Skip to main content
Question

PDF Extract Field Action Behavior

  • May 28, 2026
  • 2 replies
  • 9 views
Kayal 2500
Forum|alt.badge.img

We are currently working on a PDF extraction use case in Automation Anywhere and wanted to discuss the best approach for implementation.

Our current observation is that the native “PDF Extract Field” action appears to rely on coordinate-based extraction. While our PDFs follow a fixed format, there can be minor spacing variations across documents, and we would like to understand the robustness of this approach and the recommended best practices for handling such scenarios.

We would appreciate connecting with a Solution Engineer to discuss:

Reliability of the PDF Extract Field action
Handling spacing/layout variations
Best practices for fixed-template PDFs
Possibility of integrating custom script-based extraction where applicable

      2 replies

      Aaron.Gleason
      Automation Anywhere Team
      Forum|alt.badge.img+6
      • Aaron.Gleason
      • Automation Anywhere Team
      • May 28, 2026

      ​@Kayal 2500 SE's will point you to Document Automation. Much easier to use than PDF Extract Field and easier than trying to parse text from a PDF Extract Text. Do you have any restrictions against using Document Automation? We have a video on Pathfinder that shows the ability to customize Document Automation extraction. 

      rbkadiyam
      Premier Pathfinder | Tier 7
      Forum|alt.badge.img+6
      • rbkadiyam
      • Premier Pathfinder | Tier 7
      • May 28, 2026

      ​@Kayal 2500 still wanted to go with pdf extraction rather than document automation due to licensing cost, my approach is use python script as pdf is fixed format and looking for cosmetic errors.
       

      • Integration of Python or custom scripts within Automation Anywhere
      • Use of libraries such as pdfplumber, PyPDF2, PDFBox, or OCR-based approaches
      Ramesh B Kadiyam
      Terms & ConditionsAccessibility statement