# Add Bates Numbers to PDF

> Add Bates numbering to PDF documents for legal and business document identification and tracking.

Live tool: https://lofttools.com/tools/pdf-tools/pdf-bates-numbering

Category: PDF & Documents

## How it works

1. **Select PDF** — Drop the PDF that needs Bates stamps, or click to choose one
2. **Configure numbering** — Set prefix, starting number, digit count, and position on page
3. **Download** — Download your Bates-numbered PDF instantly

## FAQ

### What is Bates numbering?

Bates numbering assigns unique sequential identifiers to each page in legal documents for easy reference and tracking.

### Does this preserve bookmarks and form fields?

Yes. Bates stamps are added as annotations on top of each page; bookmarks, form fields, and existing annotations are not touched.

### What PDF versions are supported?

PDF 1.0 through 2.0 accept Bates stamps. PDF/A files keep their PDF/A flag if the stamp font is embedded.

## Privacy — what we do not do

This tool runs entirely in the browser via WebAssembly. Your file never reaches a Loft Tools server. Specifically:

- **No upload.** The file bytes load into the browser tab's memory and process on your own CPU. Open DevTools → Network and observe zero outbound requests carrying file data while Add Bates Numbers to PDF runs.
- **No AI training on your file.** Loft does not train models. We could not train on a file we cannot see.
- **No content scanning.** No virus, copyright, or content-moderation pass against your file. The bytes are not accessible to us.
- **No server-side log of file contents, filenames, or EXIF metadata.** Cloudflare edge captures URL and truncated IP for abuse defense (standard CDN behaviour). Cloudflare Web Analytics records anonymous page hits, no cookies, no PII. Nothing about your file content reaches any log.
- **No retention.** Close the tab and the file leaves browser memory. No backups exist on our side because no copy ever existed on our side.
- **No account.** No email, no signup, no auth, no telemetry tied to you.
- **Offline-capable after first visit** (PWA). Once you've loaded a tool, it caches; later sessions work without internet. For high-sensitivity files, run the tool once online to warm the cache, then disconnect before processing.

Compare with upload-based services: each transmits your file to a processing server. Even over HTTPS, each has logs, retention windows, and subpoena exposure. Loft has none of these because the server architecture does not include your file.

## More

- All tools: https://lofttools.com/tools
- Category: https://lofttools.com/tools/pdf-tools
- LLM index: https://lofttools.com/llms.txt