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When a document is uploaded, RecordEngine’s AI reads it — seeing the page the way a human would, not just scanning raw text — and extracts structured data according to your extraction profile. Understanding how this works helps you configure profiles well and interpret results accurately.

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How the AI Reads Documents

RecordEngine uses a vision-first approach: the AI processes the document as an image, reading layout, fonts, stamps, handwriting, tables, and mixed-language text together. This is fundamentally different from OCR-only tools that extract raw text and then try to parse it. Vision-first extraction means:
  • Chinese stamps and seals are read correctly, even when they overlap printed text
  • Fapiao and Business Licenses with mixed Chinese/English content extract accurately
  • Scanned documents work as well as native PDFs — the AI sees what the scanner saw
  • Tables and line items are understood as tables, not as unstructured text blobs
  • Handwritten annotations are read alongside printed text
All processing happens on your server — no document content ever leaves your network.

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The Extraction Pipeline

When a document is uploaded, it moves through these steps automatically:
1

File type detection

RecordEngine identifies whether the file is a PDF, image, Word document, spreadsheet, audio, or text file and chooses the appropriate processing path.
2

Page rendering (PDFs)

PDF pages are rendered as high-resolution images so the vision AI can process them correctly — capturing stamps, seals, and layout that text-only extraction would miss.
3

Audio transcription (audio files only)

Audio files are transcribed locally using the AI before extraction runs on the transcript.
4

AI extraction

The AI reads the document against your extraction profile — a structured list of fields with descriptions that tell the AI what to look for and how to interpret it.
5

Confidence scoring

The AI evaluates how confident it is in its own output — checking completeness, internal consistency, and whether values look plausible for the document type.
6

AI summary generation

A plain-language summary of the document is generated for quick review in the UI.
7

Rules Engine evaluation

Any Rules Engine rules are evaluated against the extracted fields. Matching rules fire their actions immediately.
8

Status set to Needs Review

The document is ready for human review.

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Extraction Profiles Drive the Output

The AI extracts exactly the fields defined in your extraction profile — no more, no less. Each field has:
  • A name — becomes the key in the extracted data and the webhook payload
  • A description — instructions to the AI about what this field contains and how to find it
  • A type — text, number, date, currency, or list
The description is the most important part. A field named total_amount with description “The final total payable amount, after tax” produces much better results than the same field with no description. See Extraction Profiles for a full guide on creating and editing profiles.

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Built-In Profiles

RecordEngine ships with seven extraction profiles ready to use:

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Reviewing and Correcting Extracted Fields

After processing, every extracted field is editable in the centre panel of the workspace. If the AI made an error — extracted the wrong value, missed a field, or misread a number — correct it directly:
  1. Open the document
  2. Click the field value you want to correct
  3. Type the correct value
  4. Press Enter or click away
Every edit is recorded in the Audit Log with the old and new values. Editing an extracted field in the workspace

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Getting Better Extraction Results

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Write descriptive field descriptions

The most effective way to improve extraction quality is to write clear field descriptions. Compare:

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Add example values

For fields where the format varies, include an example in the description: “The invoice reference number. Examples: INV-2025-001, REF#4421, 2025110047”

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Use the Profile Drafter

Upload a sample document and ask the Profile Drafter to design a profile for you. The AI analyses the document and suggests field names and descriptions optimised for that document type.

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Handle multi-page documents

For long documents, the AI focuses on the most content-dense pages for extraction. If critical fields only appear on a later page (e.g. totals on the last page of a multi-page invoice), add a note in the relevant field description: “May appear on the last page of the document.”

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Line Item Extraction

When an invoice or receipt contains a table of items, RecordEngine extracts each row as a structured line item:
Line items are visible in the document workspace below the extracted fields, and are included in the outbound webhook payload and CSV export.
Line item extraction works best when the table has clear column headers. If a document uses a non-standard table layout, you can improve results by adding a note to your profile: “Extract line items from the table. Columns are: item description, quantity, unit price, total.”

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Reprocessing a Document

If you change an extraction profile after documents have already been processed, you can reprocess existing documents with the updated profile:
  1. Open the document
  2. Click Reprocess in the action menu
  3. Confirm — the document returns to Processing status and runs through extraction again with the current profile
Reprocessing overwrites the previously extracted fields. The original file is never modified.