Bates Stamping: Check the Sequence Before You Run
A Bates sequence is only useful if it is continuous and predictable. Most bad runs are decided before the first stamp: the files are in the wrong order, the digits are too few, or the starting number repeats one already used.
Why this comes up
Productions are assembled from folders, not from a single tidy list, so the upload order is rarely the order a paralegal would choose. Add a second batch later and the counters have to pick up exactly where the first one stopped.
Check before you run it
- Put the files in production order before uploading. The batch is stamped in the order it is added: the first file takes the first numbers and later files continue from there. A batch accepts up to 50 files, so settle the order before the run rather than re-stamping a served set.
- Make the digit width fit the whole production. Six digits zero-pad the sequence to 000001 and run out of room at 999999. Pick the width for the entire set before the first stamp, because changing it midway leaves the earlier stamps a different length.
- Verify the join between two batches. When continuing a production, set the Bates start to the next unused number and the file counter to the next file. Check the last page of the old batch, the first page of the new one and the last file in the download.
When to reach for it
- A second production continues an existing set. Start the sequence at the first unused number and set the file counter to match, then compare the first new stamp with the last old one.
- Each file needs a label that is not the Bates number. The style line can carry [FILE_NUMBER] beside [BATES_NUMBER], so a witness bundle and its index share the same page stamp without mixing the counters.
One question we get
What is Bates numbering for?
Legal, medical and insurance filing: a unique sequential stamp (often with a case prefix) on every page, so any page can be cited exactly. Styles and result names are customizable.
Where it fits
The tools people usually open next to Bates Numbering:
- Header & Footer — Apply page numbers or text labels to PDF files.
- Deskew — Automatically straighten and deskew scanned PDF pages.
- Watermark — Add an image or text watermark to PDF documents.
Every tool works on a copy, so the original file is never touched. Uploads are stored under an unguessable id and deleted automatically two hours after you last open them; nothing is listed, shared or indexed. More on the security page.