Does it modify the original file?

No — you'll download a new file with numbers stamped on top of each page.

Can I add headers or footers too?

The current tool focuses on page numbers. We're adding header/footer support in an upcoming release.

Will the numbers print?

Yes — they're embedded as real PDF text and print like any other content.

How to Add Page Numbers to a PDF (Free)

Page numbers turn a PDF from a scroll of pages into a navigable document. Whether it's a thesis, contract, scanned book or report, adding numbers takes seconds — and you can customise the format, position and starting number to match your style.

Step-by-step

1Open the Add Page Numbers tool.
2Upload your PDF.
3Edit the format: "Page {n} of {total}" expands to "Page 3 of 12". Use just "{n}" for a clean number.
4Pick a position — bottom-right is standard for documents, bottom-center for books.
5Set a starting number (useful if your front matter is unnumbered).
6Click Add page numbers and download.

Format placeholders

{n} → the current page number
{total} → the total page count
Examples: "{n}", "— {n} —", "Page {n}", "{n} / {total}"

Pro tips

For books: bottom-center, format "{n}", size 10.
For legal contracts: bottom-right, format "Page {n} of {total}", size 9.
If your PDF has 4 unnumbered cover pages, set Start = -3 so the first numbered page is 1.
Re-run on the output to combine top + bottom numbering.

Style conventions by document type

Different document types have different page-number conventions, and following them quietly signals professionalism. Legal contracts almost always use "Page X of Y" at the bottom-right or center, in 9-point sans-serif — clear enough to scan but discreet. Books and ebooks put just the number in the bottom-center or alternating outer corners in 10-point. Academic papers and theses use bottom-center for body chapters and roman numerals (i, ii, iii) for front matter.

If you're stamping numbers onto a scanned book, match the page-number font style of the original (serif vs. sans, size, weight) so the new numbers don't look pasted on. The tool's font size control gives you that flexibility.

Handling front matter and appendices

Many documents have unnumbered front matter (title page, copyright, table of contents) and want numbering to start at the first body page. Set the Start value to a negative number so the first real page is 1. For example, with 4 unnumbered front pages, set Start = -3: pages will be numbered -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3… so the front matter sits in negative space (effectively invisible) and Chapter 1 starts at 1.

For appendices that should use a separate counter (A-1, A-2, A-3…), run the tool once on the body pages, then a second time on the appendices with a custom format like "A-{n}" and Start = 1.

Print-ready details

Bleed margin: keep page numbers at least 12–15mm from the page edge so cropping during printing doesn't clip them.
Spine side: for spine-bound documents, use outer corners (top-right on right pages, top-left on left pages) so numbers aren't hidden in the binding.
Header vs. footer: footer is the safer default. Headers fight with chapter titles, especially in older documents.

FAQ

Does it modify the original file?: No — you'll download a new file with numbers stamped on top of each page.
Can I add headers or footers too?: The current tool focuses on page numbers. We're adding header/footer support in an upcoming release.
Will the numbers print?: Yes — they're embedded as real PDF text and print like any other content.

How to Add Page Numbers to a PDF