How to Bates Number a PDF for Free (Without Acrobat)

A practical guide for paralegals, legal assistants, and small-firm attorneys.

Bates numbering is one of those tasks that feels like it should be trivial and somehow never is. Acrobat Pro does it well, but $19.99 a month is a lot to pay if stamping is most of what you use it for. The free web tools mostly require uploading your documents to someone's server, which is exactly the wrong move for privileged material. And the desktop utilities that do batch work tend to be Windows-only and priced anywhere from $30 to $287.

Here is what Bates numbering actually requires, what courts and opposing counsel expect, and how to do it without a subscription.

What a Bates Number Is (and the Conventions That Matter)

A Bates number is a unique, sequential identifier stamped on every page of a production so any page can be cited unambiguously. The conventions are simple but firm:

• Prefix identifying the producing party, usually 2 to 5 capital letters: ABC, SMITH.
• Zero-padded number, most commonly six digits: ABC000001. The padding keeps files sorting correctly and leaves room for large productions.
• Continuity across the whole production. If file one ends at ABC000045, file two starts at ABC000046. This is the part single-file tools cannot do for you.
• Continuity across productions. Your second production resumes where the first ended. Keep a log.

The Three Ways to Do It Without Acrobat

1. Free Upload-Based Web Tools

Plenty of sites will Bates stamp a PDF for free. The problem is the word "upload." Sending privileged or confidential client documents through a third-party server you have no agreement with is a confidentiality risk most firms will not accept, and some protective orders arguably prohibit it outright. If a tool's FAQ cannot clearly say your files never leave your device, treat it as unsuitable for discovery documents.

2. Free On-Device Single-File Tools

A few tools (including the free tier of Stamp, and batesstamp.com) process files locally in your browser, so nothing is uploaded. These are genuinely fine for one-off jobs: stamping a deposition exhibit, numbering a single filing. The limitation is batch. Stamping 40 files one at a time, manually carrying the start number from file to file, is an afternoon of error-prone work.

3. Paid Batch Tools

Batch continuous numbering is where every tool draws its paywall, because it is the actual production workflow. The going rates:

The Step-by-Step

1. Pick a tool that processes on-device. For privileged documents this is the non-negotiable step.
2. Set the format. Prefix, start number, six-digit padding. Bottom-right is the most common position. If your scans are dark, use a stamp with white backing so the number stays legible.
3. Watch for rotated pages. Scanned discovery is full of pages saved with 90 or 270 degree rotation flags. A naive stamper puts the number where the page edge is, not where the reader sees the corner. Spot-check rotated pages after stamping.
4. Do not stamp encrypted PDFs blind. A password-protected file should be decrypted deliberately first, not silently modified.
5. Keep the production log. For each output file record the source filename, page count, and Bates begin and end. This is the index opposing counsel will ask about and the number your next production resumes from.
6. Add designations where the protective order requires them. CONFIDENTIAL or HIGHLY CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEYS' EYES ONLY legends go in their own corner, separate from the Bates stamp.

Where Stamp Fits

We built Stamp because this list of requirements is short, stable, and badly served. The free tier Bates numbers single PDFs with full formatting control, exhibit stamps, and page extraction, all processed 100% on your device. Pro ($15 one-time, no subscription) adds the production workflow: batch Bates with continuous numbering across files, the production log CSV, auto-sequenced exhibit labels, watermarks, e-filing size splits, and saved templates per client or matter. It is one honest option among the ones above; pick whichever fits your volume.