--- title: "Switching CAT Software: A Reporter's Migration Checklist" description: "Switching CAT software? How to export your dictionary and briefs, keep your job formats, and migrate without losing work or missing a deadline." url: "https://depostack.com/blog/switching-cat-software/" published: "2026-05-26" updated: "2026-10-09" author: "Andrew Mayes" topic: "CAT software" --- # Switching CAT Software: A Reporter's Migration Checklist Switching CAT software? How to export your dictionary and briefs, keep your job formats, and migrate without losing work or missing a deadline. Published May 26, 2026 · Updated October 9, 2026 · By Andrew Mayes · Topic: CAT software Canonical URL: https://depostack.com/blog/switching-cat-software/ ## Key takeaways - Keep verified native backups before converting anything. - Use representative dictionaries, jobs, formats, realtime, and deliverables in the migration test. - RTF/CRE is useful interchange, but it may not preserve every system-specific behavior. - Run both systems before moving deadline work and verify that data can export from the new tool. Switching CAT software feels risky for one reason: your **dictionary** and your **formats** are your livelihood, and moving them wrong could cost you a job. The good news is that a methodical migration can be tested before deadline work moves. Here is the checklist. ## Signs it is time to evaluate a switch You do not change tools for fun. You evaluate alternatives when the current one is costing you: - It **crashes**, especially in realtime, when a crash is a professional emergency. - The **interface** slows down editing you do every single day. - The **cost** of the license, upgrades, add-ons, and support no longer matches the value. - It is missing **realtime or delivery features** clients now expect. - Support is slow, or upgrades break your workflow. If two or more of those are true, it is worth a serious look. ## Export your dictionary and briefs safely Your dictionary is non-negotiable. Before anything: 1. **Back up** your current dictionaries (main, personal, job, and specialty dictionaries) in your software's native format. 2. **Export to a portable format.** RTF/CRE is an industry interchange format for steno dictionaries and jobs[1] ([Eclipse vs. Case CATalyst](https://depostack.com/blog/eclipse-vs-case-catalyst/) compares what each vendor documents about interchange). Stenograph documents [RTF/CRE import](https://solutioncenter.stenograph.com/en_US/import/importrtf) and [RTF/CRE export](https://solutioncenter.stenograph.com/en_US/export/exportrtf), while Advantage's [Eclipse materials](https://www.eclipsecat.com/Eclipse-Basics-Free) cover dictionary work and job production.[2] 3. **Verify the export.** Spot-check that outlines, definitions, conflicts, and punctuation came across, not just the word list. 4. Keep your **briefs and phrases** with the dictionary; they are part of how you write fast. RTF/CRE supports interchange, but it may not reproduce every system-specific behavior.[3][1] Keep native backups even after the converted files pass review. > **Figure.** A dictionary move: the native backup stays, an RTF/CRE copy carries the entries, and a spot-check compares the two, row by row. Drawing: A native dictionary backup, an RTF/CRE copy made from it, and a check table comparing outlines, definitions, conflicts, and punctuation between the two. Ask the vendor you are moving to what conversion help is included. Stenograph's [switching page](https://www.stenograph.com/catalyst-switch), for example, says its Training Agents help with keyboard mapping and dictionary and standard page conversions.[4] Treat any assisted conversion the same way: verify the result against your native backups before deadline work. ## Preserve your job and transcript formats Your transcripts have to keep looking like *yours* and comply with the rules that apply to the work: - Page layout, line count, margins, and line numbering - Title pages, appearances, certificate pages, and your signature or seal - Indexing, Q&A formatting, and parenthetical styles Rebuild a couple of standard formats in the new tool and **compare them side by side** with the old output before you trust it on a real job. ## Run both systems before you commit Do not flip overnight. **Run the new software alongside the old** for a few non-urgent jobs: - Write or import a job, edit it to final, and produce every required deliverable. - Test realtime in a low-stakes setting before you stream it to attorneys. - Confirm exhibits, audio sync, and backups all behave. Only switch your deadline work once the new tool has handled representative work reliably. > **Figure.** Running both systems: the same job through old and new software, every deliverable compared, and deadline work moved only at the end. Drawing: One job sent to the old and the new CAT software side by side, the deliverables from each compared, and deadline work moved from old to new last. ## The migration checklist ## Portability is product-specific A healthy migration path includes native backups, documented exports, and representative conversion tests. It does not depend on a blanket no-lock-in promise. ## Official sources Reviewed October 11, 2026. 1. [Stenograph RTF/CRE export](https://solutioncenter.stenograph.com/en_US/export/exportrtf) (solutioncenter.stenograph.com) 2. [Advantage Software Eclipse Basics](https://www.eclipsecat.com/Eclipse-Basics-Free) (eclipsecat.com) 3. [Stenograph RTF/CRE import](https://solutioncenter.stenograph.com/en_US/import/importrtf) (solutioncenter.stenograph.com) 4. [Stenograph CATalyst switching page](https://www.stenograph.com/catalyst-switch) (stenograph.com) ## Related Field Notes - [What Is CAT Software? A Guide for New Court Reporters](https://depostack.com/blog/what-is-cat-software/) - [Eclipse vs. Case CATalyst: Price, Platform, and Fit in 2026](https://depostack.com/blog/eclipse-vs-case-catalyst/)