ValuPresentfor iPad

Getting started

Valu-Present for iPad runs on any iPad that runs the current iPadOS. It works in landscape. For a courtroom TV you’ll want a USB-C to HDMI adapter (the most reliable) or an Apple TV / AirPlay screen.

• Install the beta: install Apple’s free TestFlight app from the App Store, then open the invitation link you were sent.
• Your first screen lists your cases. Tap ＋ New case to start one.
• Tip: an Apple Pencil works everywhere a finger does, and a Magic Keyboard adds shortcuts.

The layout — a tour of the Counsel Table

The Counsel Table is the screen you present from. Here is every part of it.

Create a case

1. On the Cases screen tap ＋ New case.
2. Type the case name (for example Harper v. Coastal Freight Lines). You can list witnesses now — one per line — or add them later.
3. Tap Create case. The case page opens.

The case page

Everything starts here: the Master File (all the case’s files), Marked exhibits, the Counsel Table (where you present), Clips & Designations, and a card for each witness. Across the top are Sync, Export case and Settings.

Open a case (load a job)

• On this iPad: tap the case on the Cases screen. It opens on the case page, and the Counsel Table opens where you left off.
• From your other iPad: tap ☁ From iCloud on the Cases screen and pick the case (it must have Sync turned on — see Sync two iPads).
• From a case file: tap 📂 Open case file and pick a case folder someone saved or shared (Files, Box, a USB drive, AirDrop).
• To present: on the case page tap ▶ Present on a witness — the Counsel Table opens clear, with that witness on the stand.

Import into the Master File

The Master File is the box that holds everything in the case. Import once; it files itself by type — Depositions, PDFs, Documents, Photos, Videos, Transcripts.

1. On the case page tap ＋ Import on the Master File card (or open the Master File and tap ＋ Import at the top right).
2. Choose where from:
   • Files — iCloud Drive, Box, Dropbox, OneDrive, a USB drive.
   • Photos & videos — from the Photos library.
   • A whole folder — everything inside, sorted by type, with each sub-folder becoming its own redweld.
   • Scan paper — the camera turns paper into a PDF.
   • Another case — copy exhibits or whole depositions from a case already on this iPad.
3. Word, Excel and PowerPoint files are converted to PDF so they can be shown, marked up and stamped.

Left: everything, by type, redwelds and witnesses. Middle: the files — sortable by any column. Right: a preview of the selected file.

Witnesses, redwelds & colors

Each witness has a redweld — their exhibits, files and synced depositions. Files you bring in for a witness also appear on the Counsel Table when that witness is on the stand.

1. Add a witness: ＋ New witness in the Master File, or the New witness redweld card on the case page.
2. Bring files in: press and hold a file and drag it onto the witness. To move several, tap ☑ Select, tick them, then drag.
3. Or select a file and use 👤 Witness ▾ in the preview panel.

Witness colors

Every witness gets a color — the first is red, the second blue, then green, purple, orange, teal, pink and gold. Their files carry a light tint of that color everywhere, so in the Master File you can see at a glance whose they are. An exhibit marked for a witness takes that witness’s color. To change a color, press and hold the witness and choose 🎨 Color….

Your own redwelds

Make folders of your own — “Medical records”, “Plaintiff’s production” — with ＋ New redweld, then drag files in.

Review any file

Look through a file without putting it on the Counsel Table.

1. In the Master File tap a file — the preview appears on the right.
2. Tap the preview, or ⤢ Open — read all pages, or the ⤢ button at the end of any row.
3. Pinch or double-tap to zoom, drag to move around, swipe or tap Page › to turn pages. Fit puts the whole page back.
4. Tap ‹ Back to Master File to return to exactly where you were — or ▶ Present to send it to the Counsel Table.

Videos play with normal controls and sound; transcripts open in the transcript reader (see Read & search a transcript).

Import & sync a deposition

1. On the case page tap ＋ Import witness material.
2. Pick the deposition video file(s) and the ASCII transcript (.txt) together.
3. The app reads the witness name and date from the transcript and asks which witness redweld it belongs to — tap the witness (or create them).
4. If the transcript already has timecodes (from VALU-SYNC or your reporter), it’s synced at once. If not, tap ⟳ Test sync — the iPad listens to the video and lines the words up, on the iPad itself.
5. Tap ▶ Check it to spot-check, then ✓ Looks good. The deposition moves into the witness’s redweld.

The Counsel Table

This is where you present. Open it from the case page (▶ Open) or from a witness card (▶ Present) — it opens clear, with that witness on the stand.

• Left panel: the exhibits for the witness on the stand, grouped by type (clips fold away behind ▸ so hundreds don’t crowd the list). Tap one to load it. ⇅ sorts — exhibits first, by number, by name.
• The table: the document you’re working on. Use ＋ Table to prepare something else on a second table while the first stays live.
• Display preview (lower left): exactly what the TV shows. When a screen is connected it folds down to a “● Showing LIVE on …” strip — tap it to open, tap again to hide.
• Top bar: the witness on the stand, # Call up (type an exhibit or Bates number), 🏷 Mark, Labels, and the presenting buttons.
• Bottom bar: page turning, side-by-side, undo/redo, Erase last, Erase all and Clear table.

