← All articles
How to Add Page Numbers to a PDF
Tutorials · · 3 min read

How to Add Page Numbers to a PDF

Add page numbersto PDF documents to make reports, ebooks, contracts, and other files easier to navigate. With the right PDF tool, you can add page numbers to PDF files quickly and customize where the numbers appear on each page.

Position options

Bottom Centre is the conventional position for books and reports. Bottom Right is common in legal briefs and technical documents. Top Centre suits documents where the bottom edge is reserved for footnotes or signatures.

Customizing the numbering

Start from any number — useful when the PDF is a section of a larger document and the first page should be page 47. Font size 10–12 is standard for body text; 14–16 for large-print documents.

Skipping the cover page

PDFPuddle adds numbers to every page including the first. To skip the cover, split the cover off using Organize PDF (notation: d1,2,3,4...), add page numbers to the rest, then merge the cover back on with Merge PDF.

Pagination conventions

Standard convention: cover page unnumbered (or roman numeral i), front matter in roman numerals (ii, iii, iv), main content in arabic (1, 2, 3). For mixed numbering schemes, split into sections and number each separately.

Try Add Page Numbers →