Initializing secure environment…
Initializing secure environment…
Stamp every page of a production set with a unique, sequential, zero-padded identifier — the thing a lawyer, an insurer or an auditor will quote when they say 'page BATES-000412'. The prefix, the padding width and the start value are yours, and numbering carries on across separate files so a set of forty PDFs reads as one continuous run. The number is drawn into the page, not applied as a viewer overlay, so it survives printing and cannot be scrolled away. No upload, no sign-up, no watermark.
To add Bates numbers free, add your files, set a prefix, a start value and the zero-padding width, and every page across the whole set is stamped sequentially. The number is drawn into the page, not just displayed. No upload.
Number the whole set continuously rather than per document, use a matter prefix, and record the final number. The set then has one coordinate system, and a citation survives the set being split, re-ordered or produced in two tranches.
If a second production is requested, the numbers must not restart. Set the start value to one past the last number of the first production and the whole set reads as one continuous run. Recording the final number from the first run is therefore the important step, not an administrative detail.
A Bates number in the bottom right and an existing footer in the bottom centre will not conflict as long as the offset is far enough in. If the footer runs the full width, put the number top right instead — there is no automatic collision detection, because the tool cannot know what your footer contains.
Page numbers tell a reader where they are. Bates numbers identify a page so it can be cited in correspondence, in a hearing, or in a claim file. If the set will be discussed by people who are not holding the same copy, use Bates numbers.
Unambiguous citation. A page referred to as ACME-000412 is identifiable in a set of forty documents, and no page in the set can be confused with another. It is used in litigation productions, insurance claims, audit packs and regulatory submissions, where 'page 12 of the letter' is not good enough.
Something that identifies the matter and does not need a legend: the matter reference, the claim number, or the client and year. Avoid characters that differ in shape — 0 and O, 1 and l — because a citation transcribed from a printed page will be misread.
Six is the convention: 000001 to 999999. Four is enough for a short set, and anything below four starts to look wrong the moment the set grows. The width is set explicitly, so the numbers are consistent rather than getting shorter as the count rises.
Yes, and that is the main reason to use this tool instead of Page Numbers. Add forty PDFs and the numbering runs continuously, so the last page of file twelve and the first page of file thirteen are consecutive. The total range is reported when the run finishes.
Not by accident. It is drawn into the page content, so it behaves like any other text — deletable by a determined editor, but not by a stray click or a filter setting. If you need to make the numbering tamper-evident rather than just present, hash the finished set with Fingerprint PDF and record the hashes.
Bottom right, at 9 to 12 point, 12 mm or more from the edge. Top right is used when a document is bound on the left and the bottom is occupied by a footer. Wherever it goes, it must clear the printer's unprintable margin or it will be missing from printouts.
Yes. Each page is stamped at the same offset from its own bottom-right corner, so a Letter page and an A4 page both carry a correctly placed number. Unifying the page size first is still worth doing if the set will be printed as one job.
Yes. Free, no account, no watermark, and nothing is uploaded — which is the requirement for privileged material, not a convenience.
More edit & annotate — all free, no upload.