U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York e-filing PDF requirements

Requirements at a glance

File size	No single PDF may be larger than 15 MB. Split larger files into parts labeled 1a, 1b, 1c.
Text-searchable	Required S.D.N.Y. ECF Rule 23.3: documents filed by parties must be text-searchable (encouraged but not required for exhibits)
PDF/A	Required S.D.N.Y. ECF Rule 23.2: all documents filed on ECF must be in PDF-A format
Documents per PDF	One document per PDF S.D.N.Y. ECF Rule 13.3: file exhibits as separate attachments, not scanned into the main document's PDF
Not allowed	Audio, video or 3D content

If a file is too big, scan at 200 dpi in black and white, or split it (ECF Rule 23.5).
Text 12-point or larger (10-point footnotes), one-inch margins, double-spaced (Local Civil Rule 7.1(b)).

What is the maximum PDF file size for U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York?: No single PDF may be larger than 15 MB. Split larger files into parts labeled 1a, 1b, 1c.
Do PDFs have to be text-searchable?: Yes. Source: S.D.N.Y. ECF Rule 23.3: documents filed by parties must be text-searchable (encouraged but not required for exhibits). Scanned pages need OCR before filing; see how to make a PDF text-searchable.
Is PDF/A required?: Yes. Source: S.D.N.Y. ECF Rule 23.2: all documents filed on ECF must be in PDF-A format. See how to save a PDF as PDF/A.
Can I combine several documents into one PDF?: No. Source: S.D.N.Y. ECF Rule 13.3: file exhibits as separate attachments, not scanned into the main document's PDF.