Bates numbering for PDF documents
Stamp sequential Bates numbers — SMITH-000001, SMITH-000002… — onto every page of a PDF: set your prefix, digit count and starting number, pick the corner, and download. The Bates mode is pre-enabled below with the standard 6-digit, zero-padded format.
Discovery documents are exactly what shouldn’t pass through a stranger’s server, and with this tool they don’t: stamping runs in your browser, the file never uploads, and you can verify that claim in the Network tab while it works. No per-page fees, no watermarks, no account.
Preset: Bates mode, bottom-right, 6 digits zero-padded — standard production format.
Drop your PDF here
Or click to browse. Processed on your device, never uploaded.
How it works
- Drop your PDF above.
- Set the prefix (party or matter identifier), digits, and the starting number for this production.
- Pick the corner — bottom-right is the convention the preset uses.
- Click “Stamp Bates numbers” and download. Note the last number used for your log.
Conventions that keep productions clean
Standard practice (checked against current e-discovery guidance, July 2026): a short uppercase prefix identifying the producing party or matter (ABC-, PLTF_), at least six zero-padded digits — eight for very large matters — and numbering that continues across productions rather than restarting. ABC-000001 instead of ABC-1 is what keeps files sorting correctly everywhere. Many ESI protocols specify all of this explicitly; where yours does, it controls.
Continuing a production: set “Start at” to the next number after your previous batch ended. The stamp is drawn into the page content in Helvetica, a standard base font every viewer supplies — permanent, printable, and readable by every review platform.
Good to know
- Stamp copies, and keep the unstamped originals — productions get re-run, and Bates stamps are permanent page content.
- Multiple documents to stamp under one continuous range? Stamp them one at a time, carrying the start number forward — or merge, stamp once, and split back.
Frequently asked questions
Where should Bates numbers go on the page?
Bottom-right is the widespread default (and this page’s preset); bottom-left appears in some protocols. What matters most is consistency across the production — and not covering content, which the margin setting controls.
Can the stamp overwrite something important on a page?
The stamp sits inside the margin you choose, but crowded pages exist — spot-check pages with edge-to-edge content. The “wide” margin setting clears most footers; if a page truly has no clear corner, protocols generally accept placing the number in the least-obstructive position.
Does this handle rotated (landscape) pages correctly?
Yes — the stamp is placed relative to each page as it displays, so a landscape exhibit inside a portrait production still gets its number in the visual bottom-right, right-side-up.
Is browser-based stamping defensible for discovery?
The output is a standard PDF with permanent stamps, identical in kind to desktop-tool output. What browser-based adds is that documents never leave your custody during stamping — a chain-of-custody positive. Your ESI protocol and review workflow still govern the rest.