Automatic PDF Processor - Changelog

Improved: Windows service starts reliably after booting

The processing service is now set up with the startup type "Automatic (Delayed Start)"; existing services are converted once during the update. Right after booting, the network is often not yet available - especially with domain service accounts, starting the service then failed with a logon error and the service remained stopped until manual intervention. If the startup type is deliberately changed afterwards, this choice is preserved in future updates. During the startup phase after booting, the status bar shows a countdown until the service starts at the latest, instead of "External processor not active".

New: Re-enter the service account password directly in the program

If starting the processing service fails due to a logon error of the service account (Windows error 1069 - for example after a password change, with a locked account, or if a central group policy has revoked the right "Log on as a service"), the program now names the possible causes and directly offers to re-enter the password. This also re-grants the logon right and then starts the service - there is no longer any need to remove the service or restart the computer.

Improved: More informative "Windows Service" status page

The status page now distinguishes the startup types "Automatic" and "Automatic (delayed)". If the service runs under a different user account than the program interface, the state is shown neutrally instead of as a warning - the service works normally in this case, only the status signals are separated per user account. In addition, the display now keeps updating correctly after enabling the operating mode option - previously it remained at "no status signal" until the options dialog was opened again.

Fixed: Service stopped again immediately after starting

If the processing service was started right after enabling the option "Background processor is managed externally", it stopped again immediately and remained stopped: at that moment, the main program's previous background processor was still running for a few more seconds. In this case, the service now waits and automatically takes over processing as soon as the previous processor has ended. The same could happen on a quick service restart while the process of the previous service run was still shutting down.

Fixed: Processing service remained stopped after a program update

The installer stops the running processing service to replace the program files. Previously, the service was not started again afterwards - processing stood still after every update until the computer was restarted or the service was started manually. The installer now automatically starts the service again after the installation (with startup type "Automatic").

New: Notice at program start when no processing service is running

If the option "Background processor is managed externally" is enabled but nobody is processing, the program now directly offers to start or repair the service about 90 seconds after starting - previously, the problem was only recognizable from the status bar. After a Windows start, the notice first waits for the startup phase of a service with delayed start.

Improved: Understandable message when the target drive is full

If the drive runs full while creating a target file, the processing log now shows an understandable message with a recommended action instead of the technical error text - regardless of the operating system language.

New: Display of the current file name in the log

The log always shows the name under which a file was picked up. With the new option "Show the current file name in addition to the original one" (program options, category "Log"), files that were renamed during processing additionally show their current name in a separate line - both in the log area and in the processing details. If the option is disabled, the current name appears as a tooltip.

Improved: Overlap check detects possible duplicate processing

The "Overlap Check" tab in the filter settings now also reports when the sample files of other profiles fully meet the profile's filter criteria - such files would be processed by several profiles in succession, which can lead to duplicate output files, for example. In addition, the folder comparison of the check now also takes different spellings and network drive paths into account.

Fixed: Importing profile files lost the tasks of the profiles

When importing a previously exported profile file, the tasks contained in the profiles were lost together with their settings. The imported profiles therefore no longer executed any tasks, and opening an affected profile showed the error message "Unknown task".

Improved: Clearer feedback when importing profiles

The profile import now checks the selected file before applying it and reports unreadable or incomplete profile files with a clear error message - previously, nothing happened at all in such cases.

Improved: Error reports name the actual cause

For nested errors, the error report previously sometimes only contained a generic intermediate message (e.g. "Exception has been thrown by the target of an invocation"). Now the underlying cause is logged, which makes diagnosis in support cases much easier.

New: Search for a date without a day (month name and year)

For extraction rules with the data type "Date", there is a new search option for dates without a day that consist only of a month name and a year (e.g. "April 2026" in monthly reports or magazines). The found date is given the 1st as the day. Previously, such dates could only be recognized via a user-defined date format list.

Improved: Date recognition for month names in capital letters

Dates with the month name written entirely in capital letters (e.g. "APRIL 2021" in the file name or in the document text) are now recognized by the date search.

Improved: Date recognition with double spaces

Especially with scanned documents, the recognized text often contains double spaces (e.g. "December 15,  2024"). Such dates are now recognized as well.

Fixed: Rules with the verification "date is between" could affect each other

If several date rules with identical search settings but different "date is between" ranges processed the same file, one rule could erroneously adopt the results of another - a date was then discarded despite a matching range or returned despite the restriction.

Fixed: The automatic backup could interrupt processing in progress

The automatic backup after profile changes could repeatedly interrupt processing in progress (including aborting text recognition after a few seconds) and significantly delay closing the profile editor.

Improved: Smaller backup for support

The backup for support no longer contains the OCR language data and is therefore much smaller - so it can easily be sent by email again. The included status overview records which language packs are installed.

Changed: The profile category "OCR support" is now called "Temp. OCR support"

The new name makes it clearer that this category only temporarily recognizes the text of scans for filters and data extraction - the file itself remains unchanged. It is not a prerequisite for the task "Make file searchable" and does not need to be activated in addition to it.

Improved: Significantly lower memory usage for large and extensive PDF files

Processing very large PDF files (e.g. extensive scans) as well as documents with a very large number of pages now requires only a fraction of the previous memory across all tasks - splitting a 280 MB scan, for example, now takes around 300 MB instead of more than 1.7 GB. This allows such documents to be processed reliably even on systems with little memory (e.g. 8 GB). Files larger than 2 GB are now supported as well.

New: Program option "Working directory"

In the program options (page "General") you can now specify where the program stores temporary files - such as intermediate states when splitting or merging very large documents. This is helpful when the system drive has little free space.

New: Options page "Windows Service" with status display and service management

The processing service can now be set up, started, stopped, repaired, and removed directly from the program - the previous manual command-line approach is no longer necessary. A status display with a traffic light shows at a glance whether the service is running and processing, and points out typical problems - such as a stopped service, missing automatic startup, or a service account that differs from the logged-in user. The external processor option has moved from the "Processing" page to the new page. When setting up from within the program, the program path, automatic startup, restart attempts after a crash, and the "Log on as a service" right are configured correctly and automatically.

