Bates Numbering for PDF

How to do it

1. 1
   Choose your settings

   Fill in the details or pick the options you need.

2. 2
   See the result

   The preview updates right away as you change things.

3. 3
   Download or save it

   Save the result to your device. Nothing is sent to or stored on a server.

About this tool

Choose a PDF, set a prefix, a start number, the number of digits and a corner, and every page gets a running Bates number such as DOC-000001. Bates numbers are used in legal, audit and due diligence work to identify each page uniquely.

What Bates numbering is

A Bates number is a unique, sequential identifier on each page of a document set. Lawyers use it in discovery so that every page can be cited exactly, for example ABC-000145.

Settings

Choose a prefix that identifies the case or client, the first number, the number of digits (leading zeros are added) and the corner. A size of 9 to 11 points is common.

Several files

To number a set in one run, merge the files first, then number the merged PDF. Note the last number to continue the next set.

Tips for best results

Work on a copy of your file and keep the original until you have checked the result. Open the output before you send it to a portal, an employer or an office, and look at every page. If a size limit applies, check how the receiving site measures it, because some count a kilobyte as 1000 bytes and others as 1024. All processing happens inside your browser tab on your own device, so large files depend on your device memory and may take a little longer on a phone.