Multi-Page Merge combines the extracted results that belong to the same document into one record. When one document is uploaded as several files — the front and back of an ID card photographed separately, a bank statement split across pages, a contract scanned in pieces — each file is processed on its own and produces its own results. Turning on Multi-Page Merge tells the app how to recognize which rows belong together and how to fold them into a single merge group.
Why the same document can show up as several rows
Every file you upload is processed independently and produces its own result. A single upload can itself produce several rows — one page of a bank statement may contain a dozen transactions, each becoming its own row. So a document that arrives as three files does not produce one row of results; it produces three separate sets of rows, one per file.
Common cases where one document is split across files include:
- An ID card photographed as two images: the front carries the name and ID number, the back carries the address and expiry date.
- A bank statement that runs across several pages: the account number appears once at the top of page 1, while the transaction table continues over the following pages.
- A multi-page contract scanned page by page, where a contract number or a signature block appears on only some of the pages.
Multi-Page Merge works on rows, not pages. It first decides which rows belong together, then combines the values in each group. The grouping rules are saved on a template, so once configured they apply to every batch processed with that template.
Three ways to group files into one record
In the template's settings you pick exactly one of three merge modes. Each answers the same question — "which results belong together?" — in a different way.
Sequential Merge
This mode reads your files in upload order. As long as a chosen column stays blank or the same, those files stay together as one record. The moment the column shows a new, different value, a new record starts from there. This suits documents where an identifying value appears once — for example an invoice number printed only on page 1, or a name that appears at the top of each contract.
When you choose Sequential Merge, you also choose Where to break — the condition that starts a new record. Break on value change is selected by default.
| Break condition | What starts a new record |
|---|---|
| Break on value change (default) | Files are followed in upload order. While the chosen column is blank or unchanged, they stay in the same record. The first file where the column shows a different value begins a new record. |
| Break on a blank item | A file where every column comes back completely blank is treated as a separator. Everything before it becomes one record, and the file right after it starts a new one. |
| Break when a value appears | The file where the chosen column first has any content — no matter what it says — starts a new record. Useful for a stamp, a checkmark, or any field whose presence marks a new document. |
| Break on a specific value | The file where the chosen column matches the text or pattern you enter starts a new record. Plain text works as-is; a pattern such as INV-\d+ matches a format instead of one fixed value. |
Match by Value
This mode ignores upload order. Any files that share the same value in a chosen column are combined into one record, however far apart they were uploaded. It suits a batch where files from different documents are mixed together — for example several orders' customs documents photographed in no particular order, where the order number is the value that identifies which files belong together.
Because it compares every result against every other, this mode needs the chosen column to be present and read correctly on every file that should be grouped. If a file's value for that column comes back blank, that file is left as its own record rather than being matched to a group.
Fixed Count
This mode ignores content entirely: every N files in a row become one record. Enter the group size (N) and the app combines files in fixed blocks. It is meant for a record that is always made of the same number of different items — for example an expense record that always consists of a receipt photo, a bank payment screenshot, and an approval email, three files per record.
When several files disagree on a value
Once rows are grouped, the app combines them field by field. A column whose files all agree — or where only one file has a value at all — is treated as a shared value and filled into every row of the record. This is what lets, for example, an account number that appears only on page 1 be copied onto every transaction row from the later pages.
If a column has two or more different non-blank values inside one group, that is a conflict, and you choose how it is resolved. The choice applies to the whole template, not to individual columns.
| On Conflict option | What happens to the conflicting column |
|---|---|
| Combine into one (default) | All the different values are joined into a single cell. The default joiner is a slash with spaces (/), and you can change it in Join Values With — including clearing it to join values with nothing in between. |
| Keep all, split into rows | Nothing is guessed. Instead of one merged row, you get one row per file, so you can check each value yourself. Values that the files agree on are still filled in. |
| Keep the first value | The value from the earliest-uploaded file wins; the others are dropped. |
| Keep the last value | The value from the latest-uploaded file wins; the others are dropped. |
Only the columns that actually conflict are affected. Columns the files agree on, and columns that only one file filled in, are still shared across the whole record.
Where to turn it on
Multi-Page Merge is a setting inside a template, next to the template's other options.
- Open the Data Columns panel on the dashboard and click Settings on the template header. (The same Settings action appears per row in the Switch Template dialog.)
- In the Template Settings dialog, find the Merge Multiple Results row and switch it on.
- Choose a merge mode under How to merge. If you chose Sequential Merge, also choose a break condition under Where to break and, where prompted, the Data Column, value, or group size the mode needs.
- Choose an option under Merge Conflict Handling.
The dialog shows a plain-language summary of your current choices plus a worked example, so you can read back what the setting will do before you rely on it. Changes save automatically — there is no separate save button, and closing the dialog keeps them. If a required column, value, or group size has not been filled in yet, the dialog shows a warning that the setup will not take effect until it is; the app does not error on an incomplete merge setup, it simply leaves the results unmerged.
Because this lives in the template settings, it is the same dialog described on the Templates & Columns page. A merge setting always belongs to a template; a batch processed without a template has no template setting to hold it.
Where merge takes effect
Multi-Page Merge does not change how files are processed. It changes the table produced when you export. It works inside a single batch and never combines rows across different batches — see Batches for what a batch is and how files end up in one.
- Viewing results in the app is per file. When you open a file to inspect its extracted rows, you see that file's own results. Rows are not combined in this view.
- Exporting a batch applies merge automatically. If the batch's template has merge turned on, the exported spreadsheet is merged. There is no separate "merge this export" switch to enable at export time.
- Exporting several batches together applies merge too, using each batch's own template settings, before the batches are lined up into one file.
- Merge applies only when the batch was processed with a template that has merge on. The setting is read from the template when you export, so if you correct a merge setting after processing, the next export of that batch uses the corrected setting.
The same setting also governs the results sent to the Google Sheets add-on: when a batch's template has merge on, the rows written into the sheet are the combined ones.
The confirmation before export
By default, exporting a single batch with merge turned on first opens a Confirm Merge Before Export screen. It shows two tables side by side — Before merge (raw results) and After merge (export result) — with rows from the same merge group sharing a color, so you can see which raw rows produced which combined row. You can edit a raw value here, adjust the merge settings directly in the same screen, and then click Confirm & Export to produce the file.
If you do not want this confirmation every time, turn on Skip confirmation before export in the template settings. Exporting several batches together does not show this confirmation screen; it applies merge and produces the file directly.