Extract tables from PDFs and images into Mammoth

Before you start

• Upload the PDF or image to your Data Library first (see Upload files).
• Mammoth reads the document with AI. By default it uses Mammoth's own key, and the pages count toward your plan's monthly allowance of extracted pages. You can pick your workspace's own OpenAI key instead (see Choose which AI key reads the file).
• Scanned PDFs need clear image quality. Low-resolution scans give poor results.
• Password-protected PDFs are supported. After upload, Mammoth shows "Access to this file is protected by a password". Enter the File password and submit. Once it is accepted, the normal extraction flow continues.

Supported PDF and image file types

Open the uploaded file for extraction

Once the upload completes, the file appears in the Data Library. Click its row to open the preview panel on the right. You see "We need your input before we process this file" and a card that says "Extract the Data from the file to access it:" with an Extract Data button.

Choose which AI key reads the file

The top of the Review data import window says which key reads the document:

• With no key of your own, it says "Reading with Mammoth's own AI key." with an Add your own key link. The link opens Add External API Key, where you paste an OpenAI key.
• With one or more OpenAI keys in the workspace, it shows Reading with and a menu. Pick Mammoth's own key or one of your keys. Each key shows its model, such as Model: gpt-4o. Add new key adds another.

Only OpenAI keys can read PDFs and images. When you change the key after an extraction, Mammoth says "Key changed. Run the extraction again to see the results."

Choose what to import from the PDF

1. Click Extract Data. The Review data import window opens, with your file name and type under the title and the file on the left.
2. Under What to import, choose an option from the table below.
3. Click Extract.

Custom shows a text box with the placeholder "Describe what to import from this PDF…". Under TRY: you can click a suggestion to fill the box: Convert all content into tables or Extract existing tables only. Extract stays disabled until you write an instruction, and Mammoth shows "Describe what to import first".

Extraction never starts on its own, because reading the document takes time and uses AI pages or your own key's quota.

Write a good extraction instruction

Tips:

• State expected data types: "total amount (numeric)", "date (MM/DD/YYYY format)".
• Use the exact field names you want as column names.
• Mention the page number if the data is on one page.
• If the result isn't right, change what to import and extract again. You don't need to re-upload the file.

More example instructions:

• Invoices: "Extract invoice number, vendor name, invoice date, due date, and total amount from this supplier invoice"
• Reports: "Extract the department name, report period, and all KPI values from this monthly performance report"
• Forms: "Extract applicant name, years of experience, current employer, and desired salary"
• Bank statements: "Extract statement date, beginning balance, ending balance, total deposits, and total withdrawals"
• Contracts: "Extract party names, effective date, contract value, and termination clause from this agreement"
• Research tables: "Extract all data from the results table on page 3, include the variable name, N, mean, and standard deviation columns"

Review the extracted tables

While Mammoth reads the document, it shows progress such as "Processing PDF - Page 3 of 10". When it finishes, the right pane lists the detected tables under What to import: and the option you chose, such as What to import: Only tables. For Custom, your prompt appears next to it.

Each detected table has:

• a checkbox to include or exclude it;
• the label Table 1 (and so on), with the page it came from and its column and row counts;
• a preview of its data when you click it.

The pane header shows how many tables Mammoth found, or "2 of 5 selected" when there are several.

Not what you wanted? Click the pencil icon (Change what to import) to go back to the options, then extract again.

Save the tables as datasets

1. Select the tables you want to keep.
2. Click Looks right. Mammoth opens the Save dataset step (Save 3 datasets if you selected three tables).
3. Name the dataset and choose how it refreshes (see below).
4. Click Create dataset, or Create dataset + automation when you set up automatic refresh. Click Back to return to the tables.

With one table selected, the name comes from the file name. Click the pencil icon to rename it. You can choose how it refreshes:

With several tables selected, Mammoth lists the tables to import, and one set of instructions produces all the datasets.

If a new file looks different from the one you saved, Mammoth pauses the update and asks you, so your data is never changed silently.

Add tables to datasets from an earlier PDF

When the tables have the same columns as tables you read from an earlier PDF in this project, the save step says so (for example, "These look like the 3 tables you read from invoice_2026-09.pdf.") and offers:

When Mammoth can recognise later files by their name, the save step also offers, for example, Do this automatically for new invoice_… files: "Watches Invoices for new PDFs with names like this. A file that doesn't fit waits for you."

Delete the PDF once its tables are saved

In the footer of the review window, the Delete file after tables are converted into datasets checkbox removes the source file from your Data Library once the datasets exist. Use it to keep your library tidy when you process many files.

Each selected table becomes a separate dataset. It works like any other Mammoth dataset: you can transform, view, share and connect it to pipelines.

Read the next PDF the same way

When you upload a PDF that looks like one you already read in this project (Mammoth recognises it by its name), its panel leads with that earlier read instead of Extract Data:

• Looks like invoice_2026-09.pdf, with "You read that one on Oct 2 with:" and your earlier instruction;
• "Read this one the same way and add its rows to:" and the target datasets, with their rows and columns;
• "Uses about 4 AI pages."

The result is one of these:

Automate extraction for new PDFs

After a PDF is read the same way, Mammoth may ask Next time, do this without asking?, for example "When a new PDF named like invoice_… lands in Invoices, read it the same way and add it to these 3 datasets." "If a file doesn't fit, it waits for you and you're told."

The offer needs the Dataset Refresh feature on your plan. Mammoth doesn't offer it when files like this are already automated.

Download tables from the free PDF-to-CSV tool

When you claim tables from Mammoth's free PDF-to-CSV tool, you land in a Data Library folder named after the PDF. The tables arrive one by one. A banner shows progress, for example "Getting your 12 tables ready" and "4 of 12 ready. Each one opens here when it is done." After more than 10 minutes, it says "This is taking longer than usual. The tables appear here when they are ready."

When the tables are ready ("Your 12 tables are ready"), the banner's main button depends on whether the tables share their columns. More ways to download lists the other shapes.

To download or share a single table, choose One table at a time. The tables are ordinary datasets, so you can keep working on them in Mammoth.

If a table couldn't be made, the banner says "1 table could not be added." The banner stays for the browser tab you landed in, and goes away after a day.

Limits

See Limits and quotas.

Troubleshooting PDF extraction

Related

• Upload files: upload the PDF or image first.
• Review how Mammoth reads a file: the same review window for messy files and recipes.
• Add or replace data in a dataset: add a new PDF to a dataset, replaying its recipe.
• Combine incoming data: folder automations for new files.
• Limits and quotas: page limits and plan allowances.