FORMATTING SPECIFICATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR

FORMATTING SPECIFICATIONS AND GUIDELINES

FOR ELECTRONICALLY FILED DOCUMENTS

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All documents electronically filed (e-filed) in the Appellate Division, Third Department shall comply with

the formatting requirements set forth below. Adhering to the guidelines for documents filed via the New

York State Courts Electronic Filing System (NYSCEF) will facilitate approval and acceptance in a timely

fashion. Failure to comply with the requirements may result in the return of the document and necessitate

refiling.

1. FORMAT: Each e-filed document shall be in a "portable document file" (PDF) format.

Q: Are Word or WordPerfect documents acceptable?

A: NO; the only documents that will be accepted are those in "portable document file" (PDF) format,

PDF/A compliant.

Q: How can I create a PDF of my document for e-filing?

A: PDF documents can be created using standard word processing programs (MS Word®,

WordPerfect®, etc.). PDFs may also be created from paper documents processed through an optical

scanner, but the result is a larger electronic file than those created by the programs just mentioned and

will take longer to upload (unless the document is compressed or flattened). Usually word processing

programs do not create PDF/A compliant documents by default. There is an additional setting or check

box to create a PDF/A document. Check your software manual for details.

2. PDF/A COMPLIANT: PDFs shall be certified "PDF/A" compliant. PDF/A format is a PDF ISO

standardized format that supports archiving of files for future use. It allows files to be opened by any

software or operating system without losing its format, color, hypertext or fonts.

3. TEXT SEARCHABILITY: All PDFs shall be text searchable. Documents created with word

processing programs such as MS Word® and WordPerfect® can be easily converted to text searchable

PDFs. For documents that need to be scanned, there are numerous optical character recognition ("OCR")

software that can convert image-only PDF files into searchable PDFs. Documents that will not carry an

expectation of being text-searchable are: handwritten documents, photographs, portions of documents

that contain charts, graphics, signatures or handwritten items. To ensure high quality PDFs, filers should

always choose, when available, electronically converted documents using word processing programs

rather than scanned documents to create PDFs. If changes are made to a text-searchable PDF, the process

of making it text-searchable MUST be redone.

Q: How do I know if my PDF is text-searchable?

A: Try to search your PDF using the Ctrl + F keys within your document and search for a word you

know is present. If "no matches were found," your PDF is not text-searchable. Searchable PDFs may

be created using most word processing programs. Check your software manuals for more information.

4. RESOLUTION: PDFs shall be scanned at 300 dots per inch (DPI) resolution and in black and white

only, unless color is required to protect the evidentiary value of the document. Filers are responsible for

ensuring that scanned documents are legible.

5. PDF SIZE: PDFs shall not exceed 100 megabytes (100mb) in size. PDFs bigger than 100 mb will be

automatically rejected by NYSCEF. As a common practice, all PDFs should be reduced and optimized

(using file compression software) before they are e-filed to ensure the smallest sized PDFs possible.

PDFs that contain large numbers of images, graphics or excess lines and marks will increase the file size

considerably regardless of the number of pages in the PDF.

6. HARD COPIES: PDFs and their corresponding hard copies filed with the Court shall be identical in

content. If any correction to an already e-filed PDF is required by the Court, it is the filer's responsibility

to e-file the corrected PDF via NYSCEF and make certain that the hard copy that is refiled mirrors the

CORRECTED PDF.

7. BOOKMARKING: PDFs shall contain bookmarks (clickable table of contents) that mirror the Table

of Contents of the document (labeling each heading and subheading) and link to the location

associated with that bookmark. PDFs that contain skeletal bookmarks (i.e., missing headings),

minimal Table of Contents or no bookmarks will be returned for correction.

Bookmarking in multiple volumes: only those bookmarks pertaining to the volume at hand need

be shown; however, if, for example, an exhibit starts in the first volume and continues in the second

volume, a bookmark stating continuation is required in the second volume.

Q: What are bookmarks? Why are they required on all e-filed records and briefs? How are

they created?

A: Bookmarking a PDF is a navigational tool, a clickable Table of Contents, that allows the

reader to quickly link to important headings/documents/points within the document. The

bookmarks should mirror the Table of Contents of the hard copy.

Bookmarks can be manually added to a PDF using software such as Adobe Acrobat® (not

Reader) and Foxit® (free) or automatically on documents created using word processing

programs such as Word® and WordPerfect®.

8. MULTI-VOLUME RECORD/APPENDIX: Each volume of a multi-volume record or appendix

shall be e-filed in separate PDFs. For example, a three-volume record shall have three separate

PDFs and shall not be combined into one PDF. Further, the appendix and brief should not be

combined into one PDF unless the appendix and brief are combined together in the hard copy.