Add page numbers to PDF

Pick a format: just the number, “Page 3”, “3 of 12” or “Page 3 of 12”. Where the format says “of”, the last number is the one the last numbered page shows, so a PDF that starts at 1 ends with its page count.

Six places are on offer, left, centre or right at the top or the bottom of the page. For a PDF you will print on both sides, turn on Facing pages: even pages swap sides, so the numbers sit at the outer edge of every spread.

Set the size in points, the distance from the page’s edge, a font (sans, serif or mono, regular or bold) and a colour. The preview moves as you change them, and nothing is saved until you press Number.

The first number is 1 unless you set another. To leave a cover or a title page bare, skip the first page or two: the first numbered page shows the first number, so the cover doesn’t use one up.

To number only some pages, type them in the Pages field, such as 3-10, 12. Pages the PDF doesn’t have are left out, so one setting works for several PDFs of different lengths.

Several PDFs can be numbered at once: each one’s numbers start again from the first number. Each PDF saves as a copy named after it, like report-numbered.pdf.

Each number is real text added to the page, so it can be selected and searched. Everything already on the page stays: text, photos, drawings, links and fillable form fields, and the PDF’s bookmarks and title.

Rotated pages and pages with a crop box get their number at the edge you see, not at the edge of the stored page. A digital signature no longer checks out afterwards, as after any change to a signed file.

A PDF protected with a password asks for it on the file before it opens, and the numbered copy has no password. One whose owner doesn’t allow changes says so: Unlock PDF takes that off first, and the others are numbered as usual.