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Setting Up a Template

The template defines what fields the system will extract from every page. You'll walk through four short steps, done once. After that, running a batch is just uploading the pages.

Start the setup​

Conversions in the sidebar, then the dashed Set up a new conversion card. Setting one up needs an archivist seat. Nothing is added to your catalogue while you set it up.

The step rail names the four steps: Describe it · Check a sample · How exact · Agree the fields.

Step 1 — Describe it​

Pick what kind of material you're looking at:

  • Index cards — a box or drawer of cards, one card per item
  • Register or ledger — a bound book with entries written in over time
  • Typed list — a typed or printed list, spreadsheet-style, one line per item
  • Something else — tell us about it below

Then answer, in plain language:

  • What counts as one record? — a line or row, a whole card, or a block of text
  • Do headings apply to the entries written beneath them? — a date written once at the top applies to every entry below it until the next heading, and we copy it onto each record
  • Does it have an index at the front or back? — if it does, we can use it later as a check that nothing from the batch was missed
  • Add a description in your own words (optional) — "A daybook from a photography studio, 1955–57. Each line is one job with a negative number, the client's name and what was photographed."

At the foot of the step, What do you want from each entry? lets you name the things you need in the catalogue, so we look for those on your sample page. Name nothing and the scan simply proposes everything it finds.

Click Continue.

Step 2 — Check a sample​

Upload up to 5 sample pages of your material. The system reads them and shows you what it found.

The samples should:

  • Be representative of your material (one page from the beginning, middle, and end works well)
  • Be clear, level, and in focus (not blurry, tilted, or shadowed)
  • Show at least a few complete entries

Use JPEG, PNG, WebP, or TIFF. Click Read these pages, then, when you've seen how it read them, That looks right — carry on. If it couldn't pick anything out, Carry on and type them myself takes you on regardless.

Step 3 — How exact​

Choose how strictly the extraction will copy the original:

  • Copy exactly what's written — every value comes straight off the page, character for character. Dates stay as written ("June 47"), abbreviations are never expanded. Choose this if you need a faithful, verbatim record of what the original says.
  • Copy what's written, complete part-written dates — originals kept — the same as above, except a year can be filled in when one is obvious from the heading that governs it (the page says "1958", the entry says "June", the record says "June 1958"). The original is always kept alongside. This is the default. Abbreviations are never expanded under any setting.
  • Also draft descriptions with AI — always marked as drafts — the system will also draft a short description per entry, grounded only in that entry's own text and labelled as a draft.

Step 4 — Agree the fields​

The system proposes the columns it thinks it can extract from your samples, with an example from your own pages for each.

Review each column:

  • Keep or remove? — every column that stays must have a verbatim example from your samples. If a column doesn't have evidence in your pages, it's dropped automatically.
  • What should it be called? — the system suggests a name; you can override it with anything. What your page calls it records the original heading alongside.
  • Is this repeatable? — tick One entry can have several where a column appears more than once per entry.
  • What job does it do? — each column is given a job on the record: This is the reference number, This is the title, This is a date, This is the description, These are people's names, This is a place, or Something else worth keeping. The reference number is the one that matters most — marking it puts the value in the record's own reference, so you don't need to find a field for it.

Where should records file?

  • Pick the collection where new records from this template will belong. Create a new collection… is in the same picker if it doesn't exist yet.

Click Save this conversion.

Your conversion is now saved. Every batch you run uses its newest saved settings; batches you've already run keep the version they ran with. The card on the Conversions page shows how many times the settings have been saved.

Tips​

First time? The system will guide you through the steps. Nothing is added to your catalogue during setup — stop and start again at any point.

Unsure about a column? If you're not sure whether a column will work, try it. You can always run a small batch (2–3 pages) and review before committing. Delete the batch if it's not working and adjust your template.

Need to adjust the template later? Change and save it again. Batches you've already run keep the version they ran with, so nothing behind you breaks. If the material is genuinely different, set up a separate conversion instead — a conversion you've finished with can be put away with Put away on its card.

What happens next​

Once you've saved the conversion, you're ready to run a batch: