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Continued... Page 3 > Basic Technology WORD PROCESSING PROGRAMS Most word processing permit insertion of photographs and drawings directly into the text of a legal pleading. This technique can be highly effective not only in trial briefs, but also in demand letters and mediation memoranda. SCANNER AND PHOTO-EDITING SOFTWARE The scanner pulls images of photographs, drawings or other graphics into the computer where they can be combined with words or further refined in some other way. Scanned photographs and illustrations can be inserted directly into briefs. A scanner is essential to be able to use a computer to create an exhibit from an image that is not already digital, e.g., from a digital camera or obtained from a website. Buy a scanner and software such as Photoshop by Adobe that lets you manipulate the images and put on labels. The scanner we bought ten years ago cost about $1,000 and came with the Photoshop program. We replaced it last year with one that scanned at a higher resolution and came equipped with a similar photo manipulation program for $200. PRESENTATION PROGRAMS Presentation programs allow the user to create computer images that can either be displayed or turned into hard copy. Our office uses PowerPoint by Microsoft which is part of the Microsoft Office software package. There are other presentation programs with similar capabilities. We use PowerPoint to create presentation outlines that we call ìBullet charts.î The bullet chart is similar to the key point summary printed in a box with a newspaper or magazine article. Using the scanner, photographic images can be put into these presentations. The program also helps create effective charts of numerical data. VIDEO IMAGER Video imagers (also called document cameras) are successors to overhead projectors. A video imager is a video camera mounted on a telescoping arm. It transfers the image of a document, photograph, x-ray or graphic illustration to a television screen. These devices were widely used in business and medicine long before lawyers found out about them, and they have been well received in court. One local federal judge has stated, ìThese devices are so helpful in a trial, I can't imagine any lawyer showing up in court without one. |
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