What does automatic document processing actually do to a scan?

It locates the text on the image, transcribes the handwriting, detects the language, and pulls out structured fields — names, dates, places, occupations, witnesses — so the document becomes searchable and attachable to a person instead of being a picture in a folder.

What image quality do I need for good results?

Photograph the whole page flat, in even light, with the text filling the frame and no shadow across it. Resolution matters less than focus and contrast: a sharp phone photo beats a high-resolution scan taken at an angle.

Which languages and scripts are supported?

The major European languages that genealogy records are written in, including Latin parish entries, German Kurrent-style hands, and French, Italian, Spanish, Polish and Scandinavian registers. Unusual regional shorthand is where accuracy drops.

Can it read a printed index as well as handwriting?

Yes, and printed text is the easy case — typeset indexes, newspaper columns and typed military cards transcribe almost perfectly. Handwriting is where the interesting errors live.

How do I check a transcription without re-reading everything?

Verify the fields that will enter your tree — surnames, given names, dates, place names — against the image, and treat the surrounding narrative as context. Those four field types are where an error changes a conclusion.

What happens to documents I upload?

They are stored encrypted against your account, used to produce your transcription and to attach facts to your tree, and are not sold or used to advertise to you. You can delete them, and exporting your tree does not depend on keeping them.

Can it process a multi-page register at once?

Yes — upload the pages together and each is transcribed separately, which is the practical way to work through a family's entries in one parish across several years.

What should I do when the AI misreads a surname?

Correct it on the record and keep the original reading in a note. Both matter later: your correction makes the tree right, and the misread form tells you what to search for in indexes transcribed by someone else.

Vestigee — Automatic Document Processing | Blog

How AI extracts information from your family documents