Page numbers are one of those things nobody notices until they're missing. Then someone in a meeting says "see the table on page 12" and half the room is counting pages with their finger.
If the PDF came from a Word file, the cleanest fix is adding numbers in Word and exporting again. When you don't have the source, or the PDF was stitched together from several files, Page numbers stamps them onto the pages directly. It runs in your browser, so the file isn't uploaded.
How a page number gets into a PDF
A PDF has no idea what a footer is. There's no reserved space at the bottom of the page and no field waiting for a number. A page is a set of drawing instructions, and adding a page number means adding one more: draw this text, in this font, at this point.
That has two consequences worth knowing. First, the number is real text. It's drawn with an embedded font, so it prints sharp and can be searched and copied. Second, the tool can't see what's already at that spot. If the original has a line of text near the bottom edge, a number placed there will sit right on top of it, which is what "Document margins" (below) is for.
The position is measured on the page as you see it. A wide page, or one stored with a rotation, still gets its number at the visual bottom rather than down the side.
Adding page numbers step by step
- Open Page numbers and add your PDF. The thumbnails show a live preview of each number.
- Pick a "Style", such as "1, 2, 3", "Page 1, Page 2" or "Page 2 of 45".
- Choose a "Location". There are nine: header, middle and footer, each left, centre or right.
- Set the "Font", "Size" and "Color" if the defaults don't suit the document.
- Click "Add page numbers" and download the file, saved as numbered-yourfile.pdf.
Check the location before anything else. The tool starts on "Header center", top middle of the page, with "Page {n} of {total}" in 10 pt Times New Roman. Most documents look more natural with "Footer center" or "Footer right", and reports usually go for the bottom right.
The Text box and what the placeholders do
Choosing a Style fills in the "Text" box, and you can edit it freely. {n} is the page number and {total} is the number the last page of the document gets. {filename} and {date} work too, the date being today's in YYYY-MM-DD form. Text with no placeholders is stamped as it is, which is how the "Text label on each page" style puts "Draft version" on every page.
So "Appendix B, page {n}" or "{filename} | {n}" are both fine. The "Numbers" menu changes how the numbers are written: "1, 2, 3", "i, ii, iii", "I, II, III" or "A, B, C". Lowercase Roman numerals are the traditional choice for a preface or introduction.
If the text is wider than the page, it's shrunk to fit rather than cut off. On a normal page you'd need a very long line for that to kick in.
Skipping the cover page
Most documents shouldn't have a number on the cover. Open "More options" and use the two fields there:
- "Apply only to pages" takes ranges like "2-last", "3-10", "5-", "odd" or "even". Leave it empty to number every page.
- "Start numbering from" is the number shown on the first numbered page.
For a 20-page report with a cover, set "Apply only to pages" to "2-last" and leave the start at 1. Page 2 of the file gets "Page 1 of 19" and the last page gets "Page 19 of 19". Notice that {total} is the number the last page of the file gets under the same count, not the number of pages in the file. That's nearly always what you want, since a reader looking at "of 20" on the final page would go looking for a missing one.
After the first numbered page, the numbers follow the pages of the file, including any you leave out. With "1-5, 8-last" the fold-out pages 6 and 7 stay blank and page 8 still reads 8, and with "odd" the pages read 1, 3, 5 and so on. {total} counts the pages you leave out too, so "odd" on a 10-page file gives "Page 9 of 10" on page 9, and "1-5, 8-last" ends with "of 10" as well.
Starting from a higher number is for documents that continue an earlier part. If volume 1 ended on page 30, start volume 2 at 31.
Keeping numbers off the text
"Distance from edge (pt)" sets how far the number sits from the edge of the page, 20 points by default. There are 72 points in an inch, so 20 pt is about 7 mm. Plenty of documents have nothing that close to the edge.
Some do, though. Scans often run right to the edge, and slides exported to PDF tend to have footers of their own. For those, set "Document margins" to "Increase margins". It shrinks the page content slightly so the number sits in clear space, while the page size stays the same. The thumbnails show the effect before you commit. It only works for header and footer locations, since there's no free band to make in the middle of a page.
Header & footer and Bates numbering
Page numbers puts one line of text in one spot. If you want a document title at the top and a number at the bottom in a single pass, use Header & footer instead. It has six boxes (left, centre and right, for both header and footer), each with its own text, and the same placeholders, with {page} for the page number.
For legal document sets, Bates numbering stamps a fixed-width number like ABC000001 on every page, with a "Prefix:", "Suffix:" and "Digits:" (six by default). You can add several files and the numbering runs across all of them in the order shown. See the guide on Bates numbering if you need the details.
Things it won't do, and why to number last
It won't remove or renumber page numbers that are already printed on the pages. New numbers are added alongside them. If you need to hide old ones, Edit PDF can cover them with a white box first, though that only covers them up.
Running it twice adds a second set rather than updating the first. Keep the un-numbered original, and if you need to change something, start again from that copy.
Password-protected files open here once you type the password, but the numbered copy is saved without one. Use Protect PDF afterwards if it needs a password again.
And because page numbers become part of each page, they don't follow the pages around. Merge the files, put the pages in order, delete the blanks, then number. Do it the other way round and you'll end up with page 7 sitting between 3 and 4. The guides on merging PDFs and rearranging and deleting pages cover those earlier steps.
Also useful: Header & footer · Bates numbering
