Add Page Numbers to PDF – Any Format, Any Starting Number

Add page numbers to a PDF in the format you need

A printed document with no page numbers falls apart the first time someone drops the pile. A thesis, a bundle of annexures, a tender response or a set of scanned certificates all need numbers that stay in order, and that can be quoted in a sentence such as see page 14. This tool lets you add page numbers to a PDF online: choose the corner, the wording, the number to begin with, and download the numbered file.

It handles the cases ordinary page-numbering features trip over. The cover can be left clean. Numbering can begin at 5 because the first four pages are somebody else's. Front matter can use roman numerals, a page can read Page 3 of 12, and a bound booklet can carry its numbers on the outside edge of every sheet. Several PDFs can be numbered in one run, each with the same settings.

How to number the pages of a PDF

1. 1
   Drop the PDF onto the box, or click it to browse. You can add several PDFs; each one is numbered separately.
2. 2
   Choose the Format: 1, Page 1, 1 of 10, Page 1 of 10, 01, i, ii, iii, or My own wording.
3. 3
   If you chose My own wording, type it in Your wording. Write {n} where the number goes and {p} where the last number goes.
4. 4
   Set Start numbering at, and choose whether to Skip the first page so the cover stays clean.
5. 5
   Use Pages to limit the job, for example 2-20, and set the Margin from edge (pt), the Position and the Pages mode.
6. 6
   Adjust Font size, Font, Weight and Colour (hex) if you want something other than the plain grey default.
7. 7
   Press Preview page 1 with these settings, then Add Page Numbers, and download numbered.pdf.

What each format prints

The table shows what page 7 of a 20-page PDF reads for each format, with numbering starting at 1 and applied to all pages.

The last row came from the wording Annexure A, sheet {n} of {p}. The placeholders are not case-sensitive, so {N} works too.

How the numbers are placed on the page

Your PDF is opened in the browser with pdf-lib. A standard font is chosen (Helvetica, Times or Courier, regular or bold), the width of each label is measured at your font size, and the label is drawn on the page as ordinary text. Nothing underneath is moved or re-rendered, so the page keeps its text, links and form fields.

For a bottom position the baseline sits exactly your margin above the bottom edge. For a top position the text sits your margin plus one font size below the top edge. Centred labels are centred by their measured width; right-hand labels end the margin's distance from the right edge. The defaults are an 11-point font, dark grey (#595959) and a margin of 24 points, which is a third of an inch or 8.5 mm. That leaves comfortable room inside the area most office printers can reach.

Pages mode matters for double-sided printing. Single page keeps every number in the same corner. Facing pages puts the number on the outside edge: page 1 is a right-hand page, so odd pages get the right corner and even pages the left. The side comes from the page's position in the file, not from the number printed on it, and it only changes corner positions, not centred ones.

Start at, skip the cover and count from page two

The number printed and the page it lands on are separate settings, and the easiest way to see how they interact is with numbers.

Example one: a 12-page report with a cover. Choose the Page 1 of 10 format, set Skip the first page to Yes, and leave Start numbering at on 1. Page 1 stays blank. Page 2 reads Page 1 of 11 and page 12 reads Page 11 of 11. The total is 11 because only 11 pages were numbered, and the result note confirms that count.

Example two: a 12-page chapter that continues from another document. Set Start numbering at to 5 and choose 1 of 10 style. Page 1 reads 5 of 16 and page 12 reads 16 of 16. The {p} value is the last number printed, which is the starting number plus the count of numbered pages minus one: 5 + 12 − 1 = 16. It is not the length of the file, so if you want a total that matches the page count, start at 1.

Example three: a 20-page thesis with four pages of front matter. Run the tool once with Pages set to 1-4 and the roman format, giving i, ii, iii and iv. Download the result, add it again, and run a second time with Pages set to 5-20, the plain 1 format and Start numbering at 1. The body now reads 1 to 16, because counting begins at the first page the selection includes.

Facing pages with real coordinates

Suppose you are printing a 10-page booklet double-sided on A4 sheets, with Position set to Bottom right and Pages mode set to Facing pages, using roman numerals at 11 points. Page 2 is a left-hand page, so its numeral i sits at 24 points from the left edge. Page 3 is a right-hand page, so ii is drawn 24 points in from the right edge: its width is 4.9 points, which puts its left end at 595.28 − 4.9 − 24 = 566.4 points.

Every page is measured on its own. In a file that mixes portrait and landscape sheets, a landscape page 841.89 points wide has its bottom-centre number at its own middle, near 421 points, not at the portrait middle of 297.6.

Settings for common jobs

None of these needs more than two runs, and each can be previewed on page 1 before you commit to the whole file.

Reading the result

The result list shows a note such as 11 page(s) numbered, starting at 1. If you used facing pages it adds alternating to the outside edge. That count is your quickest check that the Pages and Skip the first page settings did what you meant. The file is named numbered.pdf for a single upload. With several uploads you get one file each, named after the original, and a button to download them all as a ZIP.

The numbers are printed on the page; they do not change the page counter in your PDF viewer, which still counts from 1 at the cover. Cost in size is small: a plain 12-page test file went from 12,646 to 14,941 bytes.

Common uses for numbered PDFs

• Theses, dissertations and project reports for college submission, where the preliminary pages use roman numerals and the chapters start at 1.
• Court and tribunal paper books, affidavits and annexures, where every sheet has to be cited by number.
• Tender, bid and loan applications built from many separate scans.
• Visa, admission and job-application bundles, where a reviewer is told page 6 holds the experience certificate.
• Printed booklets and handouts using facing pages, so the numbers sit on the outer edge.

Tips before you number

• Put the document in its final order first. Merge the files, reorder the pages and remove spare pages before numbering, because numbers do not adjust afterwards.
• If the page already has a footer, switch to a top position or raise the margin to clear it. The preview shows the clash at once.
• Keep the font between 10 and 12 points. Smaller numbers vanish on a photocopy, and larger ones compete with the content.
• Use Page 1 of 10 style for anything posted or couriered, so a missing sheet is obvious.
• For a header and a footer, run the tool twice with different positions.

Mistakes people make

• Numbering the separate PDFs and merging afterwards. Each one restarts at 1, so the merged file shows several runs of numbers.
• Running the tool twice on its own output with the same position. The new numbers print over the old ones.
• Entering 0 in Start numbering at. The first numbered page then reads 0, which is rarely what a reader expects. Use Skip the first page for an unnumbered cover instead.
• Choosing roman numerals with a starting number below 1. Roman has no zero, so those pages come out blank.
• Expecting {p} to equal the page count when the start number is not 1. See example two above.

Limits, privacy and related tools

The tool draws one label per page in one corner. It needs Latin characters and the three built-in fonts. It cannot create a table of contents, remove numbers that already exist, or change the PDF's internal page labels. Files up to 100 MB and 500 pages are accepted, and an encrypted PDF is refused until it has been unlocked.

All of this runs on your own device, with nothing uploaded to a Jobsixo server. Once numbering is done you might add a watermark such as DRAFT, reduce the file size for an upload portal, or build one chain that compresses, stamps and numbers a file in a single pass.