Working with Document Contents

You can make changes to the contents of your documents: rearrange or remove pages, make changes to Microsoft Office documents, and make changes to other types of electronic files.

Checking Out a Document

You can check out a document before you begin working on it. Checking out a document will lock it so that other users can't make changes to that document until you have checked it back in, although they can still view it. All electronic documents can be checked out; in addition, documents without an electronic file can be checked out if they're under version control. When the Office Integration is installed, Microsoft Office documents are checked out automatically when you open them for editing, and will be checked back in when you save and close them.

Documents that you have checked out can be found in the Documents in Use section of your repository. See Starred Documents, Recent Documents and Documents in Use for more information.

Documents can be checked out manually by selecting the document in the folder browser, clicking the More button ( The More button, three vertical dots. ), and selecting Check Out Document, For electronic documents, you can also right-click them and select Check Out Document. If the document has image pages, you can also check it out by opening it in the document viewer, clicking the document name in the upper left corner, and selecting Check Out Document. (You can also check out Microsoft Word documents manually in this way if you do not want them to be checked back in as soon as you close Office.)

When you are done making changes to a checked out document, you can check it in by selecting the document and selecting Check In Document from either of the same menus. You can also discard your changes by selecting Undo Check Out.

If a document is under version control, all of the changes that you make during a single check out will be saved in a single version.

Working with Image Pages

If you are working with a document that contains pages (including PDFs, but not including documents with an electronic file such as a Word document or Excel spreadsheet), you can rearrange those pages, move them from one document to another, use them to create a new document, or delete them.

Once you have made a change to a document, until you save it, it will be locked for editing and cannot be modified by other users. It will also appear in the Documents in Use section of your repository. See Starred Documents, Recent Documents and Documents in Use for more information.

Rearranging Pages

You can rearrange pages within your documents, either in the folder browser or in the document viewer. In the folder browser, the page thumbnails will be on the right, in the Preview tab; select the Thumbnails button to view the pages as thumbnails. In the document viewer, thumbnails will be on the left. To rearrange them, select a page or pages and drag it, then drop it where you want to place it.

Rotating Pages

If a page is accidentally scanned sideways or upside-down, you can rotate it to its correct orientation. To rotate a page, select the page and click the Rotate Clockwise button, or right-click the page and select Rotate Clockwise. Continue to do this until the page is correctly rotated.

Moving Pages Between Documents

You can move pages between documents in the folder browser. Select a document and then click the Thumbnails tab on the right to display the page thumbnails. Select a page or pages, then drag it onto a document to move the pages into the document, or onto a folder to create a new document with those pages in the specified folder.

You can also move or copy pages by selecting the pages and then clicking the Move Pages To () or Copy Pages To () button, or selecting and right-clicking the page thumbnails, and navigating to the location where you want to move the pages.

Generating Pages from PDFs

By default, pages will be generated from PDFs when they're imported into the repository, allowing you to use Laserfiche annotations on the contents, rearrange and rotate pages, and use other document viewer tools. If a PDF has been imported into the repository without pages generated, or if you need to update the pages, you can manually generate pages.

To do so, select the PDF document in the folder browser. Click the More button ( The More button, three vertical dots. ) and select Generate Pages. If the document already has pages, you will be prompted to confirm that you want to overwrite those existing pages.

Deleting Pages

To delete pages, open the document in the document viewer and select the thumbnail for the page or pages you want to delete. Press the DELETE key. Deleted pages will go to the recycle bin; see Deleting Documents and Folders for more information.

Working with Microsoft Office Documents

Office Integration is a Laserfiche component that allows users to take advantage of Laserfiche features when working with Microsoft Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, and Outlook messages in their native Microsoft Office applications. Office Integration allows you to save Office files directly to your repository from the Office ribbon or toolbar, and to make changes to a document's metadata without leaving Office.

Installing the Office Integration

If you have never used Office Integration on your workstation before, you will need to install it. You can do so by opening any Microsoft Office document in your repository. You will automatically be prompted to download and install Office Integration. This will save a file to your computer, which you can run to install Office Integration. Once you have installed Office Integration, you may be prompted to close any Microsoft Office applications you have open, and/or to restart your computer. If you are not prompted to do so, you will need to close and re-open your Office applications after installing.

Making Changes to a Microsoft Office Document

Once the Office Integration has been installed, you can open Microsoft Office documents by selecting them in the folder browser, and they will open in the appropriate Microsoft Office application. You may make changes to the document and its metadata. Saving the document will result in the changes automatically being applied to the document in the repository. Your document will remain checked out until you close the document. You may also manually check in the document or undo the check out within the repository. Laserfiche stores a local copy of the document (at C:\Users\<CURRENT_USER>\AppData\Local\Laserfiche\LFOfficePlugin) in case of network interruptions and to keep the document checked out for longer periods of time.

The Office Integration has a number of features to help you work with your documents. To access them in your Office application, select the Laserfiche tab. You can choose to immediately save the document to Laserfiche, manually check it in, make version comments if the document is under version control, and modify field, tag, version, and link information directly from the Office integration. You can also add tokens to your Office document that will draw information directly from your repository, such as the document's name or creator, and field values.

Working with Audio and Video Files

In addition to allowing you to view audio and videos directly in the browser, Laserfiche can also transcribe audio and video files. This makes their content searchable, and can be viewed side-by-side with the video. See Working with Audio and Video Files for more information.

