Convert supplier price lists from PDF to Excel

What a usable price-list extract looks like

Most working files need more than a wall of text. They need a stable product identifier, a description people recognise, the pack the price refers to, and a unit price that is actually a unit price. Linework’s columns are:

• SKU / product code
• Description
• Pack size
• Unit price
• Currency

Source page stays attached so you can jump back to the PDF when a number looks off. Codes are exported as text. That matters for SKUs with leading zeros or mixed letters and digits.

Practical uses

Teams use a reviewed price-list spreadsheet for procurement comparisons, supplier onboarding, preparing data before an ERP load, assembling an ecommerce catalogue file, and day-to-day wholesale data management. Linework stops at the spreadsheet. It does not load an ERP, does not sync a PIM, and does not publish a store.

How conversion works for price lists

Open the converter and choose the PDF, or start from the sample list to see the path. Confirm the header—suppliers often put legal text above the real column titles. Map unit price, not a line total or a recommended retail column, unless that is the figure you want. Set decimal comma or decimal point to match the document. European lists commonly use 1.234,56.

Then review. Strike section banners, carriage-paid notes and category subtotals. If a description wraps onto a second line without a code or price, merge it into the row above on the same page. Mark each remaining product checked.

Scans, multi-page lists and missing rows

Some suppliers send a scan of a printed list. Automatic mode will OCR pages with almost no text; otherwise choose OCR on every page. English, upright, reasonably sharp scans work best. Check every code and price. A 20-page OCR cap applies. Multi-page text lists up to 50 pages can be read in one pass when they stay inside 15 MB and 3,000 candidate rows. If products vanish after a repeated header, re-check the header mapping. The sample walk-through shows a clean two-page list.

Related converters

If the file is more catalogue than list, use PDF catalogue to Excel. If you only have a generic table, start at PDF table to Excel. For scans, see scanned PDF to Excel. Processing stays local; read without upload.

Pack sizes, units and what the price actually buys

A unit price without a pack is incomplete. “12,50” for olive oil is a different commercial fact if the pack is 1 litre or 6 × 1 litre. Keep pack size in its own column. Do not divide or multiply in Linework to invent an each-price; do that later in your own sheet if your process requires it, and keep the original pack price for audit.

The same caution applies to tax. Many lists say “excluding VAT” in the letterhead and never again. That note will not become a tax column. If you need net and gross, add them after export. Currency is a label on the row, not a live rate.

Comparing suppliers without a batch tool

This version converts one PDF at a time. To compare two suppliers, export two reviewed workbooks and match on product code in Excel or in your own system. Codes will only match if both lists use the same identifier. Descriptions alone are a weak key: “EVOO 1L” and “Extra virgin olive oil 6×1 L” can be the same item. Keep source page so you can settle disagreements by opening the original list, not by arguing about a cell.

Onboarding a new supplier is the same workflow with more deletion: opening paragraphs, delivery terms and “prices valid until” lines are not products. Remove them before you mark rows checked. The checked gate is there so a hurried export does not become a purchase file.

Frequently asked questions