Email to PDF for court and discovery

Emails end up in court all the time: in employment claims, family law, contract disputes, landlord and tenant cases, insurance claims and regulatory investigations. Getting them from a mailbox into a clean, numbered, traceable set of PDFs is tedious if you do it by hand, printing messages one at a time and stamping page numbers afterwards. InboxVue does it in one pass, in your browser, without uploading client data.

This page explains what a good email production or exhibit set looks like, and how to make one from EML, MSG and MBOX files. It's practical guidance, not legal advice. Always follow the rules of your court and any order or agreement that applies.

What courts and opposing counsel usually expect

Requirements differ by country, court and case, but email productions and exhibits commonly need:

• Readable, consistent pages. Each email starts on a new page with a clear header block: From, To, Cc, Date and Subject.
• Unique page identifiers. Bates numbers (a prefix and sequential number on every page) so anyone can cite a specific page.
• Completeness. Attachments identified with each message, and replies kept with their threads where possible.
• Traceability. A log of what was produced, and a way to show the produced files haven't changed.
• Originals preserved. The native email files kept unaltered, in case natives or metadata are requested.

In US federal civil cases, for example, Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure lets the requesting party specify a form for electronically stored information, and otherwise requires production in the form in which it is ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably usable form. Many parties agree an ESI protocol that sets out exactly what's expected. Federal Rule of Evidence 902(14) allows data copied from an electronic device or file to be self-authenticated when it's identified by a process of digital identification, such as a hash value, and certified by a qualified person. Other jurisdictions have their own rules; check yours.

How InboxVue builds a production

1. Open the source. Drop EML files, Outlook MSG files, a folder of either, or an MBOX mailbox such as a Google Takeout export. Everything is processed locally.
2. Select the responsive messages. Filter by date range, sender, recipient, domain, attachments or label, then review the list.
3. Configure the PDF. Choose One PDF or a ZIP of PDFs, Letter or A4, full headers on or off, and attachment handling: listed, embedded in the PDF, or extracted to an attachments folder.
4. Set Bates numbering. Choose a prefix (for example SMITH-), a start number and the number of digits. Every page is stamped in a reserved band, so the stamp never covers content, and numbering continues across messages and across files in a ZIP.
5. Add the cover index. A table of contents lists each message's number, date, sender, subject, Bates range and page count.
6. Export with the manifest and log. InboxVue Pro writes a manifest-sha256.txt and manifest.json with the SHA-256 hash and size of every source and output file, plus an index.csv log of every message.

The source-specific converters work the same way: MBOX to PDF for mailboxes, MSG to PDF for Outlook files and EML to PDF for standard email files.

What's in each output file

The PDF pages. Real, searchable text rather than images, with fonts embedded for non-Latin scripts. The header block shows sender, all recipients, the date and time, and the subject. With full headers on, the technical headers appear too: the Received chain, Message-ID and authentication results, which can matter when authenticity is disputed.

The cover index. One or more pages at the front, excluded from Bates numbering by default, listing every message in the set with its Bates range.

The CSV log. One row per message with number, Bates begin and end, ISO date, from, to, cc, bcc, subject, Message-ID, attachment count and names, source file and folder, output file and page count. It opens in Excel or Google Sheets and can serve as the basis of a production log. The MBOX to CSV page explains the columns.

The manifest. A plain-text file listing each hash, relative path and size, so anyone can check the hashes with a standard tool such as shasum -a 256 on Mac or Linux or certutil -hashfile file SHA256 on Windows, plus a JSON version for software. It also records the InboxVue version and the export time in UTC.

Why local processing matters for legal work

Client email is confidential, often privileged and sometimes subject to data protection law. Uploading it to an online converter means a third party receives and stores it, if only briefly, and you may need to account for that to your client, your regulator or the court. InboxVue's browser-based design avoids the question: the files are read and converted on your computer, and InboxVue's servers never receive message content. The how it works page explains the architecture, including the privacy safeguards in the viewer.

Good practice checklist

• Keep the original files (EML, MSG or MBOX) unchanged and separate from the production. Record their hashes; the manifest does this for you.
• Agree the form of production with the other side, or follow the order, before converting.
• Use a distinct Bates prefix for each producing party and continue the numbering across productions.
• Include full headers where authenticity, timing or routing could be disputed.
• Decide how to treat attachments: many protocols require them produced with, or immediately after, the parent email.
• Review the export before serving it, especially for privileged messages, which InboxVue doesn't flag.
• Keep the CSV log and manifest with your file copy of the production.

Limits to be aware of

InboxVue is a conversion tool, not a review platform. It doesn't detect privilege, redact content, deduplicate across custodians or convert attachments into Bates-numbered pages. The bodies of encrypted (S/MIME or PGP) messages can't be rendered unless they're decrypted first. Outlook PST archives are coming soon; for now, save the relevant messages from Outlook as MSG files by dragging them into a folder. For large, contested or multi-custodian matters, a dedicated eDiscovery service may be more appropriate.

Plans

Viewing, search and single-message PDFs are free. Bulk PDF export, Bates numbering, the cover index, SHA-256 manifests, export filters and custom headers and footers are all part of InboxVue Pro, the one paid plan. Pay $6.99 a month for a single matter and cancel when it's done, $29.99 a year (save 64% compared with monthly) if you produce email regularly, or $99 once for lifetime access. Every option unlocks the same features and comes with a 14-day refund on the first payment. See pricing for the full comparison, and our general guide on saving emails as PDF for single-message methods in every mail app.