Whether you're creating a magazine, a brochure, a book, or any document in InDesign, adding page numbers enhances readability, facilitates navigation, and lends a polished, professional touch to your layout. In this post, I'll take you step-by-step through the process of adding page numbers in InDesign so your documents are both functional and aesthetically pleasing. 

This step-by-step guide is based on my Adobe InDesign Essentials Course. When you become a BYOL member, you gain access to this course as well as my 30+ additional courses on After Effects, Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, and more. As a BYOL member you will also enjoy personalized support, earn certificates, and tackle exciting community challenges. Head here to sign-up!

Getting started adding page numbers to InDesign

The key to adding automatic page numbers to InDesign is to use your Parent Pages (previously called Master Pages). A parent page is like a template page – any object or text that gets placed on these pages automatically appears on every page of your document. 

Find the Parent Page by going over to the pages panel on the right. You’ll see a thumbnail view of your document layout. Above that are the Parent Pages. 

Quick Tip: If you can’t see the A-Parent fully just click and drag down the line above the first page to make more space.

To start working on the Parent Page, double-click on the A-Parent thumbnail. You’ll see a blank spread in your main view now.

It’s easy to make a mistake here – if you click once instead of double clicking there’s a chance you’ll start working on the wrong page! To check you have successfully navigated to the Parent Page look at the word ‘A-Parent’ – it should be highlighted. You can also check down the bottom of your document window to see which page you are on.

Note: In my example I have two parent pages, or a spread, because my document is set up for print with facing pages. If you start your InDesign document with facing pages unticked then you will only see a single page in your Parent Page.

If you have no idea what this means, don’t panic! Take a look at my InDesign course Adobe InDesign CC - Essential Training. It teaches you everything you need to get started and then takes your knowledge to the next level. You’ll soon be making professional and stylish documents with ease.

Now, back to adding page numbers to InDesign. 

Once you are on the parent page, zoom in a bit. Use your Type Tool to draw a small text frame somewhere near the bottom of the right-hand page.

With your cursor still flashing in the frame, go up to the menu across the top and choose Type > Insert Special Character > Markers > Current Page Number.

You’ll see an ‘A’ on your page. 

What?! 

This is because we have set this up on the ‘A’ Parent page. 

Navigate to one of the pages in your document (by double-clicking on it in the pages panel). You’ll see that, on these pages, the marker becomes the page number.

Quick Tip: At the moment you will only see page numbers on the right-hand page of your document spread due to the fact we have only added our marker to one of the master pages. Plus the number is just sitting in any random place that you made your text frame. We’ll fix that next!

Adding some style

Double-click back on the A-Parent page thumbnail in the pages panel.

Your page number is a piece of type in a text frame so you can style it the same way you would any other piece of text in your document.

Highlight the A. Change the font to something with a bit more interest than the default font. Adjust the size and color as needed.

Tip: Collect examples of different print magazines and brochures to see how others have styled their page numbers. Or, if you prefer to gather your inspiration digitally, try visiting Behance and search for magazine design.

Making sure we have page numbers on both pages

So, at the moment, we only have a page number on the right-hand page. But we can add page numbers to both pages.

With your Selection Tool (black arrow) click on the text frame that holds your page number marker.

Copy and paste it over to the other page.

If you zoom out so that you can see both pages of the spread at the same time you will be able to use smart guides to line up the two text frames (smart guides are helper lines that pop up as you move objects around allowing you to quickly line things up). 

Quick Tip : On the right-hand page you can right align the text in the text frame – that way if you get up to two digit numbers it will still sit the same distance from the edge of the page.

Adding text before or after the number

Because our page marker (A) is sitting in a text frame we can add any text before or after it. 

Say we want the word ‘page’, ‘pg’ or, more commonly, the document title. Simply use your selection tool to make sure the text frame is wide enough. Then type before or after the ‘A’ marker. 

If you accidentally delete the A you will need to undo (Ctrl Z on the PC, or Cmd Z on the Mac) to get it back again. Or go to Type > Insert Special Characters > Markers > Current Page Number. You can’t just type the letter A, that won’t work!

Adding other elements to the parent page

Did you know the Parent Page is not only for adding page numbers in InDesign? Any design elements you add to this page will appear on all the other pages.

In my design I’ve added an arrow. Why? Just because it looks cool!

As you flick through your document you will now see the page number at the bottom, along with the text and the arrow. If you add new pages to your InDesign document, or change the order of the pages, they will automatically have the correct page number.

But I don’t want page numbers on my cover!

Currently, the parent page is applied to all the pages in the document. This looks a bit weird on the cover!

To stop using the parent page head back over to the Pages Panel. Right-click on the thumbnail for page 1.

Choose ‘Apply Parent to Pages’.

In the pop-up window change ‘A-Parent’ to ‘None’. Click OK.

The page number and decorative arrow have now gone.

If you move to the next two pages of your document you’ll see they are still labeled as page 2 and 3, even though the cover does not have a number. This is quite a normal way of applying numbering. For more details and some other tips on adding page numbers to a document for print read this article from pogo design.

Is it worth the hassle?

Although it looks like a few steps to add your automatic page numbers in InDesign, it really doesn’t take long. It will make your layouts more consistent, appearing more professional and better yet it will save you time in the long run!

What else?

Did you know that you can have more than one set of Parent Pages in your InDesign document to accommodate for different sections or design variations? To learn about this and more advanced techniques, check out Adobe InDesign CC - Advanced Training.

When you become a BYOL member, you will gain access to my InDesign courses as well as my 30+ additional courses on Photoshop, Illustrator, Lightroom, Figma, Webflow, and more. As a BYOL member you will also enjoy personalized support, earn certificates, and tackle exciting community challenges. Head here to sign-up!

See you in class! – Dan