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What is Retroconversion?

Retroconversion turns information locked in paper — registers, ledgers, daybooks, card indexes, and older typed catalogues — into individual, catalogued records in your digital archive.

Instead of manually retyping entries one by one, retroconversion lets you:

  1. Photograph or scan the paper document
  2. Upload it to Archivers.ai
  3. Review the results — each entry becomes its own record
  4. Commit the records into your catalogue

The system extracts each entry as a separate record, linked back to its source page, so you can always verify it against the original.

What you can convert today​

Works now:

  • Typed or printed catalogue documents (PDF)
  • Photographed pages of registers, ledgers, and daybooks (JPEG, PNG, WebP, TIFF, or HEIC — one photo per page)

Coming soon:

  • Card indexes
  • Typed lists
  • Handwritten registers with strong OCR candidates

Not yet:

  • Loose correspondence or maps and plans
  • Photographs of objects themselves
  • Audio descriptions of records

How it works​

When you start a retroconversion project, you:

  1. Pick a target collection — where the new records will file into your archival hierarchy, optionally stamped with a structure template first
  2. Say how references should work — a new number under the collection, or the number printed in the catalogue, and whether the records wait for a check before they enter the catalogue
  3. Upload your source — one PDF, or multiple photographed pages at once
  4. Review the results — the system extracts entries and flags anything uncertain
  5. Commit — accepted records file into your collection with links to the source page
  6. Export — download the committed records as a plain spreadsheet, or in CALM's or Spectrum's layout

Key features​

Page linkage. Every committed record carries a link to the page it came from, plus the entry's position on that page. You can always trace it back.

Source verification. Each extracted entry is shown side-by-side with the source page during review — you see the evidence, not just the result. After a record is committed, clicking the source name opens the original document in a new tab, always a reference back to where the entry came from.

Keyboard-first review. Navigate and approve entries from the keyboard — no mouse required. Designed for speed.

Smart uncertainty flags. The system marks fields it's uncertain about (especially reference numbers — they matter most). Certainty is quiet; doubt gets your attention.

Structure templates. An arrangement skeleton can be stamped onto the collection before filing, so entries are classified into its series rather than landing flat.

Nothing is one-way. A run that produced bad records can be undone: Delete this run’s entries on the run page removes the catalogue records it created and resets the run, so the pages can be read afresh. You type the number of entries to confirm.

Next steps​