How to Extract Product Lists from Scanned Catalogs Using VeryPDF OCR to Any Converter |

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How I Extracted Product Lists from Scanned Catalogues Using VeryPDF OCR to Any Converter

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Learn how I used VeryPDF OCR to Any Converter Command Line to turn scanned product catalogues into editable spreadsheets in minutes.

How to Extract Product Lists from Scanned Catalogs Using VeryPDF OCR to Any Converter

Every quarter, our supplier sends over a scanned PDF catalogue that's over 200 pages longfilled with tiny product descriptions, SKUs, and prices. As the marketing guy who's also "good with Excel," guess who used to spend hours manually typing those into a spreadsheet? Yep, me. It wasn't just tediousit was soul-draining. And prone to errors. I tried a few online OCR tools, but they either couldn't recognise tables properly or just gave me a scrambled mess of characters. Then I found VeryPDF OCR to Any Converter Command Line, and everything changed.

I stumbled across VeryPDF OCR to Any Converter while doom-scrolling OCR tools one night. Most tools I'd tried either charged insane subscription fees or were more suited for converting a receipt or twonot bulk-processing 200-page catalogues with complex layouts. This one stood out because it's a command-line tool, which meant I could automate the process. It also promised structured table extractionand not just basic text capture.

Here's what I loved about it:

1. Accurate Table Extraction into Excel

The biggest win for me was how accurately the tool extracted tables. I used the -ocr2 and -ocr2excelmode options to convert a scanned PDF straight into a properly formatted Excel spreadsheet. It wasn't just raw text dumped into cellsit recognised the actual table structure, even when borders were faint or missing.

For example, a page listing 50+ items with product names, SKUs, and multi-line descriptions came out cleanly aligned in rows and columns. I didn't have to do any column adjusting or copy-pasting. I just opened the .xls file and was ready to work.

2. Batch Conversion Saves Hours

Once I figured out the right settings, I created a simple batch script to run through multiple files at once. This meant I could drop all our scanned PDFs into a folder, run one command, and walk away. No babysitting the process, no file-by-file clicking. For our monthly updates, this saves me at least 10 hours.

Here's the basic command I used:

bash
ocr2any.exe -ocr2 -ocr2excelmode 0 C:\Catalogues\input.pdf C:\Output\products.xls

And it just works. Every time.

3. Cleaner Output with Image Preprocessing

Most scanned catalogues have skewed text, dark borders, or random smudges from old printers. VeryPDF's built-in options like -imageopt, -deskew, and -despeckle helped clean that up before the OCR kicked in. It meant fewer recognition errors and a much cleaner spreadsheet in the end.

I also appreciated the -layout2 and -table options for better table alignmentespecially useful when working with non-standard formatting.

Why I Recommend It

If you're regularly dealing with scanned documentsespecially structured ones like catalogues, invoices, or data reportsVeryPDF OCR to Any Converter Command Line is a lifesaver. It takes all the heavy lifting off your plate and gives you clean, editable data in return. No more copy-pasting from PDFs, no more formatting nightmares.

I'd highly recommend this tool to:

Product managers handling supplier lists
E-commerce teams uploading bulk product data
Admin staff managing scanned invoices or reports
Anyone who needs to convert large batches of scanned files into something usable

Click here to try it out for yourself:

https://www.verypdf.com/app/ocr-to-any-converter-cmd/

Custom Development Services by VeryPDF

Need something more specific? VeryPDF also offers custom development tailored to your workflow. Whether you're on Windows, Linux, or macOS, they can build solutions to automate document processing, enhance OCR accuracy, or even develop virtual printers and print job interceptors.

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