Add Bates Numbers
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Give every page a unique fixed-width reference, so it can be cited after it leaves the file.
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Bates numbering gives every page in a set a unique, sequential, fixed-width identifier, usually with a prefix naming the matter. It exists so a page can be cited precisely, and so a sheet found on its own can be traced back to the production it came from.
It is standard in litigation discovery and in regulated document handovers, where a party has to be able to say exactly which page they mean and both sides have to agree on what that page is.
ACME-000007 sorts correctly as text; ACME-7 does notRolling over would destroy the one property a Bates number has, so the tool refuses a width that cannot hold the page count rather than producing a set with duplicate references in it.
A page number tells a reader where they are in one document. A Bates number identifies a page uniquely across an entire production, which is why it is fixed width, carries a prefix, and can continue a numbering that started in another file.
Because the width could not hold the document. Six digits number up to 999999 pages; if you start at 999998 with a five page file, the count would roll over and two pages would share a reference. Use more digits or a lower starting number.
Yes. Set the starting number to the next one in your sequence and keep the same prefix and width.
Bottom right by default, which is the usual convention. Five other edge positions are available.
Only Western European characters. The built-in PDF fonts cannot draw Greek, Cyrillic or CJK, so a prefix using them is refused rather than drawn as boxes.