Question 1

Adding AI Columns

Accepted Answer

How AI Columns Work

Q: Adding AI Columns

<h1 id="howaicolumnswork">How AI Columns Work</h1> <p>You can add any data field to the <strong>data extractor</strong> that doesn’t exist in the source file (e.g., Invoice Category, Expense Type, GL Code). These appear in your sheet but never need to be present in the uploaded document.</p> <p>Each AI column runs when a document is processed. Common examples of AI column uses:</p> <ul> <li>Classification – “Classify the expense descriptions into the closest of these 4 categories: food, gas, travel, other"</li> <li>Conditional coding – "If status column contains "approved", return 99" to auto-fill a GL code.</li> </ul> <p>${youtube}<a href="6fdbGtOMyXw">Adding AI Columns</a></p>

You can add any data field to the data extractor that doesn’t exist in the source file (e.g., Invoice Category, Expense Type, GL Code). These appear in your sheet but never need to be present in the uploaded document.

Each AI column runs when a document is processed. Common examples of AI column uses:

Classification – “Classify the expense descriptions into the closest of these 4 categories: food, gas, travel, other"
Conditional coding – "If status column contains "approved", return 99" to auto-fill a GL code.

${youtube}Adding AI Columns

Question 2

Using the PDF Data extractor

Accepted Answer

The PDF data extractor helps users extract structured data from PDFs into Lido's spreadsheet.

Video walkthrough

${youtube}How to convert PDF to Excel

The Extra Instructions Section

The Extra Instructions section allows you to write plain English directions for extracting data from your PDFs. These instructions help guide the extraction process, especially for complex documents or when specific data points require clarification.

Common use cases and examples of Extra Instructions

Below are some example scenarios and corresponding instructions to guide the AI in extracting the required data accurately:

Formatting Numbers or Dates

If your data requires specific formatting, like numbers or dates, you can specify your desired format.

Example instruction:

Ensure that all inventory numbers are treated as numerical values, and the retail prices are formatted as currency (e.g., $1,000.00). For dates, use the format MM/DD/YYYY.

Locating Specific Items in the Document

If all of the documents in the batch have a similar structure and you run into issues with certain fields not being properly extracted by default, you can add a prompt that tells the AI where specific data points are located in the PDF.

Example instruction:

The invoice number is in the upper right-hand corner of the page. Ensure the invoice number is extracted correctly and not confused with the PO number, which appears at the center of the page.

PDFs Containing Multiple

Question 3

Directives (Data Extractor)

Accepted Answer

Directives — Tell the extractor exactly what you want

Directives are powerful one‑line commands you can optionally add to the Extra Instructions section of your Data Extractor to further fine tune your extraction process. They behave similarly to advanced search operators in Google and other search operators.

How to activate Directives in the Data Extractor

Each directive begins with @ and guides our AI engine before it processes your PDF.
Format: @directive_name: optional details here
Each directive must be 1) added on its own line in the Extra Instructions text box and 2) below / after any other Extra Instructions.

@ocr_mode —Tell the extractor how to “look” at your PDF

| Mode | What the extractor reads | Ideal for | How to write | | ---- | | (default) | Native PDF text & structure | Most PDFs | (leave the directive out) | | vision | Screenshot plusany native text | Interactive forms (radio buttons, check-boxes, layered elements) that confuse native parsing | @ocr_mode:vision | | vision_only | Screenshot only(ignores any embedded text) | Scans whose built-in OCR is garbage or mis-aligned | @ocr_mode:vision_only |

When to use

vision – the file is technically “searchable,” but complex form elements or hidden layers are throwing off field locations.
vision_only – the PDF came from a scanner that added poor OCR, duplicates lines, or puts text in the wrong order.

Tips

Start with vision if results

Question 4

Formatting your extracted data

Accepted Answer

Common formatting issues and how to fix them

Zeros at the start of numbers (like UPCs) are not displaying in the spreadsheet

This can generally be solved by changing the formatting settings in the Lido spreadsheet, without needing to re-process any files. Select the cells that you want to reformat, then in the spreadsheet toolbar go to More formats -> Plain.

${youtube}Format leading zeros

Edit output with AI

Lido's Edit with AI functionality can be used to reformat, clean, or sort contents of your spreadsheet. Common examples include reformatting strings into numbers or sorting the extracted spreadsheet output.

To use, simply highlight the entire range of populated spreadsheet cells that you want to edit. Then, in the toolbar click on the Edit with AI icon and type your instructions into the modal. Prompts can be saved and re-used to save time.

Question 5

Managing your subscription

Accepted Answer

You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your subscription at any time in the Billing portal.

Cancellations are effective at the end of your current billing cycle. You'll have access to all features until that time, at which point you'll automatically be downgraded to our free plan.

Question 6

Pricing

Accepted Answer

Our pricing plans scale based on usage and start at $24/month. Data exporting to Excel and CSV is enabled on all of our paid plans. You can see our latest pricing here: https://www.lido.app/#pricing

Higher page limits

If you need higher page limits than what's currently available in our billing portal, please schedule a call here to discuss your needs and obtain a custom quote.

Annual vs. monthly billing

All of our plans are available billed on either a monthly or annual basis. Annual plans are paid upfront and not pro-rated if cancelled before the end of the 1 year period.

We offer a 20% discount on all annual plans, and all page credits for the year are available upfront. For example, our standard plan includes 100 PDF page conversions monthly. With a yearly plan, you would have access to all 1,200 PDF page conversions upfront (12 months x 100 pages) to use throughout the year. This is a great option for companies with variable or seasonal processing requirements.

Changing or canceling your plan

You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel your plan at any time by yourself in our Billing portal. Cancellations are effective at the end of your current billing cycle. You'll have access to all features until then, at which point you'll be automatically downgraded to the free plan.

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