Add Page Numbers to PDF, Headers & Footers

About Add Page Numbers to PDF, Headers & Footers

A PDF has two different ideas of “page 3”. One is the number printed on the page — characters drawn inside the page content. The other is the page label a viewer shows in its page-number box. This tool adds the first kind: real text at one of nine positions, so it prints and is searchable. By default it also writes the second kind to match.

There are three tabs: plain page numbers; a header and footer tab that adds title, date, logo and a confidentiality line in one pass; and Bates numbering, which stamps a continuous sequence across several files. All three place text relative to the page's visible area (the CropBox) and its rotation, so on a page turned to landscape the number still sits upright at the bottom as you see it.

Printed numbers and page labels are independent

Page labels (ISO 32000-1, section 12.4.2) are stored in the document catalog as rules such as “pages 1–4 are i–iv, then 1, 2, 3 from page 5”. The viewer's page box and “go to page” use them. They are stored separately from the digits drawn on the page, so drawing numbers alone can leave the two out of step.

Without labels, skipping two cover pages and starting the body at 1 leaves the printed number saying 1 while the viewer says page 3 — a common source of confusion when someone in a meeting says “look at page 3”. So “Make the viewer’s page numbers match” (on by default) writes page labels that follow the same rule as the printed numbers: uncounted covers become i, ii and the body runs 1, 2, 3 from the start number; with “count skipped pages” on, the covers continue from the start number too. If you number only a range, the labels still run in sequence. Labels the document already had are replaced, so turn the option off to keep them. A start number of 0 can’t be expressed as a label, so none are written then.

Skipping covers, and what {total} means

With a cover count set, the first N pages get no number. If “count skipped pages” is on, the third sheet starts at 3; if off, it starts at 1. The {total} token is not the document's page count but the largest number actually printed, so “Page 1 of 8” can reflect the body rather than the whole file.

For duplex booklets, turn on mirroring: on even pages left and right swap, so the number always sits on the outer edge. A page range leaves pages outside it unnumbered while the count carries on across them.

Header and footer tab

Six slots — left, centre and right at the top and bottom — take text with tokens {title}, {date}, {confidential}, {page}, {pages} and {file}, filled in per page. Report, confidential and simple presets are included. A PNG or JPG logo can go in one slot at 3–40 mm high, thin rules can separate header and footer from the body, and the {confidential} text can be drawn in red.

If the source already has a printed header, the two will overlap. Increase the margin (0–60 mm), or add page margins first with a margins tool.

Bates numbering: a litigation habit that outlived the stamp

The name comes from Edwin G. Bates, a New York inventor whose 1891 improvement to an automatic numbering machine advanced the number each time the stamp was pressed. Law offices adopted such machines to give every page of a document production a unique number, and today the same scheme is applied electronically to PDFs in e-discovery. Note that Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34, which governs producing documents, doesn't itself require Bates numbers; they are a convention, often fixed by agreement between the parties or by an ESI protocol.

What matters is that numbering never restarts between files. The format is prefix + zero-padded counter + suffix (for example ABC000001), with 1 to 12 digits. You can exclude each file's first page, and add rules for odd pages, first or last page only, or a range, using tokens such as {bates}, {file}, {page} and {total}. A CSV log of file, page and Bates number is saved with the output — the kind of index opposing counsel tends to ask for.

Prefixes usually identify the producing party (ACME000001), and zero-padding keeps numbers sorting correctly in file lists and review platforms. Pick enough digits for the whole matter up front: going from six to seven digits mid-case produces two inconsistent series.

Worked examples

How to use it

1. Choose a tab (page numbers, header/footer or Bates) and open the PDF.
2. Set format, position, starting number and any cover pages to skip.
3. Check placement in the preview and save.

Frequently asked questions