Add page numbers to a PDF

How it works

1. Pick the corner. Bottom centre for a report, bottom right for anything that will be bound on the left and flicked through, top right for a document people will fan out on a desk.
2. Set the wording and where the count starts. Just the figure, or Page 1, or 1 of N. If the file is one chapter of something larger, set ‘start at’ to the number this chapter actually begins on.
3. Check the foot of a busy page. The number is drawn on top of whatever is already there. Open a page with a long footnote or an existing footer and make sure the new number is not sitting on it — move it or increase the margin if it is.

What the options do

The form above lists the options this tool is running today, straight from the server. This is what they are for.

Where to put the number

Six corners and centres, worked out in display coordinates and mapped back through whatever rotation the page carries — so bottom right is the bottom right the reader sees, even on a sideways scan. Bottom centre is the safest default because it collides with the least. Bottom right is the convention for anything bound on the left, since it is the corner a thumb uncovers. Avoid the top on documents that already carry a running header.

Wording

Four forms: the bare figure, Page 1, 1 of N, and Page 1 of N. The bare figure is right for a bundle where the number is a reference rather than a sentence. The ‘of N’ forms are for a document somebody might receive incomplete — an invoice, a contract, a fax — because a missing final page is invisible otherwise. Note what N is: the last number in the run you are stamping, not the number of pages in the file. Number every page starting from 1 and N is the page count; start at 40 and N will be 40 plus the pages stamped, minus one.

Start at

The figure printed on the first page you are numbering. Use it when this file is a section of a larger document and the numbering has to continue — chapter three starting at 47 — or when a cover and a contents page are counted but not printed on. It changes what is printed, not which pages are stamped: numbering pages 3 onwards with ‘start at’ left at 1 puts a 1 on the third sheet, which is usually a mistake. Set both together, or the printed number and the physical page drift apart.

Pages to number

Which sheets get a number. ‘3-’ is the common case: a cover and a contents page that should not carry one. You can also write 1-20, 5,9,13 or ‘odd’. The result says how many pages were numbered and the range that came out, which is worth reading — it is the quickest check that the ‘start at’ figure and the range agree with each other.

Text size (pt)

Between 4 and 72 points, 10 by default, which sits comfortably beside body text set at 10 or 11. Drop to 8 for something discreet in a formal document; 12 or 14 is for large-print work or a document that will be read at a distance. Above about 16 the number stops looking like a page number and starts looking like a heading in the wrong place.

Distance from the edge (mm)

The inset, 12 mm by default, measured from the page’s visible edge — its crop box — so a page you have already cropped is numbered relative to the new edge. At the foot the measurement runs to the baseline of the digits; at the head it runs to the top of them, which is where the eye reads the edge of a line of text. Do not go below about 5 mm: most desktop printers cannot print within 4 to 6 mm of the paper edge, and the number will simply be missing from the print.

What this tool does not do

• It does not know about numbers your pages already carry. A document that came with its own numbering ends up with two, in different places — there is no way to detect or replace the old one. Crop the old number off first if it is in the margin.
• One number in one position per run. For a number at the foot and a case reference at the head, add a header and footer as well, or run this a second time.
• The four wordings in the list are all there is. No roman numerals, no letters, no i–iv front matter, and no text of your own around the figure — a header or footer with the {page} token will do that.
• The numbers are drawn into the page and cannot be edited or removed afterwards in a reader. Keep the original if renumbering is at all likely.
• It does not set the document’s page labels, so the box your reader shows its own page number in still counts 1, 2, 3 regardless of what is printed on the paper.
• One typeface, one colour: Helvetica in black, at the size you choose.

What happens to your file

The file is uploaded because Add page numbers to PDF runs on our server rather than in the browser tab. It is kept for at most 2 hours and the result you download for 24 hours, then a scheduled job deletes both — a job has to be able to read the file while it runs, and you have to be able to retry a failed conversion without re-uploading. Neither needs longer.

Nothing about the contents is logged, and no one reads your documents. The retention page lists the same numbers the code enforces, and the privacy policy says who can reach the storage they sit in.

Questions

Can I leave the cover unnumbered but still have the second sheet be page 1?

Yes — set the pages to 2- and leave ‘start at’ at 1. The cover is skipped and the next sheet prints 1. If instead you want the cover counted but not printed on, set the pages to 2- and ‘start at’ to 2.

What exactly is N in “1 of N”?

The last number in the run you are stamping. Number every page from 1 and N is the document’s page count. Number pages 5 to 20 starting at 5 and N is 20. It is not the file’s total page count in any other case, which is what you want for a document produced in sections.

Can I use roman numerals for the front matter?

No. The four wordings offered are the ones here. For anything else, use the header and footer tool with the {page} token, which lets you write your own text around the figure — though it too will only give you arabic numerals.

The number is landing on top of my footer.

Move it to a different corner, or increase the distance from the edge so it clears the existing line. Nothing is moved out of the way for it: the number is drawn on top of the page exactly where you asked for it.

Can I take the numbers off again?

Not with this tool. They become part of the page’s content, indistinguishable from anything else printed on it. Keep the unnumbered original, which is worth doing anyway if the document might be reordered later.

Is this the right tool for a disclosure bundle?

Probably not. A production wants Bates numbering — a fixed-width, zero-padded reference with a prefix, stamped on every page without exception — which is a different tool here and is built to those rules.