Bates Labeling and Document Production
Bates Labeling stamps a sequential Bates number onto every page of a set of documents, packages them into a ZIP you can hand to opposing counsel, and keeps a permanent record inside Casefleet of exactly what you sent.
In the app, this feature is called Produce, and you'll find it on the Sources tab of any case. Every production you run lives on the Productions tab.
Numbering rules: one number per page, no gaps, and email families stay together — an email and its attachments are kept adjacent and given a shared family range.
💡 Don't see the Produce button? The feature just hasn't been turned on for your firm yet. Reach out to support@casefleet.com, and we'll help you get set up.
Creating a production
1. Filter your documents on the Sources tab
The documents you produce are the documents currently showing in your filtered view. Use search, filters, and folders to narrow Sources to exactly the set you intend to send.
⚠️ Row checkboxes are ignored. Ticking rows does not select documents. Only your filters matter — and if no filters are applied, the run covers every source in the case.
2. Click Produce and confirm the scope
Produce sits next to Download at the top right of the filter bar. The Create document production window opens and immediately checks your set.
The panel at the top restates what you're about to produce: a count of sources, pages, and email families; chips listing every active filter and search term; and an Edit filters in Sources link to go back and adjust. If nothing is filtered, it says so plainly.
Read this panel every time. It's the difference between producing 400 documents and producing your entire case file.
3. Name the production
The production name defaults to today's date. It appears on the Productions tab, in the ZIP filename, and — on saved runs — becomes the tag applied to every included source. Maximum 60 characters. Use something you'll recognize months from now, such as "Plaintiff's Third Production."
4. Set the starting Bates number
Field | What it's for |
Prefix | Optional text before the number on every stamp, e.g. |
Start at · width | Digits only. Sets where numbering begins and, by its length, the zero-padded width of the whole run. |
The prefix and digits together must be 60 characters or fewer. A prefix typed into the digits field is rejected — it would silently change the padding for the entire run.
Once the check finishes, you'll see the resulting range (e.g. SMITH-000001 → SMITH-001284) with the total page count, plus a line telling you how much headroom your chosen width leaves.
💡 Plan for the whole matter, not just this run. Six to eight digits is typical. To continue from a previous production, keep the same prefix and width and set Start at to the number after that production's last.
Editing either Bates field clears the check, since the range was calculated against the old number. The button changes to Re-check production — click it to recalculate.
5. Review the issues
Blocking issues appear as cards and must be resolved before the run is allowed — these would make the output definitively wrong. The Generate button stays disabled until you fix the input or change your filters.
Non-blocking issues are listed under Won't block, with a count for each. The run proceeds, but the output is affected as described. Click Review on any group to page through the documents involved, or Download all issues (CSV) for the full list. (See the reference table at the end of this article.)
If nothing is wrong, you'll see: "No issues found. This production is ready to run."
6. Choose how it runs, then generate
Option | What happens |
Preview run (recommended first) | Builds the real ZIP so you can inspect the stamps. Nothing is written to Casefleet — no Bates numbers, no tags, no Production record. |
Save & tag sources | Builds the same ZIP and creates the Production record, stamps Bates numbers onto your sources, tags them, and saves produced copies. This can't be undone. |
Preview first on anything you haven't produced before — it's the only way to see the actual stamped pages before they're permanent.
Click Generate preview or Generate production. The run is queued, and you're taken to the Productions tab.
Finding and downloading your output
The Productions tab shows an In progress panel for every run you've started, with a Preview or Production chip, the name, and elapsed time. It updates on its own, so you can navigate away and come back. When a run finishes, the row shows a Download zip link.
Saved runs then get a production card showing the name, starting Bates number, date, author, and document count. Open the card for a detail page with its own Download button. Preview runs stay in the in-progress list, since a preview creates no record.
⚠️ A preview's ZIP is temporary. The link and its row expire after about two days and can't be recovered — save it locally if you need it. Saved productions can be re-downloaded any time from their card.
What's Inside the ZIP
YourProductionName.zip
├── FILES/
│ ├── SMITH-000001.pdf
│ ├── SMITH-000014.pdf
│ └── SMITH-000021.xlsx ← native file, no visible stamp
└── sources.csv ← load file
Each file is named for its first Bates number. Paged documents are stamped PDFs; files with no pages (spreadsheets, audio, video) are included in their original format under their Bates name, without a visible stamp.
The sources.csv file gives one row per document, opening with beg bates, end bates, beg family, and end family, followed by full metadata and the file's path in the ZIP.
Documents flagged as unsafe (untrusted executables, suspected malware) are excluded.
What a saved run changes
Your sources carry their Bates numbers. Every included source is updated with the prefix, width, and numbers assigned. If a document is produced more than once, its source reflects the most recent run.
Sources are tagged. Every included source is tagged with a tag named after the production, so you can filter the produced set back at any time.
Produced copies are saved — an immutable snapshot of each stamped document, exactly as it went out. They're fully searchable but hidden from your normal Sources list, so they don't inflate your document count. They carry the document's own metadata (custodian, dates, titles) but not live review state — tags, contacts, exhibits, reviewer assignments, and review status stay on the original. They don't appear in Casefleet AI results, fact pickers, or reports.
You can download any version. In the Sources list, a produced document shows a pill naming its most recent production. On a source's detail page and in the document viewer, Download becomes a dropdown offering Original plus one entry per production. A produced copy's own page shows a banner with a View original link.
From a production card or its detail page, View Sources opens the Sources tab filtered to that production's documents, with a chip you can clear. (Unsafe documents get no produced copy, so this view can show fewer than the card's count.)
Deletion is restricted to protect what you've produced: a produced copy can't be deleted or edited directly, and a source that has been produced can't be deleted — individually or in bulk — until its production is deleted.
Issue reference
Blocking — must be fixed before the run
Issue | What to do |
Your Bates number is too short for this production | More pages than your number has digits for. Add digits — |
Starting Bates number can't be read | No number to increment from. Enter a padded number in Start at, e.g. |
Won't block — but affects the output
Issue | What happens if you proceed |
Sources with no document attached | Left out of the production entirely. |
Sources still processing | Each produced as a single page with one Bates number. Wait for processing if you need accurate page counts. |
Documents that could not be processed | Each produced as a single page and may be incomplete. |
Duplicate documents in the set | Produced twice, with two different Bates numbers. |
The document set changed while we were checking | Re-run the check. If it repeats, something is still being added to the case. |
Attachments missing for an email | Emails produced without them; the family range won't cover the full family. |
A document's page count doesn't match its type | Bates numbers after it in the run will be wrong. |
For very large productions, the Review list and the CSV are capped, and Casefleet tells you when that happens.
FAQ
Can I undo a production? No. A saved run permanently stamps Bates numbers, tags sources, and creates produced copies. Preview first — it builds the same ZIP and writes nothing.
I ticked the row checkboxes. Why did it produce everything? Checkboxes have no effect here. The production set is your filtered Sources view; with no filters, that's the whole case.
Why is my document's page count wrong? Documents still processing, or that failed processing, are produced as a single page with one Bates number. Wait for processing to finish, then re-check.
Do spreadsheets and videos get stamped? No. Stamping applies to paged PDFs. Files with no pages go into the ZIP in their original format under their Bates name.
Can I delete a document I've produced? Not while the production exists. Delete the production first.