PDF guides7 min read
How to add Bates numbering to a PDF
What a Bates number is, why lawyers ask for it, and how to stamp a whole set of documents in your browser.
Bates numbering means stamping a unique number on every page of a set of documents, in order. A label like ABC-000123 goes in the same corner of every page, and no number appears twice anywhere in the set.
The name comes from the Bates Manufacturing Company, which sold a hand stamp in the late 1800s that moved on to the next number each time you pressed it. The stamp is long gone, but the idea stuck because the problem it solves hasn't changed. Once every page has its own number, anyone can point to a page and everyone lands on the same sheet.
If you're here because a lawyer asked you for a 'Bates numbered production' and you'd never heard the term, don't worry. It's simpler than it sounds. Below we'll explain what the number is, the usual conventions, and how to stamp a set without sending confidential files to anyone else's server.
The stamping part is easy. The decisions are where people slip: what number to start on, how many digits to use, whether the count carries on across several files, and which pages to skip. Make those choices once, before you produce the set. Renumbering a set you've already sent is painful and looks sloppy.
When you might need this
- You've been asked for a Bates numbered set and want to understand it first.
- Every page in a legal production needs its own number that can be cited.
- You need to point to an exact page in a deposition, brief or hearing.
- You want a record of which pages were sent, when, and in which batch.
- The court or the other side expects one unbroken count across the whole set.
- You want to keep confidential documents on your own computer while you do it.
How to do it
- Open the Bates Numbering tool and add every PDF that belongs in the set.
- Drag the files into the order they'll be produced. The numbers follow the order on screen.
- Set the prefix, the starting number, the step between numbers, and how many digits to use. Look at the example label to make sure it's the format you want.
- Set a page range if cover sheets or privilege logs shouldn't get a number.
- Choose whether the count runs across the whole set or starts again in each file. Running across the whole set is what's usually expected.
- Place the stamp: pick one of the nine positions, set the margin, and turn on the background box if the pages are dark scans.
- Check the page preview, along with the first and last number the tool shows for each file.
- Export the files and keep the CSV report. It's your index of what you produced.
Free, with no account. Open it in a new tab and follow along.
Open Bates NumberingTips
- Put the stamp in the bottom right corner unless you've been told otherwise. That's the usual spot, and it's where people look first.
- Use more digits than you think you'll need. Six digits covers almost a million pages and costs you nothing. Three digits runs out at 999.
- Use a prefix that shows who produced the pages, like a short form of the client's name. It lets people sort a mixed pile by eye.
- Do the numbering last, after all the merging, splitting and reordering is finished. Any change afterwards puts the numbers out of step with the pages.
- Turn on the background box for dark or messy scans. A number printed over a black patch of photocopy is a number nobody can read.
- Keep the unstamped files. If a page has to be added later, restamping a clean set is much easier than working around the old numbers.
- Check the last page as well as the first. That's where a wrong starting number, or running out of digits, shows up.
- Store the CSV report with the production. Months later, it's the fastest way to find which file had a given number.
Common mistakes
- Starting the count on the cover sheet. Cover sheets, cover letters and privilege logs usually aren't part of the numbered set, so leave them out with a page range.
- Using too few digits. Once the count goes past the width, the labels stop lining up and someone can misread a number.
- Starting the count again in every file when the court wants one continuous run. Repeated numbers defeat the whole purpose.
- Numbering before the set is final, then merging or reordering afterwards.
- Stamping on top of existing footers, exhibit stickers or page borders.
- Uploading the set to a free website. Discovery documents are confidential, and every upload is a copy you no longer control.
How this compares to Smallpdf, iLovePDF and Adobe
Bates numbering is a specialist feature, and most everyday PDF sites leave it out. Smallpdf and iLovePDF both do ordinary page numbers, which is fine for a report but not for a legal production. You don't get a prefix, a fixed number of digits, or one count that carries across several files.
Sejda has a proper Bates tool, and desktop Adobe Acrobat supports it too. Acrobat is where most law firms first run into it. Both work well. Both also mean a subscription, or uploading the very documents you least want to hand over.
Our tool runs entirely in your browser. The pages are opened, stamped and saved on your own computer, and nothing is sent anywhere. For discovery material, that's the main point. An upload puts a copy of privileged documents on a system you don't control and can't check.
It also shows you the first and last number for every file before anything is saved, and it gives you a CSV report of what it produced. Those are the two things a paralegal actually checks, and most tools only let you see them after you export.
| Criterion | Smallpdf | iLovePDF | Adobe Acrobat online | Easy File Tools |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Where your file is processed | On their servers, after you upload it | On their servers, after you upload it | In Adobe's cloud, after you upload it | In your browser, on your own device |
| Account or sign-in | Asked for early, and needed once you pass the free allowance | Optional for small jobs, needed for bigger ones | Most online tools need an Adobe ID | Never needed |
| Usage limits | A few free tasks, then an upgrade prompt | Daily task and file limits on the free plan | The free web tools are mostly a preview of the paid plan | No task counters and no daily limits |
| File size ceiling | The free plan limits upload size | The free plan limits upload size | Cloud upload limits apply | We don't set one. Your device's memory is the practical limit |
| Works without a connection | No, their server does the work | No, their server does the work | No, the cloud does the work | Yes for the browser tools, once the page has loaded |
| Cost | Paid subscription for full access | Paid subscription for full access | Paid Acrobat subscription for full access | Free. Every tool is open to everyone |
Other services change their plans and limits often, so treat this as a rough picture and not a price list. Check their websites for the current details.
Frequently asked questions
- Is Bates numbering a legal requirement?
- Usually it isn't written into law. It's a strong habit in legal work, though, and courts, discovery orders and opposing lawyers often require it. Check the order or local rules for your case, because some of them set a specific format.
- Can I add Bates numbers to a scanned PDF?
- Yes. The number is drawn on top of the page, so it doesn't matter whether the page has real text or is a photo of text. If the scan is dark or busy, turn on the background box so the number stays readable. The scan won't become searchable, though. That needs a separate OCR step.
- How many digits should I use?
- Six is common and covers up to 999,999 pages. Pick more than you expect to need. Running out halfway through a production is far more trouble than a few extra zeros.
- Should the numbers run across all my files, or start again in each one?
- Run them across the whole set unless someone tells you otherwise. A production is treated as one set of pages, and a number that shows up twice can't point to a single page.
- Can I skip the cover sheet?
- Yes. Set a page range that begins on the first page you want numbered. The count starts there.
- Are my documents uploaded?
- No. Every page is opened, stamped and saved in your browser, and nothing is sent anywhere. That matters for discovery material, which is confidential from the start.
- What's in the numbering report?
- One CSV row per file, with its first and last Bates number, how many pages were stamped, and its total page count. Files that couldn't be opened are listed with the reason, so every file you added is accounted for.