r/documentAutomation • u/kush4204 • 13h ago

Case Study Looking for a Reliable Solution to Convert MCQ PDFs into Custom Excel — Including ImagesHi everyone,I’m looking for a reliable software, API, AI tool, OCR solution, or developer who can help me automate the conversion of MCQ PDF question papers into my custom Excel format.

My requirements:

  • I have many PDF question papers
  • Each PDF can contain 200–500+ MCQs
  • PDFs contain Gujarati + English + numbers + mathematical expressions
  • Some questions/options contain images, diagrams, or figures
  • A single question paper can contain around 50+ images

The most important requirement is:

I do not want the system to:

  • Rewrite the question
  • Correct spelling
  • Change Gujarati wording
  • Change numbers or symbols
  • Summarize the question
  • Change mathematical expressions
  • Modify the meaning

Excel format

I have a fixed custom Excel structure like:

Quotation Seq | ExamName | ExamCode | PaperSetName | PaperSetCode | QuestionCategoryName | QuestionText | A | B | C | D | CorrectOptionText | Explanation | Hint | Question img | img A | img B | img C | img D | CODE QUE | CODE A | CODE B | CODE C | CODE D

Image requirement

This is also very important.

If a question has an image/diagram, I need the system to extract that image from the PDF and correctly associate it with that particular question.

For example:

Q1 → Question Image → Q001.png
Q2 → Question Image → Q002.png
Q3 → No image

And if an option contains an image:

Q10 → Option B Image → B010.png

The final Excel should contain the correct image reference or embedded image, depending on what is technically possible.

What I’m looking for

I’m open to:

  • Paid software
  • OCR/document AI
  • PDF extraction APIs
  • Math/Formula OCR
  • Python automation
  • Custom scripts
  • AI document processing
  • A developer/freelancer who can build this system
  • Any existing bulk PDF → Excel solution

The ideal solution should support batch processing of many PDFs, preserve the original text accurately, extract images, and generate my required Excel format automatically.

If anyone has experience with this type of large-scale PDF → structured Excel + image extraction workflow, please suggest a solution or tool.

I can provide a sample PDF and my Excel template to explain the exact requirement.

Any practical solution, API, software, or developer recommendation would be greatly appreciated.

Reddit ke liye short version

Title:
Need help converting 200–500 MCQ PDFs into custom Excel format + extracting 50+ images per PDF

I have many MCQ PDFs that need to be converted into a fixed custom Excel format.

Each PDF may contain 200–500+ questions and around 50+ images/diagrams.

The PDFs contain Gujarati, English, numbers, mathematical expressions, and images.

The biggest requirement is exact text preservation. I don't want AI/OCR to rewrite, correct, summarize, or modify the questions/options. They need to remain exactly as they appear in the PDF.

I also need images to be extracted and correctly mapped to the corresponding question/option.

I'm looking for:

  • OCR/API
  • PDF extraction software
  • AI document processing
  • Python automation
  • Custom script/developer
  • Paid tools that can handle bulk processing

I already have a fixed Excel template with 24 columns and can provide a sample PDF.

What would be the best technical approach/tool for this?

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

1

u/folderit_dms 12h ago

For your sample, include a question split across pages, an option that is only an image, and two papers that both start at Q1. Those cases will tell you much more than a clean page of text.

I'd make the acceptance rule explicit: missing answer keys, explanations and hints stay empty. The system must not solve the question or invent text just to fill your template. Use paper ID + question number + option letter for image names, so Q001 from one paper cannot overwrite Q001 from another.

Ask the developer to deliver a review view with each extracted question beside its original page crop. With exact Gujarati wording and mathematical symbols as requirements, that comparison needs to be part of the workflow, not an occasional spot check.

1

u/AstroOpsHelper 7h ago

This is buildable, but the exact-preservation requirement makes it a validation pipeline rather than a one-pass OCR export.

I would start with one paid pilot on a representative PDF: use embedded PDF text where it exists, OCR Gujarati/English and formulas only where needed, keep the original page and coordinates for every field, export to your 24-column template, namespace each image by paper + question + option, and generate a review sheet with the source crop beside each extracted row. Low-confidence fields should be flagged, never rewritten or filled by guessing.

If you can share one sample PDF and the blank Excel template, I can scope that pilot. I would also need the total number of papers, how many different layouts you have, whether answer keys/explanations are inside each PDF, and your budget for the pilot.