Binders & exports

Turn your evidence and documents into an exhibit PDF, a printable Evidence Index, tabbed hearing binders, and full backups you can take with you.

Case → BindersOverview → ExportNo AI used

Everything you store in Custody Commander can come back out. This page covers each export: what it contains, where to find it, and the limits to plan around. None of these exports uses AI, so none of them costs AI operations.

Export	What you get	Where
Court-ready PDF	One PDF of chosen exhibits with a cover, contents, and a divider for each exhibit	Evidence → View evidence, or Overview
Evidence Index	A printable table of every exhibit with dates, descriptions, and fingerprints	Overview
Hearing binder	A tabbed PDF of evidence and documents for a specific hearing, in court and private versions	Case → Binders
Message log	A numbered, printable log of your messages	Messages
Evidence bundle & backups	ZIP of every original with a manifest, plus transcripts and preparation backups	Case → Preparation → History & backups

Court-ready PDF (exhibit packet)#

This builds one PDF from the evidence you choose, numbered in the order you set.

Narrow the listIn View evidence, use search and filters to show the items you want. The packet starts from what's on screen.
Open the previewClick Court-ready PDF. Items are listed by exhibit number, then by date added.
ArrangeUse Move to top, Move up, Move down, and Remove. Exhibits are numbered in this order.
GenerateClick Generate PDF. The file downloads as court-packet.pdf.

What's inside: a cover page with your case caption; contents pages with clickable page ranges; a divider page for each exhibit; a cover sheet for each file showing its title, source filename, and SHA-256 fingerprint; then the file's pages scaled to US Letter. Every page has a page-number footer and the PDF has bookmarks. Location data is removed from photos. The Court-ready PDF button on Overview is a one-click version that includes all your evidence in upload order, without the preview.

Only images and PDFs can go in the packet

The packet accepts JPEG, PNG, and PDF (iPhone HEIC photos are converted automatically). Audio, video, Word documents, and other formats stop the whole export — remove them in the preview, or convert them to PDF first. That's also why the one-click Overview export fails if your case has any recordings; use the preview instead.

Limits: 250 files, 60 MB of source files, and 1,000 pages per packet.
Every file is re-checked against its fingerprint before it's added. A file that has changed or needs re-uploading blocks the export until it's fixed.
On the Free plan the packet carries a diagonal DRAFT watermark.
The cover reminds you to check your court's requirements — courts differ on exhibit labels, page limits, and how many copies to bring.

Evidence Index#

On Overview, click Export Evidence Index. It opens a printable page listing every item: exhibit number, event date, description, issues, priority, and each file with its SHA-256 fingerprint. Click Print / Save as PDF to save it.

It's a useful companion to an exhibit packet, a quick reference for your attorney, and a record of what you had and when you added it. It sorts by exhibit number as text, so pad numbers (01, 02…) or use letters.

Hearing binders#

A binder is a tabbed PDF you build for a specific hearing, combining evidence and documents in the order you'll use them. Each binder has two versions: a court / handout copy and a private working copy that can include material only you should see (your notes, outlines, practice questions). Binders are available to the case owner (and, for firms, assigned staff).

Build a binder#

Create itOpen the case's Binders tab and click New WIP binder (WIP means work in progress).
Set the basicsGive it a Binder title, choose the Case, and link the Hearing if one is scheduled. Working notes are for you only and never appear in a PDF.
Add filesOpen Add files from evidence & documents. PDF, PNG, and JPEG files are listed — convert other files (including HEIC photos) first, or upload a PDF version to Evidence or Documents.
Arrange the contentsFor each item under Ordered contents set its title, its Tab (e.g. "Tab 1", "Tab 2"), which Pages to include (All, or 1, 3-5), and whether it's in Court & private copies or the Private copy only. Reorder with Move up / Move down. Up to 150 items.
SaveClick Save WIP binder. You need to save before you can export.

Keep each tab together

A tab divider page is added every time the tab changes, so keep all of a tab's items next to each other in the list.

Export and print#

Choose Court / handout copy (leaves out private-only items) or My private copy, then the Full binder or a single tab, and click Download PDF. The PDF has a cover page, clickable contents, tab dividers, a cover sheet for each item with its source and fingerprint, and page-number footers marked COURT or PRIVATE. Limits: 60 MB of source files and 1,000 pages. Page map downloads a JSON file listing every item's page range and fingerprint.

When you print, click Mark this version printed and enter the number of copies. The binder then shows when it was printed — and warns you with "Changed since printing" if you edit it afterwards, so you know to reprint.

Finish, copy, and reuse#

Mark finished freezes the binder as the version you used. Finished binders can't be edited or deleted.
Create WIP copy starts a new working copy from any binder — handy for the next hearing, when most of the material carries over.
The binder library switches between WIP and Finished, and can be searched and filtered by case and hearing.

Evidence bundle, transcripts & backups#

In the case's Preparation tab, open History & backups (case owners only):

Export evidence + manifest — a ZIP of every original file plus a manifest.json describing each item and its fingerprint. Limited to 250 files / 60 MB per export.
Export transcripts — a ZIP of every audio/video transcript and every extracted or verified text, as JSON.
Export preparation backup — a JSON backup of your preparation work, which you can bring back with Restore preparation. Earlier revisions can be downloaded individually.

Your data is yours. If you ever stop using Custody Commander, export what you need first — see Cancelling.

Packages for attorneys and firms#

If you work with an attorney who uses Custody Commander or CourtBriefly, you can release a fixed, fingerprinted package of selected records to them from Client exchange. See Sharing → Client exchange.