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How to extract data from a document?
How to extract data from a document?
In this article we will cover ways to extract information from a document
Ilia Zelenkin avatar
Written by Ilia Zelenkin
Updated over a week ago

By automating document data extraction you can save precious time on manual data entry.

The documents come in different forms and there are several ways to extract information from the document. You can run several workflows on the same document depending on what you need to extract.

There are several types of documents that we will cover here:

Standard Documents


Standard Documents typically have the same structure. Bitskout constantly adds new templates where you can find standard documents like invoices or utility bills. For those you don't need to set up anything, just choose the document you and that's it.

Let's take invoice example.

  1. Go to Templates. The list of templates will appear:

  2. You can search through the list or choose the Use Case in the menu. Once you found the template you need, click on Use Template.


  3. You will be transferred to an output configuration screen. The first step is to click on "Write Data to Fields" to see the options. And then click on "Select application to open the application setup screen.

  4. Once you've added a project/board, you will see the list of fields. Just drag and drop the value you extract from the left hand side to the field on the right hand side.



  5. Once finished configuring the output, press Next and give your model name and some description on the next screen.

The plugin is now ready to be used.

Structured Documents

The structured documents look like a form. Here are a couple of examples:

Shippers Declaration

IRS Form

Proprietary Maintenance Report


As you can see all those documents have a certain structure. It is called a form - there is a field name(Name, Email, etc) and the field value ("Bruce", "bruce@wayne.com", etc).

To create a model we will use the Extract Forms from Documents feature:

  1. Go to Plugins and press Create.

  2. Choose Extract option.


  3. On this screen choose From File.

  4. Now you need to upload an example:


  5. Once the document is loaded you need to press "Refresh list of Fields" to see what Bitskout can extract:



  6. Once pressed, you will see the list of detected fields and will be able to select the ones you want to extract.



    Another example with a report:


    Selecting those fields will allow you to extract information automatically from all documents that have the same structure.

  7. You will be transferred to an output configuration screen. The first step is to click on "Write Data to Fields" to see the options. And then click on "Select application to open the application setup screen.

  8. Once you've added a project/board, you will see the list of fields. Just drag and drop the value you extract from the left hand side to the field on the right hand side.

  9. Once finished - press Next and specify your plugin Name and Description.

9. Press Create and your plugin is ready to be used.

Unstructured Documents

Coming soon.

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