eArt for Evidence

HOME PAGE MASTER INDEX	Are YOU getting your evidence in front of a Jury or opposing counsel in an EFFECTIVE MANNER?
	See below some samples of eART SCANNING for EVIDENCE following the text explaining the eART SCANNING technique	Terrell William "Terry" Proctor, J.D. Discoverer of the eART SCANNING technique, which lends itself to use for evidentiary exhibits

FELLOW ATTORNEYS:

You probably have experienced the cost of getting your evidence into shape for trial and found:
If it is small, the jury can't see it..
If you have a service make your large exhibits, it costs you a bundle.
If you use PowerPoint or other display methods, it costs you a bigger bundle
If you are an attorney handling a smaller case, many of the things you would like to do with evidence is simply out of your budget.

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO?

You can use eART SCANNING!!!

Here is what you will need and briefly how to quickly prepare dramatic evidence exhibits for the trials, hearings, mediation and negotiation presentations.

#1 If you don't already have a flat bed scanner, purchase an inexpensive, but good scanner. I use an HP 5100C (which are probably not even still available, but newer ones may be even better--and cheaper). I think I paid about $160.00 or $180.00 for mine from Sam's Club about 3 or 4 years ago.

#2 I suggest you purchase an HP DeskJet 1220C inkjet printer. You can buy much less expensive ink jet printers which will print up to 8½" X 14" (for $100 to $200--maybe even less). However if you want to make large exhibits, you need the HP 1220C as I know of no other inkjet printer which will let you go up to 13" X 19" prints, at least for so little money. I paid $499.00 for mine from Office Depot a couple of years back. Last time I checked they were down to $399.00 at Office Depot.

#3 If you purchase the HP DeskJet 1220C inkjet printer, the only 13" x 19" paper which I have found is Epsom #SO41069 light weight matte finish paper. They have a heavier 13" X 19" matte finish paper, but I have trouble getting it to go through the printer, so I don't recommend the heavier paper. You can also find Kodak, HP and other brand papers and photo papers in matte and glossy finish in 11" X 17", 8½" X 14" and 8½" X 11" papers.

#4 Unfortunately you must purchase HP inkjet ink to get a good printing job. I have tried the refilled cartridges and the "refill it yourself inks". They don't result in good results. So bite the bullet, go to Sam's or Costco or someone source of lowest price inkjet cartridges and buy the quality of HP.

#5 Place the item to be scanned onto the Scanner glass. Pile something around it on four sides which will be about 3" to 4" higher than the item being scanned.

#6 Get a tissue out of a coat sleeve or get colored tissue at WalMart, Hallmark or other places which sell colored tissue for gift wrapping. Roll a sheet into a very tight roll, then unroll it and carefully smooth it out again. Lay this crinkled tissue over the built-ups around the edge of your scanner bed and use some weight to hold it relatively flat across the item being scanned. I use heavy erasers sometimes for hold-tights on the sides and ends (or your stapler or anything else handy which will keep the tissue from sliding out from under it). You will probably want to use two layers of tissue to properly diffuse the light. You can use all white or a couple of colors or a color and white. It makes a difference which is on the bottom and which is on the top. The light you use (see below) going through the tissue, will change the color of the background. Read that to mean that what you see is not necessarily what you will get. When you use a blue tissue, with light going through, may ultimately give you a green background. See what I mean. In short, you will have to experiment. The closest I get to a neutral background is a purple tissue on the bottom with a blue gel (cellophane) on top.

#7 Get a Chemistry Ring Stand if you can find one (for those not lab oriented, this is a heavy metal base with a thin upright steel rod perhaps 3' high or so, onto which is a steel ring which rides over the steel rod with a thumb screw to tighten it as any given height). If you don't have or cannot get a ring stand, then improvise.

