Initializing Secure Environment…
Initializing Secure Environment…
Bates numbering gives every page in a document production a unique, sequential identifier so it can be cited unambiguously. This tool stamps a prefix, a zero-padded number and an optional suffix onto every page, and — the part that matters for legal work — carries the sequence across every file in the set rather than restarting at each one. Everything runs in your browser, so privileged material is never uploaded.
To add Bates numbers to a PDF, stamp each page with a sequential identifier made of a prefix and a zero-padded number. On ihatepdf, add every PDF in the production in order, set your prefix (for example ABC), the starting number and the digit count, and the numbering runs continuously across all of the files — the second document picks up exactly where the first ended. Each stamped file downloads separately, or all of them together as a ZIP.
The whole purpose of a Bates number is that it identifies one page in one production, permanently and uniquely. That breaks the moment numbering restarts per file: two different pages both labelled 000001 cannot be cited apart. Most free tools stamp a single document at a time, which quietly produces exactly that collision when a production runs to a dozen exhibits. This tool treats the set as the unit — you order the files, and the sequence flows through them, with each file reporting the exact range it was given so the ranges can go straight into a production log.
Document productions are, almost by definition, the material you least want sitting in a third party's upload queue. Conventional online Bates tools require you to send every page of a discovery set to a server you do not control, which for privileged or confidential material is a difficult thing to justify. Because this tool runs entirely inside the browser using WebAssembly, the files are opened, stamped and saved on your own machine. Once the page has loaded you can disconnect from the network entirely and the stamping still completes.
The entire point of a Bates number is that it identifies exactly one page in one production, permanently. That guarantee collapses the moment numbering restarts with each file: two different pages both stamped 000001 cannot be told apart in a filing, a deposition or a privilege log. Most free tools stamp one document at a time, which quietly produces precisely that collision as soon as a production runs to a dozen exhibits — and the error is not visible until someone tries to cite a page. This tool treats the set as the unit. You order the files, the sequence flows through all of them, and each file reports the exact range it received so those ranges can go straight into your log.
A document production is, close to by definition, the material you least want sitting in a third party’s upload queue. Conventional online Bates tools require you to send every page of a discovery set to infrastructure you do not control, which for privileged or confidential material is difficult to justify to a client and harder to justify to a court. Because this tool runs entirely inside the browser using WebAssembly, the files are opened, stamped and saved on your own machine — there is no transmission, so there is nothing to secure, log or delete. Once the page has loaded you can disconnect from the network and the stamping still completes.
They look similar and behave completely differently. Page numbers describe a position inside one document and restart at 1 in the next one; two documents in the same bundle will both have a page 3. Bates numbers describe a position inside an entire production and never repeat, which is what allows a specific page to be cited unambiguously months later in a filing. Use Add Page Numbers when you want readers to navigate a single document. Use Bates numbering when a set of documents has to be citable as a set. The two are not alternatives and are frequently applied to the same pages.
It is a sequential page identifier used in legal discovery, so that any page in a production can be referenced precisely. A Bates number normally combines a party or case prefix with a zero-padded sequence number, such as ABC000001.
Yes, and this is the point of the tool. Add every PDF in the production in order and the sequence runs straight through: if the first file ends at ABC000042, the second begins at ABC000043.
Yes. Set any prefix and optional suffix, the starting number, and the digit count for zero-padding. Six digits is the common convention, giving ABC000001 through ABC999999.
Bottom right by default, which is the usual convention. Any of six positions is available, and the margin, font size and colour are adjustable so the stamp does not collide with existing content.
No. Page numbers restart with each document and describe position within that document. Bates numbers are unique across an entire production and never repeat, which is what allows a specific page to be cited in filings and depositions.
No. Stamping happens entirely in your browser using pdf-lib. Privileged and confidential material never leaves your device, which is difficult to guarantee with any server-based tool.
Yes. The number is drawn onto the page as new content, so it works on scanned and image-only PDFs exactly as it does on text PDFs.
No server limit. The practical ceiling is your device memory — productions of several hundred pages are comfortable in a desktop browser.
Conventionally a party or case prefix followed by a zero-padded sequence — ABC000001, SMITH-000042, DEF00001234. The padding matters: fixed-width numbers sort correctly in a file listing and read unambiguously in a filing, which is why six digits is the common default.
Enough that the highest number in the production still fits without widening. Six digits covers just under a million pages and is the usual choice. Under-padding is the mistake to avoid: a set that runs from ABC1 to ABC1200 sorts as 1, 10, 100, 1000, 11 in most file managers.
Yes. Set the starting number to one past where the last production ended and the sequence carries on. The range preview shows the first and last number before you commit, so you can check it against your production log.
It is the record of which Bates range belongs to which document, and it is what lets anyone locate a cited page later. Retyping ranges by hand is a classic source of error, so this tool writes one for you as a CSV listing every source file, its stamped output, and its begin and end Bates numbers.
It can, on documents with content running into the margin. Increase the margin to move it clear, or switch on the white plate so the number sits on an opaque background and stays readable wherever it lands.
It started in legal discovery and that is still its main home, but the same idea — a unique, unrepeating identifier on every page of a set — is used in medical records, insurance claims, audit and regulatory submissions, and archival scanning.
Yes, and it matters. The files are numbered in the order they appear in the list, so arrange them with the arrows before stamping. Numbering follows that order exactly and never restarts.
Yes. The number is drawn onto the page as new content, so it does not require a text layer. It works identically on scans, native PDFs and mixed sets.
More edit & annotate — all free, no upload.
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