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The Second District's Electronic Formatting Requirements and Guidelines under rule 8.74(a) and (b) (effective October 30, 2017; revised June 18, 2018, September 15, 2022 and July 1, 2026): text-searchable PDF that keeps the document's formatting; a blank upper-right corner on the cover page for the TrueFiling stamp; Arabic page numbers from the cover as page 1, consecutive across multiple files and matching the PDF page counter; electronic bookmarks to every heading, subheading and component (tables, petition, verification, points and authorities, declarations, the word-count certificate, the certificate of interested entities or persons, the proof of service; each tab, exhibit or attachment by its letter or number and a description; the Inherit Zoom setting), appendices bookmarked to the indexes and to each exhibit and attachment; no file over 100 megabytes (a document may exceed the 300-page limit within that size; an application in TrueFiling for manual filing on a flash drive, CD or DVD on undue hardship; audio in .wav or mp3 and video in .avi or mp4 delivered to the Clerk's Office on media); multi-file documents with the file number, the total files, the page range and the total pages on each cover and a master chronological and alphabetical index in the first file; redaction of personal identifiers under rules 1.201, 8.45, 8.46, 8.47 and 8.401 (neither TrueFiling nor the clerk reviews for it); a proportionally spaced serif face such as Century School Book with case names italicized or underscored and no all capitals for emphasis, 13-point text and footnotes, spacing of at least 1.5, margins of 1-1/2 inches left and right and 1 inch top and bottom, left-aligned paragraphs; and the guidelines (curly quotation marks and apostrophes, conversion to PDF from the word processor rather than scanning, E-Copies for appendices, hyperlinked briefs and writs).
California > Second Appellate District > Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District
Electronic Formatting Requirements and Guidelines California Rules of Court rule 8.74(a) and (b) require documents filed electronically with the court to be in text-searchable PDF format, with a blank upper-right corner on the cover page, page numbers beginning with the first page, electronic bookmarks to each heading, subheading, and component of the document, and a file size of 100 megabytes or less. Documents with multiple files must include a master chronological and alphabetical index and a cover page for each file. Privacy protection must be followed, and font style, size, spacing, margins, and alignment must be used. Filers are encouraged to use "curly" quotation marks and apostrophes, convert documents to PDF format in a word processing program, compile documents with E-Copies, and hyperlink briefs and writs to legal citations and appendices or exhibits. Below is a summary of the 2DCA electronic filing requirements: Pursuant to California Rules of Court rule 8.74(a) and (b): Effective October 30, 2017 Revised June 18, 2018 Revised September 15, 2022 Revised July 1, 2026 Formatting Requirements: Text-searchable format: All documents must be text-searchable in PDF, (portable document format), while maintaining the original document formatting. Cover Page: The upper-right corner of the cover page must be left blank in order for TrueFiling to apply a visible file stamp. Pagination: The page numbering of a document filed electronically must begin with the first page or cover as page 1 and use only Arabic numerals (e.g., 1, 2, 3). Documents consisting of multiple files must be paginated consecutively across all files. The PDF Page Counter number must match the consecutive page numbering. Electronic Bookmarks: All briefs, original proceedings, motions, and applications with attachments must include electronic bookmarks to each heading, subheading, and component of the document. This includes such items as the table of contents, table of authorities, petition, verification, points and authorities, declaration, certificate of word count, certificate of interested entities or persons, and proof of service. Each bookmark for a tab, exhibit, or attachment must include the letter or number of the tab, exhibit, or attachment and a description of the tab, exhibit, or attachment. The required setting for all bookmarks is “Inherit Zoom,” which retains the user’s currently selected zoom setting. Any appendix filed electronically must have a separate electronic bookmark to the indexes and to the first page of each separate exhibit and attachment. Exhibits or attachments included within an exhibit or attachment must be separately bookmarked. Size: No single PDF file may exceed 100 megabytes. Notwithstanding provisions to the contrary in the California Rules of Court, electronically filed documents may exceed the 300-page limit as long as the file size is 100 megabytes or smaller. If submitting multiple files in TrueFiling would cause undue hardship, any registered user may file an application in TrueFiling, requesting permission to provide the court with the filing in electronic format (e.g., on a flash drive, or alternatively on CD or DVD), explaining the reason for the manual filing. Please note that audio and/or video files are not accepted through TrueFiling and must be delivered to the Clerk’s Office on a DVD, CD, or flash drive. In addition, audio files must be submitted in .wav or mp3 format, and video files must be submitted in .avi or mp4 format. Documents consisting of multiple files: A document consisting of multiple files must include on the cover page of each file (i) the file number, (ii) the total number of files, (iii) the page numbers contained in that file, and (iv) the total number of pages for all the files. The first file must include a master chronological and alphabetical index stating the contents of all files. The remaining files must include a cover page, but an individual index is not required. Privacy Protection: Electronic filers must comply with California Rules of Court, rules 1.201, 8.45, 8.46, 8.47, and 8.401 regarding exclusion or redaction of personal identifiers from all documents filed with the court. Neither TrueFiling nor the Clerk of the Court is responsible for reviewing documents for compliance with these requirements. Additional Formatting Requirements: Font Style: A proportionally spaced serif face, such as Century School Book. Case names must be italicized or underscored. For emphasis, italics, boldface, or underscore may be used. Do not use all capitals (i.e., ALL CAPS) for emphasis. Font size: 13 pt. text (including footnotes). Spacing: At least 1.5. (Footnotes and quotations may be single-spaced.) Margins: The margins must be set at 1-1/2 inches on the left and right and 1 inch on the top and bottom. Quotations may be block-indented. Alignment: Paragraphs must be left-aligned, not justified. Formatting Guidelines: Filers are encouraged, but not required, to follow these guidelines, which are designed to improve the functionality and readability of documents filed with the court: Miscellaneous: Use “curly” or “smart” quotation marks and apostrophes (rather than "straight"). File Formatting: Whenever possible, do not scan documents. Convert to PDF format in a word processing program. Compile documents, e.g., appendices, using E-Copies rather than scanned copies with OCR. Hyperlink: Hyperlinked Briefs. Filers are encouraged to hyperlink their briefs and writs to legal citations, appendices, or exhibits.
Electronic Formatting Requirements and Guidelines California Rules of Court rule 8.74(a) and (b) require documents filed electronically with the court to be in text-searchable PDF format, with a blank upper-right corner on the cover page, page numbers beginning with the first page, electronic bookmarks to each heading, subheading, and component of the document, and a file size of 100 megabytes or
Reviewer note: Composed 2026-10-16 (California Second Appellate District build 2026-10-16) from BenchPath custody ca/appellate/ca-coa-2/pages/rules-forms-filing_electronic-filing_electronic-formatting-requirements-and-guidelines.html (the page as fetched 2026-10-16; 228447 bytes, sha256 587c761f4603598da69554f736fb59de4ea19b8a97d320632965e5ca9a884118): the page's main content as text, block by block; the site chrome (header, navigation, footer, scripts) are not part of the text; link addresses are not printed. Review note: effective_date = July 1, 2026, the latest revision the page dates (“Effective October 30, 2017 / Revised June 18, 2018 / Revised September 15, 2022 / Revised July 1, 2026”).
A 2013 standing order requiring attorneys to e-file family-law and civil documents (no paper filings accepted) as the court began compliance with the Supreme Court's e-filing mandate; criminal filing unchanged.
A 2013 standing order requiring attorneys to e-file family-law and civil documents (no paper filings accepted) as the court began compliance with the Supreme Court's e-filing mandate; criminal filing unchanged.