Add Page Numbers to PDF

Every page gets a label in the form 3 / 12: the page's position in the file, a slash, and the total page count. It's set in 10-point Helvetica in mid grey, centred across the page, with its baseline 18 points (a quarter of an inch, about 6.35 mm) above the bottom edge.

There are no settings for position, font, size, start number or format such as “Page 3 of 12”. Every page is numbered, including the cover. The file downloads as numbered.pdf.

The number is drawn on top of whatever is already at the bottom of the page. If your document already has a centred footer, such as old page numbers, a URL or a confidentiality notice, the two will overlap. Check one page before you send it.

On scans with a dark border or shadow along the bottom, the grey number can be hard to read. Cropping the scan or rescanning with a white margin helps.

The number is placed using the page's own unrotated layout. If a page has a rotation setting, for example because it was turned with Rotate PDF Pages or the scanner stored it sideways, the number turns with it and can end up along a side edge instead of at the bottom. If that happens on a few landscape pages, it's this effect, not a fault in the file.

Numbering uses the page count of the file you give it, so combine everything first. Merge the cover letter, report and appendices with Merge PDF Files, then number the merged file, and the labels will run 1 / 30 to 30 / 30 across the whole set.

This tool edits the document itself instead of rebuilding it, so bookmarks, form fields and the document title are kept. Saving rewrites the file, though, so a digital signature will show as invalid, and on an encrypted PDF the added numbers may display as garbage. The work happens in your browser; nothing is uploaded.