Notes regarding loading particular file types

Below are some points to note about particular file types. 

PDF Scans

Some of the PDF's you have may have been created in the past by scanning in letters, as they were sent and received, or other paper documents. For PDF scans  the file system's "date last modified" metadata may not be the same as the date of the paper document so care is needed to ensure that the Document Date set for each PDF loaded is correct.

Each paper document should have been scanned in as a separate PDF. If you have a PDF containing multiple documents you can extract the individual documents into separate PDFs.

Other Files on your Computers 

In most legal disputes the majority of relevant files are documents sent by one person or organisation to another, either in paper form or by email but there may be additional relevant documents on your computers. For example you might have kept a contemporaneous diary or log of events in a spreadsheet or simply in a Word or simple text file. When loading such documents it is important to include the filename in the Document Description because the filename will generally have been chosen by the person who created the file (rather than being system-generated as in the case of, for example, photos taken on a phone). When a file is loaded from a computer the Document Description is automatically set to the filename (without the file type extension) so you need, as well as adding any necessary description, to identify the filename by adding the word filename, and add the file extension as illustrated below. 

The system might set the Document Date automatically for you from the file's "date last modified" metadata. 

Video files

An indexed bundle generated for the eventual legal hearing, being a series of two-dimensional pages, cannot literally include a video but it is nevertheless convenient to store relevant videos in the document management system: it provides a convenient repository and means that entries for the video files can be easily included in lists of documents generated from the system. 

To load a video file tap the Add Documents button in the usual way as shown in the example video below.

Once the video file has loaded, check that the Document Date has been correctly set to the date the video was shot. If more than one video was taken on a particular date, or if the date of a video is unknown, the Document Description which you give to the video file in the system should include the length of the recording which enables it to be distinguished. 

When, eventually, the document management system is used to generate an indexed bundle in PDF form for a hearing, any relevant video files can be downloaded and can be made available, together with the bundle PDF and any hardcopy, so that the video files can if necessary be played at the hearing. In practice to save time often snapshots from videos are made and used in the indexed bundle so it may be unnecessary to play the video itself but generally the video still need to be available so that it can be played if that should be required. Each downloaded video file will have a length and filename that can be easily matched with the relevant "placeholder" index entry in the bundle PDF.

Audio files

An indexed bundle generated by a document management system for the eventual hearing, being a series of two-dimensional pages, cannot literally include an audio file but it is nevertheless convenient to store relevant audio files in the system: it provides a convenient repository and means that entries for the audio files can be easily included in lists of documents generated from the system. 

To load an audio file tap the Add Documents button in the usual way as shown in the example video below.

Once the audio file has loaded, check that the Document Date has been correctly set to the date of the recording. The Document Description which you give to each audio file should include the length of the recording which, together with the date, should provide a unique reference for the recording. 

When, eventually, the document management system is used to generate an indexed bundle in PDF form for a hearing, any relevant audio files can be downloaded and can be made available, together with the bundle PDF and any hardcopy, so that the audio files can if necessary be played at the hearing.  In practice to save time often a transcript is made and used in the indexed bundle so it may be unnecessary to play the audio file itself but generally the audio file still need to be available so that it can be played if that should be required. Each downloaded audio file will have a length and filename that can be easily matched with the relevant "placeholder" index entry in the bundle PDF. 

Disclaimer

This information page is designed to be used only by clients of John Antell who have entered into an agreement for the provision of legal services. The information in it is necessarily of a general nature and will not be applicable to every case: it is intended to be used only in conjunction with more specific advice to the individual client about the individual case. This information page should not be used by, or relied on, by anyone else.

The information on this page about specific computer techniques is provided for information purposes only. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date at the time it was written but no responsibility for its accuracy, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by me. You should satisfy yourself, before using any of the techniques, software or services described, that the techniques are appropriate for your purposes and that the software or service is reliable.

This page was lasted updated in May 2025. Disclaimer