Bulk upload lets you create multiple customers and upload their documents in one step, instead of adding each customer and document individually. You organize your documents into folders, zip them up, and Inscribe creates one customer per folder.
How it works
The following video shows how to organize documents into customer folders before processing in Inscribe: Document Sample for POC
Place all documents into a single folder and group documents into subfolders by customer. Name each subfolder after the customer. The subfolder name becomes the customer name in Inscribe.
Compress the folder into a zip file: Select all the customer folders and documents and compress them into a single .zip file.
Upload the zip file: Go to your Customers page and choose the bulk upload option.
Wait for the confirmation email: Processing happens in the background, so you can close the tab or navigate away. We'll email you when your documents have been imported, with a count of the new customers and documents created.
Supported file types
Inscribe accepts these document formats inside your zip file:
PDF (.pdf)
JPEG (.jpg, .jpeg)
PNG (.png)
A few things to know:
Unsupported files are skipped. Word documents, Excel files, CSVs, HEIC photos, and other formats are ignored rather than causing the upload to fail.
Zip files inside your zip file are not supported. If you compress a set of already-zipped folders, nothing inside them will be imported. Unzip them first so your documents sit directly in their customer folders.
Expected zip file structure
Zip files containing documents in customer folders (preferred)
If your zip file contains documents inside customer folders, Inscribe will group the documents into the intended customer.
Customer folders at the top level of the zip:
customers.zip
├── Acme Corp/
│ ├── bank-statement-january.pdf
│ └── bank-statement-february.pdf
└── Globex Inc/
└── payslip.pdf
Customer folders inside one enclosing folder:
customers.zip
└── March Applications/
├── Acme Corp/
│ ├── bank-statement-january.pdf
│ └── bank-statement-february.pdf
└── Globex Inc/
└── payslip.pdf
Both produce two customers, Acme Corp and Globex Inc.
Zip files containing only documents, with no folders
If your zip contains documents but no customer folders, Inscribe creates one customer per document, named after the file. A zip of three documents creates three separate customers:
Documents at the top level of the zip:
documents.zip
├── stmt-jan.pdf
├── stmt-feb.pdf
└── payslip.pdf
Documents inside one enclosing folder:
documents.zip
└── docs/
├── stmt-jan.pdf
├── stmt-feb.pdf
└── payslip.pdf
Both produce three customers with the same name: stmt-jan.pdf, stmt-feb.pdf, and payslip.pdf.
Requirements and limits
Include at least two customer folders. A zip containing a single customer folder is read as an enclosing folder, so you'll get one customer per document. To upload documents for a single customer, use the upload button on that customer's page instead.
The zip file must be under 400 MB. For larger batches, split them across several uploads.
The zip file can't be password protected.
Frequently asked questions
Can I leave the page while it's uploading?
Yes, once the upload itself has finished and you've seen the confirmation that processing has started. From that point the work continues in the background and you'll get an email when it's done.
Closing the tab or navigating away while the file is still uploading may interrupt it, so wait for the upload to complete first.
Will I be alerted when documents are ready to be viewed?
When your upload finishes and documents have been added, we email the person who uploaded the file. It confirms the name of the zip file you uploaded and how many new customers and documents were created.
The email means your documents have been added and are visible in Inscribe. Analysis of those documents may still be running, so some results won't appear immediately.
What happens if a folder name matches an existing customer?
If a customer folder matches the name of a customer you already created, the documents are added to that existing customer. No duplicate customer is created, and nothing already on the customer's record is removed or overwritten.
What happens if a document with the same name already exists?
Nothing is blocked. File names aren't used to decide whether a document has already been uploaded, so a document with the same name as an existing one is imported as a separate document.
Why is my customer or document count not what I expected?
The most common reasons are:
Unsupported file types in the zip. Only PDF, JPEG, and PNG files are imported. Anything else, including other zip files, is skipped. A list of skipped files will be included in the confirmation email.
Documents left loose instead of in customer folders, which creates one customer per document rather than grouping them.
Customer folders match existing customers. In this case, documents are added to the existing customer instead of creating a new one.
If the numbers still don't add up, or your upload appears to be stuck processing for more than a few hours, contact us with the name of the zip file you uploaded and we'll take a look.