Bates Numbering

Add sequential legal document numbers to your PDFs

Legal Document Control: Bates numbering is the industry standard for tracking legal documents, evidence, and court filings. Add sequential numbers with custom prefix/suffix for complete document authentication.

Bates Number Format

Preview Format

DOC-000001

Example for page 1. Subsequent pages will increment: DOC-000002, DOC-000003, etc.

Prefix (Optional)

Document identifier or case code

Suffix (Optional)

Additional identifier

Start Number

First page number

Number of Digits

Zero-padding width (1-10)

Position on Page

Font Size (pt)

Font Color

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About Bates Numbering

What is Bates Numbering? A legal document indexing system that assigns unique sequential identifiers to each page. Named after the Bates Automatic Numbering Machine patented in 1891.

Common Uses: Legal discovery, court filings, evidence tracking, document control, medical records, business contracts, and regulatory compliance.

Format Examples: CASE-001-000001, TRIAL-2024-000042-PAGE, DOC-000001-EX, SMITH-V-JONES-000123

Best Practices: Use consistent prefixes across related documents, maintain sequential numbering without gaps, and keep a master index of Bates ranges for each document set.