About add page numbers
Visible page numbers stamped onto a PDF are page content, not the page labels a reader may display in its navigation. Adding visible numbers means appending a small block of text-showing operators to each selected page's content stream, positioned in that page's own coordinate space, with a font resource registered in the page's resource dictionary. Two consequences follow. First, the numbers become part of the page like any other text: they are selectable, searchable and survive printing. Second, position must respect each page's geometry, since the origin sits at the bottom-left corner and a landscape or oversized page places its top-right corner somewhere quite different from an A4 portrait page. Existing content is never removed, so a number placed carelessly can land on top of a footer. The margin is adjustable and six top or bottom positions work, rather than assuming the bottom centre is free. The three middle positions still shown in the selector are unsupported and fall back to bottom centre.
How to add page numbers
- 01
Load the PDF
Drop in the document that needs numbering.
- 02
Place the number
Choose one of the six working top or bottom positions and set the margin so the number clears any existing header or footer. The three middle choices instead use bottom centre.
- 03
Choose a format and start value
Pick a plain number, “Page 1 of 12”, roman numerals or another style, and set the first number if you are continuing a sequence.
- 04
Stamp and download
Press the action button; the numbers are drawn on your device and the file is saved locally.
What this tool does
- Six working top or bottom positions rather than a fixed footer; middle choices fall back to bottom centre
- Five working formats including “Page n of total” and lowercase Roman numerals; the dash format produces a plain number
- Custom start value for continuing numbering across documents
- Page range support so front matter can be skipped
- Numbers are real text — selectable, searchable and print-safe
Limitations worth knowing
Every PDF tool has constraints. Stating them plainly is more useful than discovering them halfway through your work.
- Numbers are drawn on top of existing content and cannot detect what is already there, so check pages with busy footers.
- Once stamped, a number is ordinary page content. This tool cannot remove or replace it; rerun on the unnumbered original to change the numbering without overlaying another sequence.
- Reordering pages afterwards does not renumber them, because each number belongs to the page it was drawn on.
- Scanned pages with a dark background may need a larger size or a different position for the number to stay legible.
How your file is handled
This tool runs entirely inside this browser tab. When you choose a file, your browser reads it from your own disk and hands the bytes to JavaScript running on this page — no network request carries your document anywhere. You can confirm that yourself: open your browser’s developer tools, switch to the Network panel, and run the tool. You will see no upload.
Nothing is stored after the fact. Closing or reloading this tab discards the file, the result and everything derived from them, because none of it ever left your machine. Read how local processing works.
Questions about add page numbers
Can I skip the cover page and start numbering at 1 on page 3?
Yes. Enter the literal range 3-last so the first two pages are untouched, then set the start value to 1 so the third page prints as page 1. The counter follows the selected pages in the order you enter them, not their original page numbers.
Will the numbers update if I reorder pages later?
No. Each number is drawn into the content stream of a specific page and travels with it. Reorder the unnumbered original first, then number it. Running this tool again on an already numbered file adds another sequence without removing the old numbers.
Are the stamped numbers selectable text or an image?
Real text, drawn with the standard Helvetica font. The PDF references this standard font without embedding a font file. The numbers are searchable, copy correctly and stay crisp at any zoom or print resolution.
Why did my number land on top of the existing footer?
Stamping adds content without inspecting what is already on the page. Increase the margin, or pick a different anchor such as bottom right, and re-run on the original file.
Tools that pair with this one
- PDF Page NumberingContinue a number sequence across documents by setting each file's start value yourself.
- Merge PDFCombine several PDFs into a single document, in the order you choose.
- Organize PDFPut the pages of your document in the order you actually want.
- Watermark PDFDraw a text watermark across your pages, exactly where you want it.
- Reorder PDF PagesPut the pages of your document into the right sequence.
- Crop PDFTrim away margins, scanner borders and dead white space.
Read more about this
- How to add page numbers to a PDFNumbering is text stamped onto pages. The interesting part is making the printed number agree with what a reader expects on a document with front matter.5 min guide
- How to merge PDF filesJoining documents copies pages into a new PDF rather than re-rendering them. This guide covers the actual order controls and the document-level features that a merge cannot promise to preserve.5 min guide
- How to split a PDF into separate filesSplitting turns one document into many. This guide explains the three split methods, how to pick between them, and what each output does and does not inherit.5 min guide