Can batch text extraction support a CLM migration project?

Yes, as a preprocessing step for contracts that are native digital PDFs. Extracted text can be imported into most CLM platforms as the searchable content layer. Scanned contracts require OCR processing before extraction and should be handled separately.

How should I handle a contract portfolio that mixes digital and scanned PDFs?

Process the batch through Deliteful first — digital PDFs will produce full text output, scanned PDFs will produce empty or near-empty files. Use the empty outputs as a list of documents that need OCR before they can be migrated.

Will contract metadata like party names and dates be present in the extracted text?

All embedded text is extracted, so party names, dates, and signature block information that appears as text in the PDF will be present in the output. Metadata stored in PDF document properties is not included in the plain-text extraction.

What is the maximum portfolio size per batch job?

Up to 50 files or 2 GB per batch. For large contract portfolios, process in sequential batches of 50. Standard executed contract PDFs are typically under 5 MB each, so 50 per batch is an efficient cadence.

Extract Text from Contract Portfolios for Legal Operations Platforms

Legal operations teams migrating contracts into CLM platforms or building matter analytics dashboards are blocked by the same upstream problem: PDFs that cannot be ingested as searchable text without extraction preprocessing. Deliteful processes up to 50 contract and legal PDFs per batch, producing the plain-text layer that CLM imports, obligation trackers, and legal analytics tools require as input.

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A mid-sized company legal department managing 2,000 executed contracts in a shared drive has a searchability problem if those contracts are PDFs without text layers. Migrating to a contract lifecycle management platform like Ironclad, Icertis, or Conga requires either native PDF ingestion with built-in OCR (expensive at scale) or preprocessing the portfolio into text before import. Batch text extraction handles the preprocessing step for any contracts that were originally created as digital PDFs — which represents the majority of agreements executed in the last decade.

Legal ops workflows often require extracting text not just from contracts but from the broader matter document set: engagement letters, outside counsel guidelines, court filings, and regulatory correspondence. Deliteful handles all of these in the same batch job, with per-file output preserving the document identity needed for matter-level attribution in legal analytics platforms.

How it works

1
Export contract PDFs from your current repository
Pull the relevant contract set or matter documents from your shared drive, DMS, or legacy CLM for batch processing.
2
Upload up to 50 PDFs per batch
Add contracts, engagement letters, court documents, or any legal PDFs with embedded selectable text.
3
Import extracted text into your CLM or analytics platform
Download per-file .txt outputs and feed into your target system for search indexing, obligation extraction, or matter analytics.

Frequently asked questions

Can batch text extraction support a CLM migration project?: Yes, as a preprocessing step for contracts that are native digital PDFs. Extracted text can be imported into most CLM platforms as the searchable content layer. Scanned contracts require OCR processing before extraction and should be handled separately.
How should I handle a contract portfolio that mixes digital and scanned PDFs?: Process the batch through Deliteful first — digital PDFs will produce full text output, scanned PDFs will produce empty or near-empty files. Use the empty outputs as a list of documents that need OCR before they can be migrated.
Will contract metadata like party names and dates be present in the extracted text?: All embedded text is extracted, so party names, dates, and signature block information that appears as text in the PDF will be present in the output. Metadata stored in PDF document properties is not included in the plain-text extraction.
What is the maximum portfolio size per batch job?: Up to 50 files or 2 GB per batch. For large contract portfolios, process in sequential batches of 50. Standard executed contract PDFs are typically under 5 MB each, so 50 per batch is an efficient cadence.