Monitor folders - extract/export data from new PDF forms automatically

Step-by-step instructions for automatically extracting PDF form data with Automatic PDF Processor for Windows

Create a new profile

First, create a new profile by clicking the 'New profile...' button. Give the profile a meaningful name - for example, 'Export PDF form data'. Optionally, add a comment, e.g., the type of form. You can have the profile highlighted in color to make it easier to differentiate between completed tasks in the log list.

Create profile for exporting forms data

Specify the folder to be monitored

Next, select one or more folders. As soon as a new PDF file is placed in the monitored folder, the activated tasks are applied to this file. In this case, the form data is extracted from the PDF documents and processed according to the settings. Older PDF forms can be processed after the profile has been created by clicking the Catch-up button.

Select hot folders

Set up filters

Optionally define filter criteria here to process only certain PDF forms. You can use file properties such as part of the file name or document properties such as author, subject, or the document's text. Filter terms can be combined with logical AND and OR. If you do not enter a filter term, all incoming PDF files in the monitored folder are processed automatically.

Set filter for PDF forms

Select and configure the 'PDF form data' data source

In the 'Data extraction rules' category, click 'Create new rule'. In the rule management, select the 'Form data' type from the list of data sources. A list of field names is displayed in the now available settings. If several fields have the same name, the displayed field name is supplemented by the page number (only for multi-page forms) and the occurrence number. You can also specify whether the value of the selected form field may be empty.

The selected form field and the extracted data are previewed on the 'Data determination' tab. Multiple selections for list values are supported. The extracted value of checkboxes or yes/no fields is j for yes and n for no. The extracted form data can be exported to a CSV file using the 'Save extract' task or for naming. When exporting to a CSV file, a distinction can be made between a single file or a collective file to have the data of several PDF forms available in one file.

Preview extracted forms data
Create rules for form data extraction

Extract multiple form data

Click on the link of the same name in the configuration area to open the selection window. You will see a list of the available form fields and their extracted value there. Check the corresponding entries and confirm with OK to have the rules created automatically. If the checkmark is removed again, the corresponding rule is also removed from the list of data extraction rules.

Extract multiple form data

Status notifications

Concluding, you can specify in this category whether status messages (success, error, no match, no text, ...) about processing the respective PDF document should be sent to a specific email address. You can either use the Outlook email account set as the default, an Exchange server, or an SMTP server to send the status messages.

Status notifications via email

Catching up (evaluate older PDF forms)

Finally, there is also the option to apply the created profile to all PDF files for a specific period, i.e., to export all matching PDF forms. To do this, select the created profile in the list and click Update. Otherwise, the profile will only be applied to all new incoming PDF files in the monitored folders.

Evaluate forms of a time period

Other step-by-step instructions


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