Adding Bates numbers to legal documents is a five-part workflow: collect and order the files in production sequence, redact privileged text first, choose one prefix and digit width for the whole matter, stamp each file continuing the unbroken sequence, and verify every range before production. The stamping itself takes seconds per file with our free Bates numbering tool — it runs 100% in your browser, so the documents are never uploaded. This guide walks through the complete workflow, including the order of operations and the mistakes that force re-stamps.
🔒 Stamp the files: Bates tool — in-browser, no upload.
Published 19 October 2026 · Updated 19 October 2026
Before any stamp touches a page, assemble the production set in its final order. Gather the source files — email exports printed to PDF, scanned exhibits, memos, spreadsheets — and sort them in the sequence the production will follow (chronological, custodian-based, or per your discovery protocol). This ordering decision is permanent: the Bates sequence you stamp next will mirror it, so a file stamped as DEF000200 stays "before" DEF000400 forever. Keep the unstamped originals in a separate folder; you will need them if anything requires a re-stamp, and the archival originals are the defensible source of the matter.
The single most expensive ordering mistake is stamping before redacting. If you stamp a production and then redact privileged text, the redactions force a re-stamp and renumbering — every cross-reference to the old Bates labels breaks. Worse, stamping first circulates stamped copies that still display privileged text to everyone on the matter before the redactions exist. The correct order is: collect, order, redact the privileged and irrelevant material with Redact PDF (which burns the redactions in permanently), and only then Bates-stamp the redacted set. Stamping last also means the Bates labels can sit in clean margins that the redactions haven't disturbed.
Decide three things once and document them in your production log: the prefix (DEF, PLT, CONF, PROD — three to six plain alphanumeric characters, no spaces or dots), the digit width (six digits is the standard: DEF000001), and the stamp position (bottom right or bottom center, small but legible). Every file in the matter uses the same three. Consistency is what makes the system work: if you start with six digits, stay with six digits, so that sorting stamped files alphabetically matches the numeric order and no citation ever needs decoding. Unsure why the scheme works this way? Read What is Bates numbering? and Bates vs page numbers.
For scanned files, fix orientation first with Rotate PDF — stamps land on the page's actual coordinates, so a sideways scan gets a sideways-positioned stamp. Password-protected sources must be unlocked before stamping.
Verification is a checklist, not a feeling. For every stamped file: open the first page and the last page and read the labels; spot-check the middle pages; confirm the labels sit clear of content at the chosen position. Across the whole production: confirm the sequence continues from file to file with no gaps and no duplicates — a gap means a page was skipped, a duplicate means two pages share an identity, and either one will be found by opposing counsel. Finally, reconcile the production log: the last label of the final file should equal the total stamped page count plus your start number minus one. If anything is off, restamp the single offending file from your unstamped originals — never try to patch a stamped file.
Most free Bates tools on the web are built around an upload: your discovery production — the confidential core of your matter — travels to a stranger's server, gets stamped there, and you are told to trust the privacy policy about what happens to it next. Adobe's own web tool wants an account and a subscription on top of the upload. Several Bates-specific sites add a per-page fee for the privilege. None of this is technically necessary: sequential stamping is trivial local bookkeeping on a file you already hold, and the documents being stamped are precisely the ones that should travel the least.
The Bates tool on this site draws every stamp with pdf-lib entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded, there is no account, no per-page fee, no quota, and no server copy to chase down afterwards. Open your browser's network tab while it runs: you will not see a single upload. Compare that with Adobe Acrobat's web tools, which by design receive your full document first. For the general case against server-upload PDF processing, see Are online PDF tools safe?
1) Collect and order the files in production sequence. 2) Redact privileged text first. 3) Choose one prefix and digit width for the whole matter. 4) Stamp the first file starting at your chosen number, then stamp each subsequent file continuing the sequence. 5) Verify first and last pages of every stamped file, plus spot-check the middle. Our free Bates tool does the stamping entirely in your browser.
Redact first, then stamp. Stamping before redacting circulates stamped copies that still show privileged text to your team, and redacting after stamping forces a re-stamp and renumbering headaches. The correct order is: collect, order, redact, then Bates-stamp the redacted set.
Stamp the first file and note its final label (e.g. DEF001200). Stamp the second file with the start number set to the next value (121, keeping the same prefix and digit width). The stamp preview on our free tool shows the first and last labels before you commit, so you can confirm continuity.
Three to six characters identifying the producing party or category: DEF (defendant), PLT (plaintiff), CONF (confidential), PROD (production set). Keep it plain alphanumeric with no spaces or dots, and use the same prefix, width and position across the entire production.
Keep your unstamped originals, so a mis-stamped file costs you one re-run, not a ruined production. Restamp the file from the original with corrected settings; the Bates label is just an added stamp, so the underlying document is intact either way.
It depends on where the stamping happens. Upload-based tools receive the full production on their servers — an unnecessary exposure for privileged material. Browser-only tools like the free one on this page stamp every page on your device, so the documents never leave your machine; you can verify the absence of uploads in your browser's network tab.
Check the first and last pages of every stamped file, spot-check the middle pages, confirm the sequence continues across files with no gaps or duplicates, and record the label ranges (e.g. DEF000001–DEF003420) in your production log.
Stamp sequential Bates labels on every page — stamped locally, never uploaded.
Open tool →History, anatomy of a Bates label, and where lawyers use it.
Read the guide →When a simple page number is enough — and when only Bates will do.
Read the guide →An honest look at what server-upload tools do with your files.
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