New: Incorrectly configured services are detected and can be repaired with one click

If a manually created service pointed to the wrong program file, the program previously only reported that no service was found - although one was visible in the Windows service manager. The problem is now named specifically and a one-click repair is offered; the service account and password remain unchanged.

Improved: Uninstalling removes configured processing services

When uninstalling the program, the Windows services set up for this installation are now stopped and removed as well - previously, a configured service remained as an orphaned entry and reported a start error after every Windows start. During program updates, however, the service remains in place as usual.

Fixed: Main program accidentally set up as a service hung invisibly

If the main program file was accidentally specified instead of the background processor when setting up the service manually, the service start hung indefinitely or failed with error 1053, and an invisible program process remained in the Task Manager. This problem has been fixed; the failed attempt is now reported immediately and visibly.

Fixed: Splitting with source "Original document" could take extremely long with many form fields

When splitting with the setting "Source for new documents: Original document", processing collective documents with many form fields (e.g. 50 fields per page) could take seemingly forever or fail with a timeout. This problem has been fixed; splitting such documents now takes only seconds.

Fixed: Splitting with source "Original document" could leave form fields of other parts behind

The split documents could contain form fields that belonged to the removed pages of other parts. This problem has been fixed; each split document now contains only the fields of its own pages.

Improved: Splitting by file size significantly faster

Splitting by maximum file size now determines the appropriate page ranges considerably faster; the result is unchanged.

Fixed: files that had already been processed could be processed again after an unexpected shutdown

The program keeps track of which files it has already processed, so that the same file is not printed, sent or copied a second time. If the program ended at the wrong moment - because of a power cut or a Windows shutdown, say - this list could be left incomplete; every file missing from it then counted as new again and was processed once more. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: an existing target file could be lost when a task failed

If "Overwrite" was set for a target file that already existed and the task failed - because of a damaged PDF file or a full disk - the existing file could be lost without a new one taking its place. This affected every task that creates a file at the target location - "Copy", "Rename" and "Compress", for example. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: restoring could leave a half-overwritten state behind

If restoring the application data broke off midway, some files had already been replaced and others had not - the settings new and the profiles old, for example - and the previous state was gone for good. This problem has been fixed; in addition, the program now asks for confirmation before a restore, and the window no longer freezes while it runs.

Fixed: an incomplete backup counted as successful

If a file could not be read during the backup because it was locked at that moment, it was skipped silently and the backup was still reported as successful - even if the settings or the profiles were the very files missing. This problem has been fixed; an incomplete backup is now reported as a failure.

Changed: only one backup variant

There used to be "Backup application data..." and "Backup application data (for a new PC)...". The distinction has become unnecessary; the menu entry is simply called "Backup application data..." again. After a restore, the current contents of the monitored folders are always recorded as already known and are not processed again.

Fixed: interrupted processing could leave partially written files at the target location

If processing was interrupted, some tasks could leave a partially written and therefore unusable PDF file behind at the target location. This affected "Flatten pages", "Auto-rotate pages", "Remove pages", "Redact text" and "Replace content". This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: a persistent problem could trigger a flood of error e-mails

With error notification switched on, the program sent an e-mail for every single incident. With a cause that affects many files alike - a monitored folder that can no longer be reached, say - that could turn into thousands of e-mails overnight. Messages of the same kind are now combined and sent only at generous intervals.

Fixed: backup and restore overlooked background processing running as a service

When background processing runs as a Windows service, the program could not detect it during a backup or a restore and carried on while the service was writing the same files. This problem has been fixed; before a restore, the program now offers to stop the service and start it again afterwards.

Fixed: settings or profiles could be left incomplete after a hard program end

If the program ended in exactly the moment of saving, the settings or profile file could be left incomplete. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: temporary access errors aborted operations in progress

A temporary read error in the state exchange between the program window and background processing could abort the surrounding operation, even though it could have been inconsequential. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: interrupted processing could leave partially written files at the target location (further tasks)

With the tasks "Copy", "Move", "Rename", "Split", "Save attachments" and "Use template", as well as when moving files to the error folder, interrupted processing could also leave a partially written, unusable PDF file behind at the target location - with a number or date appended to the file name, it even remained there for good. This problem has been fixed; in addition, large files no longer put unnecessary load on memory when copying or moving.

Fixed: after a hard program end, files could be sent or printed twice

If background processing was ended hard - by a power failure, say - after an e-mail had already been sent or a printout already been triggered for a file, the file could be processed again on the next start - complete with a second e-mail or a second printout. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: a failed report dispatch counted as delivered

If the automatic Excel report could not be sent - because the e-mail server was temporarily unreachable, say - it still counted as done: there was no further attempt, and the archive copy in the report directory was missing as well. This problem has been fixed; a failed dispatch is now retried automatically.

Fixed: notes for later processing could get lost

When a file arrives outside the defined processing times, the program makes a note of it for later. That note could get lost through an interruption - the file would then not have been caught up on, with no trace of it anywhere. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: a damaged options file could permanently prevent the program from starting

If an entire section was missing from the settings file - after editing it with an external tool, say - the program aborted with an error on every start. This problem has been fixed; the remaining settings are preserved in such a case.

Fixed: changed settings could be picked up late or incompletely by background processing

If the settings file was unreadable at exactly the moment background processing wanted to pick up changed settings - because a virus scanner had briefly locked it, say - the change could silently only take effect with the next one; for a brief moment, a mixture of old and new settings was also possible. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: invalid input in the options window let other pages take effect unsaved

If a later page contained invalid input when confirming the options window, the pages validated before it were already active in the running application even though nothing was saved - and "Cancel" no longer took them back until the next program start. This problem has been fixed; on an error, the affected page is now shown directly.

Fixed: log entries could get lost while being handed over to the program window

New log entries are handed over from background processing to the program window. If storing them there failed at the wrong moment, entries could be irretrievably lost. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: the program window could freeze while catching up on many log entries

If background processing had been running for a longer time with the program window closed - as a Windows service over weeks, say - the window could freeze for minutes on its next start while catching up on the log backlog. This problem has been fixed; the interface now stays responsive while the backlog works itself off.

