Creating a digital Bundle - do you have to have Adobe professional?

[PebbleSCT]

Hi all,

I'm waiting for my court transfer letter to come through and I'm looking to get ahead of the curve on the next steps. I already have an extensive word document with the particulars, timeline, references to evidence etc and then a large filing system on OneDrive containing the evidence in a folder system which is referenced in the aforementioned document. I understand that i need to create a single PDF containing all of this information, if so then is there a way of doing this without having to purchase adobe? It just seems a little restrictive with cost for creating a single document (and expensive).

There doesn't seem to be much guidance online regarding this since all of the changes with the pandemic, so any guidance or directions anyone can point me in would be appreciated. I'm looking to understand what is accepted in regards to a digital bundle submission.

Thank you

[R0b]

Adobe isn't the only PDF editor out there that's decent enough, plenty of free trials. An alternative I recommend would be Nitro PDF as they offer one month trial with full access to the editor tools (after the trial if you hold out long enough they used to offer up to 50% off if you fancy purchasing). Alot of the legwork can be done in Word so I would only suggest that you download a trial when you are actually ready and have a court date and time to submit.

Are you expecting the case to be heard on the small claims track? If so, it is not necessary for a bundle to be filed unless ordered to do so but depending on the nature of the claim, it could be beneficial.

What exactly is it you are struggle with in terms of the bundle?

[PebbleSCT]

Hi Rob, thanks for the reply.

I'll have a look at your suggestion.

I'm new to all this so learning as I go along - the case has been referred to SCT, so I assumed that's where I supply my evidence and that it would be in the form of a bundle. I actually have a lot of documentation and photo evidence, as well as an expert report. I have a main document which is a timeline and detail of the issues and what has been done. It references a lot of evidence that I currently have in a folder structure on OneDrive. My assumption was that the court would prefer it in a bundle? The case itself is around breach of contract under the consumer rights act 2015 for a patio.

Any questions please ask!

[paulajayne]

MS Word can save as PDF.

Can you not pull all docs in order into Word and then save.

[PebbleSCT]

Hi Paula, I can but that's a more onerous approach making everything manual. I'd have to add everything in one by one, re-tag and reference in the document, which is why I'm seeing if there are alternatives to Adobe which semi automates a lot of that.

[R0b]

Are you confusing a trial bundle with a witness statement? Witness statements contain the evidence you want to rely on in court whereas a trial bundle consists of a bundle of documents including witness statements. It is not normal for cases on the small claims track to require a trial bundle unless a court orders one.

There's plenty of free websites online that allows you to combine multiple PDFs together. I have used SmallPDF in the past, it's basic but does the job.

[PebbleSCT]

Hi Rob, based on what you say then yes I probably am mixing up the two. When looking for how to format my evidence I only came across info on the trial bundle.

I want to provide evidence of correspondence with multiple parties as well as an expert report and the timeline, as the defendant has repeatedly lied about what happened and what was said, I assume it's not too much to include all of this? I also assume the PDF approach is still the right thing in regards to making it easy for the judge to read and follow? Or is this process different?

Sorry for the questions!

[Naww]

Adobe isn't really the only program you can use to do this. I think it will be easier and more convenient for a beginner to use editors like this one. I find this multifunctional Movavi product https://www.movavi.com/ and its advantage over Adobe is that I can use this graphics editor for free.