PDF and OCR

This group handles PDFs, images and Office documents from inside Excel: view and mark up PDF drawings, merge / split / rotate pages to assemble a dossier, batch-convert Word and Visio files to PDF, and use AI to read text or tables out of scans and into the worksheet.

The typical users are site engineers and document controllers: reading a drawing while taking off quantities, and assembling dozens of loose files into one inspection dossier in the right order.

Commands in this group

Command	What it does
Read PDF	Open a PDF in the add-in's own viewer: page through, zoom, annotate, print
PDF Manager	Load several PDFs and images, reorder — rotate — delete — extract — insert blank pages, save as one file
Word → PDF	Batch-convert .doc / .docx to PDF with the same name, in the same folder
Visio → PDF	Convert .vsd / .vsdx to PDF through the Microsoft Print to PDF virtual printer
OCR file	AI reads all text in an image / PDF, one text line per Excel cell
Extract Table	AI rebuilds a table with its real rows, columns and merged cells, with an editable preview
OCR Screen Clip	Drag over any region on screen → text lands in the active cell

Read PDF sits directly on the File and Print group; the other six live in that group's PDF / OCR menu.

Assembling a dossier and pulling data out of it

1. Convert the Word documents (records, submittals, inspection requests) with Word → PDF — select many files at once; each PDF is written next to its source with the same name.
2. If the package includes Visio diagrams (site organisation chart, process flow), run Visio → PDF as well.
3. Export the Excel forms with Sheets → PDF.
4. Open PDF Manager and click + Add Files to load every PDF you just made, the signed scans, and the site photos (.png, .jpg, .bmp, .gif, .tif).
5. Select pages scanned upside down and press ↺ Rotate Left / ↻ Rotate Right; use Delete Pages for surplus sheets; drag thumbnails into the order of your index.
6. Right-click the first page of each section to insert a blank page before it as a divider; to pull one section out on its own, select its pages and use Extract to File.
7. Click SAVE AS to write the assembled dossier to a new file (SAVE overwrites the original).
8. Reopen the result with Read PDF to check it: type a page number in the toolbar box to jump, annotate anything that needs fixing, then press 💾 Save or 💾 Save As.
9. To get figures out of the dossier and into Excel, select the target cell and run Extract Table for tabular content (test results, quantity schedules) or OCR file for running text; if the figures are only visible on screen in another application, use OCR Screen Clip.

Example

Assembling the inspection dossier for foundation F1 concrete, then loading the test results into a tracking sheet:

Source	Command used	Result
Record_F1.docx + 3 submittals	Word → PDF	4 PDFs, same names, same folder
Record_F1.pdf (2 pages scanned upside down)	PDF Manager → Rotate Right	2 pages the right way up
4 site photos .jpg	PDF Manager → + Add Files	4 photo pages appended
All 10 pages	PDF Manager → SAVE AS	Dossier_F1.pdf in index order
SteelTestResults.pdf, page 2	Extract Table, target cell A6	14 × 8 grid at A6:H19, strength columns are real numbers
Mix design shown in another program	OCR Screen Clip, target cell D8	The whole text block lands in D8

Tips and caveats

• PDF Manager and Read PDF need the pdfium.dll shipped with the installer; if it is missing the add-in reports an error as soon as the window opens — reinstalling DVDAddin fixes it.
• PDF Manager's SAVE overwrites the original and cannot be undone; use SAVE AS for anything that matters. Only one PDF Manager window can be open at a time.
• OCR file returns running text and does not preserve rows and columns — use Extract Table for tables. Results overwrite the cells below the active cell and usually cannot be undone with Ctrl+Z.
• OCR Screen Clip puts all the text into one cell, gives you about 15 seconds to drag the region, and captures the window you had open immediately before switching to Excel — not Excel itself.
• The three AI commands need a valid API key and an internet connection; without a key they stop straight away. Skewed, blurry or phone-camera scans drift out of column easily — always reconcile totals against the original before using the figures in a payment application.
• PDF Manager, OCR file, Extract Table and OCR Screen Clip need a current DVDAddin account (Standard or PRO) and are fully available during the trial; Read PDF, Word → PDF and Visio → PDF are free to use.
• Word → PDF and Visio → PDF write the PDF beside the source file with the same name and overwrite without asking; they require Microsoft Word and Microsoft Visio respectively (Visio also needs the Microsoft Print to PDF virtual printer).

See also

• Batch Print — print or export PDFs in bulk from the workbook itself.
• Insert Pictures — place site photos into Excel forms before exporting to PDF.
• AI Assistant — summarise or clean up text you have just OCR'd.
• Preferences — where the API key for the AI commands is configured.