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Guided workflow variation

Every PDF in the folder,numbered in one run.

Point BatesBind at the folder that holds the production. It reads each file's page count, shows the range every file will receive in order, and stamps them all in a single export, so one file's last number leads straight into the next.

Open the folder, check the order and the ranges in the table, move anything out of place, and export the whole set in one run.

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.

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

Stamping file by file means carrying the count by hand.

A production rarely arrives as one document. It is a folder: contracts, email printouts, invoices, scanned site plans, each saved as its own PDF. Stamping them one at a time means noting where the previous file ended, typing the next start value into a dialog, and repeating that for every file. Thirty files mean thirty chances to begin too early, skip a stretch of numbers, or stamp the same stretch twice.

Where tooling usually breaks

The order of the files is the order of the numbers.

A list sorted character by character puts Exhibit 10 ahead of Exhibit 2. Once labels are burned onto pages in the wrong sequence, correcting one document means redoing every document after it. A damaged scan halfway down causes a different kind of trouble: if the tool stops there, or passes over it without saying so, the sequence and any handwritten list of ranges no longer agree, and nobody notices until a page is cited.

Where BatesBind lands

See every range before a single page is stamped.

BatesBind reads the folder and sorts it the way people count. Drag a row, or press Alt+Up and Alt+Down, and the ranges beneath it update in the table. Turn on Include subfolders when the set is organized that way, restart at the start number for each file when the matter calls for it, and enable slip sheets so an unreadable PDF still holds its place. Nothing is written until you choose Export copies or Export PDF.

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 production folder with one bad scan

A folder of nine PDFs includes a scan that was saved incompletely. The other eight have to go out today, numbered in one range, and the gap needs an explanation.

BatesBind lists the damaged file with the reason "The file could not be read as a PDF" and numbers the other eight. With slip sheets on, that file gets a one-page placeholder holding one number, so the range shows no hole.

Documents collected into subfolders

Documents were gathered into subfolders by source, and the production must keep that structure while running one sequence across all of it.

With Include subfolders on, files in the top folder come first, then each subfolder in natural order. The subfolder appears under each file name and in the index, and Export copies mirrors the same folder tree in the output folder.

Each document numbered from its own start

A set of documents must have each file's pages numbered from the same starting value with the same prefix, instead of one range running across the folder.

Turn on Restart at the start number for each file. Every file starts again at the start number. Because ranges then repeat, copies cannot be named by Bates range alone, so keep the original names or put the range in front of the name.

Deep dive

Getting the order right before the first number goes on

Natural order first. When BatesBind opens a folder, it sorts the PDFs the way people count rather than character by character, so Exhibit 2 precedes Exhibit 10 and Invoice 9 precedes Invoice 10. Files that are not PDFs are ignored. The table shows every file with its page count and the range it will receive, and the export panel sums it up, for example 8 files, 50 pages, ACME000001 to ACME000050, with any file not included counted separately.

Change the order in the table. If the order on disk is not the order of production, drag a row to its place, or select it and use Move up and Move down. Every range and exhibit label below the moved file is recalculated before anything is written. Sort by name puts the list back in natural order.

Subfolders. Turn on Include subfolders and BatesBind lists the files in the top folder first, then each subfolder in natural order. The subfolder is shown under each file name and in the index. When you export copies, the output folder gets the same tree, so a document that lived in Correspondence lands in Correspondence.

Files that cannot be read. A folder often holds a password-protected PDF, an incomplete download, or a file that is open in another app. BatesBind lists each one with the reason and leaves it out of the range, so numbering stays continuous across the files that can be read. If the production should account for every file, turn on Slip sheet, with one number, for each file that cannot be read. The failed file then gets a one-page placeholder that names it, gives the reason, and takes one number.

One range or one per file. By default the range runs across the whole folder. Restart at the start number for each file gives every document its own sequence from the same start number. Choose one before you export, because the two produce different labels on every page.

When a file changes after the folder was read. If a PDF gains or loses pages between reading the folder and exporting, the export stops, names the file, and asks you to refresh. Nothing from that run is kept. Press Refresh or F5 to read the folder again and check the new ranges.

Exporting the set. Export copies writes a numbered copy of each file, plus the index as PDF and CSV, into a folder you pick outside the originals. Export PDF writes one bound file with the index first and a bookmark for every document. Progress names the file and page being numbered, and Cancel leaves nothing behind.

Decisions that belong to the matter. The order of documents, the prefix, and whether ranges restart are set by the request, the order, or the agreement between the parties. BatesBind applies the choices you make; it does not make them, 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 Bates stamp every PDF in a folder at once?

In BatesBind, choose Open a folder or drop the folder on the window. Every PDF is listed with its page count and Bates range. Set the prefix, digits, and start number, check the order, then choose Export copies to write a numbered copy of each file into a folder you pick, or Export PDF for one bound file. The index is written in the same export.

In what order does BatesBind number the files?

In natural order by file name, so Exhibit 2 comes before Exhibit 10. With Include subfolders on, files in the top folder come first, then each subfolder in natural order. You can drag any row, use Move up and Move down (Alt+Up and Alt+Down), or choose Sort by name to return to natural order. The ranges in the table always match the order shown.

What happens to a PDF in the folder that cannot be opened?

It stays in the list with the reason, such as "The file is password protected" or "The file could not be read as a PDF", and it is not numbered. The other files keep one continuous range. If you turn on slip sheets, the file gets a one-page placeholder that names it, states the reason, and takes one number, and the index notes the slip sheet.

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

Bates numbering software, not a whole PDF suite. The production log, written in the same export. Exhibit 1, Exhibit 2, Exhibit 3, stamped on every first page.

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