Edit PDFs online with workflow automation
Sep 17, 2021
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Edit PDFs online with workflow automationOffice work can become very hectic. There are usually many tasks, meetings, and other things that must be tended to. Things have not slowed down in the past year and a half just because many of us are working remotely, in fact the barrier between work and home life has gotten thinner which means it can be harder to clock off. While there will always be more work to do, there are ways to make it simpler and easier. One of the ways you can do this is through workflow automation and more specifically, PDF workflow automation.
But what is workflow, exactly? Workflow relates to the order of tasks as they need to be completed. For example, if you are working on an invoice that needs to be sent so you can then relay this information to the finance office, you are engaging in workflow. In addition to this, managers and bosses can distribute workflow to their employees and colleagues. This can help tasks to get finished quicker since the series of tasks is done in an efficient and organized way. If you are working in an office setting or a virtual office, one of the most important tools you will work with is the PDF. Being able to not only work with, manage and edit PDFs but also automate their workflow will make your job much easier.
The reasons you should consider automating your PDFs are multiple. The main reason is that it will make your work go faster. Using automation tools with an online PDF editor means that things such as formatting will often be done already. It can take a lot of time to create a set format for a document or project, but if that process is automated, it will be ready with the click of a button. Also, when you convert a document, the format and layout can change, but this too can be automated with some workflow assistance. Managing workflow when working on PDFs can greatly assist with your work and help you to make high-quality documents for your office.
Editing a PDF
Although some parts of editing a PDF can be automated, such as inputting text and images, there are times when you need to put the information in yourself. For this, you will need an online PDF editor. There are many good options available online. Many of these can work with automation applications to help you automate your PDF editing. Also, if you are editing a PDF with a PDF editor like Lumin PDF, you can link your Google Drive account and use this to automate the PDF editing process, then save it directly back to your or your company's Google Drive account. This is a giant help in terms of workflow assistance since the whole reason for workflow automation is the reduction of mundane time-consuming tasks like editing and saving.
Workflow Tools
When working with PDFs, there are a few tools that can be used to automate your work. The first one and maybe the most important besides editing the document is the ability to e-sign a document. To e-sign, something is to put your signature on some document. Rather than printing a document, signing it, scanning it, saving, and then sending it, you can automate the whole process. With an automated e-signature, you can fill out fillable PDF documents then have your PDF editor automatically input your personalized digital signature on the document.
If you have a PDF converter, another interesting thing you can do is extract data from a PDF and convert it to another file type. This is one of the most important tools used in the modern office since data has become such an integral part of businesses at all levels. Often, filled out PDF forms, such as those in a doctor’s office from patients, will include a lot of data such as date of birth, weight, and so on. With the ability to automate data extraction, all of this information can be extracted from the PDF and put into a database such as an Excel spreadsheet. From there the data can be organized and used.
For some, a popular tool to use with PDFs and the general office automation process is a bot. While they are a bit more complicated to integrate into your system, if used correctly they will greatly decrease the amount of tedious work you must do. The way a bot works is that you install the bot and use the interface to give it commands regarding the PDF workflow process. This lets the bot know what should be done and in what order. While many people think of bots in a negative way due to their association with some negative actors, they are merely tools of automation. You can use bots with an online PDF editor to simplify your task by creating a detailed automated workflow.
Workflow automation
Managing workflow will always keep you up to date on your tasks and keep you from falling behind, as offices both in-person and virtual become more complex, the automation of your daily workflows becomes more of a necessity. Modifying a PDF does not always take time but modifying 100 plus PDFs is not only time-consuming but very boring and monotonous work that can easily be modified with one of the bots mentioned earlier. Another business process workflow that can be automated is customer service. If you are using a CRM or customer relations management tool, then being able to automate the input of information will save time and increase the revenue for the company.
In the past, office workers had to spend countless hours filling in forms and transferring data. With modern tools like bots and PDF editors, a lot of this work can now be fully automated. Combine this with all the interesting PDF editing tools online PDF editors offer and you can see how much more efficient the modern office is. Although there will always be some work that needs to be done, now there is a way to remove the tedious nature of it through technology and innovation.