When you need to convert multiple PDF files into editable text or other formats, batch OCR processing tools can save you time and hassle. The AI-powered Build application in Instabase AI Hub offers a solution to batch OCR PDFs that’s easy, effective, and customizable.
Start by uploading one PDF and telling Build the information that you’d like to extract and how to format it. Because Instabase uses large language models that are further enhanced by retrieval-augmented generation to understand text and produce text-based responses, no coding or scripts are required. Instead, you’ll use natural language prompts to create an app that directs Build on what to do. Then, you can use your newly created app to batch process as many PDFs as you like.
Revisit your app on Instabase AI Hub at any time in the future to repeat the same process with more PDF documents.
Instabase’s AI results in more accurate and higher-quality results compared to OCR tools. Its AI extracts and processes large volumes of information quickly while maintaining the integrity and accuracy of your original files.
Let’s take a look at how to get started with Instabase for free and why leading companies choose Instabase for extracting data at scale.
How to Batch OCR Using Instabase
Instabase AI Hub gives you all the tools you need to OCR PDF documents at scale. To do so, just follow these instructions on how to batch OCR PDF files using our Build application.
- Go to Instabase AI Hub and either log into your existing Instabase account or create a new account using the buttons in the upper-right corner.
- Click “Create” in the Projects section to start a new Build project.
- Upload some of the PDF files that you want to extract data from. We recommend uploading five files, although you can upload less.
- Select if you’d like Build to recognize visual objects like tables and checkboxes in your documents. If none of your documents contain these objects, you can leave them unchecked. Then click “Upload files.”
- Click the label icon in the upper-right corner and select “Create classes.”
- Enter a class name that describes the type of document you’ve uploaded, or select from a suggested class name. You can also add an optional description. Then click “Classify documents.”
- Click “Add field.”
- Enter a field name that reflects the information you want to extract or choose from the suggestions listed.
- After entering a field name, you should see the data that Build has extracted. If this is correct, click the arrow to go back and add more fields. If this is not correct, try changing the field name, field type, description, or model used. If you’d like to extract all the text in the document in one field, change the field type to “Document reasoning” and enter a natural language prompt to tell Build to extract all the text. (Note: When extracting all text from a document, there may be page limitations – currently 3 to 4 pages.)
- Once you’ve added all the fields you want to extract, click the “Create app” button in the upper-right corner to save your app.
- Name your app and add an optional description, app icon, and sample files. Then click “Next.”
- Select the state that you want to release the app in and add optional release notes. Then click “Create app.”
- Click “Open app.”
- Click “Run app.”
- Upload all of the PDF files that you want to extract data from.
- Click “Run.”
- Select the app run that you just executed.
- You should see all of the documents that you uploaded in the left panel and the data that was extracted for each document in the right panel. The document that you’ve currently selected is displayed in the center panel. Click on the “Export results” button in the upper-right corner of the screen to download the extracted data or save it to an external drive.
- You can come back any time in the future to this app to batch process more PDF files. To do this, log into Instabase AI Hub, click on “Hub” at the top of the page, and then filter by “Apps created by me.”
Here are a few helpful notes about using Build to batch OCR PDFs:
- This process also works for documents containing handwritten information.
- You can upload files up to 50 MB or 800 pages.
- In this example, we used three single-page documents, but your documents can be multiple pages.
If you have larger file sizes or volumes of documents to process, please contact us and we’d be happy to help. Or, if you’re interested in integrating this into your existing workflows and third-party systems, contact us to explore the APIs that can be connected to your app.
Why Leading Companies Use Instabase for Batch OCR
Some of the world’s top organizations in banking, finance, insurance, healthcare, and the public sector trust Instabase for batch OCR PDF processing.
Unmatched Accuracy
While it’s not hard to find a solution that does an accurate job of extracting data from structured documents that have an established template or format, many solutions struggle with semi-structured and unstructured documents. That’s where Instabase shines.
Instabase can extract data from semi-structured and unstructured documents with a high degree of accuracy. Using natural language prompts, simply tell it what you’d like to know and Instabase will scan, identify, and deliver the information for your next steps.
A Tier 1 U.S. bank used Instabase to help process PPP loans during the pandemic. The bank experienced an influx of millions of documents from small businesses that desperately needed funding. These documents included tax documents and custom Application Forms that widely varied in format.
Although the bank was working with a legacy vendor that used templates and rules to extract information from documents, it was ineffective due to the variation in these documents and the scale at which the bank was operating. The bank turned to Instabase to solve these challenges.
Working with the bank, Instabase implemented an AI-powered application that split up incoming documents, classified them, digitized them into a consistent format, extracted all the necessary fields, validated the accuracy of the data, and fed the data into the bank’s loan processing system. Since partnering with Instabase, the bank has:
- Processed 10,000 loans each hour
- Achieved 85% full automation
- Automatically processed 8.8 million pages within the first two months of going live
Rapid Scaling
The more documents and data that you process, the more employees you need. Hiring more employees as your operations scale is expensive and time-consuming. However, Instabase scales with you at a fraction of the cost. No matter how many documents you receive, Instabase automatically digitizes and classifies each document and sends it down the right pipeline without needing additional human help.
A major U.S. insurer receives thousands of documents from customers, partners, and vendors each day. The cost of triaging the incoming files was increasing and their manual operators were creating 500 errors each day by indexing documents in the wrong queue.
Using Instabase, the insurer built an app that digitized all incoming documents, classified them, extracted important metadata, and pushed them into the right queues in their workflow tool. This removed operational bottlenecks, reduced human error, established a scalable model, and freed up 40 full-time employees to work on higher-value projects.
Fast Implementation
With no coding or complicated syntax to learn, you can implement Instabase quickly and start seeing results:
- A U.S. insurance company built an app in two weeks that was able to automatically classify 96% of their incoming documents.
- A bank partnered with Instabase to build an app in six days that processes 10,000 loan applications every hour.
Third-Party Integrations
Most OCR solutions don’t offer any integrations, or they only have a small number of integrations to the most popular document editing software, like Microsoft Word and Google Docs. If you want to transfer the extracted data to another system, you’ll need to painstakingly copy and paste it over.
This is a simple step that can be automated with third-party integrations. Instabase integrates with other systems so that it can seamlessly fit into your existing workflows and provide end-to-end automation.
With all of these benefits, it’s clear why companies that process large volumes of documents use Instabase. Try Instabase AI Hub for free today to see how easy it is to batch OCR your files.
Batch OCR in Minutes
Get started with AI Hub for free and take back your time.
