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Guided workflow variation

Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2, Exhibit 3,stamped on every first page.

Exhibit stickers are a paper habit that carried over to PDFs. BatesBind stamps the electronic version on the opening page of each file, counts the labels in the order the files are listed, and records them in the index, the CSV, and the bookmarks.

Turn on exhibit labels, pick numbers or letters and a first value, check the preview, and the labels go on in the same export as the Bates numbers.

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Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Full BatesBind overview
One-time purchase No telemetry Local-first

windows · originals never changed · nothing uploads · 15-day free trial

If this sounds like your week

Exhibit stickers do not stick to a PDF.

On paper, a clerk presses a printed sticker onto the opening sheet of each exhibit. In an electronic filing or a hearing package, that marking has to become part of the page itself. Doing it manually means opening each PDF, adding a text box, entering the designation, nudging it clear of the content, and saving, then doing it all again for the following exhibit and the one after that.

Where tooling usually breaks

Change the list once and every later label is wrong.

Exhibit lists change late. A document is inserted between Exhibit 4 and Exhibit 5, or one is withdrawn, and every designation after that point shifts by one. When the markings were typed by hand, that means reopening each later file and editing its text box. Any marking that gets missed now disagrees with the exhibit list, with the bookmarks, and with whatever brief or declaration cites it.

Where BatesBind lands

Labels that follow the list, not the file names.

BatesBind assigns exhibit labels by position in its table, so moving an item up or down relabels everything below it, ahead of any output. Choose the wording, such as Exhibit or EX-, count with numerals or letters, start anywhere from 1 to 9999, and pick a corner. The preview draws the exhibit label, the Bates number, and any legend together on the opening page.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Learn more about BatesBind

windows · originals never changed · nothing uploads · 15-day free trial

What you get

Feature highlights

One continuous range

every PDF in a folder is numbered in the order you set, with a prefix, a suffix, 1 to 15 zero-padded digits, and a start number, or restarted for each file.

Legend and exhibit labels in one pass

a confidentiality legend on every page in its own corner, and an exhibit label on each file’s first page, counted 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C.

An index as PDF and CSV

every file with its exhibit label, page count, and first and last Bates number, plus output names and a SHA-256 hash per file in the CSV for a production log.

Copies or one bound PDF

export numbered copies, named by Bates range if you like, or one bound PDF with the index first and a bookmark for every file.

No silent gaps

a file that cannot be read is listed with the reason, and an optional slip sheet holds its place and one number so the range has no hole.

Originals never changed, nothing uploaded

BatesBind writes new files only, makes no network connections, and saved schemes pick up at the next number for the next production.

Especially when

  • Bates-number every PDF in a folder in one continuous range instead of stamping file by file and carrying the last number forward by hand
  • Add a confidentiality legend and exhibit labels in the same pass as the Bates numbers, without a second stamping pass
  • Get an index of first and last Bates numbers for every file as a PDF and a CSV that opens in Excel, instead of typing the production log
  • Keep the original PDFs untouched and the documents on the PC, with no upload and no account

Who benefits

Real-world scenarios

A lettered series that continues

A hearing uses numbers for one party's exhibits and letters for the other's. This party's set is lettered and continues from exhibits marked earlier, so it must start at F.

Set Count to A, B, C and First to 6, which gives F. The labels run F, G, H down the table, and the index, the CSV, and the bookmarks of the bound PDF show the same letters.

A late addition to the exhibit list

Two days before filing, a new document must go in as the fourth exhibit, which pushes the existing fourth through twelfth exhibits down by one.

Copy the new PDF into the folder, choose Refresh, and drag it to the fourth row. Every label and Bates range below it updates in the table. Export again; the originals were never changed, so the new set starts from clean files.

File names that already say Exhibit 10

The files are named Exhibit 1 through Exhibit 11, but two numbers were never used and one scan in the folder cannot be opened.

Labels count the files that are included, in table order, so the file named Exhibit 10 may be labeled Exhibit 7. The Exhibit column shows this before export; rename or reorder the files if the labels must match the names.

Deep dive

How exhibit labels, Bates numbers, and the index fit together

One label per file, on its first page. Turn on Exhibit label on the first page of each file, and every included file gets one label on page one. The label is the text you type followed by the count. Text that ends in a letter or digit gets a space, so Exhibit gives Exhibit 1, while text that ends in a hyphen does not, so EX- gives EX-1. The text can be up to 32 characters. Exhibit labels print two points larger than the Bates number, in bold, so they read as a heading rather than a page reference.

Numbers or letters. Count with 1, 2, 3 or with A, B, C. After Z, letters continue AA, AB, the way spreadsheet columns do. The First field sets the starting value, from 1 to 9999; with letters, First 1 is A and First 6 is F. That covers a second volume that continues an earlier series, or a party whose exhibits start at a value set by the court's convention.

Corners that do not collide. The label can go in any of six positions: bottom right, bottom center, bottom left, top right, top center, or top left. It defaults to the top right, with the Bates number at the bottom right. BatesBind refuses a layout that puts the exhibit label in the same position as the number or the legend, and the preview pane draws all three on the first page of the selected file, even on a rotated scan.

Cover pages. Some exhibits begin with a cover or tab page. Turn on Leave the first page of each file unstamped and the Bates number and legend stay off that page, which still takes its number, while the exhibit label is still printed on it.

Where the labels show up. The Exhibit column appears in the table as soon as labels are on, so the assignment is visible before export. The PDF index and the CSV carry an Exhibit column. In a bound PDF made with Export PDF, every bookmark is titled with the label and the file name, such as Exhibit 3 followed by the file name, and the index lists the page where each exhibit begins.

