Prepare for Filing
Court e-filing portals are picky: the pages have to be a certain size, the file has to be a certain format, and if it's too large, it has to be broken into parts. Prepare for Filing handles all of that in one step, so a document that's ready to file goes out the door without a fight.
Why you'd use it
You've finished a motion with exhibits. Before it can go to the portal it needs to be letter-size, in the right format, and under the portal's size limit. Doing that by hand — resizing pages, re-saving, splitting a big file into labeled pieces — is the kind of fiddly work that eats an afternoon. This does it for you.
How to do it
- Open the PDF.
- In the Legal tools, choose Prepare for Filing.
- RaioPDF runs a quick preflight check — it reads the document and lists anything the portal won't accept.
- Click the action button to build it. Depending on what the file needs, it reads Make Filing-Ready (when there's cleanup to do) or Export PDF/A for ePortal (when it's already in shape).
You get back a filing-ready file. If the document was too big for the portal, you get it split into properly labeled, sequential parts instead.
What it does for you
- Sets the page size and format. Every page is normalized to letter-size, portrait — the shape portals expect.
- Splits oversized filings to your court's limit. Pick your court and RaioPDF uses that court's file-size cap — if the file is over it, it's divided into sequential, clearly named parts. You can also save a custom size limit for a court.
- Checks against the e-filing rules. The preflight looks at the formatting and electronic-filing requirements and flags what needs fixing.
- Can draft a certificate of service to include with the filing.
What to know
- It shows you what would be lost first. Some cleanup changes a PDF in ways you might not want — flattening an unsigned form, or a signature. Before it changes anything, RaioPDF lists what would be affected so you can cancel and handle those first.
- Redact before you prepare. If you've marked redactions, apply them first, then run Prepare for Filing.
- This gets the mechanics right, not the law. It helps you meet the portal's technical requirements. It doesn't replace your read of your court's rules — check anything specific to your division or judge.