How-to guides/Content Editing

Add page numbers to a PDF in Rust

Stamp page numbers onto every page of a PDF. Control position, font, format, and starting number. Skip the cover page or use Roman numerals for front matter.

rust
use pdfluent::{PdfDocument, PageNumberOptions, PageNumberPosition};

fn main() -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error>> {
    let mut doc = PdfDocument::open("report.pdf")?;

    doc.add_page_numbers(
        PageNumberOptions::default()
            .position(PageNumberPosition::BottomCenter)
            .format("{page} / {total}")
            .font_size(9.0)
            .start_page(1)   // skip cover page (index 0)
            .start_number(1),
    )?;

    doc.save("report_numbered.pdf")?;
    Ok(())
}
Install:cargo add pdfluentDownload SDK →

Step by step

1

Add PDFluent to your project

Add the pdfluent crate to Cargo.toml.

rust
[dependencies]
pdfluent = "0.9"
2

Open the PDF

Load the document you want to number.

rust
use pdfluent::PdfDocument;

let mut doc = PdfDocument::open("thesis.pdf")?;
println!("Pages: {}", doc.page_count());
3

Configure page number options

PageNumberOptions controls position, font, format string, and which pages receive numbers.

rust
use pdfluent::{PageNumberOptions, PageNumberPosition};

let opts = PageNumberOptions::default()
    .position(PageNumberPosition::BottomCenter)
    .format("{page}")         // or "Page {page} of {total}"
    .font("Helvetica")
    .font_size(10.0)
    .margin(30.0)             // distance from page edge in points
    .start_page(0)            // zero-based index of first numbered page
    .start_number(1);         // the number printed on start_page
4

Use Roman numerals for front matter

Apply Roman numeral numbering to the first few pages, then switch to Arabic for the main body.

rust
use pdfluent::{PageNumberOptions, PageNumberPosition, NumberStyle};

// Front matter: pages 0-3 in Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv)
let front_opts = PageNumberOptions::default()
    .position(PageNumberPosition::BottomCenter)
    .style(NumberStyle::RomanLower)
    .start_page(0)
    .end_page(3)
    .start_number(1)
    .font_size(9.0);

// Main body: pages 4 onward in Arabic (1, 2, 3, ...)
let body_opts = PageNumberOptions::default()
    .position(PageNumberPosition::BottomCenter)
    .style(NumberStyle::Arabic)
    .start_page(4)
    .start_number(1)
    .font_size(9.0);

doc.add_page_numbers(front_opts)?;
doc.add_page_numbers(body_opts)?;
5

Save the numbered document

Write the result to disk.

rust
doc.save("thesis_numbered.pdf")?;
println!("Page numbers added.");

Notes and tips

  • Page numbers are stamped directly onto the content stream. They are permanent and visible to all viewers.
  • start_page is a zero-based index. To skip a cover page, set start_page(1) so page index 0 is left unnumbered.
  • The format string supports {page} for the current page number and {total} for the total page count.
  • margin controls the distance from the nearest page edge. Increase it if numbers appear clipped.

Why PDFluent for this

Pure Rust

No JVM, no runtime, no DLL dependencies. Ships as a single native binary or WASM module.

Memory safe

Rust's ownership model prevents buffer overflows and use-after-free. No segfaults in PDF parsing.

Runs anywhere

Same code runs server-side, in Docker, on AWS Lambda, on Cloudflare Workers, or in the browser via WASM.

Frequently asked questions

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