LooPDF

Add Page Numbers to PDF

Add page numbers to your PDF in any format - arabic numerals (1, 2, 3), roman numerals (i, ii, iii), or letters (A, B, C).

Drop PDF file here or click to browse
Select a PDF file to add page numbers to
Eight formats

Add page numbers to a PDF in the style your document needs

Whether you call this a PDF number page tool or plain page numbering, it lets you insert page numbers to a PDF in eight styles, from plain digits to Roman numerals and letters. The examples show what page 7 of a 20-page file carries in each one.

Roman numerals suit front matter such as a preface or a table of contents, and letters suit appendices. A page label reads well in reports, and the style with the total makes a missing printed page stand out.

Digits

  • Plain: 7
  • Leading zero: 07
  • Page label: Page 7
  • With the total: 7/20

Roman, letters

  • Lowercase Roman: vii
  • Uppercase Roman: VII
  • Lowercase letter: g
  • Uppercase letter: G
Four steps

How to number PDF pages

  1. Add your PDF

    Drop it onto the dropzone or click to browse. Its page count and thumbnails appear once it loads.

  2. Pick format and position

    Choose a style under Page Number Format, then top or bottom and left, center or right under Position. Bottom Center is preselected.

  3. Set size and pages

    Font Size goes from 8 to 36. Enter a range such as 2-12 in Pages to Number to leave a cover unnumbered.

  4. Add and download

    Click Add Page Numbers to insert page numbers on every sheet, then save the numbered PDF.

How it works

What numbering does to your PDF

The tool copies every page of your PDF into a new document and writes each number onto its page as real text, set in Helvetica and printed in black. The numbers therefore print, can be selected and turn up in a search like the rest of the page's text.

Because the pages go into a new document, the original's bookmark list is not carried over, and neither are its title and author details. If a document needs both page numbers and bookmarks, number it first.

Each number is placed from its own page's size, 24 points, about 8.5 mm, in from the top or bottom edge, and from the side for left and right positions. A file that mixes page sizes gets its numbers in the same relative spot on every page, keeping pagination in a PDF consistent no matter the page size. A single file comes back under its original name.

Details

Page numbering settings in detail

  • Forgiving page ranges

    Pages to Number accepts ranges written backwards, like 9-5, ignores pages listed twice and skips numbers past the end of the file.

  • Long labels still fit

    A label too wide for its page, such as a Page label at a large size on a narrow page, is scaled down to fit, never below size 8.

  • Several files at once

    Drop more than one PDF and each is numbered in turn from your Starting Number. They come back in one ZIP, each under its own name, and a page range needs a single file.

  • Settings remembered

    Your format, position, font size and starting number are kept in this browser for your next visit.

Page numbering questions

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Still stuck? Contact us

Type it in Starting Number, written in the format you chose: 5, v or e all start the count at five. Roman numerals go up to 3999, and letters carry on after z with aa, ab and so on.

Yes. A number follows the page's position in the file, so with 1 as the Starting Number and 3-10 in Pages to Number, the first number printed is 3. To have page 3 read 1, number the body on its own after taking the first pages off with Split PDF, then join the parts again with Merge PDF.

Every page in the file, including any you leave unnumbered. The first figure adds your Starting Number, so keep the start at 1 with this format or the last page can read something like 24/20.

Yes. The option in the list reads in English, but the word printed on your pages follows the language the site is set to.

The tool doesn't look for empty space, so a number can sit on text or images that reach into the margin. Pick another position or a smaller Font Size and run it again on the original file.

Yes, by listing them in Pages to Number, for example 1, 3, 5, 7. There is no odd or even shortcut, so a long document needs the list typed out.

Not with this tool, since the numbers become part of each page's text. Keep the unnumbered original so you can number it again with other settings.

Not while the password is on it, because the file can't be opened for numbering. Remove it with Remove Password, add the numbers, then lock it again with Protect PDF if you need to.