Adding Page Numbers to a PDF

Where Page Numbers Usually Go

There is no single rule, but a few placements cover most documents:

For double-sided printing, odd pages are right-hand pages and even pages are left-hand pages. With numbers in the outer corners, odd pages are numbered on the right and even pages on the left, so the numbers stay visible when the document is bound. In the LeedyBox tool, choose a right-hand position and turn on Mirror on facing pages. If a style guide, publisher or institution gives rules, follow those.

Covers and Front Matter

A cover or title page usually has no visible number. Whether it still counts depends on the convention you follow. In many books and reports the title page is page 1 without a printed number, so the next page shows 2. In others, numbering starts at 1 on the first page of the main text.

The LeedyBox tool supports both. Choose Skip the first pages and enter the number of unnumbered pages. Turn on Count the pages without a number if they should still count; leave it off to give the first numbered page the start number.

Longer documents often number front matter, such as the contents, preface and abstract, with lowercase Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) and restart at 1 with Arabic numerals where the main text begins. You can do this in two passes: number the front matter pages with Roman numerals using Selected pages, download the result, open that file again and number the remaining pages with Arabic numerals starting at 1.

"Page X of Y" and Other Formats

A plain number is the most common format. "Page 3 of 12" or "3 / 12" also tells readers how long the document is, which makes a missing page easy to notice. That is useful for contracts, forms, printed handouts and anything that is faxed or scanned page by page. Decorated styles such as "- 3 -" are mostly a matter of taste.

In the LeedyBox tool, {n} stands for the page number and {total} for the number on the last numbered page. If you skip a cover and do not count it, a 12-page file is numbered "Page 1 of 11" to "Page 11 of 11". You can write the words in any language, for example in Korean or Japanese. Characters outside the standard PDF fonts are then added as an image, which prints sharply but cannot be searched.

Continuing the Numbering of Another Document

When a document is split into several files, such as chapters, appendices or volumes, each file can continue where the previous one ended. If chapter 1 ends on page 24, number chapter 2 with a start number of 25. Keep in mind that {total} then refers to the last number in the current file, not the whole set. To number everything consistently, it can be simpler to merge the files first and number the combined PDF once.

Check Existing Headers and Footers

Many PDFs already contain text near the edges: an earlier page number, a running header, a company footer or a scanned page with numbers printed on it. New numbers are drawn on top of the page, so they overlap anything that is already there. Look at the preview, and scroll through the finished file. Pay attention to pages that differ from the rest, such as landscape tables, inserted scans or pages with full-bleed images, where a number may be hard to read.

Printing Margins and Binding

Most office and home printers cannot print right up to the edge of the paper. A margin of at least about 15 pt (around 5 mm) is safer, and 25 to 40 pt is common for footers. For bound documents, also leave room for the binding on the inner edge, which is another reason to put numbers on the outer side. Printing with "fit to page" scales every page, so numbers move slightly inwards. Print one or two test pages before printing the whole document.

To number your file, open Add Page Numbers. To mark a document as a draft or confidential copy, see Adding a Watermark to a PDF.

Frequently Asked Questions