For a solo practitioner, a document production is a pile of work that lands at 6pm the day before it is due. The firm down the hall has a legal assistant and a copy service. You have a laptop and a deadline. The good news: numbering a production correctly is a mechanical job, and the mechanical jobs are the ones worth automating.
Keep the order in one place
The order of your files is the numbering order. Decide it once, look at it, and let the tool number straight down the list. Natural sort handles file2 before file10, which is exactly the mistake humans make by hand. Set the sequence to run continuously across the whole set, and let the tool warn you if a range overlaps one you already used on an earlier matter.
Check before you certify
The certification says the production is complete and the numbering is consecutive. Run the checks that a receiving paralegal will run: no gaps, no duplicates, no recoverable text under redaction bars, no author metadata, no scan that looks like a redaction. A QC pass that takes minutes costs you nothing and is the difference between a clean production and a phone call the next morning.
Do the work once, verify it once, and let the tool remember the settings for the next matter.
Not legal advice. Whether a numbering scheme or a production practice satisfies your court, protective order, or production agreement is yours to confirm.