#8 With the item to be scanned in place (which could be your client's injured hand or arm), the tissue suspended 3" or 3" above the item being scanned, lower the Ring Stand ring to about 1" to 2" above the tissue. Use some type of lighting lying on the ring with the light to shine down. I purchased two work lamps from The Home Depot (they are fluorescent and the tube inside starts at the bottom, goes down about 3", curls out, then up about 6" or 8", then curves over the top of the face, then down 6" to 8" again, curves in and back up to the starting place, but about 2" or 3" away. The lamp has a clear plastic face over the tube and a black back on which the light sets. Through the bottom of the work light is a hold through each of the two legs which are the base. I bolted two of these together, through these holes. The result is a lamp about two feet long with about four thin tubes of fluorescent light to shine which makes it about a foot wide). This provides me with a nice bit of light over the entire scanner bed, diffused by the tissue.

#9 Turn on your light(s) and use your scanner software. Scan things at pretty high resolution, if you want very clear detailed exhibits. The higher the resolution you shoot at (resolution is dpi or dots per inch) the better print you will get, up to a limit. However, the higher the resolution you choose, the longer it will take to scan, especially if your scanner makes a second pass as most will if you are shooting at higher resolution. I usually use 500 or 600 dpi when scanning exhibits.

#10 Yes you can shoot a client's arm, hand, even foot. However, you will have to shoot at lower resolution (which means faster time) because a client cannot stay still long enough to allow for the time it takes scanning at high resolution. If they move the slightest, your scan will show jerked sides on the image making it pretty worthless usually.

#11 While the above may sound complicated, it actually isn't. While you are working on documents in one room (assuming you have more than one computer in your office) your scanner can be doing the work of scanning a piece of evidence. Then you return, crop it to the size you like, and tell it to save the image to your client's file. Then as it scans it the second time, you go back to work on your motion or Decree. After the image is saved, you set your printer on the size you want (for Juries, use the 13" X 19" setting) and disable the margins so your printer will print as close to the edges as possible.

#12 You may want to use a glue stick to stick your evidentiary exhibit onto a piece of poster board or foam core board to make it rigid. You are ready to take it to the Courtroom, Mediation, or negotiation session.

How long does all of this take? It depends on the subject and how high you want the resolution. Usual resolution for copying documents and photos is 150 dpi. Hence my scanning at 600 dpi is four times as detailed. My scanner will scan up to 1,200 dpi but anything over 600 dpi seems not to make any difference except taking longer.

Now let us show you some of Terry's examples of actual evidence
and graphics created for a video game for Asynchrony.

Client's arm as injured before surgery scanned at only 150 dpi so that image was not distorted by movement.	Same Client's arm after surgery scanned at only 200 dpi so that image was not distorted by movement.	Same Client's arm after surgery scanned at 600 dpi the image has better detail but is distorted by movement.	Fire Extinguisher scanned at only 250 dpi per request of the supervisor of the video game program.
Pleistocene Giant Tortoise claws from Leisey Shell Pit, Ruskin, Florida. Scanned at 600 dpi notice how they float in front of background.	Castor Beans scanned at 500 dpi for better resolution of each castor bean.	Pine Wood Planks scanned at 500 dpi for excellent resolution of the grain and knots.	Client with bad surgery photo taken before corrective surgery scanned at 300 dpi using lavender tissue with blue gel as background.
Gold Handcuffs Tie Pin for Video Game scanned at 250 dpi as requested.	Red Notebook for video game scanned at 500 dpi for greater resolution of detail on cover.	Beretta-uncocked scanned at only 250 dpi per request of the supervisor of the video game program.	Colt .357 Magnum Revolver for Video Game scanned at 250 dpi as requested.
Client needed to prove that allegations of client's alleged wrongdoing was motivated by other party dropping heavy object on client's foot.	Three $50.00 bills for video game scanned as requested at 250 dpi.	Client's elbow surgery to partially correct the problem with hand above showing severe bruising. Helps to show pain and suffering. Scanned at 400 dpi.	Client's arm showing bruising of the type which is normally hard to capture on film scanned at 300 dpi Too much weight on arm during scanning.