spacetff

Rather than editing PDFs directly, might it be possible to use LibreOffice (LO) Writer? Write, with all the features/facilities of a document editor that will likely meet all your needs. When the document is complete, export as PDF and e-sign the PDF with LO as well…

LibreOffice is community driven and developed software project, not the product of an American company.

‘Bates’ numbering: LO Writer supports creating custom page numbering formats/styles.

e-sign: e-sign the PDF with LO as well, reference links below

Workflow

an example workflow might be:

• Create document templates, save read-only in network accesible location; only the template maintainer can edit/save the templates; law firm logo, letter head, watermarks, Bates numbering, etc.,
• Author copies desired template to author’s system and makes the copy writable,
• Edits/saves drafts locally on author’s system, or in a central, network accessible repository; backups, team access, preliminary/formal reviews, etc.
• When final version is complete, export as PDF, and of course, save it as well
• e-sign PDF using LO

References

https://knowledge.digicert.com/tutorials/sign-openoffice-libreoffice-documents https://duckduckgo.com/?q=libreoffice+pdf+esign&t=vivaldim&ia=web

Good professional work!
I’ve been doing a lot with sed recently and I found some helpful/handy examples in your doc.

I’d forgotten about the use of braces for commanp grouping and put it to use after reading your doc.

Thank you for your work.