When a record is created in Airtable, extract text from attachments with OCR and add the results to Microsoft Excel

■Overview

Are you manually transcribing information from files attached to Airtable? Visual checks and manual data entry take time, are prone to errors, and are inefficient. With this workflow, creating a record in Airtable triggers automatic text extraction from the attached file, and the results are automatically added to Microsoft Excel. This frees you from tedious transcription work while improving operational accuracy and speed.

■Who should use this template

• Anyone manually transcribing image data between Airtable and Microsoft Excel
• Anyone looking to automate text extraction from images
• Teams aiming to streamline routine data entry tasks using OCR

■Benefits of using this template

• Automate everything from extracting text from images after a record is added to Airtable to transferring the data to Microsoft Excel, reducing the time spent on manual work.
• Eliminate manual data transcription to prevent human errors such as incorrect entries and omissions, helping maintain data accuracy.

■Workflow steps

1. First, connect Airtable and Microsoft Excel with Yoom.
2. Next, select Airtable as the trigger and set the action to “When a record is created.”
3. Then, configure branching in an operation to determine whether to continue processing based on whether a file exists.
4. Next, configure Airtable’s “Download files from a record” action in an operation to download the attachment from the record retrieved by the trigger.
5. Next, configure the OCR feature’s “Read any image or PDF” action in an operation to extract text from the downloaded file.
6. Finally, configure Microsoft Excel’s “Add a record” action in an operation to add the extracted text data as a row to the specified file.

※“Trigger”: An action that starts a workflow. “Operation”: An action that processes data within a workflow after the trigger starts.

■Customization options

• In the Airtable trigger settings, specify the target base ID, table ID, and field name used to determine when a record was created.
• In the Airtable file download settings, specify which file from which record to retrieve based on the information obtained by the trigger.
• With the OCR feature, you can specify the range or fields of text to read from the image file.
• In the Microsoft Excel record creation settings, assign which information, such as data extracted by OCR, should be added to each column.

■Notes

• Connect each of Airtable and Microsoft Excel with Yoom.
• You can choose a trigger interval of 5, 10, 15, 30, or 60 minutes.
• Please note that the shortest available trigger interval varies by plan.
• Airtable outputs can be retrieved using JSONPath. See below for details.
  See how to retrieve Airtable outputs
• Branching is an operation available on the Mini plan and above. On the Free plan, the configured workflow operation will result in an error.
• Paid plans, such as the Mini plan, include a two-week free trial. During the free trial, you can use apps and features (operations) that are otherwise restricted.
• Files up to 300 MB can be downloaded. Depending on the app specifications, the limit may be less than 300 MB.
• See below for details on the file size limits for triggers and individual operations.
  See file size limits
• AI operations for OCR or audio transcription are available only on the Team and Success plans. On the Free and Mini plans, the configured workflow operation will result in an error.
• Paid plans, such as the Team and Success plans, include a two-week free trial. During the free trial, you can use restricted apps and AI features (operations).
• Please note that OCR may not be able to read data containing 6,500 or more characters or text that is too small.
• Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) offers plans for home use and businesses (Microsoft 365 Business). Authentication may fail if you are not subscribed to a business plan.
• See below for details on configuring operations that interact with Microsoft Excel databases.
  See how to configure Microsoft Excel database operations