Hardware and Software Requirements for Electronic Filing

The following hardware and software requirements are needed to file documents electronically in the Central District of California:

• Personal computer: PC clone or Apple Macintosh.
• Operating system: Windows 2000 or XP (Vista is not supported, and Windows 7 is in the testing phase but is not yet supported) or Macintosh (OS 9 or higher).
• Internet connection. (Broadband is recommended.)
• Internet browser: Internet Explorer (version 7x/8x) or Mozilla Firefox (version 3.5/3.6.28). No versions of Safari or Netscape Navigator are supported.  Apple computers can use Mozilla Firefox.
• PDF converter software, such as Adobe Acrobat (Version 5.0 or higher).  Do not use software that embeds advertisements in the creation of the PDF document.
• Word processor, such as WordPerfect or Microsoft Word. (Microsoft Word 2007 and 2010 documents with the extension DOCX are not supported.  Please read the instructions on how to properly save Microsoft Word documents.)
• Scanner for imaging documents: any scanner capable of converting images to OCR PDF format. (Image resolution must be between 200-300 dpi for smaller file size.)
• E-mail account: any provider. Set spam software to accept documents from cacd.uscourts.gov.
• PACER log-in and password.

PACER accounts can be established through the PACER Service Center. To do so, visit their website at http://pacer.psc.uscourts.gov or contact them at:

          PACER Service Center
          P.O. Box 780549
          San Antonio, TX 78278
          (800) 676-6856
          (210) 301-6440