Headers, footers and Bates numbering give a PDF its page identity: the header and footer tool places titles, banners and page numbers in the page margins, and Bates-style numbering stamps every page of a document set with a unique sequential identifier — the convention legal, archival and compliance teams use so that "page 1,247 of the production" means exactly one thing. Both run across the whole document in one pass.
Add a header and footer
- Open the PDF and open the header and footer tool.
- Type the header content — the document title, a case or matter name, or a standard banner.
- Type the footer content and choose where the page number field sits: left, center or right.
- Apply across the document; the tool writes into the page margins without touching body content.
- Spot-check the first page, a middle page and the last, then Ctrl+S.
Headers and footers are also the cheapest professionalism available: a received PDF with no footer becomes a titled, numbered document in one minute, and printed copies finally stay in order.
Bates numbering for document sets
Bates numbering is the systematic version of page numbers, built for sets:
- Open the numbering tool and enable Bates-style numbering.
- Set the prefix — a case identifier, matter code or client reference, for example RIX-2026-.
- The running number attaches after the prefix, unique per page across the set.
- Choose the placement zone and apply.
- Every page now carries an identifier that survives printing, scanning and citation.
Where plain page numbers say "page 12," Bates numbers say "RIX-2026-000012" — self-identifying even when a page is pulled from the set, and unambiguous when two document sets get merged into a production.
When each tool applies
| Situation | Tool |
|---|---|
| Single report going to review | Header with title, footer with page numbers |
| Legal production or discovery set | Bates numbering with case prefix |
| Archive of merged invoices | Bates numbering with year prefix |
| Confidential external draft | Footer numbers plus a watermark |
| Board pack, printed | Header banner, "Page X of Y" style footer |
Numbering and page operations together
Numbering composes with the page operations tools, with one rule of thumb: structure first, numbers second. Rotate, delete, extract and insert pages until the document is final, then apply headers, footers and Bates numbers. If pages change afterward — inserting an appendix from another PDF, deleting a superseded page — re-run the numbering tool so the identifiers match the new structure.
That sequencing also matters for merged sets: combine the PDFs with page operations, then Bates-number the combined file, so the numbering runs continuously across what were separate documents. Doing it in the other order leaves you with two colliding number sequences in one file.
What to explore next
- Page operations for the structure work that precedes numbering.
- Stamps and watermarks for the status layer alongside page identity.
- Metadata and properties for the document-level identity behind the pages.