Extract Data from Images and PDFs
Directly into Google Sheets

Why Getting Document Data into Sheets Is Harder Than It Should Be

Google Sheets has no shortage of ways to import structured data. CSV import, IMPORTDATA, connected Google Forms, Zapier integrations, direct API connections — all of these work, assuming the data source is already digital and structured. The problem is that a large portion of real-world business data doesn't arrive that way.

Invoices come as PDFs from ten different suppliers, each with a slightly different layout. Bank statements are either PDF exports or scanned paper statements. Receipts are phone photos. Contracts are signed scans. Supplier catalogs are image files. None of these have an API. None export as CSV. And none of the standard Sheets import flows can read them.

The typical fallback is manual entry — which works, and costs roughly two to three minutes per page for careful transcription. For a month of receipts or a quarter of supplier invoices, that adds up to a meaningful block of time before you can do any analysis.

Common Approaches and Where They Break Down

The common thread: standard tools assume the data is already digital and structured. When it's in an image or PDF, you're back to doing the extraction yourself.

How AI Extraction Fits the Google Sheets Workflow

AI vision models can read a document image — invoice, statement, receipt, or form — and extract specific fields into a consistent table structure. You define the columns you want (Invoice Number, Date, Amount, Vendor), and the model finds those values across any document layout, regardless of how the source document is formatted.

The extraction is field-targeted, not a text dump. You get a clean row of values for each document, ready to drop into a spreadsheet — not a wall of text you'd still have to parse yourself.

The remaining gap was workflow friction: running a separate extraction tool and then copying results into Sheets added its own steps. The ImageToTable.ai Google Sheets Add-on removes that gap by running the extraction directly from a sidebar inside Sheets.

The ImageToTable.ai Google Sheets Add-on

The add-on opens as a sidebar panel inside Google Sheets. You don't leave the spreadsheet — the entire upload, column definition, and extraction workflow happens in the sidebar, and the extracted rows are appended directly to your active sheet.

Column Names Work the Same Way as on the Website

The column names you type in the sidebar are instructions to the AI, not just labels. All the same column-naming techniques apply: embed format requirements ("Date (YYYY-MM-DD)"), disambiguate between similar fields ("Issue Date" vs. "Due Date"), add example values for ambiguous fields ("Category (e.g. Rent, Utilities, Payroll)").

If the same supplier sends you invoices every month, you define your columns once. For repeat extractions, you don't retype the field list — the sidebar remembers your last-used column set within the session.

Two Modes: Guest and API Key

The API key is available from your account settings at ImageToTable.ai. Once entered, the sidebar syncs with your account: extraction history, saved templates, and remaining quota all reflect your account state.

Templates: Define Once, Reuse Across Sessions

If you process the same type of document regularly — a specific supplier's invoice format, your bank's statement layout, a standard expense receipt — you can save your column set as a template on ImageToTable.ai. The template shows up in the sidebar's template picker, so you select it instead of retyping your columns.

Templates are shared between the website and the add-on. A template you configure and refine through a batch run on the website is immediately available in your Sheets sidebar for the next single-document extraction, and vice versa.

Collect: Let Others Upload Documents Directly to Your Queue

The Collect feature solves a specific problem: you don't always hold the documents yourself. A bookkeeper waiting on clients to send their invoices. A finance team collecting receipts from field staff. A procurement manager asking suppliers to submit price lists. In each case, the bottleneck is gathering the files before you can extract anything.

The add-on's Collect button (available with an API key) generates a shareable link and a short access code. You send either to the people who have your documents. They open the link, upload the file — no account, no app install required on their end — and the file lands directly in your account's processing queue. You see it in the sidebar, extract it, and the rows appear in your Sheet.

Practical use: a team of five people submits expense receipts to one Collect link throughout the month. At the end of the month, the receipts are already in the queue. Apply a template with columns for Date, Merchant, Amount, and Category — extract all at once — and the expense tracking sheet is populated without anyone having to chase down who sent what.

What Document Types It Handles

• Invoices — any supplier layout; extract invoice number, date, line items, totals
• Bank statements — PDF exports or scanned statements; one row per transaction
• Receipts — phone photos of paper receipts; merchant, amount, date, category
• Expense reports — scanned paper forms or screenshot exports
• Supplier price lists — catalog images; product, SKU, unit price
• Contracts and forms — extract specific fields from standard-format documents

Input formats: JPG, PNG, WebP, and PDF. Both digitally generated PDFs (with embedded text) and scanned PDFs (image-only) are handled the same way — the AI reads the visual content regardless of whether the PDF has a text layer.

Frequently Asked Questions