What's the difference between page labels and page numbers?

Page numbers are printed on the page; page labels are metadata the viewer displays in its sidebar, page-jump box and print dialog. This tool writes labels — it doesn't draw anything on the pages.

Which viewers respect page labels?

Adobe Acrobat, Apple Preview, Chrome and Edge's built-in viewers, and most print dialogs honor /PageLabels. Some lightweight viewers ignore them and show physical indices.

What happens to pages no rule covers?

They keep decimal labels matching their physical position — page 37 shows as '37'. A mid-document rule can't leak its numbering into the tail.

Can a rule cover non-contiguous pages?

Yes — odd, even, or a comma list like 3,7,9. Each contiguous run becomes its own entry in the label table, numbered from the rule's start value.

Can I remove labels later?

Yes — run the tool with a single decimal rule covering all pages, or use a metadata editor to delete the /PageLabels entry.

No. Everything runs locally in your browser — the file never leaves your device.

Paginalabels aan een PDF toevoegen: Romeins, decimaal, aangepast

Stel logische paginanummers in op een PDF — Romeinse cijfers voor het voorwerk, decimalen voor de hoofdtekst, aangepaste voorvoegsels. Gratis, privé, in de browser.

1. Upload a PDF

Drop in the document whose printed page numbers don't match its physical pages — front matter, appendices, combined reports.

2. Define label rules

Map page ranges to numbering styles: roman for the preface, decimal for the body, a prefix like A- for the appendix.

3. Download

Get a PDF whose sidebar and page-jump box show your labels — the pages themselves are untouched.

Add Logical Page Labels to a PDF

Physical pages vs. printed page numbers

Open a book-length PDF in Acrobat and the sidebar says 'page 1 of 240' — but the printed folio on that page says 'iii'. The front matter is numbered i, ii, iii; the body restarts at 1; the appendix runs A-1, A-2. When a reader types '247' into the page-jump box, they land on the wrong sheet unless the PDF carries a /PageLabels table that maps physical pages to logical numbers.

This tool writes that table. Nothing is drawn on the pages — the labels live in the document catalog, so Acrobat, Preview, Chrome's PDF viewer and print dialogs all show 'page iv' or 'page A-3' instead of a bare index. It's the metadata a professionally produced PDF is expected to have.

Rules, ranges and prefixes

Each rule maps a page range to a numbering style: decimal (1, 2, 3), roman (i, ii, iii or I, II, III), letters (a, b, c or A, B, C), or prefix-only. Ranges accept the usual syntax — 1-5, odd, even, comma lists like 3,7,9 — and an empty range covers the whole document. Later rules override earlier ones on overlap, so a broad rule plus a narrow exception is a normal pattern.

A rule can also set a prefix (A-, App-, Fig.) and a start number, so an appendix can begin at A-1 even though it's physical page 200. The live preview shows the exact label every page will carry before you commit.

What you can do

The numbering metadata a real document needs.

Five numbering styles

Decimal, lower/upper roman, lower/upper letters, or a bare prefix with no number.

Range rules with overrides

Cover the whole document, then carve out exceptions — later rules win.

Live label preview

See every page's label next to its physical number before you download.

Content untouched

Labels are catalog metadata — nothing is drawn on or removed from the pages.

Labels vs. printed page numbers

Page labels are what the viewer shows; printed page numbers are what's drawn on the page. If your document needs visible folios, use Add Page Numbers or Bates Numbering — those stamp text onto the page. Use this tool when the printed numbers already exist and the viewer's numbering needs to match them, or when you want a clean 'go to page' experience in a combined document.