Number the pages of a PDF
Page numbers matter as soon as a document leaves your screen. A printed report needs them to be reassembled if it is dropped; a contract needs them so a clause can be cited; a submission often needs them because the recipient insists.
PDFs assembled from several sources — a merged bundle, a scanned pack — usually arrive without them, because numbering is something a word processor does before export and few tools add afterwards.
Skipping the front matter
Most real documents should not start numbering at page one of the file. A cover page and a table of contents are conventionally unnumbered, and the body begins at “1”.
Putting 1-2 in the skip box does exactly that: the first two pages are left clean, page three is labelled 1, and the total reflects only the numbered pages. That last part is easy to get wrong and looks obviously wrong when it is — “Page 1 of 12” on a document whose last numbered page says 10.
Formats and placement
A bare numeral is the least intrusive and suits most documents. “Page 1 of 10” is worth the extra width when a reader needs to know whether they have the whole thing — contracts, submissions, anything faxed or posted.
Bottom centre is the conventional position and the safest, since it rarely collides with content. Bottom right suits documents that will be bound on the left edge.
Nothing is uploaded
The numbering happens inside your browser, drawn onto the pages in memory using your own processor. The document is never transmitted, and there is no server behind this page that could receive it.
Related tools
To assemble a bundle before numbering it, use Merge PDF. To stamp text across every page, use Watermark PDF. To reorder pages first, use Organize PDF.