Tenthlining Scanned Court Documents
Most Kenyan appeal records originate as paper files that are scanned into PDF. Tenthlining scanned documents is harder than text PDFs because the system must first read the text via OCR (Optical Character Recognition).
Challenges with Scanned PDFs
- Text may not be selectable (image-only PDFs)
- Skewed or low-quality scans reduce OCR accuracy
- Handwritten annotations confuse line detection
- Mixed orientations (portrait/landscape) in one bundle
Best Practices Before Uploading
- Scan at 300 DPI minimum
- Ensure pages are straight and properly cropped
- Use black-and-white or grayscale for text documents
- Remove blank pages before processing
- Merge all documents into one PDF if possible
Automated OCR Tenthlining
Tenthlining.com handles scanned PDFs by running OCR to detect text lines, then placing line numbers every tenth line. This eliminates the need to manually number hundreds of pages of scanned records.
Manual Alternative (Not Recommended)
Some advocates use Word or Adobe Acrobat to add text boxes with line numbers. This takes hours, produces inconsistent results, and frequently fails compliance checks. Automation is faster and more reliable.
Conclusion
Scanned records are no excuse for missing tenthlining. With the right tools, even large scanned bundles can be processed in minutes. See how it works.