Where can I position the page numbers?
PurePDF supports six standard positions: bottom centre (the most common default for reports and books), bottom right (common for academic papers and technical documents), bottom left, top centre, top right, and top left. The page number is placed in the margin area to avoid overlapping the main content. You can also adjust the margin offset — how far the number is from the edge of the page — to fine-tune the placement.
What page number formats are supported?
The available formats are: plain number (just "3"), "Page N" format ("Page 3"), "N of Total" format ("3 of 15"), and "Page N of Total" format ("Page 3 of 15"). The "of N" formats are useful for multi-page documents where the reader benefits from seeing the total count. For formal reports, "Page N of N" is a professional standard that helps confirm the document is complete when printed.
Can I start numbering from a number other than 1?
Yes. The starting number control lets you begin at any number. This is useful in several scenarios: your PDF is a chapter in a larger document and its pages should be numbered to continue from the previous chapter; you want to exclude a cover page from numbering by starting at 0 on the first page; or you are following a specific numbering convention required by your organisation or publication. Set the starting number and PurePDF applies the offset consistently across all pages.
Can I skip the cover page when adding page numbers?
Yes. Set the starting page number to 0 if you want the cover to show "0" (unusual) or use the page offset control. A common approach is to split the PDF first using PurePDF's Splitter — extract the cover page separately, add numbers starting from 1 to the remaining pages, then merge the cover back on top using the Merger tool. This ensures the cover is unnumbered while the rest of the document is correctly paginated.
Does adding page numbers affect text selectability?
Yes. PurePDF adds page numbers by re-rendering each page as a raster image with the number drawn on top. The resulting PDF consists of image layers, so native text selectability is not preserved in the output. The visual content of each page is preserved exactly as it appears — only the underlying text objects are affected. For documents where maintaining selectable text is essential, a desktop PDF editor would be more appropriate.
Are my PDF files uploaded to a server?
No. The entire page numbering process runs in your browser using PDF.js, Canvas, and pdf-lib — locally, without any data being transmitted to a server. Your document contents remain entirely on your device.
Can I choose the font and size of the page numbers?
Yes. The font size control lets you adjust the size of the page number text. Smaller sizes (10–11pt) are standard for unobtrusive numbering in the footer margin. Larger sizes (14–16pt) are appropriate when the page numbers need to be clearly visible, such as in large-format documents or presentations. The colour picker lets you choose any text colour — dark grey is standard for most documents, with black for higher contrast and light grey for a more subtle appearance.
What if my PDF already has page numbers printed in the content?
If your PDF already has page numbers as part of the page design (printed in the original, not added as an overlay), adding another set of page numbers with this tool will place additional numbers alongside the existing ones. This may result in duplicated numbering. If you want to replace the existing numbers, you would need to use a PDF editing tool that can selectively remove text layers before adding new numbers. PurePDF's page numbering tool is best suited for PDFs that do not already have page numbers.
How does the "N of Total" format calculate the total?
The total in "N of Total" and "Page N of Total" formats is the total number of pages in the PDF file. PurePDF reads the page count from the PDF structure and uses it as the denominator in the format string. This happens automatically — you do not need to enter the total manually. If you later add or remove pages from the document using other tools and want the total to be correct, simply re-add the page numbers to the updated document.
Is adding page numbers to a PDF free?
Yes, completely free. No account required, no file limits, no watermarks, no premium tier. PurePDF is free for all users.