SHOW · LIVE · CLEAR · BLANK

• SHOW puts what’s on this table on the Display once — then you can keep preparing privately.
• LIVE makes the Display follow this table as you work. The document that’s live blinks in the list. Turning LIVE off clears the Display.
• CLEAR takes it down (the Display shows your clear screen — a logo or caption page, if you set one).
• BLANK turns the Display black instantly. Press and hold it for Freeze: the Display holds still while you move on.

Tools & their options

Tap a tool, then draw on the page. A tool with a small triangle in its corner has options — press and hold it. Everything stays sharp at any zoom and appears on the Display as you work when you’re LIVE.

✋ Hand

Move around and turn pages without drawing. Pinch to zoom, swipe to turn the page. Tap a callout and drag it to move it.

⧉ Callout

Drag a box around lines — they lift off the page, large and readable. Drag a callout to move it; new ones stack under it. Close one with its ✕ or a double-tap.

• Line up the callouts — no overlap, same size, in the order made.
• Show the box while I drag — off: the room only sees the result.

▮ Highlight

Drag across a line of text.

• Highlighter color — yellow, green, pink, blue, orange…
• Two colors — a Primary and a Secondary (say, ours and theirs); pick which one you’re using.
• Rounded or square ends.

⌕ Zoom & ⬚ Crop

Zoom: drag a box — that part fills the screen. Crop: show only the box, so two documents side by side line up. Whole page (or double-tap) goes back. Pinch works any time.

● Laser

A red dot on the Display that follows your finger — nothing is drawn.

• Dot above my finger — so your finger never hides it.
• Dot right under my finger — exact, best with a Pencil.

✎ Pen

• Pen — a solid line.
• Marker — wide and see-through, like a felt marker.
• Line width — hairline to extra heavy.

➚ Arrow

• Point follows your finger — touch where it starts, drag to where it points.
• Point where you touch — touch what it points at, drag the tail out.
• Straight line — no point. Line width too.

▭ Box

• Outline or Filled.
• Shape by points — tap each corner, tap the first to close (outline or filled).
• Line width.

◯ Circle

• Outline or Filled, and Line width.

T Text

Tap the page and type a note. Size: small, medium, large, extra large.

① Number

Tap the page to drop the next one.

• Style — 1 2 3, A B C, a b c, i ii iii, dots, arrows, check marks.
• Size and Start the count at…

▬ Redact

Drag a black box over text.

• Write “REDACTED” on the box, so everyone sees something was taken out.
• On screen only — the file itself is never changed.

● Color

The color for pen, arrows, boxes, circles, numbers and text — red, yellow, green, blue, white, black — and the line width (also the size of numbers).

⤢ View

• Whole page, Full width (top or lower), Top half, Bottom half.
• Invert colors — white text on black for dark scans.
• Line up callouts.

↻ Rotate

• This page right, left or upside down — or every page. It’s kept: the document opens turned every time, and callouts come out upright.
• Nudge — straighten a crooked scan a quarter-degree at a time.
• Every page upright again undoes it.

Mark exhibits

1. Load the document on the Counsel Table and tap 🏷 Mark.
2. Pick the type (Exhibit, Plaintiff’s, Defendant’s, Joint… or your own), check the number, the witness, the date and the color.
3. Tap Place the sticker, tap the page where it goes, drag to move or a corner to resize, then ✓ Confirm.

• Numbering: the next number is always the highest one still marked, plus one. Mark 2, unmark it, and 2 is next again.
• Renaming: by default the file takes its exhibit number as its name (the original stays searchable). Turn this off in Settings ▸ Marking exhibits.
• Unmark: press and hold the exhibit ▸ Unmark — the sticker comes off and the original name comes back.
• Admitted: press and hold ▸ status (Offered, Admitted, Excluded…). The Admitted chip filters the list.
• Every marked exhibit also lands in Marked exhibits on the case page — by witness and by day.

Saved screens

Set up a table the night before — the page, zoom, highlights and callouts — and tap 💾 Save screen. In court, tap Saved screens and pick it: it comes back exactly as you left it. If you change a saved screen, the button asks whether to update it or save as new.

Play depositions & clips

1. Tap a deposition (DEPO) in the list. The video loads with the transcript beside it.
2. Tap any line in the transcript to jump the video there; the line being spoken is highlighted and followed.
3. Use Search the testimony to find a word, and ✂ Clip Maker to make clips from page:line ranges.
4. TEXT chooses how the words appear: Under the video, Over the video (captions on the picture), Words only, or Video only.

Read & search a transcript

Open any ASCII transcript (from the Master File, or a deposition’s transcript) to read it page by page.

• Type in the search box — every hit is highlighted; ▲ ▼ step through them, List shows them all.
• Tap a line to mark “where I am” — 📍 My place brings you back to it.
• Show on table puts the transcript page on the Counsel Table.

