Stamp a running number into the header or footer, with the format, the position and the starting count set by hand. The number is written on this machine and a clean copy of the source file is kept.
Document format work by OnlinePCApps since 2013
Each of these is slower to work with than it should be. A number on every page fixes that.
A forty-page report with no numbers gives a reader no way to point at a spot. Asking someone to find a paragraph means scrolling and guessing rather than turning to a page.
A contents page and a preface are not chapter one. Numbering them with the same run as the body makes the first real page read as page five rather than page one.
Pages pulled from a bigger document should keep their place in it. A section that was pages twenty-five to fifty needs to start at twenty-five, not at one.
Drop a file onto the panel above or pick one from the device. It opens on the machine ready to number, and no copy is sent out.
Choose the number style, the header or footer spot and where the count begins. A live preview shows the number on the page before it is applied.
The numbered file downloads beside the original. The source PDF is left untouched, so a clean unnumbered master is always kept.
A page number is text placed in the header or footer of each page. The control over how it reads and where it sits is what keeps it clear.
Plain digits for most files, lower-case Roman numerals for front matter, letters, a Page X style or Page X of Y that shows the total alongside the current page.
The count sits at the top or the bottom, aligned left, center or right. A bottom-center number is the safe default, while an outer corner suits a document that will be bound.
The count can begin at any number and cover the whole file or a range, so a cover page stays clean and a pulled section carries on from where it sat in the original.
Text can wrap the number, turning a bare 3 into Page 3 or Page 3 of 40. A prefix also carries a case reference on the kind of numbering a legal file needs.
Adding page numbers, paginating a file and folioing a document describe one task. The count is drawn into a new copy here, and the source file is left as it was.
A page number is a small set of choices about how the count reads and where it lands. These are the controls behind it.
| Setting | Range | What it decides |
|---|---|---|
| Format | 1, i, a, Page X | Plain digits, lower-case Roman numerals, letters, a Page X style or a Page X of Y that shows the total beside the current page. |
| Position | header or footer | The count at the top or the bottom of the page, aligned to the left, the center or the right. |
| Start number | any count | Where the numbering begins. A count starting at twenty-five continues a section pulled from a larger document. |
| Page range | all or a range | Every page or only the pages picked, the odd or even set among them, so a cover or a front-matter run can be numbered apart from the body. |
| Skip first | on or off | Leaves the cover clean while the count still begins where set, so the title page carries no number. |
| Prefix, suffix | free text | Text around the number as a custom format, turning a bare 3 into Page 3, Page 3 of 40 or a case reference on a legal file. |
| Margin | points from edge | How far the count sits from the edge, set so it clears the body text and does not crowd the corner. |
| Font, size, color | base PDF fonts | Helvetica, Times or Courier at a chosen size and color. These base fonts render the same everywhere, since a reader always has them. |
| Layer | drawn text | The number is text drawn into the page margin, part of the page content rather than a viewer setting. |
A Stamped Number, Not a Viewer Label
The count this tool adds is drawn onto the page, so it prints and travels with the file. That is a physical number, different from the logical page label a reader shows in a viewer, which is only a display setting. The tool adds a fresh count rather than fixing one already printed in the body, so a preview matters where a document already carries numbers. The standards below define the page content a number is drawn into.
Both stamp a count onto a PDF. The difference is where the file goes and whether the numbering can run across a whole set.
| Point of comparison | This tool Numbered in the browser Stamped on the device | Hosted numberers Uploaded and stamped on a server |
|---|---|---|
| Where the file goes | Never leaves the device | Goes up to a server |
| Formats and position | Full set, with a preview | Usually the same |
| Anything extra stamped on | Nothing but the count | A free-tier line on some |
| One count across many files | One file in the browser | Sequence across a set |
| Bates numbering for legal sets | Left to the desktop | Built in on many |
Those last two rows belong to the hosted services, and they are the fair reason to upload. A single count across many files, and Bates numbering for a legal bundle, both want a server or the desktop app. Everywhere else the browser is enough, and the document stays put.
Placing a number in a margin is a light edit the browser runs on the file it already has open. Nothing about it needs a server, so the count goes on within the page and nothing is sent away.
The file is often a draft contract or an internal report not ready to travel. Because it is never received here, no copy waits on a server and no deletion promise has to be believed.
Each of these writes a count onto a page. What sets them apart is how much they let a person control and whether the work stays on the machine.
Each of these keeps the file on the computer it opened on, apart from hosted numberers that ask for an upload. The tool above does the same.
A page number is quick to add and easy to place badly. These three keep it useful.
A title page usually carries no number. The skip-first option leaves it clean, and the count can still treat the cover as page one so the second sheet reads as page two.
Bottom-center works for almost every document. An outer corner suits a file that will be printed and bound. The margin should hold the number away from the body and any footer text already there.
A document that already prints numbers in its body will end up with two if a fresh count goes on. A quick look at the preview catches the clash or the overlap before the file is saved.
The browser tool numbers one document at a time, held in memory. A set of files that share a single running count, or a legal bundle that needs Bates numbering across every page, is work for the desktop edition, which reads from disk and continues the sequence from one file to the next.
Point it at a folder and the numbering carries on from file to file, so a set reads as one continuous document.
A unique sequential identifier with a prefix and a digit count marks every page of a legal or medical set for tracking.
A saved header and footer profile numbers a batch the same way each time, which suits a report that goes out on a schedule.
Free, no sign-up and no upload. The count is drawn on the device and the original file is left untouched.