Can I continue numbering across multiple documents?

Yes, by running the tool once per file and managing the sequence yourself: note the last number stamped on each document and set the next file's starting number one higher. The output filename and your production log should record each file's range.

What format do courts expect?

There's no single rule, but the overwhelming convention is an uppercase party or matter prefix plus a zero-padded number — ABC-000001 — with six digits being the most common width. Check your protective order or ESI protocol; the prefix, start, and digits settings here cover the standard variations.

Is Bates numbering reversible?

The stamps are drawn into the page content and can't be cleanly removed afterwards. Always stamp a copy and archive the unstamped originals — you may need to re-produce with different numbering later.

Will the stamp cover content at the page edge?

Stamps sit close to the edge — in the margin on normally laid-out documents. For pages printed edge-to-edge, choose whichever of the six positions falls on empty space; bottom-right is conventional but not mandatory.

Bates Numbering

Add Bates numbers to your PDF pages. Files are processed entirely in your browser.

Drop PDF files here or browse

Max 100MB per file

About Bates Numbering for Legal Documents

Bates numbering stamps a unique sequential identifier on every page of a document production, so counsel, courts, and deposition transcripts can cite any page unambiguously — 'SMITH-000412' means one page, forever. It's a baseline requirement in discovery, and getting it wrong (duplicate numbers, broken sequences) causes real procedural pain.

Convertora's Bates tool stamps each page of a PDF with a configurable identifier: an optional prefix (typically a party or matter abbreviation), a zero-padded sequence number, and an optional suffix. You control the starting number and the padding width, so productions can continue an existing numbering scheme exactly where the last batch ended.

Stamps are drawn in a monospaced typeface — the convention for Bates numbers, since fixed-width digits align cleanly and read unambiguously — in any of six page positions, with bottom-right as the default the legal world expects. Documents in active litigation are exactly what shouldn't be uploaded to third-party servers; this runs entirely in your browser.

How to use it

1Upload the PDF to stamp (up to 100 MB).
2Set the prefix (e.g. 'SMITH-') and, if needed, a suffix. Both are optional.
3Choose the starting number and the digit padding — 6 digits is the default, so number 1 renders as 000001.
4Pick the position: bottom-right (default), bottom-left, bottom-center, or the three top positions.
5Click Apply. Every page receives its sequential stamp — page one gets the start number, and the count increments page by page.
6Download the result, saved with a -bates suffix.

Common use cases

Numbering a document production before delivering it to opposing counsel.
Stamping exhibits so deposition and hearing citations are precise.
Applying control numbers to records produced in response to a subpoena or audit.
Maintaining a continuous numbering scheme across rolling productions in a long-running matter.

Frequently asked questions

Tips

Keep a production log: file name, Bates prefix, first number, last number. Future-you, asked which document contains SMITH-004102, will be grateful.
Six digits accommodates 999,999 pages — there's rarely a reason to reduce the padding, and shorter widths risk an awkward rollover mid-production.

100% private — runs in your browser

Convertora processes everything on your device using JavaScript and WebAssembly. Files never leave your browser, are never uploaded to a server, and are never seen by us or anyone else. The moment you close the tab, the data is gone — there is no temporary cloud copy, no log entry, no retained backup.

Because the work happens locally, processing speed depends on your device — but there are no rate limits, no daily caps, and no file size restrictions beyond what your browser can handle in memory. No signup, no account, no payment. The tool works the same in incognito mode, on a corporate network, or after the page has loaded once, even with the network disconnected.