Files that cannot be read. A file that cannot be opened gets no label unless slip sheets are on. With slip sheets, its one-page placeholder takes the next label and one Bates number, so the series keeps its place for the missing document.

What the label does not do. It does not rename files, and the index lists file names, so name files the way you want them to read in the index. The exhibit conventions themselves, such as numbers for one side and letters for the other, come from court rules, the judge, or the parties. BatesBind applies the convention you choose, and this page is not legal advice.

How it is built

Built to leave the originals exactly as they were.

Originals never changed

Source PDFs are opened for reading only. BatesBind writes new files to a file or folder you pick, refuses to save over an original, and a copies export never replaces an existing file.

Nothing uploads

It runs in the Windows app sandbox with no declared capabilities, makes no network connections, and has no account and no telemetry. Settings and schemes stay on this PC.

Labels stay upright

Labels are placed on the page as it is displayed, so they stay upright on rotated and cropped scans. The typeface is embedded, and existing page content is never moved.

FAQ

Straight answers—no glossary dump

How do I add exhibit labels to a folder of PDFs?

Open the folder in BatesBind and turn on Exhibit label on the first page of each file. Type the text, such as Exhibit, choose 1, 2, 3 or A, B, C under Count, set the First value, and pick a position. Check the Exhibit column and the preview, then export. Each file's first page gets its label in the same pass as the Bates numbers.

Can exhibit labels use letters instead of numbers?

Yes. Set Count to A, B, C. The First value still takes a number, so First 1 starts at A and First 6 starts at F. After Z, the labels continue with AA, AB, and so on. Letters and numbers are counted in the order of the table, and the same labels appear in the index, the CSV, and the bound PDF's bookmarks.

Can the exhibit label go on a cover page that has no Bates number?

Yes. Turn on Leave the first page of each file unstamped. The first page of each file then carries no Bates number and no legend, but it still takes its number in the range, and the exhibit label is still printed on it. Every later page of the file carries the number and legend as usual.

Will a court or opposing counsel accept the numbered set?

BatesBind makes no claim about what a court, an ESI order, a protective order, or opposing counsel will accept. Those documents, and any agreement between the parties, set the label format, the corner for the number and any designation, and what a production log must contain. BatesBind gives you the controls they often mention: prefix, zero padding, position, a separate legend, and an index of ranges. Check the order that governs your matter. This page is general information and not legal advice.

Will BatesBind change my original PDFs?

No. Source PDFs are opened for reading only and are never changed. BatesBind writes new files: one bound PDF under a name you choose, or numbered copies in a folder you pick. It refuses to save over an original, a copies export refuses the source folder and any file name that already exists there, and a canceled export keeps nothing. To renumber, change the settings and export again from the same untouched originals.

Does anything leave my PC, and how do I get BatesBind?

Nothing uploads. BatesBind makes no network connections, has no account, and collects no telemetry. It runs in the Windows app sandbox with no declared capabilities and reads only the folder you open or drop on the window. If you export to a folder that a sync app such as OneDrive manages, that app may copy the files under its own settings. BatesBind is a one-time purchase in the Microsoft Store, and the Store runs a 15-day free trial with every feature.

Related pages

Every PDF in the folder, numbered in one run. CONFIDENTIAL on every page, in the same pass as the number. Bates numbering software, not a whole PDF suite.

A folder of PDFs in.
A numbered production and its index out.

BatesBind numbers every page in one continuous range, adds the legend and exhibit labels in the same pass, and writes the index as PDF and CSV with a SHA-256 hash for each file. Originals are never changed, nothing uploads, and the Microsoft Store runs a 15-day free trial.

Pay once. Own it forever.

One-time purchase on the Microsoft Store · No subscription · Instant install

Get it from Microsoft

Buy through the Microsoft Store—instant install, automatic updates, and a Microsoft receipt for easy expensing. No account needed on our site, and no subscription on Store purchases.

Open full product page

Technical specifications

Technical specifications for procurement

Spec Implementation
Data Sovereignty Reads only the folder you open or drop on the window; writes new PDFs and the CSV index only to the file or folder you pick, refusing to save over an original; settings and saved schemes stay in the app’s own local storage
Telemetry Status None; no account, no telemetry, and the app makes no network connections
Core Runtime .NET 10 and WinUI 3 (Windows App SDK), packaged as MSIX; runs in an AppContainer with no declared capabilities; PDF engine is pure managed code
Network Requirements Fully functional offline; the app makes no network connections
Deployment Compatibility Windows 10 version 2004 or later and Windows 11, x64 or ARM64; one-time purchase on the Microsoft Store with a 15-day free trial
Inputs PDF files in a folder you open or drop on the window, with subfolders optional; password-protected and damaged files are listed with the reason
Numbering Prefix and suffix of letters, digits, hyphen, underscore, or period (no spaces); 1 to 15 zero-padded digits; start number up to 15 digits; continuous across the folder or restarted for each file
Labels Bates number, a legend on every page (up to 64 characters), and an exhibit label on each first page (1, 2, 3 or A, B, C); six positions, 6 to 24 pt, 0 to 4 in margin, black, gray, red, or blue
Outputs Numbered copies named by original name, Bates range, or both, with the index as PDF and CSV; or one bound PDF with the index first and a bookmark per file; slip sheets optional
Index CSV UTF-8 with byte-order mark for Excel; number, exhibit, file, output file, pages, first and last Bates, start page (bound PDF), SHA-256, and a note for slip sheets
Not included No OCR, no redaction, no removal of existing stamps, and no TIFF images or load files