Add page numbers that skip the cover page

Which of the 2 asks is yours?

“Skip the first page” means 1 of 2 things, and they need different settings:

Reports and theses usually want the first row: the cover is outside the count. Contracts and forms usually want the second, so “page 5” in the numbers is also page 5 in the reader’s page box.

Step by step on a 48-page report

1. Drop the PDF on Add page numbers above. Several files at once work too; each gets the same settings.
2. Where: Bottom centre is the default. Bottom right suits documents printed single-sided; Top right suits filings.
3. Format: 1 for a plain number, Page 1 for the word as well.
4. First number: 1 or 2, as in the table above.
5. Cover page: switch it to skipped.
6. Press Add numbers and download report-numbered.pdf.

On our 48-page test report, page 1 stayed bare, page 2 read 1 and page 48 read 47. The result says “Added page numbers to 47 pages, as real text” and “Left the first page as it was”.

Position, size and format

• Where: 6 spots, the 3 corners and centres at the top and the bottom, or No numbers when you only want a header or footer.
• Size and margin: the size in points (5 to 48, default 10) and the distance from the page edge in mm (0 to 50, default 10). Most office printers cannot print right to the edge of the sheet, so keep the default 10 mm for anything that gets printed.
• Format: 1, Page 1, 1 of 12 or Page 1 of 12. With the cover skipped and First number 1, the total counts the numbered pages: a 12-page file reads “1 of 11” to “11 of 11”. The page X of Y guide shows how to make the total match the full page count.
• Header and Footer: a line of text at the top or bottom centre of the same pages, with {page}, {pages}, {date} (today’s date where you are, as 2026-10-11) and {file} filled in. With the cover skipped, they skip the cover too.

The numbers are Helvetica in near-black, placed the right way up on landscape and turned pages. They are real text, so they can be selected and searched.

Skipping more than the cover

Cover page skips page 1 only. For a document with a cover, a contents page and a foreword (say pages 1 to 4) before chapter 1 starts on page 5, there is no single setting. Do it in 3 short passes:

1. Split PDF, Ranges, type 1-4, 5-. You get report-1-4.pdf and report-5-.pdf.
2. Number report-5-.pdf with First number 1 and Cover page left on numbered.
3. Merge PDF the 2 files in that order, with Bookmark per file turned off.

The bookmarks come through: each part keeps the bookmarks to its own pages, and Merge with Bookmark per file off puts them back at the top level, in order. The cost is the links that cross the cut: a contents page that links into the chapters loses those links in the split, and Split and Merge set no title in the file’s properties. When those links matter, add the numbers in the program that made the document.

Front matter in Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, then 1 from chapter 1) is not possible here yet: the formats are digits only. You can leave the front pages bare as above, which most readers accept.

What to check before you number 200 pages

The numbers are drawn on top of the page. They do not look for free space, and there is no white box behind them, so a number can land on a footer line, a logo or a dark photo. Test first:

1. Take 2 typical pages out with Extract pages (2-3).
2. Number those with your settings and look at both.
3. If a number collides with something, pick another corner or raise the margin, then run the whole file.

On a dark scan, near-black numbers are hard to read. Move them to a lighter part of the page (a top corner is often blank on scans) rather than the default bottom centre.

What this cannot do

Numbers are stamped once. Delete or insert a page later and the stamped numbers stay as they were, so number last, after the page order is final. Deleting pages and keeping bookmarks covers that order of work.

Header and footer text uses a standard PDF font, so letters such as ł, ř or Č are refused with a message rather than printed as gaps; add that text in the editor, which embeds a font for it. A number stamped on a digitally signed PDF makes a new copy whose signature no longer checks out, and getPDF says so. More page jobs are in the guide to organising PDF pages.