Edit & compose · guide
What Add PDF header footer Bates numbers does
Add PDF header, footer or Bates numbers places a line of text centred at the top or bottom of every page, with {page} and {pages} filled in, so Project name · Page 3 of 12 appears on page three. For legal discovery it adds Bates numbers such as CASE-000001, running on across every file you choose together. Text lands correctly on scanned, cropped and rotated pages. Other scripts print from your device's fonts, but an Arabic or Hebrew phrase of more than one word comes out with its words in reverse order. Everything happens in your browser.
How to add headers, footers and Bates numbers to a PDF
- Choose the PDFs Select the PDF to label, or several at once for one continuous Bates run; open Selected files to check their order. Nothing is uploaded.
- Write the header and footer Type the Header and Footer text, using {page} and {pages} where the numbers should go. For Bates numbers, open Bates numbering (optional) and enter a prefix such as CASE-.
- Add and save Select Add headers and footers, check the text on a few pages, including any landscape ones, then save each new PDF.
Worked example
Add a Bates identifier to a document production copy.
- Starting point
- Choose the PDF and decide the text and Bates prefix for this document.
- What to do
- Enter Header and Footer text, using {page} and {pages} where needed. Enter a Bates prefix only when you need discovery numbering, then create the result.
- Result
- Expect repeated text in the default positions. Compare the first and last page labels to your production list.
If the result is not right
If tokens print literally, check their spelling. This view does not expose page-range, starting-sequence or position selectors; confirm its defaults meet your needs and inspect for overlap with existing text.
Limits worth knowing
- Adding identifiers does not certify evidence, prevent alterations or guarantee that a numbering scheme meets a recipient’s requirements.
Questions and answers
What are Bates numbers?
Sequential identifiers stamped on every page of documents produced in legal discovery, so that any page can be cited exactly. Enter a prefix such as CASE- and each page gets the next number, from CASE-000001, at the bottom right. A number that outgrows six digits is printed in full rather than cut short.
How should I Bates-number a production?
The usual conventions: a prefix that identifies the producing party or matter, a fixed number of digits, a number on every page including covers and blank pages, the same corner throughout, and no gaps or repeats. This tool follows them: six digits, bottom right, every page. There is no start-number box, so each run begins at 000001; select every file of the production together, in order, so the numbers run on across them, and note the range the result reports. Check the format your protocol or court requires before you produce.
Will headers line up on scanned or landscape pages?
Yes. The text is placed relative to the part of each page a reader actually sees, allowing for pages that were cropped, scanned with an offset or rotated, so it sits where you expect instead of drifting off the edge or turning sideways.
Will the header or footer cover text already on the page?
It can. A PDF has no reserved header space, so the text is drawn on top of whatever is there, in 9-point type about 13 mm in from the top or bottom edge of the visible page. Pages with tight margins, or with their own running heads or page numbers near the edges, are the ones to check. Text too long for the line is shortened with an ellipsis, and the result says how often that happened.
What can I put in a header or footer besides page numbers?
Any text, plus {date} for today's date as your browser writes it, {filename} for the file's name without .pdf, and {bates} to place the Bates number inside your own wording once a Bates prefix is set. Anything else in braces is printed exactly as typed and listed in the result, so a typo shows; write {{ and }} for a literal brace. Text the standard PDF font cannot spell, which is anything beyond English and Western European letters, is drawn from your device's fonts as small pictures, so it prints but cannot be searched; an Arabic or Hebrew phrase of more than one word comes out with its words in reverse order.
Does stamping change the document's metadata?
No. The original Producer, creation date and modification date are left as they were, and nothing else about the pages, fonts or properties changes; only the stamps are added. Each file comes back as its own PDF, named with -stamped, or -bates when only Bates numbers were added.