Add Page Numbers to a PDF: Covers and Landscape

Page numbers are only useful if they match what the reader expects. A report with a cover usually starts counting on the page after the cover; a chapter sent on its own may need to start at 5; a merged packet with a sideways table page needs the number at the bottom of the page as it is viewed. This guide works through those cases with the Add Page Numbers tool and shows what we saw when we tested it on a 12-page sample report.

Decide the numbering scheme before you open the tool

The tool applies one style to every page, so settle these three questions first:

Question	Setting in the tool	Example
What should the label look like?	Format: 1, Page 1, 1 / N or Page 1 of N	“Page 3 of 11” for a report that will be printed and stapled
Does the first page count?	Skip first page (cover)	Ticked: the cover gets no number and page 2 becomes “1”
Where does counting start?	Start at (0 or higher)	5, when this file continues a document that ended on page 4

One detail that surprised us: the “N” in 1 / N and Page 1 of N is the last number printed, not the page count. If you start at 5 on a 3-page file you get “Page 5 of 7”, “Page 6 of 7”, “Page 7 of 7”. That is right for a continuing chapter, but if you want “of 3” keep Start at 1.

Walkthrough: a report with a cover page

1. Open Add Page Numbers and choose your PDF. The preview shows the first two pages with the label drawn where it will go.
2. Pick a Position on the 3×2 grid: top or bottom, left, centre or right. Bottom-centre is the default.
3. Choose the Format, then set Size (6–48 pt, default 11) and Margin (distance from the page edge in points, default 28; 36 pt is half an inch).
4. Tick Skip first page (cover) if the first page is a cover.
5. Press Add page numbers, then Download. The file is saved as yourfile-numbered.pdf; your original is not changed.

Special cases worth checking

Landscape and rotated pages

Our sample report has a landscape table on page 4, and a second test file had a page stored as portrait with a 90° rotation flag (the way some scanners save sideways pages). In both cases the number landed at the chosen position of the page as you see it on screen: on the landscape page “3 / 11” sat in the bottom-right corner of the wide page, not along the short edge. You do not need to rotate pages first, but do fix any page that is upside down before numbering, otherwise the number will be at the “bottom” of an upside-down page.

Merged documents

Numbering a merged file gives one continuous sequence across all the source files. Merge first, check the order, then number. If you number each part separately and merge afterwards, each part will restart at 1. For putting parts in sequence, see how to plan a merge so the order is right.

Existing numbers on the page

The tool does not detect or remove numbers that are already printed in the document. If your file already has footer numbers, choose a different position or you will get two labels.

How we tested this

Date	22 October 2026
Environment	Google Chrome 155 (headless) on Linux x86_64, desktop viewport 1280×900, PDFroo build of 22 October 2026
Test file 1	Fictional 12-page A4 report (9.7 KB) with a cover, a landscape page 4, 12 bookmarks and one internal link on the Contents page
Settings	Bottom-right, 1 / N, size 11, margin 36 pt, Skip first page
Result	12 pages, 8.0 KB. Page 1 had no label; pages 2–12 read “1 / 11” to “11 / 11”. All 12 bookmarks and the internal link still worked. The labels are real text, so they can be searched and selected.
Test file 2	3-page merged file whose last page is stored with a 90° rotation flag; Start at 5, Page 1 of N
Result	“Page 5 of 7”, “Page 6 of 7”, “Page 7 of 7”; the rotated page was labelled at the bottom centre of the page as displayed.

We checked the output with pdftotext (label text and its position) and pypdf (page count, rotation, bookmarks). See our tool testing methodology for how we run these checks.

Limitations

• One font (Helvetica) and one colour per run; no bold or custom fonts.
• Numbers go on every page except an optional first page. There is no page range, so you cannot skip an appendix or number only pages 3–10 in one pass.
• No Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) and no “Section–page” formats.
• Password-protected PDFs need to be unlocked first with Unlock PDF (only for files you have the password for).

Troubleshooting

• The number is cut off when printing: some printers cannot print within about 5 mm (14 pt) of the edge. Increase the margin to 28–36 pt.
• “of N” shows the wrong total: check Start at. The total is the start number plus the numbered pages minus one.
• Number sits on top of footer text: switch to the top row or the other corner, or raise the margin.
• The cover still has a number: the skip option only skips the first page of the file. If your cover is two pages, there is no setting for that yet.

Check before you send

• Open the downloaded file and look at the first, a middle and the last page.
• Check any landscape or rotated page.
• Confirm the total in “of N” matches what readers will see.
• Keep the un-numbered original until you are happy with the result.

If you are adding numbers so reviewers can point to pages, a light “DRAFT” watermark is often the next step.