Split PDF using text in barcodes with Zapier

By Varun Satish | Automation

Split PDF using text in barcodes with Zapier

Split By Barcode could be a confusing term. We will look first at what exactly the feature can do for you. A lot of PDF documents like invoices, quotes, receipts, bills, etc may come with barcodes or QR codes. We might have to split them at the page where the barcode is present. The Split By Barcode feature from PDF4me lets you do that with simple settings.

E,g. Suppose you have documents with a random number of pages where the last page of the PDF is an Invoice with a barcode. You might want to achieve those particular Invoices or send them via mails. You don’t exactly know how many pages these documents contain. So you cannot use a simple Split feature using a page number.

In such cases, you can make use of the Split By Barcode feature to Split just the invoices by identifying the text embedded in the barcode. If you know the text or a part of it contained in the barcode, you can automate the splitting of the invoice with this Zapier app

Now, let’s look at the case in hand where we want to split a PDF by barcode into multiple PDF files using PDF4me Zapier. This split by barcode action supports most types of barcodes making it possible for wide usage.

Dropbox folder with PDF4me Split By Barcode action

The PDF file uploaded to the selected Dropbox folder location will be split by action settings and uploaded to a different Dropbox location.

Output file saved PDF4me action to DropboxZip content  file

Step by Step Guide to create a zap:

Zapier Split By Barcode action with Dropbox

Step 1: Trigger Execution

Zapier has multiple types of triggers to start your zap. It can be scheduled to run at every regular interval. In this use case, we trigger zap when a file is created in the Dropbox folder location.

Choose the folder location where PDF documents will be dropped for split by barcode

Step 2: Choose PDF4me app and Split by Barcode Action

Click on New Step after completing the Trigger part. A window prompt with many app suggestions will appear where you have to search for PDF4me and select PDF4me app. Then from the provided actions, choose Split by Barcode action.

Step 3: Map input fields with Split by Barcode Action

Configure Barcode data in the app

File - Input PDF file content from Dropbox

File Name - Name of the file from Dropbox

Barcode Text - Text data in Barcode to filter & split

Barcode Filter - Filter options for text in the barcode.

  • Starts With
  • Ends With
  • Contains
  • Exact

Barcode Type - Choose the type of Barcode.

  • Any Type
  • Only Data Matrix
  • Only QR Code

Split Barcode Page - Choose the way split should occur.

  • Before the barcode
  • After the barcode
  • Remove the page containing the barcode

Step 4: Save split PDF files to Dropbox location

This is a final step to save converted output files to the Dropbox folder location. The output will be a zip file that contains all the split files.

Configure output path for split PDF files

Folder – Choose the folder location where the Output document is to be saved.
File – Output file content from the PDF4me split by barcode action.
Specify File Name – Output file name from the PDF4me split by barcode action.
Specify File Extension - Output file extension from the PDF4me split by barcode action.

Split By Barcode shared zaps in Zapier:

Split PDF By Barcode from Dropbox

Split PDF By Barcode from Google Drive

Split PDF By Barcode from OneDrive

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