Introduction
In the future, the Federal Judiciary will require that all electronically filed documents uploaded in CM/ECF [Case Management/Electronic Case File] be in PDF/A [Portable Document Format/Archive] format. Currently, CM/ECF accepts both PDF and PDF/A documents. This move to a PDF/A standard is viewed as a necessary step to enhance CM/ECF security and to improve the archiving and preservation of case-related documents.
What is PDF/A?
PDF/A is an International Standards Organization (ISO) standard document format.
PDF/A documents are self-contained and do not rely on or access information outside of the document itself to display the information contained within the document. Accordingly, the PDF/A document appears, and will continue to appear, identical to the document from which it was created, no matter where or when it is accessed. As a result, most PDF/A documents will have a slightly larger file size.
How are PDF/A documents created?
More than ninety commercial products can create PDF/A documents (many are listed at Create PDF/A and Convert PDF to PDF/A). The Court does not recommend any particular products.
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Creation from Electronic Documents.
PDF/A documents can be created by most word processing programs. Descriptions of necessary settings are available for Microsoft Word settings for PDF/A and OpenOffice settings for PDF/A. Corel WordPerfect, and standard versions of Acrobat can create a PDF/A through the Print dialog box. Adobe has a tutorial geared toward Legal Professionals for the creation of PDF/A files. -
Creation from Scanned Documents.
Some scanning software is capable of directly creating PDF/A format documents. If your software does not have the capability, the document may need to be scanned as a regular PDF and then converted. To keep file sizes down and to ensure that files are text-searchable, PDF/A documents should be created using a word processing program (like WordPerfect or Microsoft Word), rather than being printed out in hard copy and scanned. -
Creation from Petition Preparation Software.
Some petition preparation software is capable of creating petitions and other documents in PDF/A format. Check with the vendor of any petition preparation software in use to make sure that it is PDF/A-ready. A filer using software that does not support PDF/A may need to acquire a product offering such capability.
What is the effective date of this change?
Although the Judiciary has not yet set a deadline for requiring all electronic files to be uploaded in PDF/A format, all users are encouraged to begin to transition their filings to this new standard as soon as possible.