Who this is for
Individual professionals and small teams consolidating recurring public reports, forms, price lists, or other non-confidential business documents.
Batch PDF extraction
Extract the same data from multiple PDFs in one reviewable workflow
Apply one approved field setup across a clean document batch, then inspect available page and quote evidence before using the resulting CSV.
Use public or non-confidential PDFs only. Live-job exports require paid access; the linked example output is a public demonstration download.
The problem
Copying the same values from each PDF into a spreadsheet is repetitive, and a finished row can be hard to verify after the source file is closed.
Typical input
One to 10 PDFs in a job, up to 15 MB per file, sharing the same document type and field definitions.
Workflow
A repeatable path from PDFs to reviewable rows
- 01
Choose a representative batch
Start with documents that share a purpose and layout family. Keep unrelated document types in separate jobs.
- 02
Define fields and hints
Name each output column and explain the value to find, including units, date formats, and exclusions.
- 03
Approve the instruction pack
Review the generated extraction rules before processing begins and correct ambiguous instructions.
- 04
Review before download
Check available source pages, quotes, and highlights, then download the structured CSV when paid access is active.
Fields
Define the columns before the run
Document identifier
A stable report, form, quote, or catalog reference used to trace each output row.
Effective date
The date the document or listed terms take effect, with the required output format stated in the hint.
Status
A document-specific status such as current, expired, draft, or unavailable.
Amount or measure
The value together with its expected currency or unit so unlike measures are not silently combined.
Worked output
A small, concrete result
| Source PDF | Reference | Effective date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| report-01.pdf | RPT-2026-014 | 2026-07-01 | Current |
| report-02.pdf | RPT-2026-021 | 2026-08-15 | Current |
Illustrative output only. Filenames are generic examples, and the table does not represent a customer job.
Comparison
Structured extraction compared with a manual copy-and-paste workflow
| Criterion | Extract workflow | Manual workflow |
|---|---|---|
| Field consistency | One approved field definition is applied across the job. | Column meaning can drift as each document is copied. |
| Source review | Available page, quote, and highlight evidence stays connected to a result. | Review requires reopening files and finding the value again. |
| Output | Structured CSV after the review workflow. | A spreadsheet assembled manually, with formatting chosen as you go. |
Limitations to plan for
- • Evidence can be exact, approximate, or unavailable, especially for scans and complex layouts.
- • Different document types or meanings should not be forced into one batch solely because they use similar words.
- • The configured file and page limits still apply; large collections may need several jobs.
- • A human remains responsible for reviewing material values before decisions or downstream use.
Example
Public-report extraction benchmark
See a small, transparent set of values checked between an official Australian Government PDF and its published workbook.
Review purpose, results, evidence, and limitations →