Research paper formatter for clean, numbered PDFs

Start with page numbers

Reviewers reference pages in their comments, so a numbered PDF gets clearer feedback. Add Page Numbers prints "page / total" at the top right, bottom right, or bottom center of every page in one step. The numbers are real vector text, so they stay crisp in print and searchable in the viewer.

Then check size and page format

Set all pages to Letter or A4 with Resize PDF and compress the file if the portal enforces a limit. Both run locally and finish in seconds for a typical paper. If a scanned appendix has a dark border, Crop PDF trims it from every page with the same setting.

• US Letter: 612 × 792 points (8.5 × 11 in), the default for APA and most North American journals
• A4: 595 × 842 points (210 × 297 mm), common for European and Asian venues
• Mixed page sizes in one file are a frequent cause of automated rejections

Clean up before sharing a preprint

Preprints get downloaded by strangers. Clear the metadata, delete any tracked-changes cover page, and extract the text to confirm the abstract reads correctly outside your editor.

• Remove PDF Metadata clears Title, Author, Subject, Keywords, Creator, and Producer
• Delete PDF Pages removes a stray cover or blank page without re-exporting
• PDF to Text lets you search the final file for leftover placeholders such as "TODO" or "XX"

Quick style references

PaperKit also hosts short checklists with the exact numbers for APA paper format (margins, fonts, page numbers), IEEE paper format (two-column margins, font sizes, PDF rules), thesis page numbering, and journal file size limits, so you can verify a draft against the venue before you upload.

Everything runs on your device

Each tool opens the PDF with pdf-lib inside the browser tab and writes a new file locally. There is no upload queue, no account, and no server that keeps a copy of an unpublished manuscript.