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Certum Draft

Troubleshooting

Installation & Startup

Section titled “Installation & Startup”

”Certum Draft is damaged and can’t be opened”

Section titled “”Certum Draft is damaged and can’t be opened””

This happens when macOS blocks apps from unidentified developers.

Solution:

  1. Right-click the app in Finder
  2. Select Open from the context menu
  3. Click Open in the dialog that appears

App won’t launch after update

Section titled “App won’t launch after update”
  1. Open Finder
  2. Go to Applications
  3. Right-click Certum Draft and select Move to Bin
  4. Download a fresh copy from certum.serkowski.net
  5. Install again

Document Engine setup fails

Section titled “Document Engine setup fails”

The Python environment setup requires an internet connection.

  1. Check your internet connection
  2. If using a VPN, try disconnecting temporarily
  3. Go to Preferences → General → Factory Reset
  4. Relaunch Certum Draft to retry setup

License Issues

Section titled “License Issues”

”Invalid license key”

Section titled “”Invalid license key””

Check that:

  • You copied the entire key (no spaces at start/end)
  • The email matches the one associated with your license
  • Your license hasn’t expired

Need a new license key

Section titled “Need a new license key”

Contact [email protected] with your registered email address.

Templates

Section titled “Templates”

Template doesn’t appear in list

Section titled “Template doesn’t appear in list”
  1. Go to Preferences → Templates
  2. Check the Templates folder location is correct
  3. Click Reload Templates
  4. Verify the template folder contains a valid matter.json

”No templates found”

Section titled “”No templates found””

Your Templates folder is empty or misconfigured.

  1. Open Preferences → Templates
  2. Click Choose next to Templates Folder
  3. Select the folder containing your template subfolders

Template validation shows errors

Section titled “Template validation shows errors”
  1. Go to Preferences → Templates → Test Templates
  2. Note which templates have errors
  3. Check the matter.json file for that template
  4. Use a JSON validator to find syntax errors

Document Generation

Section titled “Document Generation”

Placeholder shows [MISSING: field_name]

Section titled “Placeholder shows [MISSING: field_name]”

The template references a field that doesn’t have a value.

Causes:

  • Field wasn’t filled in when creating the matter
  • Field name in template doesn’t match matter.json
  • Field is in a different block than expected

Solution:

  1. Open File → Edit Matter Details
  2. Fill in the missing field
  3. Save and regenerate the document

Documents don’t generate

Section titled “Documents don’t generate”

Check that:

  • The matter folder contains a valid matter file
  • You have write permission to the matter folder
  • The document templates exist in the Precedents folder

Wrong information in document

Section titled “Wrong information in document”
  1. Open File → Edit Matter Details
  2. Correct the incorrect information
  3. Save changes
  4. Regenerate the document

Finder Integration

Section titled “Finder Integration”

Services options don’t appear

Section titled “Services options don’t appear”
  1. Open Certum Draft at least once (to register services)
  2. Hold ⌥ (Option)
  3. Right-click Finder in the Dock
  4. Select Relaunch
  5. Try right-clicking a folder again

”Generate Documents” is greyed out

Section titled “”Generate Documents” is greyed out”

The selected folder isn’t a valid matter folder.

  • Make sure you’re clicking on the matter folder itself
  • The folder must contain a *-matter.json file

File & Folder Issues

Section titled “File & Folder Issues”

Matter folder won’t create

Section titled “Matter folder won’t create”

Check that:

  • You have write permission to the destination folder
  • The destination isn’t full or read-only
  • No folder with the same name already exists

Can’t save matter details

Section titled “Can’t save matter details”
  1. Check the matter folder isn’t locked or read-only
  2. Close any other apps that might have the file open
  3. Try copying the matter folder to your Desktop, then editing

Files are locked by another user

Section titled “Files are locked by another user”

When working on shared drives, another user may have the matter locked.

  1. Wait for them to finish
  2. Or ask them to close the matter
  3. The lock expires after 10 minutes of inactivity

Performance

Section titled “Performance”

App is slow to start

Section titled “App is slow to start”

If you have many templates:

  1. Go to Preferences → Templates
  2. Turn off Validate templates on startup
  3. Relaunch the app

Document generation is slow

Section titled “Document generation is slow”

Large templates or many documents take longer.

  • Try generating fewer documents at once
  • Close other applications to free up memory

Getting More Help

Section titled “Getting More Help”

If you can’t resolve an issue:

  1. Check the logs — Open Console.app and search for “Certum Draft”
  2. Email support — [email protected] with:
    • Description of the problem
    • What you’ve tried
    • Any error messages
    • Your macOS version