he page counter does not increase in the first iteration an PDf inclusion but seems to work properly after that. Have attached a sample file (69K) that will serve to show the problem—at least, on my machine. \starttext \setupexternalfigures[location=default] \setuplayer[preset=middlebottom, method=overlay]{} \setcounter[userpage][101] \noheaderandfooterlines \getfiguredimensions[HannahBW.pdf] \dorecurse{\noffigurepages} {\vbox to \paperheight {\vskip-\dimexpr\headerheight+\headerdistance+\topspace\relax \hbox to \hsize {\hskip-\backspace \layeredtext[] [boffset=3pc] {\red\userpagenumber} {\externalfigure[HannahBW.pdf][page=#1]}% \hss}% \vss} } \dorecurse{\noffigurepages} {\vbox to \paperheight {\vskip-\dimexpr\headerheight+\headerdistance+\topspace\relax \hbox to \hsize {\hskip-\backspace \layeredtext[] [boffset=3pc] {\red\userpagenumber} {\externalfigure[HannahBW.pdf][page=#1]}% \hss}% \vss} } \stoptext