Improved: the backup now briefly pauses background processing running as a service

When background processing runs as a Windows service, backups were previously created with a reservation, because the program cannot stop the service. The service is now asked to briefly pause processing for the duration of the backup; the backup is then created with processing at rest. If the service does not confirm the pause - because it runs under a different user account, say - the previous behavior including the notice remains.

Fixed: a damaged log database silenced the processing log permanently

If the database of the log view was damaged - after a power failure, say - the view stayed empty for good, and no new entries were taken over either. This problem has been fixed; a damaged database is now replaced automatically - where possible in a way that preserves the existing entries - and the program points this out.

Fixed: service appeared to keep running when the license was invalid

If background processing was running as a Windows service and the license had expired or was invalid, the service stopped working but remained in the "Running" state - there was no outward sign that nothing was being processed anymore. This problem has been fixed; in this case, the service now stops itself and leaves a note in the diagnostic log.

Improved: options window points out missing required details

If an option was enabled that needs an additional detail - such as "Notify on errors" without a recipient address, or a move option without a destination folder - the incomplete setting used to be saved without comment; during operation, nothing happened silently. When saving, a notice now appears that names the affected option, and the corresponding page is selected. This covers the recipients for error notifications, the report, and files without text, the report storage directory, and the destination folders of the move options.

Fixed: the "ANSI" character set followed the program language

When "ANSI" was selected as the character set for an output file, the program used the ANSI character set of the program language (German or English) instead of the one configured in Windows. On systems with a different Windows character set - for example with Central European, Cyrillic, Greek or Turkish language settings, or with the Windows option "Beta: Use Unicode UTF-8 for worldwide language support" enabled - language-specific characters were therefore written or read incorrectly. This affected the "Use template" task, the processing log and the export of the "Save extractions" task. German and Western European systems were not affected.

Improved: date recognition when the space after the comma is missing

With scanned documents, text recognition frequently drops the space after the comma - the text then reads "September 16,2024" instead of "September 16, 2024". Dates written that way were not recognized. As a result, a file either ended up without a date at all, or a different date from further down the document was used instead. The space after the comma is now optional, and both spellings are recognized. This applies to all date formats - locale, any, and user-defined ones.

Improved: clear message when a date rule does not recognize a date

If an extraction rule of the data type "Date" did not recognize a date in the text it read, the program previously reported "text contains no characters" - even though the text was there and simply no date matching one of the enabled date formats was found. This pointed troubleshooting in the wrong direction, for example when the date in the document is written with a spelled-out month name while the rule only searches for the locale format. In this case, the unambiguous message "no date found in the text" is now displayed. In addition, the rule overview in the profile settings now shows the cause of errors directly.

Fixed: "Replace content" sometimes removed one character too many

When replacing content, the first character of the word immediately following could disappear as well if it sat right next to the defined area - "Invoice No. 4711" became "[REPLACED] o. 4711", for example. This also affected subsequent replacements: a second replacement searching for a keyword right next to the first one no longer found it. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: "Clear error logs" did not affect background processing

After clearing the error logs, the deleted entries could reappear as soon as the next error occurred in background processing. This problem has been fixed; clearing now takes effect across all parts of the program.

Improved: automatic restart of the processing service

If the Windows service started via the "External processor" setting is terminated unexpectedly, Windows now restarts it automatically - previously, processing simply stopped until someone noticed.

Improved: error logging under load

When several errors occurred at the same time, or while the log file was briefly locked by another program (virus scanner, backup, synchronisation service), this could noticeably slow down processing; with a permanently locked log file, an endless loop was also possible. Both problems have been fixed.

New: extracted data as filter criteria

The most frequently requested feature so far: the profile filter now offers the new tab "Extracted data". There, the results of the extraction rules can be used directly as filter criteria - for each rule, you can specify whether the extraction must return a value (or must not return one), and the extracted value can be checked with a text, date, or number comparison depending on its data type (including the familiar filter syntax with lists, placeholders, and AND/OR logic). This makes it possible, for example, to process only invoices above a certain amount or only documents with a recognized invoice number.

New: OCR support for scans without a text layer

New profile category "OCR support" (above the filter): for scanned PDF files without a text layer, a temporary text recognition can be enabled. Text filters, the character count filter, and extraction rules then work with the recognized text, while all file operations continue to use the unmodified original. The text recognition uses the same full OCR settings as the task "Make file searchable" and can be limited to the first pages to speed up processing. The temporary copy is deleted automatically once processing is complete. The rule editor also uses the OCR support (checkbox at the bottom left, preset with the category setting): the rule preview then temporarily recognizes scanned example files - extraction rules can thus be configured directly on the scan and show exactly the values that the processing will determine (including a progress window with page progress). The same applies to all other previews of the profile settings (results preview of the filter, extraction results overview, placeholder previews) - each example file is recognized only once per opened settings window. For quick diagnosis, the list of example files now additionally shows the columns "Character count" and "OCR recommended", and with OCR support disabled the preview in the rule editor points out scans without a text layer.

Changed: option "Working directory" removed

The program option "Working directory" has been removed. Temporary files are now always stored in the local application data folder.

Fixed: filter criterion "Modification date" showed wrong values

In the filter dialog, the PDF criterion "Modification date" loaded the settings of the criterion "Creation date" when opened; as a result, the values of the wrong criterion could be applied when saving.

Fixed: "Determined data area is invalid" for rotated scans

PDF pages that are stored sideways by the scanner and only displayed upright via the page's rotation flag always caused keyword-based data extraction to fail with "Determined data area is invalid". The preview in the rule editor and the task "Replace content" with keyword-based area determination were affected as well. These problems have been fixed. In addition, a data area that collapses due to overly large negative extensions is now reported as invalid instead of extracting random text or replacing content at the wrong position.

Fixed: file appearing twice in the result when merging via file group on network drives

If the monitored folder was located on a mapped network drive (e.g. L:\...), merging via a file group could include the first file twice in the target file. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: existing files were not skipped for new profiles on network drives

The safeguard that skips files already present at the time a profile is created or modified (preventing e.g. mass printing or mass mailing of the existing stock) did not take effect if the monitored folder was located on a mapped network drive. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: dynamic email attachments from network drive folders

In service mode, collecting dynamic attachments of the "Send file" task from a folder on a mapped network drive failed; in addition, the main file could incorrectly count as an additional match and trigger an unjustified error with the "Report multiple matches" setting. These problems have been fixed.

