Combined vs separate files
Export one file per document or merge a multi-document import into a single PDF.
When you import a stack that holds several documents, Scanix can file each one as its own PDF or merge the whole batch into a single searchable PDF. You choose which on the output, and this page shows where the setting lives and what each choice produces.
Before you start
This choice only affects a Searchable PDF output. It governs how a multi-document import is filed — for example a folder of ten invoices, or one PDF that Scanix split into several documents. A single document is filed the same way either way, so the setting only changes anything when there is more than one document in the batch.
If your output is set to a different document format (Original File, TIFF, JPEG, or PNG), the filing control doesn't apply and you'll always get one file per document.
Choose how documents are filed
The control lives on the output, inside the template.
Open the output's filing setting
Open the template that runs the batch, go to its Output section, and find the Searchable PDF output you want to change. On that output, look for the Filing (multi-document imports) dropdown.
Only on Searchable PDF outputs
The Filing (multi-document imports) dropdown appears only on a Searchable PDF output. Combining is meaningless for single-image formats, so for TIFF, JPEG, and PNG it isn't shown and each document is filed on its own.
Pick one file per document, or one combined file
Choose between the two options:
- One file per document (standard) — the default. Each document in the import becomes its own PDF, named from the output's filename pattern.
- Combine all into a single file — every imported document is merged into one PDF, with the documents in import order and each document's pages in page order.
A helper line under the dropdown spells out the current choice as you switch between them, so you can confirm the behavior before you save.
Save the template and run the batch
Save the template, then run your multi-document import through it the usual way. The next export honors the filing choice: separate PDFs land in the destination folder side by side, or a single combined PDF is written in their place.
What each choice produces
You get one PDF per imported document. Each file is named independently from the output's filename pattern, so tokens like ${filename} and any captured index-field value resolve per document. This is the right choice when every document is delivered or filed on its own — one invoice, one file.
You get a single PDF. Its pages are concatenated in document order, then page order within each document. The combined file is named from the same filename pattern, but a few tokens behave differently because the file now stands for the whole batch rather than one document:
${counter}resolves to the document count — how many documents went into the merge.${filename}has no single source document to draw from, so it falls back to a source name for the whole batch.- Index-field tokens (a
${FieldName}) don't resolve to a single value across the merge, so prefer a fixed name plus${date}for combined files.
See File naming patterns for the full token list.
Screenshot
A Searchable PDF output card in the template's Output section, with the Filing (multi-document imports) dropdown open showing One file per document (standard) and Combine all into a single file, and the helper line beneath it. — shot export-combined-files-01
The combined index file
If the output also writes a metadata sidecar — a CSV, XML, or JSON index file — Scanix adapts it to match the filing choice.
For separate PDFs, each document gets its own sidecar. For a combined PDF, you get one aggregate index instead: a single CSV, XML, or JSON file with exactly one record per document and page across the entire merge. So a combined PDF of twelve invoices ships with one PDF and one index file that lists every invoice — handy for loading the whole batch into another system in one step.
Every document is kept
The combined PDF never drops a document. If one source page can't be built as a searchable page, Scanix falls back to embedding it as an image so the page — and the document — still ships. Those image-only pages just aren't searchable; re-run OCR for full coverage.
Combining across document types in a job group
A single template merges everything into one file. A job group takes a different approach for mixed batches: instead of one combined file, it can sort the output by document type as it files.
On the group's Export tab, the Per-type subfolders toggle (on by default) files each routed type into its own subfolder — for example …/Invoices, …/Receipts, and …/Unrecognized. That keeps a mixed stack organized on disk the same way it was organized in the review buckets, rather than flattening everything into one file. Use a template's Combine all into a single file when you want one merged PDF; use a job group's per-type subfolders when you want each type filed separately.
Troubleshooting
Next steps
Export overview
Outputs, formats, destinations, and what 'done' means across the three export channels.
Run a job group
Sort a mixed batch by type with per-type subfolders instead of one merged file.