You've spent weeks, maybe months, pouring your soul into a manuscript. Now comes the technical grind. You're staring at Apple Pages, your document is set to that classic trade paperback size, and you're wondering: can I add page numbers to a Pages document 6x9 without the whole thing looking like a disaster?
The short answer is a resounding yes. But honestly, it’s rarely as simple as clicking a single button and walking away.
If you're formatting for KDP (Kindle Direct Publishing) or IngramSpark, that 6x9 layout is the industry standard for a reason. It feels right in the hand. However, Apple Pages has some quirks. It likes to hide its most powerful formatting tools behind menus that aren't exactly intuitive. If you just slap page numbers in the footer, you might find them bleeding into the "gutter" or disappearing entirely when you export to PDF.
Why the 6x9 Size Changes the Rules
When you're working with a standard 8.5x11 sheet, you have a massive amount of "white space" to play with. 6x9 is tighter. It’s intimate. Every millimeter of that margin matters.
Most people make the mistake of centering their page numbers. While that's fine for a school essay, it's often a bit "amateur hour" for a published book. Real books usually have "outside" page numbering. This means the number is on the right side of the right-hand page (recto) and the left side of the left-hand page (verso).
If you don’t set this up correctly in Pages, your numbers will end up trapped in the spine of the book once it's bound. That’s a nightmare. Nobody wants to pry a book open until the glue cracks just to see what page they're on.
The Step-by-Step Reality of Adding Page Numbers
First, make sure your document is actually 6x9. Go to the File menu and hit Page Setup. If you don't see 6x9 in the "Paper Size" dropdown, you'll need to create a custom size. Type in 6 inches for width and 9 inches for height.
Now, let's talk about the Document Sidebar. Click the Document button in the top right corner. This is where the magic happens.
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- Check the box for Facing Pages. This is the single most important step for a 6x9 book. It tells Pages that your document is a book with a left and right side.
- Look at the Section tab. This is where people get tripped up. You probably don't want a page number on your title page or your copyright page.
- Uncheck Match previous section. If you don't do this, every single page in your book will have a "1" or a "2" on it, including your fancy cover art.
Once your sections are separated, hover your mouse over the bottom of a page. You’ll see three little boxes appear in the footer. Click the one where you want the number. A little bubble will pop up saying "Insert Page Number."
But wait.
If you have "Facing Pages" turned on, you need to set the footer for the left page and the right page separately. Click the left box on the left-hand page and the right box on the right-hand page.
Dealing with the Gutter
Margins are the bane of every self-published author's existence. In a 6x9 document, your "Inside" margin needs to be wider than your "Outside" margin. This is the Gutter.
Apple Pages doesn't have a specific "Gutter" button like Microsoft Word does. You have to manually adjust the "Inside" margin in the Document tab. For a standard 200-page book, an inside margin of 0.75 inches is usually safe, while the outside can stay at 0.5 inches.
If you don’t account for this, your page numbers—even if they are on the "outside"—might look off-center relative to the text block. It’s all about optical balance.
The Ghost Page Number Problem
Sometimes, you’ll see a page number appearing on a blank page at the end of a chapter. It drives people crazy.
In Pages, every "Section" carries its own header and footer rules. If you want a page to be truly blank, it has to be its own section. You do this by going to Insert > Section Break. Then, in the Document sidebar under the Section tab, you uncheck "Hide on first page of section" or simply delete the page number from that specific footer.
It’s tedious. It’s fiddly. But it’s the difference between a book that looks like a PDF printout and a book that looks like it belongs on a shelf at Barnes & Noble.
Font Choice Matters More Than You Think
Don’t just use the default Helvetica or Times New Roman for your page numbers. It looks cheap.
If your body text is in Adobe Caslon Pro or Baskerville, your page numbers should probably be in the same font, or perhaps a slightly smaller version of it. A 10-point font for page numbers is usually plenty for a 6x9 layout. 12-point often looks cavernous and distracting on such a small page.
Also, consider the "baseline." If your page number is too close to the bottom edge of the paper (the trim line), it might get cut off during the printing process at the factory. Keep your footer at least 0.4 inches from the bottom edge.
Exporting: The Final Hurdle
You’ve got your numbers. They look great. They’re on the outside edges. They skip the title page. You're feeling like a pro.
Then you export to PDF.
Always, and I mean always, open that PDF and scroll through every single page. Check the "Spread" view in your PDF viewer (like Adobe Acrobat or Preview). This mimics how the book looks when opened. Are the numbers on the outside? Does the numbering start at "1" on the first page of the actual story, rather than the table of contents?
If you see Roman numerals (i, ii, iii) in your front matter and Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3) in your main text, you’ve nailed it. You can change the number format in that same Section tab in the sidebar. Just select the format dropdown and pick the one you need for that specific section.
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Moving Forward with Your Layout
Formatting is a game of millimeters. When you add page numbers to a Pages document 6x9, you aren't just placing digits; you're guiding a reader through a physical experience.
Take a moment to look at a physical book on your shelf. Open it. See how the numbers sit? Most are at the bottom, some are at the top, but they are almost always consistent.
Next Steps for Your Project:
- Check your Trim Size: Double-check with your printer (KDP, Lulu, etc.) to ensure your 6x9 margins meet their specific minimum "Safety Zone" requirements.
- Audit your Sections: Go through your document and ensure "Section Breaks" are used instead of "Page Breaks" between chapters to prevent formatting bleed-over.
- Test Print: Print ten pages of your document on actual paper, cut them to 6x9 inches, and see if the font size of the page numbers is actually legible and aesthetically pleasing in the real world.
Now that the numbers are sorted, you can get back to the actual writing—or finally hitting that "Publish" button.