Bates Numbering

Add sequential Bates numbers across one or more PDF files.

Click to select files or drag and drop

PDF files (multiple supported)

Your files never leave your device.

How It Works

1

Upload Files

Upload one or more PDF files. Drag to reorder for multi-file sequencing.

2

Configure Style

Choose a preset or create a custom template with placeholders like [BATES], [PAGE], [FILE].

3

Download

Get your bates-stamped PDFs instantly. Multiple files are delivered as a ZIP.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What does the Bates number look like on the page?

By default it's a six-digit zero-padded number such as 000001 placed at the footer center in 10 pt Helvetica. Presets can add an exhibit number, a case label, and a page number, for example Exhibit 1 Case XYZ 000001 Page 1, and the preview box shows the exact text before you process anything.

Can I use my own prefix or case number instead of the presets?

Yes. Pick Custom style and write a template with placeholders: [BATES] for the sequential number, [PAGE] for the page number within the file, [FILE] for the file counter, and [FILENAME] for the source file name. A template like SMITH-[BATES] produces SMITH-000001, SMITH-000002, and so on.

Does the numbering continue across multiple PDFs or restart for each file?

It continues. If the first file has 30 pages and numbering starts at 1, the second file begins at 000031, following the order of the file list, which you can rearrange by dragging. There's no option to restart the count per file; process the files separately if you need that.

How many digits can the number have?

Zero padding can be 3, 4, 5, or 6 digits, or turned off so 1, 2, 3 print without leading zeros. The count itself isn't capped; if it grows past the padding width, the extra digits are still printed.

Where does the stamp go, and will it cover my content?

You choose one of six spots: header or footer, at the left, center, or right. The margin scales with the page, roughly 4 percent of the width or height with a floor of 8 points and a cap of 40, so the stamp sits in the same relative place on Letter, A4, and oversized exhibits. Existing content isn't shifted, so on pages printed edge to edge the stamp can overlap it.

Are Bates numbers searchable text or an image?

They're real text drawn in Helvetica, Times New Roman, or Courier, so they can be selected, searched, and read by review software without OCR. These are the built-in PDF standard fonts, which cover Latin characters only, so a template containing other scripts will fail.

Are my discovery documents uploaded to a server for stamping?

No. Stamping happens inside your browser and the numbered files are written straight to your downloads folder. Nothing about the documents, the case name, or the numbering leaves the machine, which matters for privileged material.

What do I get when I stamp several files at once?

Each PDF is numbered as its own file and keeps its original name; a single file downloads directly, and two or more download together as bates_numbered.zip. The files aren't merged, so the page counts and order inside each document stay as they were.