Appendix prefixes in page numbers, but not in page count

Question

I would like to have an A prefix in appendix page numbering, but not in appendix page count.

A MWE inspired be this answer.

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,bibliography=totoc]{scrartcl}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage{graphicx} 
%\usepackage{pageslts} % mixes up the page numbering in the appendix
\pagenumbering{arabic} % page count in the body
%%%%%%%%%%
\begin{document}
\section{Section 1}
\textbf{Number of pages:}
\begin{itemize}
    \item \pageref{lastpage} pages in the body
    \item \pageref{applastpage} pages in appendix
\end{itemize}
\section{Section 2}
\Blindtext
\label{lastpage} % page count
\clearpage
\appendix
\counterwithin{figure}{section}
\pagenumbering{arabic} % page count
\renewcommand{\thepage}{A.\arabic{page}} % adds prefix to page numbering
\section{Appendix}\label{appendix}
\blindtext
\label{applastpage} % page count
\end{document}

P.S. See also a related question in here (these were originally in the same post, but decided to differentiate them for clarity.)

Answer 1

There are two ways to do this. First, you can use \getpagerefnumber and \StrBehind to remove A. etc.

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,bibliography=totoc]{scrartcl}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage{graphicx} 
%\usepackage{pageslts} % mixes up the page numbering in the appendix
\pagenumbering{arabic} % page count in the body
\usepackage{refcount}
\usepackage{xstring}
\AtBeginDocument{%
  \edef\lastpageA{\getpagerefnumber{applastpage}}%
  \StrBehind{\lastpageA}{.}[\lastpageB]%
}
%%%%%%%%%%
\begin{document}
\section{Section 1}
\textbf{Number of pages:}
\begin{itemize}
    \item \pageref{lastpage} pages in the body
    \item {\lastpageB} pages in appendix
\end{itemize}
\section{Section 2}
\Blindtext
\label{lastpage} % page count
\clearpage
\appendix
\counterwithin{figure}{section}
\pagenumbering{arabic} % page count
\renewcommand{\thepage}{A.\arabic{page}} % adds prefix to page numbering
\section{Appendix}\label{appendix}
\blindtext
\label{applastpage} % page count
\end{document}

---

The second way is to save \arabic{page} in the \label (using \ref, not \pageref)

\documentclass[a4paper,12pt,bibliography=totoc]{scrartcl}
\usepackage{blindtext}
\usepackage{graphicx} 
%\usepackage{pageslts} % mixes up the page numbering in the appendix
\pagenumbering{arabic} % page count in the body
\makeatletter
\newcommand{\savepage}[1]{% #1 = label name for page counter
  \edef@currentlabel{\arabic{page}}%
  \label{#1}}
\makeatother
%%%%%%%%%%
\begin{document}
\section{Section 1}
\textbf{Number of pages:}
\begin{itemize}
    \item \ref{lastpage} pages in the body
    \item \ref{applastpage} pages in appendix
\end{itemize}
\section{Section 2}
\Blindtext
\savepage{lastpage} % page count
\clearpage
\appendix
\counterwithin{figure}{section}
\pagenumbering{arabic} % page count
\renewcommand{\thepage}{A.\arabic{page}} % adds prefix to page numbering
\section{Appendix}\label{appendix}
\blindtext
\savepage{applastpage} % page count
\end{document}