PDF Page Numbers & Watermark
Add page numbers and a text watermark to a PDF in one step, leaving the original text intact. Runs in your browser with no upload.
Loading the tool…
User reviews
No reviews yet. If you’ve used this tool, be the first to leave one.
PDF Page Numbers & Watermark: complete guide
Walk through the steps and examples, or jump straight to the topic you need.
At a glance
- Supported file
- One PDF at a time, up to 30MB and 500 pages.
- Original
- The uploaded file is not changed; a new PDF is made.
- How it works
- Only text is placed on top of the original pages; pages are not baked into images.
- Number position
- Choose from nine positions and set the margin and size.
- Skip cover
- No number on the first page, and it is also left out of the total page count.
- Rotation and CropBox
- Pages rotated by 90, 180 or 270 degrees and documents with a CropBox are placed in the direction you see.
- Korean watermark
- Supports the 2,350 syllables of the KS X 1001 set plus Latin letters, digits and punctuation, and embeds the font in the PDF.
- Where it runs
- All processing happens in this browser, and your file is not sent to a server.
How to use PDF Page Numbers & Watermark
Upload a PDF and choose what to add
You can turn page numbers and the watermark on and off separately. If you turn both off there is nothing to make, so keep at least one on. After uploading, check the page count and decide where to place them.
Set the number format and position
There are four formats: 1, 1 / 10, - 1 -, and Page 1. Choose from nine positions and set how far from the edge with the margin. With skip cover on, the second page becomes number 1, and when continuing from a previous document, change the starting number. To add it only to certain pages, write them like 2-5, 8.
For the watermark, look at opacity first
Enter the text and set size, angle and opacity. A high opacity makes the body hard to read, so it is better to start around 20% and adjust. If you enter a character the font does not have, you are told which one before making it.
Make it and open the result to check
A list shows which pages got numbers and the watermark. Open the saved PDF and check the cover, the last page and any page turned sideways. The original file is left untouched.
What it’s good for
Number the body pages and skip the cover
Reports and proposals usually do not number the cover. Turn on skip cover and the first page gets no number, the second page becomes number 1, and the cover is also left out of the total in the 1 / 10 format. For a continuing document, change the starting number to carry on from the previous one.
Add a confidential mark on top of the original
The watermark places only text on top of the original pages. Pages are not baked into images, so you can still copy body text and the file stays small. Adjust opacity and angle so that only as much remains as does not get in the way of reading. For Korean watermarks, the font is embedded in the PDF so it looks the same on other computers.
Worked examples
A 6-page report without the cover
6-page document
Format 1 / 10
Skip cover onPages that get numbers: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Number printed on page 2: 1 / 5Bottom right of a page turned sideways
Page rotated by 90 degrees
Position: bottom rightShown upright at the bottom right of what you seeChoosing a number format
Swipe the table sideways to see the rest.
| Format | How it looks | Suited for |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 | Short or simple documents |
| 1 / 10 | 3 / 12 | Submissions where the length should be shown too |
| - 1 - | - 3 - | Printouts or the body of a report |
| Page 1 | Page 3 | Notation that matches documents written in English |
When the result isn’t what you expected
It says there are characters not in the font
The Korean font embedded in the PDF is trimmed to the 2,350 syllables of the KS X 1001 set. Old Korean letters, Chinese characters and Japanese cannot be drawn, so you are told in advance. The missing characters are shown too, so please rephrase.
I cannot open a password-protected PDF
Documents protected by a password cannot be opened. Save a copy with the password removed in the original program, then upload it.
The number overlaps the body
Increase the margin or change the position. For documents where the body fills to the edge, the bottom left or bottom right overlaps less than the bottom center.
The watermark is hard to see
Raise the opacity or make it larger. Note that a higher opacity makes the body harder to read. Placing it large in the middle with a lower opacity is generally easier to read.
Key terms
- CropBox
- The area of the PDF that is actually shown. It can be smaller than the whole page, so it is taken into account when placing things.
- Rotation info
- A value in the file saying how many degrees to turn the page when showing it. It does not turn the content itself.
- Font embedding
- Putting the shapes of the letters used inside the PDF. It looks the same even on computers without the font.
PDF Page Numbers & Watermark FAQ
Does the original file change?
No. The PDF you upload is left as it is, and a new PDF with the numbers and watermark is made separately.
Does it work on pages turned sideways?
Yes. For pages rotated by 90, 180 or 270 degrees, the position is set from the direction you see, and the text is laid out upright in that direction. Documents with a CropBox are placed inside it.
Can I use any Korean text as a watermark?
It supports the 2,350 syllables of the KS X 1001 set plus Latin letters, digits and punctuation. For anything else, you are told which characters are missing before it is added.
Can I remove existing numbers and add new ones?
It cannot remove them. New numbers would be placed on top of numbers already in the document, so remove the numbers from the original first.
Can I process several PDFs at once?
It processes one at a time. Page counts and whether there is a cover differ for each document, so it is safer to check them separately.
Is my file uploaded to a server?
No. Reading the PDF, adding text and making a new file all happen inside this browser.
Can I still copy body text from the result PDF?
Yes. Pages are not baked into images and only text is added, so selecting and searching the original body text works as before.