A Bates number is a unique label stamped on every single page of a set of documents, so that anyone can point to one exact page with a short code like SMITH000412. It's standard in litigation. When one side produces documents to the other in discovery, each page gets its own number, and from then on depositions, letters, motions and exhibit lists all refer to pages by those numbers.
You need a way to stamp a continuous sequence across a whole stack of PDFs, in the right order, in the format your firm or the other side expects. That's what the Bates numbering tool does, in your browser, without the files leaving your computer.
How Bates numbers differ from page numbers
Ordinary page numbers restart in every document, so page 3 of the contract and page 3 of an email printout are both "3". Useless across 40,000 pages from 900 files.
Bates numbers don't restart. If the first file has 12 pages, it gets 000001 to 000012, and the next file starts at 000013. Every page in the production has its own number, and no two pages share one. The name comes from the Bates numbering machine, a hand stamp from the late 1800s that advanced by one each time it was pressed. Law offices stamped paper with them for decades before PDFs came along.
The usual parts of a Bates label:
- A prefix that identifies who produced the page, often a party or client name, sometimes with a volume code (ACME, SMITH-PROD).
- A number, zero-padded to a fixed width so the labels sort correctly (000001 rather than 1).
- Occasionally a suffix, for things like a confidentiality designation or a production volume.
The padding isn't just tidiness: software that sorts text alphabetically puts 10 before 9.
Stamping a set of PDFs on EddiesPDF
- Open Bates numbering and add your PDFs. You can add more files after the first batch.
- Put them in the right order with the Move up and Move down arrows next to each file. The numbering runs across all files in the order shown.
- Choose a "Style". For a plain prefix-and-number label, pick "Custom style" at the bottom of the list.
- Fill in "Prefix:", "Suffix:" (optional) and "Digits:".
- Set "Bates start from" and the "Location".
- Click "Add Bates numbers". One file downloads as a PDF; several come as a ZIP.
Above the file list, "First label:" shows the exact text for page one, and a preview shows where it will land. Check both before you click.
Styles, prefixes and digits
The "Style" list has two kinds of label. The built-in styles combine an exhibit counter, a case label and the number, with variants at 6, 5, 4, 3 and 1 digits. "Exhibit 1 Case XYZ 000001 Page 1" adds a page number within each file, which restarts at 1 for every file while the Bates number keeps counting. With an Exhibit style, each file gets the next exhibit number, starting from "File counter start from".
"Custom style" is the classic production format. Whatever you type in "Prefix:" goes directly in front of the number, so include your own separator if you want one: "ACME" gives ACME000001, "ACME-" gives ACME-000001, and "ACME " with a space gives ACME 000001. "Digits:" is the minimum width, between 1 and 10. If the count outgrows it, the number gets longer rather than wrapping round, so pick a width with room to spare. Six digits covers 999,999 pages, which is plenty for most matters.
If you were given a format in a discovery agreement or an ESI protocol, follow it exactly, including the separator. The other side's review software may rely on it.
Numbering across several productions
Productions often go out in rounds. The second volume should carry on from where the first ended, not start again at 1, because the whole point is that a number identifies one page across the entire case.
So "Bates start from" is the setting to watch. If your first production ended at ACME004127, start the next one at 4128. The tool doesn't remember previous runs, so keep a simple log yourself of each production: the date, the files, and the first and last number. A spreadsheet is fine, and it answers the question two years later of which volume a page came from.
"Output file name prefix" under "More options" adds bates_stamped_ to the start of every file name by default. Keep some prefix there. It stops a stamped copy being confused with the clean original, and you'll want the originals if anything has to be renumbered.
Where to put the label
The "Location" menu has nine positions, from "Header left" through "Page center" to "Footer right". The default is "Footer right", and that's where most people expect a Bates number. Lower right also tends to be blank on letters, contracts and printed emails.
The label is stamped on top of the page, so it can land on text that runs close to the edge. Two settings help:
- "Distance from edge (pt)" under "More options" defaults to 20 points, a little over a quarter of an inch. Reduce it to tuck the label closer to the edge.
- "Document margins" set to "Increase margins" shrinks the page content slightly to free a band at the top or bottom for the label. The page size stays the same. It only works for header and footer locations.
Shrinking the content means the page isn't pixel-for-pixel the original any more. For a production that's normally acceptable, but if you've agreed to produce documents exactly as kept, check with whoever is running the matter first.
"Font", "Font size" (10 by default), "Bold" and "Color" are also under "More options". A label too long for the page width is shrunk to fit. The number is added as real text on the page, so it's searchable and won't vanish the way a comment can.
What to check before you send
Every page gets a number, including blank pages, cover sheets and separator pages, and there's no option to skip pages. If a privileged document is being withheld, the usual practice is to replace it with a single slip-sheet page saying so, and number that, which keeps the sequence free of unexplained gaps. Do any redaction before stamping, too. The guide to redacting a PDF properly covers why a drawn black box isn't enough.
A password-protected PDF asks for its password when you add it, and the stamped copy is saved without one, so use Protect PDF afterwards if the production needs passwords. And if you'd rather produce a single file, number the separate files first and then combine them with Merge PDF; the numbers stay continuous either way.
Last check: open the first and last stamped file and confirm the last number of one file plus one is the first number of the next. It takes a minute and it's the mistake that's most embarrassing to correct after production.
Also useful: Merge PDF · Page numbers
