Bates Numbering

What is Bates Numbering?

Bates Numbering stamps a unique, sequential identifier onto every page of a PDF — a requirement in legal proceedings, discovery, and regulatory compliance. Each page gets a stamp like "BATES-000001", "BATES-000002", and so on, using a template and padding you control.

The tool supports customizable templates (e.g. `[BATES]` becomes `BATES-000001`), configurable digit padding (default: 6 digits), starting number, font, font size, and placement (bottom-right, bottom-center, top-right, etc.). The stamps are drawn directly onto each page using pdf-lib with the specified font.

Bates numbers are the legal industry's standard for uniquely identifying pages in document productions. Courts, opposing counsel, and regulatory bodies reference specific pages by their Bates number, making accurate, sequential stamping essential for compliance.

How to Use Bates Numbering

1. Drop a PDF file onto the upload zone, or click to browse and select it. The tool accepts any standard PDF regardless of page count.
2. Enter a template — use `[BATES]` as a placeholder for the sequential number. Everything else in the template is literal text. For example, `CASE-2024-[BATES]` produces stamps like `CASE-2024-000001`, `CASE-2024-000002`, etc. The template can include hyphens, underscores, or any characters.
3. Set padding (default: 6 digits) — this controls how many digits the number uses, zero-padded on the left. Padding of 6 produces 000001; padding of 4 produces 0001; padding of 8 produces 00000001. Choose padding based on your document's total page count.
4. Set the starting number (default: 1). Use this to continue numbering from a previous production — if the first batch ended at 000500, start the next at 501.
5. Choose a position for the stamp: bottom-right (default), bottom-center, top-right, or top-center. The position determines where on each page the Bates number appears.
6. Optionally adjust the font (default: Helvetica) and font size (default: 10pt). Standard PDF base fonts (Helvetica, Times, Courier) are supported. Custom fonts may not render correctly.
7. Click Apply Bates Numbers. The tool iterates through every page, formats the number using your template and padding, and draws it at the specified position.
8. A download button appears with your file, named bates-numbered.pdf. The stamps are permanent — they are part of the page content and cannot be removed without a PDF editor.

Why Use Bates Numbering?

Legal teams use Bates numbering to uniquely identify every page in a document production. Courts and opposing counsel reference specific pages by their Bates number, making it the standard identifier for discovery documents, depositions, and exhibit packages. Without Bates numbers, locating a specific page in a production of thousands requires manual description — unreliable and inefficient.

Regulatory filings and compliance archives also require sequential page identification. FDA submissions, SEC filings, and patent applications all use Bates-style numbering for page-level tracking. Rather than manually stamping numbers in an editor, this tool applies them across hundreds or thousands of pages in seconds.

The customizable template lets you match your organization's naming convention. Some firms use case numbers, document IDs, or production prefixes — the template accommodates all of these while maintaining sequential numbering.

Privacy & Security

Your files never leave your browser. Every step — reading, stamping identifiers, and writing the output — happens on your own device. Nothing is uploaded to Racira's servers, no copies are stored in the cloud, and no file data is transmitted at any point.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I continue numbering from a previous document?

Yes. Set the starting number to continue from where the previous document left off. For example, if the first document ended at Bates-000500, start the next at 501. The padding will be applied automatically — 501 becomes 000501 with the default 6-digit padding.

What template syntax is supported?

Use `[BATES]` as the placeholder for the sequential number. Everything else in the template is literal text. For example, `DOC-[BATES]-CONF` produces `DOC-000001-CONF`. You can include hyphens, spaces, parentheses, or any characters around the placeholder.

Can I change the font or size of the stamps?

Yes. The font defaults to Helvetica and the size to 10pt, but both are configurable. Standard PDF base fonts (Helvetica, Times, Courier) are guaranteed to render correctly. Using non-standard fonts may cause rendering issues in some readers.

How do I choose the right padding?

Match the padding to your total page count. For documents under 100 pages, 3-digit padding (001) is sufficient. For productions of thousands of pages, use 5 or 6 digits. The padding ensures all numbers align visually in the reader's page list and in printed output. If you later add pages to the document, higher padding ensures new numbers still align with existing ones.

Can I use Bates numbering on only some pages?

Not directly — the tool stamps every page sequentially. If you need to number only a subset, first extract the relevant pages using the Extract Pages tool, apply Bates numbering to the extracted document, then merge it back if needed.

What happens if two documents need sequential numbering?

Use the starting number feature. If document A ends at page 500, start document B at 501. The padding will automatically expand if needed — 501 becomes 000501 with 6-digit padding. This maintains a continuous sequence across both documents.

Are Bates stamps searchable in the PDF?

Yes. Since the stamps are drawn as text in the page content stream, they are fully searchable in PDF readers. You can search for a specific Bates number to jump directly to that page, which is essential for legal document review workflows.