A printed book uses two numbering sequences. The front matter runs in lower-case roman numerals, then the main text restarts at arabic 1 and continues unbroken through the back matter to the end. Every page is counted, including those that display no number.
That is the whole scheme. The rest is knowing which pages hide their number and where arabic 1 actually falls.
The Two Sequences
Front matter: i, ii, iii, iv… starting at the first page inside the book, conventionally the half title.
Text and back matter: 1, 2, 3… starting at the first page of the main text and running to the end. There is no third sequence. Appendices, notes and the index continue straight on.
MIT Press states the requirement to its authors in one line: "All front matter pages should be numbered with lowercase roman numerals. Page 1 should be the first page of the main text."
The reason for the split is production rather than tradition. Front matter is the last part of a book to settle, so keeping it in its own sequence means a late addition cannot repaginate the text or invalidate the index. See why front matter uses roman numerals.
Every Page Is Counted
This is the rule most often misunderstood. A page that shows no number still has one.
New Hart's Rules: "All pages are counted in the pagination sequence, but the folio is not shown on some pages." Chicago's guidance for students says the same about the title page: "Don't put a page number on the title page, but do count it in the page numbering." Chicago's editors apply the same logic to praise pages, which are "generally unnumbered, but they count in the overall roman-numeral pagination".
So the printed sequence legitimately has gaps. That is suppression, not a numbering fault.
Which Pages Show No Number
- the half title, title page and copyright page
- the dedication and epigraph
- blank pages
- full-page illustrations, figures and tables
- turned pages, printed in landscape
Chapter openings are the exception that proves the rule. Rather than dropping the number, they usually move it to the foot of the page, which is called a drop folio. Turabian's guidance describes the split precisely: the footer is used for front matter and for "pages in the text and back matter that have titles (such as a chapter opener)", the header for everything else.
Where Page 1 Falls
Usually the first page of chapter one, but not always, and this is a genuine editorial decision rather than an automatic rule.
Cornell University Press tells authors to number consecutively "starting with the first page of the introduction or chapter 1". An introduction that forms part of the argument is text and takes arabic 1. An introduction that talks about the book rather than its subject is front matter and stays roman. Chicago devotes a whole section to the question, titled "Determining page 1", which is itself a sign that it needs deciding rather than assuming.
Page 1 is always a recto, because the main text always begins on a right-hand page and rectos are always odd.
Where the Number Sits
Two standard positions. New Hart's Rules: the folio "usually appears at the outer top edges of the spread, or centred at the foot."
Outer means mirrored, not fixed: toward the right edge on a recto, the left edge on a verso, so it always falls at the outside of the spread. Chicago's blog, citing the current edition, describes the same placement as still standard, "upper left corner on the verso" and "upper right corner on the recto".
For print, keep folios inside the safe margin. IngramSpark specifies that "all headers, footers, page numbers, body text and all non-bleed images need to remain in those margins".
Ebooks Do Not Work This Way
A reflowable ebook has no fixed pages, so none of the above applies. Amazon states that "Kindle books do not always map directly to page numbers in physical editions of the book", and asks that page numbers be stripped from ebook contents lists. IngramSpark says the same: "There should not be any reference to page numbers in the ebook."
Doing This in Deckle
Deckle applies the two-sequence scheme automatically. Everything before your first chapter numbers in roman, and the count restarts at arabic 1 at the chapter.
The settings you have:
- Page numbers on or off entirely.
- Position: Outer, which is the default and mirrors across the spread, Center, or Inner.
- Restart page numbering at Chapter One, on by default. Turning it off gives one continuous arabic sequence through the whole book.
Deckle also applies the suppression conventions for you. Chapter openings, title and copyright pages, and inserted blank pages carry no printed folio, while still counting toward the sequence.
One behaviour worth knowing: the restart happens at the first chapter that follows your last front matter document. If a chapter-type document such as a prologue sits above your copyright page or contents, it is treated as front matter and numbers in roman. Moving it below the front matter makes it arabic page 1. See ordering front and back matter.
Common Mistakes
- Thinking unnumbered pages are uncounted. They are counted; only the printed figure is suppressed.
- Numbering the title page. It is page i, and it shows nothing.
- Starting a third sequence in the back matter. Back matter continues the text's arabic run.
- Assuming page 1 is always chapter one. An introduction that is part of the argument can be page 1.
- Putting folios in the inner margin. Legal, but they disappear into the gutter.
- Carrying print page numbers into an ebook. Retailers ask for them to be removed.
FAQ
Q: Does the cover count as page i? A: No. Numbering starts at the first page inside the book.
Q: Where does the back matter numbering start? A: It does not start. It continues from the last page of the text.
Q: Should the roman numerals be capitals? A: No, lower case. Capitals are used for part numbers.
Q: My book skips from vi to 1. Is that right? A: Yes. That is the two-sequence scheme working as intended.
Q: Can I use one continuous sequence instead? A: You can, and Deckle has a setting for it. The cost is that any late change to the front matter shifts every number in the book.