Splitting and Merging Documents

• 11/11/2024
• 9 minutes to read

Some of the files you scan or receive may consist of multiple documents combined into a single file. For example, a vendor may send you one PDF file containing multiple purchase invoices. In such cases, you can split the PDF file into multiple separate documents in Continia Document Capture.

Likewise, you can merge two or more separate PDF files into one single document. This is necessary when you receive an invoice with sales conditions or other attachments that belong to the invoice, for example. Document Capture can merge these attachments with the invoice, so no loose documents are left in the document journal.

Splitting documents manually

To split a document manually:

1. Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
2. Select the code of the relevant document category – for example, PURCHASE – to open the document journal.
3. In the action bar, select Document and then Split and Merge.
4. In the list of documents, select the document that you want to split and the page from where you would like to split the document. Note that you can’t select the first page of the document as the splitting page.
5. In the action bar, select Split. The document will now be split into two, and the page you selected in step 3 above will become the first page of the new document.

Note that the new document is provided with a new document number, which is displayed under Document No. in the list.

Splitting documents automatically

You can also have documents split automatically by changing the settings of the purchase document category. To do this:

1. Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
2. Open the relevant document category. For example, to open the purchase document category, select the PURCHASE line (not the PURCHASE code itself, as this will open the document journal), and then choose Edit in the action bar.
3. On the OCR Processing FastTab, go to the Split section and enable Split Documents Automatically. A number of additional options will appear, as detailed in the table below.

The additional options allow you to specify exactly how you want your documents to be split. All options are explained below:

Option	Definition
Blank Page	This will split any incoming document whenever a blank page is identified in the document. A blank page is defined as a page with less than 40 characters.
Source ID	When you enable this option, incoming documents will be split every time a source ID is identified in a document. The source ID is whatever you select under Source Table and Fields on the Document Category page (in the fields Table and Primary Key Field). For purchase invoices, the default source ID is the vendor number, meaning that Document Capture will split incoming documents whenever a new vendor is identified.
Separator Fields	This will split incoming documents every time Document Capture identifies a separator field. You can define your own separator field(s) as follows: On the Document Category page, under Templates, select the relevant template line > select and then Edit > Under Fields, select the field that you want to use as a separator field > On the Template Field Card, Under General, select Use as Document Separator. Note that a default separator field may have been assigned already. For purchase invoices, the default separator field is the invoice number, meaning that Document Capture will split incoming documents whenever the value in the invoice number field changes. Also, note that the Source ID option is mandatory and automatically enabled when you enable Separator Fields.
Barcode	With this option enabled, incoming documents will be split whenever a barcode or a QR code is identified. Note that this option is closely related to the optional Barcode Text field immediately below it in the user interface, provided that you fill out the Barcode Text field (see below).
Barcode Text	If you enable the Barcode option and enter a specific text in the Barcode Text field, Document Capture will split incoming documents whenever a barcode or QR code containing this particular text is identified. You can also use special symbols/characters known as operators to specify the splitting value, for example as follows: DK* will split incoming documents whenever a barcode/QR code starts with DK. SHIP*&*2020 will split incoming documents whenever a barcode/QR code starts with SHIP and ends with 2020.

Merging documents manually

To merge a document manually:

1. Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.
2. Select the code of the relevant document category – for example, PURCHASE – to open the document journal.
3. In the action bar, select Document and then Split and Merge.
4. In the list of documents, select the documents that you want to merge. On a computer, you can select multiple documents by pressing Shift+Click.¹
5. Once you’ve selected the documents that should be merged, select Merge in the action bar. The documents are merged into one, and the constituent documents are renamed as follows in the Name column: The first page of the merged document is either renamed Page 1 or named after the vendor, while all following pages are named by page number, such as Page 2, Page 3, and so on.
6. Optional: You can reorder the pages of the merged document using the Move Up and Move Down options in the action bar.²

Merging documents automatically

You can also have documents merge automatically by changing the settings of the template card. To do this:

1. Choose the icon, enter Document Categories, and then choose the related link.

2. Select the code of the relevant document category – for example, PURCHASE – to open the document journal.

3. In the action bar, select Template > Template Card to open the template card.

4. On the General FastTab, enable the setting Merge from same Email.

   Note

   As it's possible to attach invoices from multiple vendors to a single email, Document Capture must be able to identify the vendor in each document in order to merge them effectively.

   Important

   Merge from same Email only works when you import all files at once via the Import files action in the Role Center. If you attempt to merge multiple files by selecting the Ready to Import cue and picking the desired files on the Scanning & OCR page, the import results in multiple documents.