How to add page numbers to a PDF
Page numbers are easy to forget until someone on a call says “turn to page twelve” and nobody can find it. Adding them to a finished PDF is quick; the useful part is getting the details right — which corner, which pages, and which number to start from.
Updated September 15, 20265 min read
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How to add page numbers, step by step
Thumbnails show the existing layout, so you can see which corner is actually empty.
- Open Add Page Numbers and add the PDF.
- Choose where the numbers sit along the top or bottom of the page.
- Set the number to start from and which pages get one.
- Run the tool and download the numbered document.
For a report with an unnumbered cover, leave the cover out of the page range and set the start number to 1, so the first page of the body is page 1.
Things worth knowing first
Numbers are drawn onto the pages as real content, so they print and survive being emailed. Nothing already on the page is moved to make room.
Existing printed numbers are not detected or replaced. If the pages already carry numbers, put the new ones somewhere else, or the two will overlap.
Bates numbering for legal documents
Ordinary page numbers restart in every file. A legal production needs numbers that are unique across the whole set, so each page can be cited exactly. Bates numbering stamps a prefix and a fixed number of digits, such as ABC-000001, running continuously across all the documents you add. When a production arrives in stages, set the starting number to where the last batch ended.