Add page numbers to a PDF

SwiftPDFEdit's Add Page Numbers tool draws consistent page numbers onto every page of a PDF, in the position, format, size and colour you choose. The numbers become part of the page content, so they appear in every reader and on every printout rather than depending on the viewer.

Unnumbered long documents are a small daily cruelty. Reviewers cannot say “see page 12”, a dropped print-out cannot be put back in order, a court or committee that requires pagination will send the bundle back, and anyone reading double-sided loses their place. Numbering takes about fifteen seconds and prevents all of it.

You control the details that make numbering look deliberate. Position the numbers in any corner or centred at the top or bottom; set the font size and colour to match the document; and pick a format — a bare “3”, the fuller “Page 3 of 12” that tells a reader when they have reached the end, or the compact “3 / 12”. The starting number is adjustable too, which is what you need when the document is one chapter of a larger work, or when a cover sheet should not count as page one.

Numbers are placed in the page margin, 28 points from the edge by default, which clears the text block of most documents. On unusually full pages — dense tables, edge-to-edge scans — choose a corner that stays clear rather than a centred position that could collide with content. Check the first and last pages after applying; if the fit is wrong, run the tool again on your original file with a different position.

The operation is permanent, in the same way that printing is permanent: the numbers are drawn into the artwork and cannot be deleted afterwards. So number the document last, after merging, reordering and deleting pages, and keep the unnumbered original. Everything is processed locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded.