⚖️ Step-by-Step Tutorial

Bundle & Bates Number an Exhibit Production

Merge every exhibit, Bates number continuously, and auto-build a clickable index — in one upload, free, no Adobe.

📅 Published August 2026•⏱️ 5 min read•🎯 Beginner Friendly
Bundle & Bates Tutorial — four uploaded exhibits with reorder handles and Bates options

💡 The Problem With Assembling a Production by Hand

❌ The Old Way
  • • Merge every exhibit in one tool
  • • Bates-stamp the merged file in a second tool
  • • Build the index and draw every link by hand in a third
  • • Re-do all three if you catch a mis-ordered exhibit
✅ With Bundle & Bates
  • • Upload everything once, arrange the order
  • • Merge, stamp, detect, and link happen together
  • • The index is built from the already-stamped file — numbers always match
  • • Overlap with an existing stamp gets flagged, not silently stamped over
Step 1

Upload Every Exhibit and Arrange the Order

Drag in every file that belongs in the production — the purchase agreement, correspondence, financial records, whatever's part of the set. Each file gets its own color-coded chip with a drag handle, so you can reorder them right in the browser. That order becomes both the merge order and the Bates numbering sequence, so get it right before you run anything.

💡
Pro Tip: On mobile, use the ‹ › arrows on each chip instead of dragging — same reordering, built for touch.
Upload Every Exhibit and Arrange the Order
Step 2

Set Your Bates Prefix, Position, and Digit Count

Pick a prefix (the party name or case identifier, e.g. "SMITH-"), choose how many digits to zero-pad to, and set where the stamp sits on the page. The "Document type" selector tunes how section headings get auto-detected for the table of contents — Legal, General, or Academic.

💡
Pro Tip: Six digits (000001) is the de facto standard for most productions. Use seven or eight for very large productions.
Set Your Bates Prefix, Position, and Digit Count
Step 3

Check the Live Stamp Preview Before You Run Anything

The exact label your first stamp will read renders directly on the actual uploaded page — not a mockup, the real page — in the corner you picked. No guessing what the output will look like before you commit.

💡
Pro Tip: This preview updates instantly as you change the prefix, digit count, or position — experiment freely.
Check the Live Stamp Preview Before You Run Anything
Step 4

Run It — Merge, Stamp, Detect, and Link in One Job

One click merges every file in your chosen order, stamps continuous Bates numbers across the whole thing, detects section headings, and builds a linked table of contents pointing at the correct stamped page for each one. No separate visits to a merge tool, then a Bates tool, then a linking tool.

💡
Pro Tip: If a page already has a stamp from an earlier production (opposing counsel's, for instance), PDFCourt checks for overlap and warns you instead of silently stamping over it.
Run It — Merge, Stamp, Detect, and Link in One Job
Step 5

Download the Finished Bundle

One file comes back: merged, continuously Bates-stamped, with a clickable index already built and linked to the correct page. Ready to file or produce as-is.

💡
Pro Tip: The index is built from the already-stamped document, so the printed page numbers in the index always match where the links actually land.
Download the Finished Bundle

Related Guides

Bates Numbering — Free, No Adobe

The standalone Bates tool, including the stamp-overlap warning shown in Step 4.

Legal PDF Tools — The Full E-Filing Checklist

Redaction, PDF/A conversion, and every other step in preparing a court-ready PDF.

How to Create Jump Links in a PDF

The manual link-drawing tool underneath Bundle & Bates' auto-built index.

Merge PDF Files

The standalone merge tool, for when you don't need Bates numbers or an index.

Bundle Your Next Production in One Step

Merge, Bates number, and auto-link an index — free, no sign-up, no Adobe.

Try Bundle & Bates NowJust Bates Number a File

Free, no sign-up required