Fixed: duplicate pages when merging PDF files

For the "Merge files" task with the option "Additionally append all PDF files of the parent folder" enabled, individual documents could end up twice in the target file - a statically selected cover sheet from the monitored folder, for example, or files of a file group. This problem has been fixed.

Fixed: German labels in the English program version

For the tasks "Compress file", "Convert to PDF/A", and "Automatically rotate pages", the settings labels were displayed in German even in the English program version. All three tasks are now fully localized.

Improved: "Save extract" task without selected values

When adding a new "Save extract" task, all existing data extraction rules are now preselected as values to save. In addition, the program now warns when saving if not a single value is checked - such a task would produce an empty output file.

Fixed: data extraction rules blocked text recognition for scanned files

If a profile contained data extraction rules and a "Make file searchable" (text recognition) task, scanned PDF files without a text layer could never be processed. This problem has been fixed: a data extraction failure now only aborts the tasks that actually use extracted values.

New: "Overwrite original" also for printing as PDF file

When printing via a PDF printer, the storage location now directly offers the "Overwrite original" option - the printed PDF file then replaces the source file. Previously, this was only possible via the workaround of manually entering the source folder and file name as the target.

New: hint when combining a document text filter with text recognition

If a profile contains the "Make file searchable" task and at the same time filters by document text, the program now points out when saving that for scanned files the document text only becomes available after they have been made searchable - and recommends splitting the setup into two profiles (make searchable first, then filter).

Improved: unexpected task errors now always appear in the log

If an unexpected internal error occurred in a task, the task could previously be missing from the processing log and the report without comment in rare cases. Such errors are now reliably reported as errors of the respective task.

Improved: more reliable task chains with "Print as PDF file"

When printing via a PDF printer (e.g. "Microsoft Print to PDF"), the next task could start before the printer driver had completely written the target file. Subsequent tasks are now guaranteed to work with the finished file content.

Fixed: long-running processing operations could be aborted after 10 minutes

If processing a single file took longer than 10 minutes - for example, text recognition (OCR) of a large document - the internal crash protection incorrectly classified the processing process as hung: the operation was aborted and the file was subsequently skipped. This problem has been fixed; should an abort still occur, the cause is now stated precisely in the processing log and in the error report.

Fixed: text remnants could remain visible below the redaction bar on scanned documents

For scanned files made searchable via text recognition, the black bar of the "Redact text" task did not always fully cover the descenders of the printed text (e.g. in "g", "p", or "y"). This problem has been fixed; for purely digital PDFs, the previous behavior, which protects neighboring lines, remains unchanged.

Improved: a profile deactivated during a running processing run is now skipped immediately

Previously, deactivating a profile only took effect on the next check run. Now, a profile that is deactivated or deleted during a run immediately stops processing further files; the remaining profiles continue normally. Activating or adding a profile still only takes effect on the next run.

Improved: the order of items in the "Replace content" task no longer matters

If multiple replacements were configured where a shorter value is contained in a longer one (e.g. "Faust" and "Dr. Faust"), the longer value could no longer be found after the shorter one had already been replaced, depending on the configured order. This problem has been fixed; the configured order does not need to be considered. The "Redact text" task was never order-dependent.

Fixed: a PDF file could be attached twice when sending emails

If a dynamic attachment or a file group matched the same file that was already being sent as the main attachment, the PDF file could end up in the email twice with an identical name - especially with the option "Replace special characters in attachment names" enabled or with monitored folders on network drives. This problem has been fixed.

New: the processing log shows the unmet filter criteria for "No match" entries

If a file is not processed by any profile, the details of the log entry now show for each rejecting profile which filter criteria were not met. This makes it much easier to find the cause of unexpected "No match" results.

New: working directory check at program startup

If the working directory configured in the options is not available or not writable - for example after switching the Windows user account - the program now points this out at startup and offers to reset it to the default directory. Previously, temp file operations failed in this case without any visible indication.

Improved: protection against duplicate processing with multiple Windows user accounts

If the program accidentally runs under two Windows user accounts of the same computer at the same time (e.g. during an account migration), each instance previously processed the files separately - with duplicate results such as emails being sent twice. The lock against parallel processing now also works across user accounts. Please note: across different computers, such detection is technically not possible - a monitored folder should always be processed by only one installation (see the note in the program help, chapter "Monitored Folders").

New: the "Save extractions" task now also supports XML and JSON

Extracted values - for example from PDF form fields or text areas - can now be output not only as CSV but also as an XML or JSON file, ideal for further processing by other programs and interfaces. For XML, you can choose whether the rule names are written as an attribute or as the element name; the suitability of the rule names is checked when saving the task. Each processed PDF file produces its own output file.

New: output multi-line values as a list (XML/JSON)

For selected rules, multi-line values - e.g., invoice line items - can be split at line breaks and written as a list (XML: sub-elements with a freely selectable name, JSON: array). Checked rules are always output as a list so that the structure of the output file remains consistent for downstream programs.

Improved: program help revised

The program help available as a PDF now includes all illustrations. In addition, the example for setting up the PDF processor as a Windows service via "sc create" has been corrected: paths containing spaces require escaped inner quotation marks, otherwise the service will not start.

Fixed: catch-up processing incorrectly reported “no match” on network drives

If the monitored folders were located on a mapped network drive (e.g. “H:\”), catch-up processing could reject all files with “no match” since version 2.5.0, even though the profiles were unchanged and regular monitoring processed the same files correctly. This problem has been fixed.

Improved: “Treat recurring files as new” now also covers manually moved files

The profile option “Treat recurring files as new” previously only applied to files that the program itself had moved, renamed, or deleted. If an already processed file was moved out of the monitored folder by the user and later placed back there, it remained unprocessed. The program now also detects such manually removed files and processes them again when they reappear, provided the option is enabled. Nothing changes for profiles without this option.

