California Superior Courts e-filing PDF requirements

Requirements at a glance

File size	No statewide limit. Courts advise keeping each document under 25 MB and each submission under 60 MB; your e-filing provider may set its own cap.
Text-searchable	Required Cal. Rules of Court, rule 2.256(b) (text-searchable when technologically feasible)
PDF/A	Not required
Page size	8½ × 11 in (US Letter) Cal. Rules of Court, rule 2.103 (8½ × 11 in)
Bookmarks	One per electronic exhibit (attorney filers) Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1110(f)(4): electronic exhibits need a bookmark to each exhibit (self-represented parties exempt)
Documents per PDF	One document per PDF Motions, supporting papers and proposed orders are separate PDFs (Placer e-filing FAQ)
Not allowed	Passwords or security settings

Scan at 300 dpi or higher, then run OCR.
Redact Social Security, account and driver's license numbers to the last 4 digits (rule 1.201).

What is the maximum PDF file size for California Superior Courts?: No statewide limit. Courts advise keeping each document under 25 MB and each submission under 60 MB; your e-filing provider may set its own cap.
Do PDFs have to be text-searchable?: Yes. Source: Cal. Rules of Court, rule 2.256(b) (text-searchable when technologically feasible). Scanned pages need OCR before filing; see how to make a PDF text-searchable.
Is PDF/A required?: No. The court's published rules don't require PDF/A.
Can I file a password-protected PDF?: No. Source: Placer Superior Court e-filing FAQ (documents that can't be viewed are rejected). See how to remove PDF security.
Can the PDF still have fillable form fields?: Flatten them to be safe. Source: Judicial Council fillable fields should be inactivated before filing (One Legal guidance). See how to flatten a PDF.
Can I combine several documents into one PDF?: No. Source: Motions, supporting papers and proposed orders are separate PDFs (Placer e-filing FAQ).