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Julius Dela Peña

Selected WorkProject 09Document Automation

AI-PoweredPDF-to-StructuredData Automation.

PDFs turned into clean, structured JSON — saved back to Drive, with a notification.

A Make scenario watches a Google Drive folder for PDFs, converts each to text, extracts structured data with AI, cleans and parses the JSON, then saves the result to Drive and sends an email.

  • Make
  • Google Drive
  • AI
  • Gmail

09Project
of 15

Project overview
Make scenario: Google Drive PDF watch, PDF to text, AI extraction, JSON clean-up and parse, save to Drive, email notificationOpen the full AI-Powered PDF-to-Structured Data Automation (opens in a new tab)
01Make workflow · Document Automation
Open the full AI-Powered PDF-to-Structured Data Automation capture (opens in a new tab)
02Close-up
Context
Document Automation
Domain
Make workflow
Scope
Incoming PDF to structured JSON
Status
Workflow built in Make

01The Brief

From PDF to usable data.

PDFs land in a Google Drive folder and their contents need to come out as structured data that can be used elsewhere, with a notification when each one is done.

The goal

Turn each incoming PDF into clean, parsed JSON, saved back to Drive.

Make scenario: Google Drive PDF watch, PDF to text, AI extraction, JSON clean-up and parse, save to Drive, email notificationOpen the full Make workflow · Document Automation capture (opens in a new tab)

AI-Powered PDF-to-Structured Data Automation: the full workflow capture. Select it to open full size.

02The Workflow

From PDF to parsed JSON.

A Make scenario watches a Google Drive folder for PDFs, converts each to text, extracts structured data with AI, cleans and parses the JSON, then saves the result to Drive and sends an email.

Workflow spec

Trigger
A new PDF in the watched Google Drive folder starts the scenario, and the file is downloaded.
AI
Structured extraction
Output
Drive and email

03How It Works

Trigger, extract, structure, deliver.

Each stage, read straight off the workflow’s own node names.

  1. Trigger

    Monitor incoming PDF files (Google Drive) · Download PDF from Drive

  2. Extract

    Convert PDF to text · Aggregate extracted text · Extract structured data with AI

  3. Structure

    Clean AI output · Normalize JSON structure · Parse structured JSON data

  4. Deliver

    Save processed data to Drive · Send notification email

04Architecture

The workflow, start to finish.

The same steps, arranged as they run: in sequence, or split into parallel paths.

  1. 01Trigger

    • TriggerWatch Drive folder for PDFs
    • Google DriveDownload the PDF

  2. 02Extract

    • RulesConvert PDF to text
    • RulesAggregate extracted text
    • AIExtract structured data

  3. 03Structure

    • RulesClean AI output
    • RulesNormalise JSON structure
    • RulesParse structured JSON

  4. 04Deliver

    • OutputSave processed data to Drive
    • OutputSend notification email
  • Workflow step

One AI step sits between deterministic steps: text conversion before it, clean-up and JSON parsing after it.

05Validation & Controls

Where AI runs — and where rules do.

AI extracts the data; rules clean and parse it into a predictable shape.

Implementation statusBuilt in Make

  • TriggerBuilt
  • ExtractBuilt
  • StructureBuilt
  • DeliverBuilt

What each part does

Trigger
Drive watch: A new PDF in the watched Google Drive folder starts the scenario, and the file is downloaded.
Rules
Text conversion: Each PDF is converted to text and the extracted text aggregated before any AI step.
AI
Structured extraction: An AI step extracts structured data from the text.
Rules
Clean-up and parsing: The AI output is cleaned, normalised and parsed as JSON, so the saved result has a predictable structure.
Output
Drive and email: The processed data is saved back to Drive and a notification email is sent.

06The Stack

Each tool has a defined job in the workflow.

Roles over logos. Only the tools in the workflow are listed.

  • Make

    Runs the scenario

  • Google Drive

    Watched folder in, processed data out

  • AI

    Extracts structured data from the PDF text

  • Gmail

    Notification email

07The Outcome

What the workflow does.

PDFs turned into clean, structured JSON — saved back to Drive, with a notification.

Watches a Google Drive folder for incoming PDFs, converts each one to text and uses AI to extract structured data, then cleans and parses the JSON, saves the result back to Drive and sends a notification email.

My role

  • Workflow Design
  • Systems Integration

Delivered capability

  • A new PDF in the watched Google Drive folder starts the scenario, and the file is downloaded.
  • Each PDF is converted to text and the extracted text aggregated before any AI step.
  • An AI step extracts structured data from the text.
  • The AI output is cleaned, normalised and parsed as JSON, so the saved result has a predictable structure.
  • The processed data is saved back to Drive and a notification email is sent.

Contact

Have a workflow, dashboard or CRM that needs fixing? Let’s talk.

Available for new projects

Tell me about the operation, the systems involved and where the work gets stuck. A short call is usually enough to see whether I can help.

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