How to add page numbers to a PDF
- Select Choose file or drop your PDF on the box.
- Choose a Position from the six choices: bottom or top, left, center or right.
- Choose a Format:
1,Page 1or1 of N. Set the First page number and the Font size. - Tick Leave the first page without a number if the first page is a cover.
- Select Download. The new file ends in
-numbered.
What you get
A copy of your PDF with a small dark number on each page, set 28 points (about 10 millimeters) from the edge in the Helvetica font. The existing content is not touched, so text stays selectable and the file size grows only slightly. For 1 of N, N is the number the last page receives, so with a start number of 1 it equals the page count.
Cover pages and starting numbers
Page numbers follow the physical pages. With the cover skipped and the first number at 1, the second page reads 2. To make the second page read 1, set the first number to 0. To continue numbering from a previous document, set the first number to the value that page 1 should show, for example 21.
Good uses
Numbering a thesis, a legal bundle, a printed manual or exam papers. Page numbers help readers, judges and examiners refer to a precise page, and many submissions require them.
Tips
- Merge your documents first with Merge PDF, then number the combined file so the numbers run straight through.
- Rotate sideways pages first with Rotate PDF, although numbers also follow rotation automatically.
- Mark pages as draft or confidential with the Watermark PDF tool.
- Check the page count beforehand with the PDF page counter.
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