Automate Document Processing — Build PDF Workflows Without Code

If you regularly run the same sequence of PDF operations — scan, OCR, redact sensitive data, compress, and archive — doing it manually every time is tedious and error-prone. WhiskFile's Workflow Builder lets you chain document processing steps into reusable pipelines that run with a single click or trigger automatically when files are uploaded.

What Is a Document Workflow?

A document workflow is an ordered sequence of processing steps applied to one or more files. Instead of uploading a PDF to one tool, downloading the result, uploading it to the next tool, and repeating, you define the entire pipeline once and run it on any document.

Example workflow: Incoming invoice processing

1. OCR the scanned invoice to make text searchable
2. Extract key fields (vendor, amount, date) using AI
3. Redact bank account numbers and tax IDs
4. Compress the file to reduce storage size
5. Save to workspace with auto-generated tags

Without automation, this requires five separate tool visits and four download/upload cycles. With a workflow, you upload the invoice and everything happens automatically.

Building a Workflow

Step 1: Create a New Workflow

Open the Workflow Builder and click New Workflow. Give it a name and optional description.

Step 2: Add Steps

Click Add Step to append processing operations. Each step has a type and configuration options:

Available step types:

• OCR — Run optical character recognition on scanned pages. Choose language and output format.
• Compress — Reduce file size. Set quality level (low, medium, high) or target file size.
• Convert — Change format (PDF to Word, PDF to images, Word to PDF, etc.).
• Redact — Remove sensitive information. Specify patterns (SSN, email, phone, credit card) or custom regex.
• AI PII Redact — Use AI to detect and redact personally identifiable information beyond pattern matching.
• Watermark — Add text or image watermarks. Configure position, opacity, and font.
• Flatten — Merge annotations, form fields, and signatures into the base layer.
• Merge — Combine multiple input files into a single document.
• Split — Break a document into individual pages or page ranges.
• Password Protect — Add encryption with user/owner passwords and permission restrictions.
• Add Page Numbers — Insert page numbers with configurable position and format.
• Sign — Apply a saved signature to a specified location.
• Rename — Rename the output file using a template (e.g., {date}_{original}_processed).

Each step passes its output to the next step as input. The final step produces the downloadable result.

Step 3: Add Conditions (Optional)

Conditions let your workflow branch based on document properties:

• Page count — If the document has more than 20 pages, apply higher compression; otherwise, use standard settings.
• File size — Skip compression if the file is already under 1 MB.
• Text content — If the document contains the word "CONFIDENTIAL," apply a watermark and password protection.
• OCR confidence — If OCR confidence is below 80%, flag for manual review instead of proceeding.

Conditions create if/then branches in the pipeline. Each branch can have its own sequence of steps.

Step 4: Configure the Trigger

Choose how the workflow starts:

• Manual — Upload files directly to the workflow and click Run
• Workspace folder — Automatically process any file uploaded to a specific workspace folder
• Scheduled — Run on a schedule (daily, weekly) against files that match criteria

Step 5: Set Output Options

Configure where processed files go:

• Download — Standard browser download
• Workspace — Save to a specific workspace folder with auto-tagging
• Email — Send the processed file to a specified email address

Workflow Templates

WhiskFile includes pre-built templates for common scenarios:

Invoice processing

OCR, extract fields, redact financial data, compress, save to workspace.

Contract preparation

Add page numbers, insert watermark ("DRAFT" or "CONFIDENTIAL"), flatten, password protect.

Archive digitization

OCR scanned pages, compress, convert to PDF/A, add bookmarks from headings.

Report distribution

Merge multiple PDFs, add cover page, add page numbers, compress, email to distribution list.

GDPR data request

AI PII redact across all document pages, generate redaction report, flatten, export.

You can use templates as-is or customize them by adding, removing, or reordering steps.

Monitoring Workflow Runs

Every workflow execution is logged with:

• Status — Succeeded, Failed, Partially completed
• Duration — How long each step took
• Input/output files — Links to download the original and processed versions
• Error details — If a step failed, the specific error and which step caused it

Review run history from the Workflow Builder dashboard to identify bottlenecks or failures.

Use Cases by Role

Office administrators — Standardize how incoming documents are processed: OCR all scans, add company watermark, save to shared workspace.

Legal teams — Redact PII from discovery documents in bulk, add Bates numbering, flatten, and export.

Finance departments — Process incoming invoices and receipts: OCR, extract amounts, compress, archive.

HR teams — Redact sensitive employee data from documents before sharing with external parties.

Getting Started

Open the Workflow Builder, choose a template or start from scratch, and run your first automated pipeline. Most users set up their first workflow in under five minutes and save hours of repetitive manual processing every week.