Add page numbers to your PDF documents easily. Our free online tool makes it simple to paginate your PDFs with customizable options. No Signup Required.
Add customized page numbers to your PDF documents
Page numbering has a rich history dating back to ancient manuscripts where scribes added numbers to help bind pages in the correct order. The first printed book to include page numbers was "Sermo in festo praesentationis beatissimae Mariae virginis" in 1470, nearly two decades after Gutenberg's Bible. Interestingly, early page numbers were often placed in the margins rather than headers or footers. The Roman numeral tradition for front matter (preface, contents) paired with Arabic numerals for main content began in the 16th century. Studies show that documents with page numbers are referenced 42% more accurately in academic citations, and readers locate specific information approximately 60% faster in numbered documents compared to unnumbered ones.
PDF page numbering involves more complex processes than simply overlaying text. Modern PDF tools use content streams to inject numbering elements directly into the document structure, preserving vector quality at any zoom level. The process requires precise coordinate mapping within the PDF's transformation matrix, which uses a six-value array to define positioning. For browser-based tools, the implementation typically leverages PDF.js to parse the document structure and WebAssembly for performance-critical operations. Advanced numbering systems implement content-aware positioning algorithms that analyze page margins and existing elements to avoid overlapping text or images—requiring both content extraction and spatial analysis techniques to determine optimal placement coordinates.
Our PDF page numbering tool allows you to add customizable page numbers to your PDF documents. Simply upload your PDF, choose your numbering options (position, starting number, format), and download the numbered document.
Yes, you can upload PDF files up to 10MB in size. For larger files, we recommend compressing them first.
Most page numbering operations are completed within seconds. The exact time depends on the file size, number of pages, and your device's processing power, since all processing happens directly in your browser.
Yes, we take data security seriously. This tool processes your files entirely in your browser - your PDFs are never uploaded to our servers. This means your sensitive documents never leave your device, ensuring complete privacy and security.
Yes, you can customize the position (top/bottom, left/center/right), starting page number, font size, and style of the page numbers to suit your document's needs.
Adding page numbers to PDFs is useful for many purposes: making documents easier to navigate, referencing specific content in presentations or discussions, organizing lengthy reports, ensuring proper document assembly when printed, or meeting formatting requirements for academic or professional submissions.
No, we don't store any of your files. Since the processing happens entirely in your browser, your files never reach our servers. Once you close the browser tab or navigate away, all processed data is automatically cleared from your browser's memory.