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Bates Stamp PDF Files Online for Free
A Bates stamp is the number printed on each page of a PDF. Drop your files below and this page puts a prefix and a running number in the bottom right corner of every page, on a strip it makes for the purpose, so nothing on the page is covered.
Bates Stamp Your PDF
or drag PDF files, a whole folder or a ZIP here
Free, no limit on files, no sign-up. Files are read on your device and never uploaded.
Save as PDF
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One row per email and per attachment, with its first and last number.
Bates numbers for PDFs
Keep this tab open until the download starts. Closing it stops the numbering.
One row per file, with its pages and its first and last number.
Several emails? The paid features save them all at once: a ZIP of PDFs, or one merged PDF sorted by date with a contents page and page numbers. PDF and image attachments are added after their email, and all attachments come as a ZIP.
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The free version stays free. See pricing.
What a Bates Stamp Means on a PDF
Bates stamping and Bates numbering are the same practice under two names. Wikipedia lists stamping, branding, coding and labeling among the other names for it, and says the hand-operated device that gave it its name pressed a number onto a page and advanced by one for the next impression.
On paper that was an ink stamp. On a PDF the stamp is text added to every page, and Wikipedia says hand stamping is becoming rare as electronic numbering, mostly in PDF files, takes over. So “stamp a PDF” just means: write the next number on each page, in the same place, in the same format.
Source: Wikipedia: Bates numbering.
Where the Stamp Goes on the Page
Here the stamp goes in the bottom right corner of every page, as the page is displayed, so on a landscape page or a page rotated by the scanner it is still the bottom right that you see. The middle of the footer stays free for “Page x of y” if you want it.
The harder question is what happens to the content that already sits at the bottom of the page, such as the footer line of a scanned letter. There are three ways to place a stamp:
| Way to place the stamp | What happens to the content underneath | Used here |
|---|---|---|
| Print it on top of the page | Anything at the bottom edge can be overprinted and become hard to read | No |
| Print it on a white box | The box hides that part of the page | No |
| Shrink the page content a little and print on the strip that opens up | Nothing is hidden or overprinted; the content is about 94 to 96 percent of its size on A4 and US Letter pages | Yes |
The content keeps its top edge and its horizontal centre, links move with it, and the page size does not change. We ran this on Oct 21, 2026 against test PDFs with the awkward cases in them (see the table near the end of this page) and looked at every output page.
Choosing a Stamp Style
No standard decides what a Bates stamp looks like. The prefix usually names the case, the sender or the batch, and the digits after it are the same width on every page so the stamps sort in order. Examples of the shape, not requirements:
| Prefix typed | First stamp | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| ABC- | ABC-000001 | A short code for the producing party |
| SMITH | SMITH000001 | A case or client name without a separator |
| (none) | 000001 | A set that only needs plain numbers |
The prefix can use A–Z, a–z, 0–9, spaces and - _ . / up to 20 characters (no accented letters). Keep it short: the stamp is printed in one small font at the corner, and on a narrow page it is made smaller to fit. If a character cannot be printed in that font, the tool says which one before it starts.
Stamping Many PDFs in One Run
Drop as many files as you like. The numbers continue from one file to the next, in the order shown in the list, and you can change that order by dragging, with the arrows, or with Sort by file name. You can get everything as one merged PDF or one stamped PDF per file in a ZIP. If you want to keep each original file’s bookmarks and form fields, take the ZIP: the merged PDF does not carry them.
When the stamps are on, the tool reads them back from the file it made and tells you the range it checked. A number list (CSV) gives the first and last stamp of each file. The main page, Bates numbering for PDF, covers those parts in full.
Once a Stamp Is On, It Stays On
This tool has no button to remove stamps from a numbered PDF, and the numbered file is a new download: your original is never changed. So keep the originals. If you chose the wrong prefix or the wrong order, run it again from the originals and use the new files.
The same goes for a batch that grows. Add the new files, or finish this batch and start the next one at the number after your last. The step-by-step page shows how.
How Each Kind of Page Is Stamped
| Page type | Where the stamp ends up |
|---|---|
| Portrait or landscape | Bottom right of the page as shown |
| Rotated by 90, 180 or 270 degrees | Bottom right of the page as shown, reading left to right |
| Cropped so less of the page shows | Bottom right of the part that shows; the cropped-off part stays hidden |
| A scanned picture of a page | On the strip below the picture; the scan itself is not changed, and its text is not made searchable |
| Very small pages | Bottom right, in a smaller size if the stamp would not fit |
Encrypted or restricted PDFs (including password-protected ones) are listed but not stamped, and they get a row in the number list with the reason.
FAQ
What is the difference between a Bates stamp and a Bates number?
In practice none. Bates stamping and Bates numbering name the same thing: a unique number printed on each page. The number is what you read; the stamp is how it got there.
Can I Bates stamp a scanned PDF?
Yes. A scan is a PDF whose pages are pictures. The stamp goes on a strip below the picture and the picture is left as it is. The words inside the scan are not turned into searchable text.
Can I change the position or the font of the stamp?
Not in this version. The stamp is always in the bottom right corner, in one standard font, in black.
Does stamping change my original file?
No. You get a new file to download. Your original stays where it is, unchanged.
Is the stamp searchable text?
Yes. It is text on the page, so a PDF reader can search for it and copy it.