Automatically Sort PDFs into Folders and Rename Them by Content

Easily create rules that determine which templates are used to name PDF documents and which folder they are then saved in.

In this guide, we showed you how to easily create naming templates for different documents with OnDevice OCR Business. These templates ensure that PDFs get meaningful file names after text recognition.

Since everyday business involves a wide variety of documents that all need to be named individually, the easiest approach is to let the document’s content automatically decide which template is applied to which document: if you have created a template for naming your correspondence by default – e.g. “Sender & Contract No.” – you can create a rule that automatically searches all processed documents for the keyword “Contract No.”

If text recognition (OCR) finds a document that matches this rule, the “Sender & Contract No.” template is applied automatically and, optionally, the file is also saved in a “Correspondence” folder.

A rule can be set up in just a few minutes.

We’ll show you how to create a rule using this fictitious letter as an example. We already created a template for naming it in this guide.

Open OnDevice OCR Business and click “Name Files” → “New Rule…”.

Process Documents window with the Name Files switch

Enter “Contract No.” in the first text field, then click the plus button (+) to add another condition.
Choose “does not contain” and enter “Invoice No.”

You can enter different spellings separated by commas.
Choose which template to use to name the files and which folder to save them in.

Documents don’t have to be both named and sorted. For example, they can also just be named or just be saved in a specific folder.

New Rule window with the conditions contains Contract No. and does not contain Invoice No., Name using Sender & Contract No., and the output folder Correspondence

Click “Test with a sample file…” to check right away whether the rule would work with the intended documents.
Optionally give the rule a name and click “Save”.

New Rule window with the result Rule Contract No. matches and the Save button

To name or sort documents using rules, choose “Name Files” → “Apply Rules” and then click “Use”.

Choose Template window with Apply Rules selected and the Use button

You’re all set

From now on, all PDF files that match this rule are automatically named using the “Sender & Contract No.” template and saved in the “Correspondence” folder. By adding more conditions, you can create a unique rule for every type of document.

Rules can be applied throughout the app: in hot folders, in manual batch processing, and via Apple Shortcuts.