PDF requirements for e-filing in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas (e-filing)

What the court requires

The limit is 20 MB per document and 20 MB for everything in one filing (envelope). The 20 MB limit covers the whole transmission, not just one document. Filings over the limit are rejected and must be filed on paper. The Probate Court also limits each file to 20 MB.

“Submissions are limited to twenty megabytes in size, and no combination of PDF files in one transmission may aggregate to more than twenty megabytes in size.”

Common reasons filings are rejected

• A submission is over 20 MB in total.
• A filing over the limit was e-filed instead of filed on paper.
• The PDF is password-protected or has security restrictions.
• The PDF is password-protected or has security restrictions, so the court's system can't open it.

Questions about the Cuyahoga County, OH's PDF rules

What is the maximum PDF file size for the Cuyahoga County, OH?

20 MB per PDF. All files in one filing together may not exceed 20 MB.

What should I do if my PDF is too large for the Cuyahoga County, OH?

Split it into consecutive parts that are each under 20 MB, never cutting a page in half, and file the first part as the main document and the rest as attachments named in order (for example "Exhibit A, Part 2 of 3"). For scanned documents, re-scanning in black and white at 300 dpi often shrinks the file enough to avoid splitting. Docket Prime can split the file for you in your browser.

Does the Cuyahoga County, OH require text-searchable PDFs?

It is recommended. Documents saved directly from a word processor are searchable and much smaller than scans; for paper documents, OCR adds searchable text.

What page size does the Cuyahoga County, OH accept?

Letter size (8.5 × 11 inches) is expected. Legal-size or A4 pages may print badly or be refused, so resize them to letter.