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DownloadBates numbering is a method used in eDiscovery or document management to uniquely identify and track documents. It is named after the Bates Manufacturing Company, which originally introduced this system to the legal profession. Bates numbering is commonly used in eDiscovery, the legal and business sectors for organizing, referencing, and managing large volumes of documents, particularly during litigation or in regulatory contexts.
Bates numbering is a unified way to document identification, tracking, and retrieval, referring to documents and pages by number rather than name. Bates number is normally a series of letters (Case Number) followed by sequential numbers.
Black Ice Printer Drivers can automatically apply Bates numbering to every printed document. The Bates Numbering provided by Black Ice Software is composed of two components: prefix and number. The prefix can be any string including letters and numbers (e.g., case number, client name, etc.). The second part of the Bates Number, the actual number, can be set to be incremented for each printed page, or on each printed document.
Bates Numbers will be printed on each page at the specified position, using the selected font and color, and the selected background mode (Transparent or Opaque).
Since different documents may require different Bates numbering formats (e.g., different starting numbers, prefixes, etc.) the Printer Driver offers an easy way to save and load existing (user-defined) formats. Simply select the required format from the “Select existing Bates Number configuration:” drop-down list and the document is ready to be printed.
Padding Characters
Padding Characters are used for creating a consistent character length for the Bates Numbering.
Minimum length including padding characters: Specifies the minimum length of the Bates number. If the length of the Bates number is less than the provided value, padding characters will be added.
Padding character: Specifies the padding character. It can be any ANSI character.,/p>
Position on the page
Users can set the origin point of the Bates number, by selecting one of the following options: Top Left, Top Right, Center, Bottom Left, or Bottom Right.
To specify the distance of the Bates number from the origin point, the X Offset and the Y Offset option can be used. The distance can be specified in tenths of a mm, hundredths of an inch, or in pixels.
X Offset: A positive value will move the Bates Number to the right, while a negative number will move the Bates number to the left.
Y Offset: A positive value will move the Bates Number to the top, while a negative number will move the Bates number to the bottom.
Rotation: The Rotation field specifies the number of degrees the Bates number text will be rotated. This can be either a positive or a negative value in degrees, depending on the direction of the rotation.
For example:
1. The origin point is in the top left corner. The unit is specified in pixels. TheX Offset is set to: 100px. The Y Offset is set to: -100px.
2. The origin point is in the bottom right corner. The unit is specified in hundredths of an inch. The X Offset is set to: -80. The Y Offset is set to: 80.
Text Color
The color of the Bates number text can be specified by clicking on the Color Palette… button and select a color manually, or by entering RGB values to the Red, Green, and Blue fields.
The term “Bates Number" comes from the Bates Manufacturing Co. which was incorporated on September 13, 1890, in New York State. The Bates Manufacturing Co. manufactured and sold automatic hand-held numbering machines. The Bates Numbering is mostly used by law firms, to aid in the referencing of documents.