Bates Stamp PDFs in Your Browser

Your supervising attorney just dropped a stack of PDFs on your desk and said “Bates stamp these by end of day.” You’ve used Acrobat Pro before, but the firm laptop doesn’t have it, the IT ticket is going to take a week, and the PDFs are privileged work product you absolutely cannot upload to some random free PDF site. You need something that runs locally, takes thirty seconds to learn, and produces an output that your senior partner won’t send back.

That’s what this tool is. Drop the PDF in, set the prefix, click stamp, done. Everything runs in your browser — no upload, no account, no third-party server ever sees the document.

What Bates Numbering Is

Bates numbering is the system for giving every page in a litigation document set a unique, sequential identifier. The format is conventionally a prefix (often the producing party’s initials, a case ID, or a custodian code), a zero-padded sequential number, and sometimes a short suffix. So a production might run SMITH000001 through SMITH024501, or ABC-000001-CONF if confidentiality designations are baked into the ID.

The name comes from Edward Hicks Bates, an inventor in New York who patented an automatic numbering machine in 1891. His “Bates Stamper” was a hand-held device with a self-incrementing wheel of digits — every time you pressed it onto a page, it stamped the current number and advanced. Law firms picked it up almost immediately as a way to mark exhibits and manage case files, and the term “Bates number” stuck even after the physical stamper gave way to PDF software a century later.

Why Every Page Needs a Unique Identifier

In litigation, multiple parties end up referring to the same documents — depositions, motions, summary judgment briefs, expert reports, trial exhibits. If a witness is being asked about page 47 of a contract, everyone in the room needs to know exactly which page that is, in which production, from which custodian. Generic page numbers don’t survive being merged into binders, attached to motions as exhibits, or extracted into trial workbooks.

Bates numbers solve this by giving every single page a permanent, unique address. SMITH012847 means the same thing forever, in any system, in any context. It’s how the producing party tracks what they handed over (matched against the privilege log), it’s how opposing counsel cites the specific page in a deposition outline, and it’s how the judge or jury follows along when an exhibit is read into the record.

The Format

The convention is PREFIX + 000001, with the number zero-padded so that all IDs sort correctly as text. Common patterns:

• SMITH000001 — six-digit padding, no separator. The most common default.
• SMITH-000001 — hyphen separator, easier on the eyes when you’re dictating IDs out loud.
• ABC 000001 — space separator.
• DEF000050-CONF — suffix marking a confidentiality designation.
• JONES0000001 — seven digits for very large productions.

The number goes in the bottom-right corner of every page by convention, in a small bold font (this tool defaults to 9pt Helvetica Bold). Bottom-right is preferred because most documents have less content there than at the top — fewer collisions with letterheads, footers, headers, or watermarks. If a specific page already has something in the bottom-right (an invoice number, a Bates number from a prior production), pick another corner.

Why Browser-Only Matters Here

Most free online PDF tools work by uploading your file to a server, processing it there, and emailing or downloading the result. For most documents, that’s a tradeoff people accept. For privileged documents — communications between counsel and client, work product, attorney mental impressions, draft pleadings, internal investigation memos — uploading is a confidentiality breach. Depending on the protective order, your firm’s internal information security policy, and the jurisdiction’s professional responsibility rules, it may also be sanctionable.

This tool runs entirely in your browser using pdf-lib. The PDF file is read into your browser’s memory, modified there, and downloaded back to your machine. Nothing crosses the network. The Signegy server hosts the JavaScript code; it never sees your document. Open your browser’s network tab and watch — there’s no upload request when you stamp a file.

That isn’t a marketing claim, it’s how the tool works. It’s also why you can use this on a laptop that’s offline, or behind a corporate firewall that blocks file uploads.

How to Use It

1. Drop your PDF onto the tool above.
2. Set the prefix — your case ID, party initials, or custodian code (default DOC).
3. Set the start number — usually 1 if this is the first document in the production, or whatever number continues from the previous file.
4. Set the padding — number of digits, zero-filled. Default 6 handles up to 999,999 pages.
5. Optionally set a suffix (e.g., -A for an annotated set) and a separator (none, space, or hyphen).
6. Pick a position — bottom-right is conventional.
7. Adjust font size if needed (default 9pt is the standard).
8. Click Bates stamp N pages. The result downloads as [original]-bates.pdf with every page stamped.

The preview banner shows the first and last numbers you’ll generate before you commit, so you can sanity-check SMITH000001 → SMITH000247 matches what you expected for a 247-page document.

Honest Limits

• Single document at a time. This tool stamps one PDF per run. For numbering across multiple documents, either merge them first and stamp the merged file, or stamp each one sequentially with continuing start numbers (write down where each one ended).
• Whole-document only. Every page gets stamped. To skip a cover page or appendix, split the PDF first, stamp the relevant range, and merge the pieces back.
• No collision detection. If a page already has content in the chosen corner, the Bates number draws on top of it. Pick a different corner or check first.
• No load file / production log. Specialized e-discovery platforms generate a load file (DAT/CSV) mapping Bates ranges to documents. This tool just stamps the visual identifier on the page; you’ll track the ranges yourself or in your matter management system.

Pair With Other Tools

• Add a watermark — stamp CONFIDENTIAL, ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY, or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL on every page after Bates stamping.
• Merge PDFs — combine multiple files into one production before stamping so numbering runs continuously.
• Split PDF — pull a specific range out for re-production with a different Bates prefix.
• Add page numbers — for non-litigation documents that just need readable page numbers, not a Bates-style ID.

Signegy provides general information, not legal advice. Confirm any specific format or production requirements with your case’s protective order, ESI protocol, or supervising counsel.