If you’ve ever seen a legal document with a small code like ABC0000142 printed in the corner of every page, that’s Bates numbering — a sequential control number applied across an entire document set so that any single page can be uniquely identified and referenced, regardless of which file it originally came from.
Why it exists
When a legal team produces hundreds or thousands of pages during discovery or a records request, page numbers alone aren’t enough — two different documents might both have a “page 3.” A Bates number is unique across the entire production, so “see ABC0000142” points to exactly one page, unambiguously, in any filing, deposition, or correspondence.
Before you start numbering
Bates numbering only works if everyone handling the case reads the same format the same way, so settle on it before you stamp the first page, not partway through. If you’re producing documents to opposing counsel, that usually means confirming the prefix and digit count with them first rather than picking your own and hoping it matches. A common convention is a short party abbreviation (PLF for plaintiff, DEF for defendant) or a case code — keep it short, since a longer prefix eats into the page margin and makes the stamp harder to read at a glance.
It also helps to treat the numbering as one-way: finalize the document set first, then number it. If you insert or remove pages from a file after it’s already been stamped, the numbers on the remaining pages no longer match what’s on record anywhere else — cited as “ABC0000042” in a filing, but now a different page. If a document turns up late, give it the next number in the sequence rather than trying to wedge it into the existing run.
How to add it
Bates Numbering stamps a sequential, zero-padded number on every page of a PDF:
- Upload the file.
- Set a prefix — typically a case code or client abbreviation (like
ABC). - Set the starting number — 1 if this is the first file in the production, or a continuation number if you’re numbering a later batch.
- Download — every page gets stamped in order.
A few specifics on what you’re getting: the number is always zero-padded to 6 digits (page 1 becomes 000001), and the stamp always lands in the bottom-right corner of the page. There’s no separate suffix field — the prefix goes before the number, but the tool doesn’t add anything after it. If your production’s convention calls for a suffix too, you’ll need to add that separately.
Numbering across multiple files
Real productions usually span more than one PDF. Number the first file starting at 1, note the last number it used, then set the next file’s starting number to continue the sequence — the tool doesn’t need to see the earlier files to keep counting correctly, you just tell it where to pick up.
Bates numbers vs. plain page numbers
They look similar but serve different purposes: a Bates number stays fixed and unique across a whole case, while a page number just counts 1, 2, 3 within a single file and resets for the next one. If you just need plain sequential numbering without a case prefix, Add Page Numbers is the simpler tool for that.
What about files that aren’t PDFs?
A document production isn’t only PDFs — spreadsheets, emails, and other “native” files show up too, and a Bates number doesn’t attach to a page the same way when there’s no fixed page to stamp. The common approach is to convert the file to PDF first, so it has pages to number, or to assign it a single placeholder Bates number that stands in for the whole file rather than a per-page one. Which approach applies is usually spelled out in the case’s ESI protocol (the parties’ agreed rules for exchanging electronic documents) — this tool only stamps PDFs, so convert first if that’s what your production calls for.
Where the name comes from
The name isn’t an acronym — it comes from Edwin G. Bates, who patented an automatic numbering machine in the 1890s. It was a mechanical stamp: feed a page through, and it pressed the next sequential number onto it, instead of someone writing numbers by hand one at a time. The machine itself is long obsolete, but “Bates stamp” and “Bates number” are still used interchangeably for the same idea today — just applied with software instead of a rubber stamp.