Numbering every page of a document set for legal discovery
A production for discovery, an exhibit bundle or an audit file is many documents that people will cite page by page. Bates numbers give every page in the set its own label, in one unbroken sequence, so that a page called ACME000214 means the same page to everyone who has the set. Ordinary page numbers start again in each file and cannot do that.
Updated
Which tool you need
A production set that must be numbered as one run
Bates Numbering. Put the files in the order they are produced; the last page of one file is followed by the next number on the first page of the next.
Continuing from a production you already sent
Set Start at to the number after the last label you used, with the same prefix and digits, and the new set carries on where the old one stopped.
Page 1, 2, 3 in each document, starting again every time
Add Page Numbers is the tool for ordinary numbering within one file.
A word such as Confidential stamped across each page
That is a watermark rather than a page label; Watermark PDF adds one.
The set should be produced as a single PDF
Join the files with Merge PDF first, then Bates number the one file.
How each label is built
A label is your prefix, then the number padded with leading zeros to the number of digits you choose, then an optional suffix. A prefix of ACME- with six digits starting at 1 reads ACME-000001; digits can go up to 12, and 0 means no padding at all.
Padding matters more than it looks: with a fixed width, the labels sort in the right order as text in a spreadsheet or a review platform. The first label is shown beside the settings before anything is written, so the format can be checked against what the other side expects.
How the count crosses from file to file
The order of the list is the order of the numbers, from the top file to the bottom one, and every page of every file gets a label. The result gives the full range and, for several files, the first and last label of each, ready to copy into a production log or a cover letter.
Each file stays a separate PDF with its own pages, links and form fields; one file comes back as one PDF and several come back together in a ZIP. The label is written into the page as real text, so searching the PDF for a Bates number finds its page.
Where the label sits on the page
Bottom right is the usual place and the default, with five other corners and centers to choose from, in a small, medium or large size. The label is drawn in black over whatever is already there, so a page printed right to its edge can have the label land on its content.
When a label may run past the edge of a page, the result says on how many pages, and a smaller size or a shorter prefix is the fix.
What to know before you start
- Every page is numbered, a cover page included; no page can be skipped.
- One color (black), one typeface and six possible spots on the page.
- A prefix or suffix with letters the built-in font has no shapes for is turned down before a single page is stamped.
- Up to 100 files in one run.
- A password-protected PDF has to go through Unlock PDF before it can be numbered.