1. IronPDF
  2. How-Tos
  3. Add Page Numbers to a PDF

How to Add Page Numbers in a PDF

Jordi Bardia
Jordi Bardia
Updated:

Page numbers are sequential numbers assigned to each individual page within a PDF document. Page numbers are one of the most important components in a document for navigation. They help readers locate specific pages and determine what page they are reading from. Additionally, page numbers enable easy citation and referencing of content within the document. With IronPDF, adding page numbers to your PDF is a simple process.

Nuget IconGet started making PDFs with NuGet now:

  1. Install IronPDF with NuGet

    PM > Install-Package IronPdf

  2. Copy the code

    new IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer { RenderingOptions = { HtmlFooter = new IronPdf.HtmlHeaderFooter { HtmlFragment = "<center>{page} of {total‑pages}</center>", MaxHeight = 15, DrawDividerLine = true } } }.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Page‑1</h1><div style='page-break-after: always;'></div><h1>Page‑2</h1>").SaveAs("numbered.pdf");

  3. Deploy to test on your live environment

    Start using IronPDF in your project today with a free trial
    arrow pointer

Get started with IronPDF

Start using IronPDF in your project today with a free trial.

First Step:
green arrow pointer

How to Add Page Numbers in a PDF

  1. Download the C# PDF Library from NuGet
  2. Load an existing PDF document or render a new one
  3. Use placeholder strings {page} and {total-pages} in the Header and Footer to insert page numbers
  4. Apply page numbers to specific pages or sections
  5. Review the resulting PDF document


Add Page Numbers Example

Using placeholder strings {page} and {total-pages} with either the TextHeaderFooter or the HtmlHeaderFooter class, you can add the current page number and the total number of pages.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/page-numbers-basic.cs
using IronPdf;

// Create text header
TextHeaderFooter textHeader = new TextHeaderFooter()
{
    CenterText = "{page} of {total-pages}"
};

// Create html footer
HtmlHeaderFooter htmlFooter = new HtmlHeaderFooter()
{
    HtmlFragment = "<center><i>{page} of {total-pages}<i></center>"
};

// Render a new PDF
ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello World!</h1>");

// Add header and footer
pdf.AddTextHeaders(textHeader);
pdf.AddHtmlFooters(htmlFooter);

pdf.SaveAs("pdfWithPageNumber.pdf");
Imports IronPdf

' Create text header
Private textHeader As New TextHeaderFooter() With {.CenterText = "{page} of {total-pages}"}

' Create html footer
Private htmlFooter As New HtmlHeaderFooter() With {.HtmlFragment = "<center><i>{page} of {total-pages}<i></center>"}

' Render a new PDF
Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
Private pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf("<h1>Hello World!</h1>")

' Add header and footer
pdf.AddTextHeaders(textHeader)
pdf.AddHtmlFooters(htmlFooter)

pdf.SaveAs("pdfWithPageNumber.pdf")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

The output PDF from the code above is shown below:

You can also directly add the headers and footers with the page number placeholder strings into the rendering options of the ChromePdfRenderer.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/page-numbers-chromerenderer.cs
using IronPdf;

// Add header and footer to rendering options
ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
renderer.RenderingOptions.TextHeader = new TextHeaderFooter()
{
    CenterText = "{page} of {total-pages}"
};
renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlFooter = new HtmlHeaderFooter()
{
    HtmlFragment = "<center><i>{page} of {total-pages}<i></center>"
};

string html = @"
    <h1>Hello World!</h1>
<div style='page-break-after: always;'/>
    <h1>2nd Page!</h1>";

// Render new PDF
PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html);

pdf.SaveAs("applyPageNumberWithRenderingOptions.pdf");
Imports IronPdf

' Add header and footer to rendering options
Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
renderer.RenderingOptions.TextHeader = New TextHeaderFooter() With {.CenterText = "{page} of {total-pages}"}
renderer.RenderingOptions.HtmlFooter = New HtmlHeaderFooter() With {.HtmlFragment = "<center><i>{page} of {total-pages}<i></center>"}

Dim html As String = "
    <h1>Hello World!</h1>
<div style='page-break-after: always;'/>
    <h1>2nd Page!</h1>"

' Render new PDF
Dim pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(html)

pdf.SaveAs("applyPageNumberWithRenderingOptions.pdf")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Add Page Numbers to Specific Pages Example

With IronPDF, you can decide where to add page numbers. You can make them start on a certain page or on specific groups of pages such as on the even-indexed pages.