Fixed: text recognition could fail to start at all on some systems

In rare cases, a required OCR language file was not placed in the expected location during initial setup, causing text recognition to fail consistently with an initialization message. This problem has been fixed; you can also trigger the restore manually at any time via the menu “Other → Repair OCR data”.

Fixed: text recognition could fail for an entire batch in rare cases

On some systems, text recognition (OCR) could abort with a message that the engine could not be initialized – usually because real-time antivirus briefly locked one of the required OCR files; as a result, every other file in the same run failed as well. This problem has been fixed. Tip: add the program folder and the “OCRData” folder to your antivirus exclusions to avoid such delays entirely.

Fixed: delay when shutting down Windows

In rare cases, Windows displayed a message during shutdown stating that the background processing could not be closed. This problem has been fixed.

Improved: OCR data is checked at startup and restored automatically

In rare cases, the data folder for text recognition (OCR) was incomplete, causing text recognition to fail with an error message. Missing components are now restored automatically; in addition, you can trigger the restore manually at any time via the menu “Other → Repair OCR data”. Any language packs you have already downloaded are preserved.

Fixed: skewed text layer with automatic page orientation correction

When the “Automatically correct page orientation” option was enabled in a text recognition task, the recognized text layer could be placed at an angle for certain documents scanned in landscape format. As a result, search, data extraction and renaming based on recognized text failed. This problem has been fixed.

New: profile export now includes the lists and counters in use

When you export profiles, the query lists and named sequential counters they use – including each counter’s current value – are now saved along with them. After an import – for example on a new computer or following a reinstallation – they are available again without having to recreate them by hand. Existing lists and counters with the same name are kept unchanged. If a rule still refers to a missing list or a list file that cannot be found after the import, a note points this out.

Fixed: clear message for an invalid email address

If a recipient address contained an error, a technical message that was hard to understand used to appear. The program now clearly states the affected address, making the problem easier to find and fix.

Improved: clearer error log when network problems occur

A monitored network folder that stayed unreachable used to fill the error log with hundreds of identical entries, burying important messages. Such recurring environment messages are now consolidated, keeping the error report sent to support concise and meaningful.

New: warning when a profile blocks other profiles

If a profile has the "Stop processing after this profile" option enabled and at the same time has no filter criteria, it matches every file in its monitored folders and thus ends processing. Because profiles are applied in alphabetical order of their name, later profiles monitoring the same folders no longer get their turn. When saving, the program now points out this situation and names the affected profiles, making the mistake easy to avoid (e.g. an unfiltered catch-all profile "All receipts" that overrides the alphabetically later profile "Accounting").

Improved: network drives now fully usable in the Windows service

If a profile monitors a network drive or saves files to it (e.g. drive H:), the program now automatically detects the associated network path. This means files are reliably found and saved even when processing is handled by the Windows service, which otherwise cannot see individual drive letters. The paths in the profiles remain unchanged.

Fixed: protection against duplicate processing during simultaneous operation

If the Windows service and the program window accidentally ran at the same time, files could be processed twice. The program now ensures that only one instance processes at a time, avoiding duplicate access and conflicts.

New: notice and automatic start of the processing service

When you enable the „External processor“ option, the program now checks whether the associated Windows service is running. If it exists but is stopped, it can be started directly and set to start automatically. If no service exists, a notice points this out. This avoids the common misunderstanding that the checkbox alone would already take over processing.

New: backup for support

Via the “More” menu you can now create a special backup that you can safely send to support. License files are excluded, and all passwords (PDF passwords from options and profile settings as well as the account passwords for sending e-mail) are removed automatically; the e-mail account user name and sender address are replaced with a placeholder. Settings, profiles and error logs are kept for troubleshooting. An enclosed info file transparently lists what the backup contains and what it does not. The backup also includes a status snapshot (SystemSnapshot.txt) with versions, license and profile status, the reachability of the monitored folders, and the errors of the last seven days – making it easier to pinpoint problems.

New: continuous diagnostic log

The background processor now keeps a permanent, day-by-day rotating log (folder “Health”, up to 14 days) with regular heartbeats and a few key events: start and stop, a monitored folder that is not reachable (e.g. a disconnected network drive), file-processing timeouts, and restarts after a crash. It also adds a regular scan summary (how many files were seen, newly detected, or why they were skipped) and a warning if processing makes no progress for an extended period despite being allowed to run. This keeps even older disruptions traceable – without having to enable a detailed diagnostic log beforehand. The log is included in the support backup.

When such a stall is detected, the program can also notify you actively: if the “Report general errors” option is enabled, a notification e-mail is sent to the configured recipients (and an all-clear once processing resumes). Independently of that, the incident is written to the Windows event log – even in service mode without an open program window.

Fixed: temporarily unreadable files are no longer lost

If a PDF file was briefly unavailable while being read – for example because it was still open in another program, a network drive dropped out for a moment, or access was delayed – it was previously skipped permanently and never retried. Such temporary read failures are now retried automatically for up to four hours (without a flood of error e-mails), so the file is processed as soon as it becomes available again. Only after that is it treated as permanently faulty. Genuine read errors (e.g. a corrupted file) are still reported as an error immediately.

During catch-up, such temporarily unprocessable files are now listed in the summary at the end – together with locked files and including the reason – and are automatically carried over to the next catch-up run instead of being lost.

The former log tab “Locked files” has been renamed to “Currently unprocessable” and now shows, in addition to locked files, those that are currently being retried – with a status column (e.g. “Locked” or “Retrying: read error”). This makes it easy to see at a glance which files are currently stuck.

Fixed: files skipped due to the time limit now appear in the error log

When a file exceeded the configured processing time limit and was skipped, this previously showed up only as a counter but not as a log entry – so the affected file remained invisible. Such files are now listed correctly under „Errors“, including the profile and a message stating that the time limit was exceeded.

Also fixed: if the processing of a file ended unexpectedly (time limit, abort or program shutdown), the corresponding entry in the processing details could show an endlessly increasing duration. Such interrupted operations are now properly closed as „aborted“.

Improved: a file causing a one-off crash is no longer skipped permanently right away

If a file caused the processing to crash, it was previously skipped permanently straight away to avoid an endless loop. A single, temporary crash could therefore block an otherwise processable file forever. Such files are now retried a few times and only skipped once they repeatedly cause a crash – while the protection against endless loops is retained.

