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How to Start Page Numbering from a Specific Page
Written and fact-checked by The EditPDF AI Team
Many documents should not number their cover page or table of contents the same way as the body — setting where numbering begins, and what number it begins at, handles this correctly.
Step-by-step: skip a cover page
- 1Open editpdfai.com/add-page-numbers and upload your document.
- 2Set the range to begin numbering from the first body page, not the cover.
- 3Set the starting number to "1" so the first numbered page reads correctly, even though it is not the first physical page.
- 4Preview to confirm the cover page remains unnumbered and the body starts at 1.
Common numbering start patterns
- ·Cover page unnumbered, body starts at page 1 — the most common pattern for reports and proposals
- ·Front matter (table of contents, preface) numbered separately from the main body, often with Roman numerals — see Page Labels for this case
- ·A document combined from several sources that needs continuous numbering starting from a specific offset
Roman numerals need Page Labels
This tool adds sequential numbers in a chosen style; for mixed schemes like Roman numerals for a preface and numbers for the body, use PDF Page Labels instead.
Related PDF tools and guides
Core PDF tool
Add Page Numbers
The core workflow is available without an account. Browser and tool-specific limits apply.
Add custom-start page numbers →