A bundle with a cover and contents page
Set the first numbered page to 3 and the starting number to 1. The first two sheets stay clean and the body begins at one, which is the convention for submissions.
Add Page Numbers to PDF
Stamp page numbers onto an existing PDF in your browser.
Maintained by Roshan.
Use Add Page Numbers to PDF
Stamps page numbers onto an existing PDF. The document is edited in place on this device, so fillable form fields keep working.
Rotated pages are handledA page saved at 90 degrees stores its width and height the other way round. Numbers are placed against the page as the reader sees it, so a landscape scan does not end up numbered sideways in the middle.
During the latest release check, a two-page PDF was parsed in the browser, page-number previews rendered, and the numbered PDF was produced as a local download.
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Browse all pdf toolsAbout Add Page Numbers to PDF
Documents assembled from several sources arrive without numbering, and numbering is what makes them usable: a court bundle, a tender submission, a set of appendices that someone has to cite in a meeting. Adding numbers after assembly is the normal workflow, because numbering before merging produces several sequences that all start at one. Two details separate a tool that does this properly from one that does not. The first is control over where numbering starts, since a title page and a contents page conventionally carry no number and the body begins at one regardless of its physical position. The second is rotation. A page saved at ninety degrees stores its width and height the other way round, and a number placed without accounting for that lands sideways in the middle of the sheet.
What happens to the PDF
- The PDF is opened in this tab and its pages counted. The document is then edited in place rather than rebuilt, which is what allows form fields to keep working.
- A standard Helvetica font is embedded so the numbers render identically everywhere, without depending on fonts installed on the reader's machine.
- Each page's own dimensions are read individually, so a document mixing portrait and landscape sheets is numbered correctly throughout rather than against a single assumed size.
- Rotation is detected and compensated for. Width and height are swapped for quarter turns and the number is rotated to match, so it appears at the foot of the page as the reader sees it.
- The starting number and the first page to be numbered are applied separately, so front matter can be skipped while the body still begins at one.
Common add page numbers to pdf jobs
Continuing numbering across two files
If the first part ended at 40, set the second document's starting number to 41 so the two read as one sequence.
Check before relying on the PDF
- Numbers are drawn on top of the existing content. A page with text already close to the edge may end up with the number overlapping it; move the position to a different corner if that happens.
- Existing page numbers are not detected or removed. If the document already has some, you will end up with two sets.
- The number is graphics, not metadata. It will not appear in a viewer's page thumbnail labels or navigation controls.
- Roman numerals, letters and section-prefixed numbering are not offered. The formats available are a plain number and a number with the total.
- A digital signature is invalidated by any modification, including this one. Form fields do survive, because the document is edited in place rather than rebuilt.
Questions about Add Page Numbers to PDF
Can I skip the cover page?
Yes. Set the first numbered page to 2 or later. Anything before it is left untouched, and you can independently choose what number the sequence starts from.
Will numbers appear correctly on landscape pages?
Yes. Each page's rotation is read and the number is placed and rotated to match, so a landscape scan is numbered along its visible bottom edge.
Do my form fields keep working?
Yes. The document is edited in place rather than copied into a new one, which is what preserves the form.
Can I use Roman numerals?
Not currently. The available formats are a plain number and the number with the total, such as 3 of 12.
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