Improved: greater stability with hanging or faulty files

A single hanging or faulty file (for example a defective PDF during text recognition) could previously freeze the entire processing or bring it down. Now only the affected file is skipped; the remaining files continue to be processed normally.

Fixed: catch-up continues after a restart of the processor

If the background processor is restarted or terminated during a catch-up run, the progress window now detects this, shows a note, and automatically continues the remaining files after the restart – instead of stalling. The files still pending remain in the queue, so nothing is lost.

Fixed: a file was incorrectly reported as an error when restarting during processing

If the program (or background service) was closed or restarted at the exact moment a file was being processed, that file could afterwards be misclassified as having “caused a crash” and skipped permanently – even though no crash had occurred. A file interrupted by a shutdown or restart is now simply processed again on the next run – without an error message and without being skipped. Only if a file actually causes the processing to crash is it skipped, to avoid an endless loop; this crash detection remains fully effective.

Fixed: freeze when saving profiles repeatedly within a session

If several profiles were opened and saved one after another within a single program session, the program could stop responding from the second save onward. This mainly affected setups with many profiles, such as invoice processing. This problem has been fixed.

New: named counters shared across profiles

The sequential number can now be set up as a named counter that can be shared across multiple rules and even across all profiles – creating continuous, unique numbering without duplicates. The new „Manage counters“ window lets you create and name counters and define their start value, increment, format, and an optional reset interval. In a rule's „General“ tab you simply pick the desired counter from a list. Existing profiles are migrated automatically.

New: preview of the resulting columns when saving extractions

For the „Save extractions“ task, a new preview shows directly which columns the generated file will contain and in which order. This makes the column selection easy to grasp at a glance, without having to scroll within the selection area.

Fixed: a few missing English translations

Some individual texts were still displayed in German in the English interface and are now translated correctly.

New: custom output format for date values

For the „Date“ data type, you can now define your own output format on the „Formatting“ tab (e.g., „yyyy-MM-dd“ for 2026-06-15). The „Insert date component“ button and the accompanying legend make it easy to assemble year, month, and day; a live preview shows the result immediately. If the field is left empty, the system's default date format is used as before. The formatted date is also available at the top of the placeholder menu, so it can be inserted directly into file names, e-mails, or stamps.

New: format number values

For the „Number“ data type, the output can now be tailored: the number of decimal places, leading zeros, the thousands separator, and the decimal separator can be set using simple input fields. A live preview shows the result immediately. Formatting is optional and disabled by default, so nothing changes for existing profiles.

New: „Last change“ column and clearer „Start date“

The profile list now shows an additional „Last change“ column that indicates when a profile was last edited. The former „Created/Modified on“ column is now called „Start date“ and shows more clearly from which point in time a profile processes files regularly.

New: clean up pending operations when changing or deactivating a profile

When a profile is changed in a way that affects which files it selects (filter, monitored folders, or delayed processing), or when a profile is deactivated, the program now asks how to handle that profile's still-pending operations – that is, files queued for delayed processing and pending retries. This keeps outdated operations from running under changed settings.

Improved: retries of inactive profiles are paused

Pending retries (for example after a previously failed print) of a deactivated profile are now paused instead of executed, and only continue once the profile is reactivated.

Fixed: delayed processing across time zones

An issue in delayed processing has been fixed where queued files could be discarded incorrectly depending on the time zone.

Fixed: missing English labels in the rule editor

Missing English labels were added in the rule editor for the „Text of page(s)“ data determination.

Bug fix: time zone deviation in PDF dates

If the creating program (e.g., a scanner) stores the PDF creation or PDF modification date in universal time (UTC), the time was previously not converted to local time. As a result, for example, the option „Set modification date to: PDF modification date“ could set a file date that deviated by several hours. PDF dates with time zone information are now correctly converted to local time. The correction takes effect everywhere PDF dates are used (setting the file date, placeholders, filters, catch-up processing).

Catch-up processing: live progress already while determining files

The progress window now reports progress already while the files to be processed are being determined. Previously, for large file sets the display appeared frozen at „0“ during this phase.

• While determining the files, a running animation and a live counter are shown („X checked, Y of them within the period“).
• During the subsequent processing, the progress bar now shows the actual progress.

Bug fix: truncated catch-up dialog

In the „Apply profiles subsequently“ dialog, the bottommost options could be cut off and unreachable depending on font size or display scaling. The dialog now automatically adjusts its size to the content.

Bug fix: blank pages during text recognition (OCR)

For certain PDF files with a defective internal structure, the „Make file searchable“ task could produce an output with inserted blank pages (error message „The page count of the OCR output differs from the original file“). This problem has been fixed; the output now contains exactly the same pages as the original.

New: Deferred processing

Profiles can now process files with a time delay: a matching file is queued when detected and only processed after a configurable waiting period. Ideal for cleanup profiles following the pattern „delete files a certain time after they arrive“.

• Enabled per profile under Advanced → Deferred processing with a freely selectable delay (seconds to years).
• The waiting period is counted from the moment the file was first detected. Files already present before activation remain untouched — only files arriving afterwards are queued.
• Queued files are not read again until they are due and do not clutter the status display; once the waiting period has elapsed, they are processed automatically.
• The number of pending deferrals is shown in the profile list (column „Deferred“).
• During catch-up processing, active deferrals can optionally be ignored (process files immediately) or the affected profiles can be skipped.

Renamed: „Pause before processing“

The former option „Delay before processing“ (a short wait before a profile starts processing) has been renamed to „Pause before processing“ to clearly distinguish it from the new feature. Its behavior is unchanged.

Profile settings: new „Advanced“ page

The profile „General“ page has been streamlined: less frequently needed options are now grouped on a dedicated „Advanced“ page — making it easier to get started without losing any functionality.

• The „Advanced“ page contains, among others: extract values only once, wait for file groups, profile-specific processing times, pause before processing, re-check the filter before each task, the retry options, and deferred processing.
• If one of these options deviates from its default, the page label shows a counter (for example „Advanced (2)“) — so you can tell at a glance whether a profile uses advanced settings.

