Add page numbers in four steps
- Open PDF Page Numbers and choose the file. Its first page appears in a preview.
- Click one of the nine spots on the page and choose how the number reads, such as
1,Page 1 of 12or roman numerals. The default is a plain number at the bottom center. - If the first page is a cover, set Skip first to 1. Set a start number if the count should not begin at 1.
- Press Add page numbers, look at the result, and download the new file.
Number last. Numbers do not move when pages do, so finish merging, deleting and reordering first. The reasons are below.
Pick a format
| Format | Page 3 looks like | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Most documents |
| Page 1 | Page 3 | Reports and packets |
| Page 1 of 12 | Page 3 of 12 | Printed sets, where a missing sheet gets noticed |
| 1 / 12 | 3 / 12 | Tight margins |
| - 1 - | - 3 - | Letters and formal documents |
| Roman numerals | iii or III | Front matter such as a preface |
| Your own text | Seite 3 von 12 | Another language, or a label such as Exhibit 3 |
In your own text, {n} stands for the page's number and {N} for the number of the last page, so Seite {n} von {N} gives the German row above. The standard PDF fonts cover Western European letters, so é, ü, ñ and € work, while Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hebrew and Asian scripts do not. The tool says so instead of writing a wrong character. Roman numerals exist for 1 to 3999.
Skip the cover and choose where counting starts
Set Skip first to the number of pages that should stay bare. Then choose how to count:
- Start at 1 gives the first numbered page your start number. With a one page cover, the second page of the file is page 1.
- Keep real numbers counts from the first page of the file, so with a start number of 1 every page gets the number its place in the file gives it. The second page of the file is page 2.
The choice also changes the total in formats like Page 1 of 12, because the total is the number of the last page in that counting. For a 12 page file with a one page cover:
| Setting | Page 2 of the file shows | Last page shows |
|---|---|---|
| Start at 1 | Page 1 of 11 | Page 11 of 11 |
| Keep real numbers | Page 2 of 12 | Page 12 of 12 |
The start number can be anything from 1 to 9999, which helps when this file continues a longer document: start at 41 and the first numbered page shows 41. You can also number only some pages. Odd, even and ranges like 2-5, 8, 10- always refer to the pages as you see them in a viewer, so odd means pages 1, 3 and 5 of the file.
Roman numerals up front, normal numbers after
A preface in roman numerals and a body starting at 1 takes two passes. Number the front pages as a range with roman numerals. Then open the result again, skip those pages and number the rest, starting at 1. Look at the preview before each save.
Where the number goes
Click any of the nine spots in the 3 by 3 grid: the four corners, the middle of each edge and the center of the page. The margin is the distance from the page edge to the nearest edge of the number, and every page is measured on its own, so a file that mixes sizes gets the number the same distance from the edge on each page. For double sided printing, Mirror on even pages swaps the side on every even page. With a right hand spot the number sits on the outer edge of every spread: with the number at the bottom right, even pages get it at the bottom left.
The number is drawn on top of what is already there. If a page has a printed footer or the dark border of a scan in that margin, the number lands on it. Choose another spot or a bigger margin. The preview uses the same calculation as the saved file and warns when a number would run off a page.
Sideways and cropped pages are handled: the number goes in the corner you picked on the page as a reader sees it, and it reads upright. If a page only looks sideways because its picture is turned, turn it upright first, as in rotating a PDF and saving it.
Why a merged file has missing or wrong numbers
- The old numbers came along. A number printed on a page is part of the page, and merging copies pages. ClipLime draws new numbers over whatever is there and does not erase old ones, so pick a spot away from them.
- You numbered, then changed the pages. Delete pages with Remove pages from PDF and reorder them in Organize PDF first, then number. Numbers printed on the pages do not change when you remove a page, as the guide to deleting pages from a PDF explains.
- The viewer says something else. A viewer's own counter, such as 3 of 12 in the toolbar, comes from the file's structure and is not changed here, so it still counts the cover.
- Page labels did not survive. Labels stored in a file, which make a viewer show iii for the third page, are not carried over when pages are rearranged in Organize PDF. Print real numbers on the pages instead.
A sensible order for a packet: turn sideways scans, delete pages you do not need, reorder, combine the files, watermark it if it needs a DRAFT or CONFIDENTIAL label, number, and compress last if the file must fit an email.
What the numbers are, and what changes in the file
The numbers are real text in Helvetica, Times or Courier, bold or not, so they can be selected and searched. They are marked as page furniture, a header or footer at the top or bottom, as word processors mark them, so screen readers that honor those marks should skip them. Each adds about 200 bytes.
Pages, fonts, images, forms, links, bookmarks and the document information are copied as they are. The whole file is written again, so it is saved as PDF 1.7, a fast web view arrangement is lost (the file still opens normally), and a digital signature stops being valid, as it does after any edit. After saving, the tool opens the new file and reads the text of the numbered pages (a spread of up to 120 pages on a long file) to look for each number on its page. It cannot judge how the number looks on a busy page, which is what the preview is for.
PDFs with a password or permission settings are not supported, because ClipLime cannot decrypt files. If you still have the word processor document the PDF came from, numbering there is better for a single document, because the numbers follow your edits. This tool is for finished PDFs and merged packets.