Let's prepare our PDF document to apply the page numbers.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/page-numbers-preparation.cs
using IronPdf;
using System.Linq;
using System.Collections.Generic;

string multi_page_html = @"
    <p>This is the 1st Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 2nd Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 3rd Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 4th Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 5th Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 6th Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 7th Page</p>";

// Create header
HtmlHeaderFooter header = new HtmlHeaderFooter()
{
    HtmlFragment = "<center><i>{page} of {total-pages}<i></center>"
};

// Render PDF
ChromePdfRenderer renderer = new ChromePdfRenderer();
PdfDocument pdf = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(multi_page_html);

// Create a Page Range 0..6
var allPageIndices = Enumerable.Range(0, pdf.PageCount);
Imports IronPdf
Imports System.Linq
Imports System.Collections.Generic

Private multi_page_html As String = "
    <p>This is the 1st Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 2nd Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 3rd Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 4th Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 5th Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 6th Page</p>
<div style = 'page-break-after: always;' ></div>
    <p>This is the 7th Page</p>"

' Create header
Private header As New HtmlHeaderFooter() With {.HtmlFragment = "<center><i>{page} of {total-pages}<i></center>"}

' Render PDF
Private renderer As New ChromePdfRenderer()
Private pdf As PdfDocument = renderer.RenderHtmlAsPdf(multi_page_html)

' Create a Page Range 0..6
Private allPageIndices = Enumerable.Range(0, pdf.PageCount)
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Even Pages Indexes

Building upon the previous code example, the following code will apply page numbers exclusively to even page indexes. Since we are filtering for even page indexes, the resulting PDF will apply numbers on only odd page numbers. Page indexes begin at zero, while page numbers start from one.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/page-numbers-even-pages.cs
// Get even page indexes (resulting in odd page numbers)
var evenPageIndices = allPageIndices.Where(i => i % 2 == 0);

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 1, evenPageIndices);
pdf.SaveAs("EvenPages.pdf");
' Get even page indexes (resulting in odd page numbers)
Dim evenPageIndices = allPageIndices.Where(Function(i) i Mod 2 = 0)

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 1, evenPageIndices)
pdf.SaveAs("EvenPages.pdf")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Odd Pages Indexes

Add page numbers specifically to pages with odd index numbers.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/page-numbers-odd-pages.cs
// Get odd page indexes (resulting in even page numbers)
var oddPageIndexes = allPageIndices.Where(i => i % 2 != 0);

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 1, oddPageIndexes);
pdf.SaveAs("OddPages.pdf");
' Get odd page indexes (resulting in even page numbers)
Dim oddPageIndexes = allPageIndices.Where(Function(i) i Mod 2 <> 0)

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 1, oddPageIndexes)
pdf.SaveAs("OddPages.pdf")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Last Page Only

Add a page number to the last page only.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/page-numbers-last-page-only.cs
// Last page only
var lastPageIndex = new List<int>() { pdf.PageCount - 1 };

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 1, lastPageIndex);
pdf.SaveAs("LastPageOnly.pdf");
' Last page only
Dim lastPageIndex = New List(Of Integer)() From {pdf.PageCount - 1}

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 1, lastPageIndex)
pdf.SaveAs("LastPageOnly.pdf")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

First Page Only

Add a page number to the first page only.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/page-numbers-first-page-only.cs
// First page only
var firstPageIndex = new List<int>() { 0 };

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 1, firstPageIndex);
pdf.SaveAs("FirstPageOnly.pdf");
' First page only
Dim firstPageIndex = New List(Of Integer)() From {0}

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 1, firstPageIndex)
pdf.SaveAs("FirstPageOnly.pdf")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Skip First Page

Skip the first page when applying the header.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/page-numbers-skip-first-page.cs
// Skip the first page
var skipFirstPage = allPageIndices.Skip(1);

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 1, skipFirstPage);
pdf.SaveAs("SkipFirstPage.pdf");
' Skip the first page
Dim skipFirstPage = allPageIndices.Skip(1)

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 1, skipFirstPage)
pdf.SaveAs("SkipFirstPage.pdf")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Skip First Page And Don't Count it

Skip the first page and begin numbering from the second page, considering it as page 1.