Catch-up processing: faster filtering of large file sets

When catch-up processing is limited to a period, files outside that period are now skipped without reading them first. For large folders containing several thousand files, this makes the check considerably faster.

• This applies to the date types „File modification date“ and „File creation date“, as these values can be read directly from the file system.
• For the PDF-internal date types („PDF modified date“ and „PDF creation date“) each file still has to be opened to read the date stored inside the document. If you limit a very large set to a short period, it is therefore best to choose one of the two file date types.

Files that are already named correctly are no longer re-detected on every check

When a task renames a file within the same folder and the file is already named correctly (source and destination are identical, for example a file synced back from the cloud), nothing happens — and the file is no longer mistakenly treated as “recurring”.

• Previously such files could be re-detected on every check cycle (“File X of Y”) even though they remained unchanged and were skipped anyway — this inflated the display and re-read the files unnecessarily.
• In addition, recurring files are no longer re-checked at all when no profile would reprocess them anyway. Existing entries of this kind disappear automatically — no action is required.

Some optimizations

Regression fixed - faster processing of large folders when using a file name filter

When processing many files — for example several thousand PDFs on a network drive (NAS) — the program now again checks the file name first, before a file is actually opened and read.

• Files that do not match the file name, path or size filter are skipped without their content having to be read from disk.
• Especially on slow network drives this considerably shortens the overall time when only a subset of the files needs to be processed.
• Profiles that filter by PDF content, metadata or date still open the files in question as before — only files that already cannot match based on name, path or size are skipped.

More information during processing

While processing, the status display now shows the progress as “File X of Y” together with the name and folder of the file currently being processed.

• This makes it easy to see at a glance how many of the files matching the time period and filter criteria have already been processed, and which file is currently being handled.

Text redaction: no longer removes characters from the line above

When redacting text (the “Redact text” task), very tight line spacing could cause part of the line immediately above to be removed as well.

Significantly smaller internal processing database

The internal database that stores the processing log could accumulate empty placeholder entries over time which were no longer cleaned up automatically. Under heavy use this could grow to several hundred MB.

• On the first program start after the update the database is cleaned up and compacted once.
• Expected size reduction: typically from several hundred MB down to a few MB.
• Entries with real processing information (success, error, retries) are fully preserved.

Filter “Page count” extended with “equals” comparison

• The filters for page count, attachment count and character count now also offer the “equals” comparison. This makes it easy to filter for documents with an exact count.

Filter “page count is between” corrected (inclusive)

The “is between” comparison was strictly exclusive (open interval). To match the value 2, you had to enter 1 and 3. That was unintuitive and did not match common conventions (Excel, SQL).

• From now on the inclusive meaning applies: “between 2 and 5” matches 2, 3, 4, 5.
• Existing profiles are migrated automatically on first start – the resulting match set stays the same.

Example files reorderable (profile settings)

• In profile settings → example files, entries can now be moved up and down using two new arrow buttons.
• For preview calculations (rename, storage location, e-mail recipients, …) the first example file that actually exists on disk is now preferred. If the first file in the list is no longer available, the next existing one is used automatically instead of showing an error.

Missing example files are clearly indicated

• The example files page now shows an “Exists” column (Yes/No) as the first column, indicating whether each configured file is still present on disk; missing files are highlighted in red. The display refreshes automatically — copy a file back and it reappears as present shortly afterwards.
• In the example-file selection lists (e.g. in the rule editor), files that no longer exist are hidden.
• In the “values to determine” preview, a missing example file now shows the clear note “example file no longer exists” instead of a technical error message — and stale preview results are no longer left behind.
• When opening the rule editor, we now point out if none of the configured example files exist anymore.

Processing log: “Size/pages” display

• The processing log now shows the file size together with the page count, e.g. “139 KB / 3 pages”.

Cleaner response to Windows shutdown

• The application now exits reliably when Windows shuts down or the user logs off. The message “This application is preventing shutdown” should no longer appear.

Diagnostic log for support cases

In Program Options → Other, the diagnostic log can now be enabled:

• Writes detailed information about the processing flow to a log file in the AppData directory
• Disabled by default – can be enabled when needed and turned back off after diagnostics

Data extraction: “Text of page(s)” with “No determination required”

• When Text of page(s) was selected as the data source together with No determination required as the page determination, the preview incorrectly reported “Keyword not found”
• Fixed: the preview now reliably delivers the text of all pages and shows the extracted data

Additional

• When exporting a single profile from the context menu, the profile name is now used as the suggested filename
• Some optimizations

New stamp styles

The Add Stamp/Watermark task now offers three style variants for text stamps:

• With frame (classic) - the existing stamp look with frame, ideal for status markers like “PAID” or “APPROVED”
• Text only - plain text without frame or background, suitable for subtle labels such as processor initials
• Text with background (highlighter) - text with a colored background rectangle in highlighter look, optimal for compact sorting markers on archived emails and documents

More design freedom

• Font freely selectable - all installed system fonts are available
• Font size and bold style configurable separately
• Background color and padding for the highlighter style fully customizable (default: yellow marker)

Existing profiles

• Profiles from earlier versions keep their previous stamp appearance. The new variants can be enabled per profile without any migration step

• Some optimizations

• Some optimizations
• New option in the "Processing" category - Allow empty input text for query rules with a fallback value

Applies to data determination rules of the "Query" or "Query (with list)" type. If enabled, an empty input text (e.g., after failed OCR) will NOT result in the error "Text contains no characters," provided that either the option "Query result may be empty" is selected or a fallback value ("Value if not found" or "If no entry found") has been configured.

Example: Scanned invoices without recognizable OCR text will still be assigned the fallback name (e.g., "not available") and processed further, rather than being terminated with an error message.

