Folders group the documents of a batch, here the letters of one envelope in a mailroom. An envelope sheet (barcode ENVELOPE) starts a new folder of the folder type Envelope and is removed; blank pages separate the letters inside the envelope. The envelope's fields (sender, date received, received by and department) are entered once on the Index screen for all its letters, the date and the operator are filled in by default value variables, and the XML export puts each envelope's letters in a Folder element.
Try it
Create a Batch Setup from this template (Batch Setups › New Batch Setup, tab System features), and download its sample documents from the template's card (Download samples). Then: Import envelopes-of-post.pdf (three envelopes: two letters, one letter, then a letter and an invoice). Open the batch in Index / Validate: the document list shows Envelope 1, 2 and 3 with their letters. Key the sender of each envelope once. Try New folder from this document, and the × that removes a folder. Print envelope-sheet.pdf to scan your own post. The folder type is on the General tab; the separation rules are on the Separation tab.
At a glance
| Region | Global |
| Industry | System features |
| Document types | Invoice, Complaint, Change of address, Order, Other correspondence |
| Workflow | Scan → OCR, separation & classification → Extraction & validation → Index / Validate → PDF generation & export |
| Straight-through processing | No — every batch is checked on screen |
| Separation | separator sheets, blank pages |
| Output | searchable PDF with XML data |
| Dates read as | dd/MM/yyyy, d/M/yyyy, dd.MM.yyyy |
Use this template
- Go to Batch Setups and choose New Batch Setup.
- Filter by Global or search for "Folders: envelopes with letters", select it and choose Next.
- Name the Batch Setup, choose the export folder and create it.
- Try it with a few of your own documents on the Test tab, adjust fields and rules, then publish it — see Test a Batch Setup and Versions and publishing.
Document types and fields
Invoice
Recognised by words such as "invoice", "subtotal", "total due".
| Field | Type | Required | Found by | Checks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Invoice number | Text | Yes | pattern in the text | |
| Invoice date | Date | Yes | label "Invoice date" | |
| Order number | Text | label "Order No" | ||
| Supplier VAT number | Text | pattern in the text | UK VAT number | |
| Net amount | Amount | Yes | label "Subtotal" | at least 0 |
| VAT | Amount | label "VAT" | at least 0 | |
| Total | Amount | Yes | label "Total due" | at least 0 |
Complaint
Recognised by words such as "complaint", "dissatisfied", "refund".
| Field | Type | Required | Found by | Checks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sender | Text | label "From", "Sender", "Yours sincerely" | ||
| Letter date | Date | label "Date", "Dated" | Not in the future | |
| Reference | Text | label "Our ref", "Your ref", "Reference" | ||
| Route to | Choice | entered by the operator | one of: Accounts, Sales, Customer service, Legal, Operations, Other |
Change of address
Recognised by words such as "change of address", "new address", "moved".
| Field | Type | Required | Found by | Checks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sender | Text | label "From", "Sender", "Yours sincerely" | ||
| Letter date | Date | label "Date", "Dated" | Not in the future | |
| Reference | Text | label "Our ref", "Your ref", "Reference" | ||
| Route to | Choice | entered by the operator | one of: Accounts, Sales, Customer service, Legal, Operations, Other |
Order
Recognised by words such as "purchase order", "please supply", "order number".
| Field | Type | Required | Found by | Checks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sender | Text | label "From", "Sender", "Yours sincerely" | ||
| Letter date | Date | label "Date", "Dated" | Not in the future | |
| Reference | Text | label "Our ref", "Your ref", "Reference" | ||
| Route to | Choice | entered by the operator | one of: Accounts, Sales, Customer service, Legal, Operations, Other |
Other correspondence
Used for documents that match no other type; operators can also choose it in Classification.
| Field | Type | Required | Found by | Checks |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sender | Text | label "From", "Sender", "Yours sincerely" | ||
| Letter date | Date | label "Date", "Dated" | Not in the future | |
| Reference | Text | label "Our ref", "Your ref", "Reference" | ||
| Route to | Choice | entered by the operator | one of: Accounts, Sales, Customer service, Legal, Operations, Other |
Adapt it to your documents
- Add or rename fields and change how they are found: Fields and data extraction, Finders and zones.
- Improve document type recognition: Document classes and classification, Samples and classifier training.
- Send the documents and data to your systems — folders and servers, SharePoint, Google Drive and other cloud drives, S3, document management (FileNet, Alfresco, M-Files, DocuWare), SAP, Dynamics 365, Salesforce, Xero, QuickBooks, SQL, REST or a C# script: Output and export, Cloud and business-system destinations.
- Arrange the data entry screen: Screen designer.