Skip to main content

Run Form Extraction Workflow

`Form Extraction` in Blast Audit lets you capture repeatable fields from PDFs, preview them across multiple documents, and then `Export to Excel`. Depending on your Office host, the workflow may open in a dialog window or in the main add-in

Written by William Karkegi
Updated over 2 weeks ago

Form Extraction in Blast Audit lets you capture repeatable fields from PDFs, preview them across multiple documents, and then Export to Excel. Depending on your Office host, the workflow may open in a dialog window or in the main add-in page. You may still see Copilot Audit in a few older labels.

Who this is for

  • Users extracting repeated fields from invoices, expense claims, or similar forms

  • Teams building reusable extraction templates

  • Anyone who wants structured output in Excel without recreating snips every time

Before you begin

  • Import the documents you want to use

  • Let OCR finish before you start a serious extraction run

  • Open the add-in inside Excel if you want to export results directly to a worksheet

How to do it

  1. Open Form Extraction from the bottom navigation or the Excel ribbon.

  2. If you are starting fresh, click Start new form extraction. If you already have a reusable setup, open one from My templates, Company templates, or Featured.

  3. Choose the documents you want to include.

  4. In the PDF viewer, capture fields using text, sum, or table selections. New fields appear in the left panel as soon as you capture them.

  5. Rename fields to business-friendly names. You can also reorder them by dragging.

  6. Use Active document to switch between files and confirm the same field works across your document set.

  7. Check the preview table on the right to see how values populate per document.

  8. Add a description if useful, then choose whether to Share with my organization.

  9. Click Save template if you want to reuse the setup.

  10. Click Export to Excel when the preview looks right.

Expected result

  • Field names are clear and review-ready

  • The preview table is populated across the documents you selected

  • You spot-check more than one file with Active document

  • Shared templates are used only after the extraction pattern is stable

Avoid this

  • Trying to export before adding any fields

  • Forgetting to name the template before saving it

  • Building the template on a poor scan and then assuming the extraction logic is bad

  • Expecting the dialog to open in every Office environment. If dialogs are unavailable, Blast Audit can fall back to the main add-in page.

  • Trying to export outside Excel and getting Excel isn't available. Open the add-in inside Excel to export.

If it still doesn't work

  • If the PDF does not load, reselect the document or reopen Form Extraction

  • Use Change documents if you picked the wrong files at the start

  • If your preview is empty, make sure you actually added fields in the viewer

  • If OCR is incomplete or the scan is poor, fix that first before reworking the template

Practice with sample files

  • Search for Practice Form Extraction with Sample Documents in this collection.

  • Use the attached PDFs and CSVs there to test this workflow before you use live client files.

Read next

  • Upload First Documents

  • Use Document Viewer and Create Snips

  • Run Version Comparison Workflow

  • Handle Skipped Documents and OCR Risk

  • Practice Form Extraction with Sample Documents

Did this answer your question?