents is 10 to 12 pt. A size of 9 or 10 looks discreet on A4 or Letter; 14 to 18 works on slides exported to PDF, which are viewed from further away.

What the numbers look like

The label is drawn in a bold sans-serif font in dark grey, which reads clearly on white paper without competing with headings. The font is embedded in the file, so numbers look the same in every viewer and printer.

The number is added as real text on top of the existing page. It does not cover anything with a white box, and the rest of the page is not modified, so the original text stays selectable and the file grows only by a few kilobytes for the font.

Because nothing is erased, check that the chosen corner is empty. If the original already has a footer with a logo or old numbering in the bottom center, pick top right instead so the two do not overlap.

Numbering everything except the cover

Every page in the file receives a number, including the title page. To leave the cover unnumbered, which is common for reports and theses:

1. Use split PDF with ranges 1, 2-60 to separate the cover from the body.
2. Number the body part here with Start at set to 2, so the first body page shows 2 as if the cover had been counted.
3. Join the cover and the numbered body with merge PDF.

The same pattern works for front matter: split it off, leave it as is, and number the main text starting at 1.

Practical tips

• Remove unwanted pages first. Numbers are stamped permanently. If you later delete a page, the sequence will have a gap.
• Merge before you number when assembling a bundle, so numbering is continuous across all parts in one pass.
• Several files at once get the same settings, each numbered independently from the Start at value. Set the options before dropping the files.
• Scanned pages work the same way as digital ones; the number is drawn on top of the page image.
• Files up to 100 MB each are accepted, results are saved with -numbered added to the name, and nothing leaves your device.