Drop PDFs here or click to upload
Numbering runs across all files in the order shown
Or drop files anywhere on this page. Files are processed in your browser and never uploaded.
How to add Bates numbers to a PDF
Bates numbering stamps a unique sequential number on every page of one or more PDFs. With several files, the sequence continues from one file to the next.
Add the PDF files
Drag one or more PDFs onto the upload box, click it to browse, or import from Google Drive. For a password-protected file, you are asked for the password. Numbering follows the order of the file list, and the arrow buttons reorder it.
Choose the label format
Pick a Style. The default reads Exhibit 1 Case XYZ 000001, and the Exhibit label and Case label boxes change those words. Choose Custom style to set your own Prefix, Suffix and number of Digits. The preview above the file list shows the first label.
Set the position and start number
Location sets where the label is stamped (Footer right by default). Bates start from sets the first number. Document margins can be set to Increase margins, which shrinks the page content slightly so the label doesn't cover existing text.
Add the numbers and download
Click Add Bates numbers. The results screen has a preview of the stamped pages and buttons to download the PDF (or a ZIP for several files), save it to Google Drive, open it in another tool or delete the files.
Numbering across several files
The count does not restart between files. If the first file ends on 000012, the next one starts at 000013. To continue an earlier batch, set Bates start from to the next unused number.
Padding with Digits
Digits sets the minimum length of the number. With 6 digits, 1 becomes 000001, so every label has the same width and sorts correctly.
Label appearance
More options holds the Font, Font size, Bold, Color and Distance from edge (pt) settings, plus the prefix added to each output file name.
How Bates labels are placed on each page
The label is drawn into the page itself
Each label is written as a line of text into the page's own content, using the font you picked, which is embedded in the file. Nothing else in the document is rewritten. The existing text, images, links and document properties stay as they were, and each input file is saved as its own stamped copy.
One side effect of using a real font: a character that font can't draw is swapped for a question mark. Plain letters, digits, hyphens and underscores are safe in every font. If your prefix includes accented letters or symbols, open the first stamped page and check the label before you send anything.
Rotated, cropped and mixed-size pages
A production often mixes page sizes, rotations and cropped pages. The label position is worked out separately for every page, from the area you actually see on screen. That has three practical results:
- A page stored as portrait but displayed as landscape (through a rotation setting in the file) gets its label in the bottom right corner as you view it, running the same way as the rest of the page.
- If a page has been cropped, the label is measured from the cropped edge, so it doesn't end up in the hidden part of the page.
- On a small page, a long label that won't fit between the two side margins is drawn at a smaller font size, down to a minimum of 3 pt. If that's too small to read, shorten the label.
What Increase margins does in numbers
Increase margins frees a strip at the top or bottom that's as tall as the distance from the edge plus 1.4 times the font size. With the defaults (20 pt from the edge, 10 pt text) that's 34 points. The page content is scaled down evenly by the amount needed to fit the rest of the page and centred left to right. On a Letter page, 34 points out of 792 means the content ends up at about 96% of its size, which is hard to notice.
Links, comments and form fields on the page are moved and scaled along with the content, so they still sit over the right words. The option has no effect for the three middle positions, because there's no top or bottom strip to free. It also leaves a page alone if the strip would take up more than 70% of the page height.
Doing things in the right order
Because the label is real text, other tools treat it as part of the page. That matters most for scanned productions:
- Run OCR PDF before stamping, not after. Its "Skip pages that already have text" setting is on by default, and once every page carries a Bates label, every page counts as having text and gets skipped.
- Redact and flatten first. A Bates number should describe the page as it was produced.
- Stamp, then Compress PDF if the set is too large to send. Compression never touches text, so the labels come through unchanged.
If you also need ordinary Page numbers, put the two in different corners. They'll overlap if both use the same position.
Features
- Stamps a sequential Bates number on every page, as used in legal discovery and document review.
- Files are processed in your browser. They are not uploaded to a server.
- Set the label style, case and exhibit labels, start number and number of digits to match your court's or firm's format.
- Several files can be numbered in one run. The sequence continues from one file to the next.
- Free to use in the browser. No software to install and no account needed.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a file size limit?
No fixed limit is set. Files are processed in your browser, so very large batches depend on your device's memory.
Does this tool work on mobile devices?
Yes. Ordering a long list of files is easier on a desktop screen.
Is it safe to use with confidential documents?
The files are stamped on your device and are not uploaded, so privileged or sensitive material stays in your browser.