• Save attachments + attachment name filter: factur-x.xml / ZUGFeRD attachments were not found in some third-party system PDFs
• Unnecessary retrieval of barcode data when opening profile settings

• Date recognition: Custom formats without a day (e.g., `MMMM yyyy`) were not recognized
• Some optimizations

• Some optimizations and corrections

• Fixed a problem with the filter

• In the options, some settings were cut off at certain resolutions

• Options -> Processing Log allows you to create CSV logs of processing activities in a folder
• Some optimizations

• In certain cases, the report period was incorrect when an Excel report was sent automatically

• New option: Processing -> Background Processor is managed externally. This option should be enabled when running the program as a service or when starting it regularly via the Windows Task Scheduler, to prevent the program from creating a duplicate background process.
• Some optimizations and corrections

• "Save as Draft" is now also supported for sending via SMTP and Online Exchange.
  If you want to review messages before they are actually sent, enable the "Save as draft" option in the sending options of the "Send file" task. Messages will not be sent immediately but stored in the Drafts window, where you can review and adjust recipients, subject, message text and attachments before manually triggering the send.
  The button for opening the Drafts window appears in the top bar of the main window if there are any drafts available.
• File Size Stability Check: New option in program settings that ensures a new file's size has not changed for a configurable duration before processing begins. Prevents potential errors for files on network drives that are still being copied.
• Configurable File Availability Timeout: The maximum wait time for locked files is now configurable in program options (default: 10 seconds, previously hardcoded to 5 seconds).
• Overwrite Original for Merge: The "Overwrite original file" option is now available for the "Merge PDFs" task.
• Extracted text is automatically trimmed: Leading and trailing empty lines are automatically removed during data extraction (data area and text of pages).
• "Remove Pages" task -> new options: QR code value contains/does not contain + Remove pages without a QR code

• For older barcodes, the character encoding may be incorrect. If necessary, it will now be read with the correct encoding.

• In the profile settings, under the "General" category, you can now enable or disable the verification of filter criteria before each task
• When merging, the primary file can be overwritten, just as with other tasks
• Fixed an issue that could cause the program to freeze when saving a profile

• New options for removing pages: QR code value contains/does not contain + Remove pages without a QR code
• Optional delay before applying a profile (Profile Settings -> General)
• New option for sending via SMTP: Ignore SSL/TLS certificate errors

• The deployment of a only partially compatible version of a PDF library could cause crashes with some PDF files.

• New format for log files

• Exchange On-Premise is no longer supported in version 2. When importing options from version 1, this sending method (if enabled) caused the application to crash.
• Some optimizations

• Profile import from Version 1 - Incompatibility fixed
• Optional maximum duration per file processing (Options -> Processing)
• A new processing cycle was triggered after renaming or moving files back to the original folder
• Simple file grouping - improved protection against re-processing
• The catch-up process can be resumed after crashes caused by external libraries

• Fixed issue with running as a service application. If PDFProcessor.exe is started by the Service Control Manager, the parameter -h may no longer be used (see Help).

• For the "Query (with list)" data type, there is now a new option called "Use longest match". This option is enabled by default for new rules, but disabled for existing rules. However, we recommend enabling it.

• Fixed issue with using sequential numbers
• Profiles, options, and licenses can now also be imported from V1 backups

• When previewing data extraction results, the second row of the top toolbar was occasionally only fully visible after changing the category and going back
• When configuring the "Send file" task, a control element was not fully visible for a specific configuration

• Advanced filter options for dynamic attachments
• New option in print settings: Print with default printer
• Add annotation: Placeholder menu and optional size specification added
• Beta status has been ended

• Split by keyword: the option 'If the search term does not appear in the document, return an error' has been split into two options. Additionally, #Return an error if the number of pages remains unchanged'.
• Filter expanded. 'Customer <EntryFromList...> <BeginOfRegex...>' is now also supported, i.e. combinations of text and placeholders between <AND> and <OR>.
• Does not contain + AND error fixed: now correctly 'NOT(A AND B)'
• Insert barcode: optional label at top, bottom, right, or left
• Error corrections

• New data source ‘Sequential number’
• Placeholder menu added to ‘Insert barcode’

Version 2 is a comprehensive update with many new features and improvements.

New Task Types

• Compress PDF files - Reduce file size through image optimization and removal of unnecessary elements
• Create ZUGFeRD/Factur-X e-invoices - Embed user-provided XML invoice data into PDF (ZUGFeRD 2.0/2.1, Factur-X 1.0)
• Convert to PDF/A - For revision-proof long-term archiving (PDF/A-1b, PDF/A-2b, PDF/A-3b)
• Add stamps and watermarks - Text, images, or dynamic content from extracted data
• Insert barcodes - QR codes, Code 128, DataMatrix, Aztec, and other formats
• Anonymize documents - Automatically replace sensitive data with placeholder text
• Remove pages - Delete cover pages, blank pages, or specific page ranges
• Embed attachments - Integrate receipts, delivery notes, or other documents into PDF

Extended Task Management

• 21 task types - Rename, Move, Copy, Delete, Print, Send email, Merge, Split, OCR, Save attachments, Save extractions, Apply template, Change file protection, Compress, Embed attachments, Create ZUGFeRD, Convert to PDF/A, Remove pages, Add stamps, Insert barcodes, Replace content
• Unlimited tasks per profile - No longer limited to 3 tasks
• Freely selectable order - Tasks can be sorted via drag & drop

Processing Times

• Time windows for profiles - Processing only at certain times (e.g., only during office hours)
• Weekday-based scheduling - Different times for different weekdays
• Diagnostics view - Overview of all configured processing times

Batch Printing for Large Documents

• Automatic splitting of large print jobs into smaller batches
• Prevents system instability and long spooling times for documents with many pages
• Configurable thresholds and batch sizes

Command Line Extensions

• Profile selection in headless mode for Windows Task Scheduler
• Different scheduled tasks can execute different profiles
• Example: PDFProcessor.exe --headless --run_once --profile "Invoices"

New Date Placeholders

• Prior year placeholders: For documents referring to the previous year period
• Prior month placeholders: Ideal for monthly billing and archiving
• Prior day placeholders: For daily reports with back-reference

Additional Improvements

• Modernized .NET 8.0 framework for better performance and stability
• Improved barcode and QR code recognition with machine learning
• Extended filter options for odd/even page numbers
• Optimized memory management when processing large PDF files
• Updated OCR engine for improved text recognition
• Automatic cleanup for known files (time-based cleanup)

• Optimizations and bug fixes.