How do I decide which document types need separate extractors?

Direct answer

A separate extractor is useful when the business meaning of the document changes, not merely because the layout is different.

If documents need different fields, row structures, validation rules, review queues, or export destinations, they likely deserve separate extractors or workflow branches.

When one extractor is enough

If many senders provide the same kind of document with the same required fields, one extractor with good instructions and validation may be easier to maintain than many templates.

Use classification to route truly different documents and custom instructions to handle variations within the same document type.

How Lido helps

Lido can classify documents and route them to different extractors while still allowing similar documents to share a common schema.

That helps teams avoid both extremes: one overloaded extractor for everything or hundreds of unnecessary templates.

Example workflow

1. Compare the required fields for each document type.
2. Check whether validation, review, or export requirements differ.
3. Use one extractor for layout variation within the same business document type.
4. Use separate extractors or workflow branches for materially different document types.