Connect a TV (HDMI / AirPlay)

1. HDMI: plug a USB-C to HDMI adapter into the iPad and the TV. The TV becomes the Display.
2. AirPlay: Control Center ▸ Screen Mirroring ▸ pick the TV. With Valu-Present open, the TV shows the Display (not the iPad’s screen).
3. Go LIVE or SHOW to put something up. The Display pill at the top right shows what’s connected — tap it for the Display menu.

• 🧪 Test the TV: puts an orange card on the TV for 6 seconds and shows what the iPad sees — useful before court.
• 📱 Mirror the iPad on the TV instead: if an AirPlay TV stays black with the app open, this lets the TV mirror the iPad screen.
• If the TV shows your whole iPad screen with HDMI, turn Stage Manager off in Control Center.

Wi-Fi Display

Show the Display on any TV, laptop or tablet in the room — in its web browser, nothing to install.

1. Tap the Display pill ▸ 📶 Wi-Fi Display.
2. On the other screen, on the same Wi-Fi, scan the QR code or type the link shown.
3. Tap that screen once for full screen and sound.

Share the Display remotely

Judge, counsel or a witness somewhere else watch the Display in any web browser — the same viewer page and invitation as Valu-Present on the Mac / PC.

1. Tap the Display pill ▸ 📡 Share the Display.
2. Tick Anywhere — over the internet and/or Same room — this Wi-Fi. (Everything starts unticked — you choose.)
3. Tap Start sharing, then Copy join link, Copy invitation, Email or show the QR code.
4. Viewers sign in with their full name. You see who is watching, can give one of them control to turn pages, and can remove anyone.

Leaving the table while live

If you tap ‹ Case while something is still on a TV or being shared, the app stops and asks what the room should see: Leave it up, Blank (black), or Take it off the Display.

Sync two iPads with iCloud

Sync keeps a case the same on two (or more) iPads — a second chair, a paralegal, or your backup iPad. It uses your own iCloud Drive; nothing goes to any other server.

Before you start

• Both iPads signed in to the same Apple ID.
• iCloud Drive on: Settings app ▸ your name ▸ iCloud ▸ iCloud Drive.
• Enough iCloud storage for the case (videos are large).

Turn sync on for a case

1. Open the case. On the case page tap the ⊘ Sync off button at the top — sync turns on for this case.
2. The case uploads — the button shows progress, then Synced · just now.
3. On the other iPad, on the Cases screen tap ☁ From iCloud and pick the case. It downloads and opens.

What syncs

Imports, renames, exhibit stickers and numbers, witnesses and redwelds, where files are filed, status (Admitted…), rotations, saved screens and synced depositions. Work done on both iPads is merged item by item — one iPad never wipes out the other’s work. Each iPad keeps its own Counsel Table and what’s on its Display.

The Sync button

• Synced · 3 min ago — up to date. Tap it for Sync now, What to sync… (videos and audio can stay on each iPad to save iCloud space), iCloud details, Undo the last iCloud update, or Stop syncing this case.
• Uploading… / Downloading… — in progress. Large imports finish uploading before the other iPad sees them; the app waits until an import is done before syncing.
• ⏸ Sync paused — iCloud sync is turned off on this iPad in Settings.
• ⊘ Sync off — this case isn’t synced.

Turn sync off

• For one case: tap its Sync button ▸ Stop syncing this case… The case stays on this iPad.
• For this whole iPad: app Settings ▸ iCloud sync ▸ turn off “Sync cases with iCloud on this iPad”. Nothing is sent or read; turn it back on and it catches up.

Export, exhibit list & binder

On the case page tap Export case:

• Save case to Files — a case folder to iCloud Drive, Box or a USB drive.
• Share case — zipped, for AirDrop, Mail or Box.
• Exhibit list & binder — for court: a PDF list with Offered / Admitted boxes, a .csv, and a one-PDF binder of the stamped exhibits.

From Marked exhibits you can also email or export stamped copies plus a report.

Settings

• Firm & user — your name for reports and the clear screen.
• Look — Lab Dark, Lab Light or follow the iPad; accent color; tool names.
• iCloud sync — pause or resume syncing on this iPad.
• Marking & Callouts — turn auto-renaming to the exhibit number on or off, highlighter, pen and callout defaults.
• Presenting — Go LIVE when a screen connects, Display labels, sharing.
• This job — exhibit sticker defaults, file-name splitting, clear screen.

Troubleshooting

• AirPlay TV is black. Run 🧪 Test the TV. If the orange card doesn’t show, stop Screen Mirroring and start it again from Control Center. Still black? Use 📱 Mirror the iPad on the TV instead, or an HDMI adapter.
• The TV shows my whole iPad. Turn Stage Manager off in Control Center.
• A Wi-Fi screen can’t connect. Both must be on the same Wi-Fi; guest networks often block devices from seeing each other — use a phone hotspot.
• The other iPad doesn’t see a change. Check both are on the same Apple ID with iCloud Drive on, and the Sync button says Synced.
• The laser lags for remote viewers. Internet sharing adds a little delay; HDMI and AirPlay are instant.

Questions or feedback: holmstockd@gmail.com