:path=/static-assets/pdf/content-code-examples/how-to/page-numbers-skip-first-page-and-dont-count-it.cs
// Skip the first page and start numbering the second page as page 1
var skipFirstPageAndDontCountIt = allPageIndices.Skip(1);

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 0, skipFirstPageAndDontCountIt);
pdf.SaveAs("SkipFirstPageAndDontCountIt.pdf");
' Skip the first page and start numbering the second page as page 1
Dim skipFirstPageAndDontCountIt = allPageIndices.Skip(1)

pdf.AddHtmlHeaders(header, 0, skipFirstPageAndDontCountIt)
pdf.SaveAs("SkipFirstPageAndDontCountIt.pdf")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

To explore all metadata options, please visit the IronPDF Headers and Footers Guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I add page numbers to a PDF using C#?

You can add page numbers to a PDF in C# by using the IronPDF library. First, download the C# PDF Library from NuGet. Then, load an existing PDF or create a new one, and use placeholder strings {page} and {total-pages} in the header or footer to insert page numbers. Finally, save the updated PDF.

Can I customize the placement of page numbers in my PDF?

Yes, with IronPDF, you can customize the placement of page numbers in your PDF. You can choose to add page numbers only to specific pages, such as even-indexed or odd-indexed pages, or apply them only to the first or last page.

How do I add page numbers only to the even pages of a PDF?

To add page numbers only to even pages in a PDF using IronPDF, filter the pages by even indexes and set the header or footer with the desired page number placeholders. The page number will then be applied to pages with even index numbers.

Is it possible to start page numbering from the second page of a PDF?

Yes, using IronPDF, you can skip the first page and start numbering from the second page. To do this, set the header or footer to apply from the second page and use placeholder strings to manage the numbering sequence.

How can I add page numbers only to the last page of a PDF?

To add page numbers only to the last page of a PDF using IronPDF, you can configure the header or footer to apply specifically to the last page. This can be achieved by referencing the last page index and setting the placeholder strings for page numbers.

What are the benefits of using placeholder strings in PDF page numbering?

Placeholder strings like {page} and {total-pages} allow dynamic insertion of the current page number and total number of pages. This makes managing page numbering flexible and efficient, especially when the document structure changes. IronPDF utilizes these placeholders to streamline the page numbering process.

How can I add page numbers to a PDF without affecting the first page?

To add page numbers to a PDF without affecting the first page using IronPDF, configure the headers or footers to start from the second page. This approach ensures that the first page remains unnumbered while subsequent pages receive page numbers.

Can IronPDF handle page numbers for both HTML content and existing PDFs?

Yes, IronPDF can handle page numbers for both HTML content and existing PDFs. You can render HTML as PDF and apply page numbers using IronPdf.ChromePdfRenderer or modify an existing PDF document to include page numbers in the headers and footers.

Jordi Bardia
Jordi Bardia
  Chat with engineering team now
Software Engineer
Jordi is most proficient in Python, C# and C++, when he isn’t leveraging his skills at Iron Software; he’s game programming. Sharing responsibilities for product testing, product development and research, Jordi adds immense value to continual product improvement. The varied experience keeps him challenged and engaged, and he ...Read More
Reviewed by
Jeff Fritz
Jeffrey T. Fritz
Principal Program Manager - .NET Community Team
Jeff is also a Principal Program Manager for the .NET and Visual Studio teams. He is the executive producer of the .NET Conf virtual conference series and hosts 'Fritz and Friends' a live stream for developers that airs twice weekly where he talks tech and writes code together with viewers. Jeff writes workshops, presentations, and plans content for the largest Microsoft developer events including Microsoft Build, Microsoft Ignite, .NET Conf, and the Microsoft MVP Summit
Talk to an Expert Five Star Trust Score Rating

Ready to Get Started?

Nuget Passed
Free NuGet Download Total downloads: 15,030,178
View Licenses