Working with Other Electronic Files

You can make changes to other types of electronic files by checking out the document and opening it for editing. The document will be saved locally on your computer. When you are done making changes, check the document back in. You will be prompted to upload the updated version of the document, which will replace the existing file.

Working with Document Metadata

All documents and folders contain various metadata, including both user-created metadata such as fields, tags, links, and versions, and other information such as the document's name, location, creation and modification date, and so on. For more information on working with document metadata, see Metadata.

Generating Document Text

By default, text will be generated from electronic files and PDFs when they are imported into the repository. (In addition, text will be generated for scanned documents, documents printed using Snapshot, and documents imported using Import Agent.) If an electronic file or PDF has been imported into the repository without text generated, or if you need to update the text, you can manually generate text.

To do so, select the document in the folder browser. Click the More button ( The More button, three vertical dots. ) and select Generate Text. If the document already has pages, you will be prompted to confirm that you want to overwrite those existing pages.

Note: Text cannot be generated for documents with pages but without an electronic file or PDF portion if they are already in the repository.

The text generation process runs in the background and results may not be immediately available. Larger documents may be processed in chunks. For documents under version control, you may see several versions created as text is generated.

Working with Document Summaries

When working with documents in the repository, users may want to quickly verify that they have found the correct document in the repository without needing to open and read it. Document summarization, powered by Laserfiche AI, allows you to generate a summary of the document that can be viewed when browsing in the folder browser or when viewing documents in the document viewer. The summary can also be included when generating a URL for a document or sending a document via email.

Document summarization is supported for imaged documents, PDFs, Office documents, and audio and video files. It requires text pages; when running summarization on a document without text pages, Laserfiche will attempt to generate them. If a file is an audio or video file, it must be transcribed before it can be summarized. See Working with Audio and Video Files for more information.

Security Considerations

Users must have the following rights on the documents they are working with to use document summaries:

Create a summary: Append Data entry access right
View a summary: Read and See Through Redactions entry access rights
Re-create a summary on a document that already has one: Modify Contents entry access right
Delete a summary: Delete Document Pages entry access right

Creating a Document Summary

To generate a document summary, do one of the following:

Select or open the document and then select the Summary tab in the right-hand pane. Select the Create Summary button.
Select or open the document and then select the More Actions button on the toolbar. Select Create Summary.

This will start an automatic summarization process. If the document later changes, the summary will not be automatically updated; see Re-creating a Document Summary, below, for more information.

Note: Document summarization can only be performed on individual documents. It cannot be performed on folders or on multiple documents at once.

Note: As document summarization requires text pages in the document, text will be generated if it has not been generated before.

Viewing a Document Summary

To view an existing summary on a document, select the document in the folder browser or open it in the document viewer. In the right-hand pane, select the Summary tab, where the summary will appear.

Deleting a Document Summary

To delete an existing summary on a document, do one of the following:

Select or open the document and then select the Summary tab on the right-hand pane. Select the Delete icon above the summary.
Select or open the document and then select the More Actions button on the toolbar. Select Delete Summary.

Note: Deleting a summary cannot be undone; the summary will not be sent to the recycle bin. However, a new summary can be generated.

Re-creating a Document Summary

When a document is updated in the repository, the summary will not be automatically updated. To update it based on new or changed content, you can re-create the summary. To do so, do one of the following:

Select or open the document and then select the Summary tab on the right-hand pane. Select the Create Summary icon above the summary.
Select or open the document and then select the More Actions button on the toolbar. Select Create Summary.

Note: Re-creating a summary cannot be undone.

Copying a Summary when Generating a Document URL

When generating a URL to a document to share with other users, you can optionally include the document summary to provide additional context. To do so, select the document in the folder browser or open it in the document viewer. In the right-hand pane, select the Summary tab, and then select the Copy URL with Summary icon.

Including a Summary when Sending a Document via Email

When sending a document or documents via email, you can also include a summary to provide a brief overview of the shared documents by selecting the Include Summary option in the Email Basket dialog box. For more information, see Sharing, Downloading, and Printing Documents.

Administering Document Summaries

Document summarization is enabled by default on Laserfiche Cloud repositories. Administrators with the Manage Repository Configuration privilege can choose to disable it for the entire repository. This will hide all existing summaries and will prevent users from creating new ones. However, if you re-enable document summarization, existing summaries will be displayed and will not need to be re-generated.

To disable or enable document summarization for the repository, open Repository Administration for your repository. In the General tab, select Show Advanced. In the Summary option, select or clear Allow document summarization using Laserfiche AI.

To view the number of summaries you can create from documents, open Account Administration and select the Plan tab. You can view the number of summaries you can generate each year in the Overview section. Under Usage, you can view the number of document summaries you can generate.

Known Issues

Users without the See Through Redactions entry access right for a document will not be able to view the summary for that document even if it contains no redactions.
If a document contains words in multiple languages, it may generate a summary in either of those languages, even if there is only one word in one of the languages. If this happens, you can re-create the summary to try again.
Summaries will be based on the first 10,000 words of the document.
If you are creating a summary for a document that does not contain text pages, text pages will first be generated. This may cause the summarization to fail because text page generation was not yet finished. If this happens, wait a few minutes and try again.