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A document didn't get read, or the text looks wrong

Most documents are read without a hitch. When one is not, the matter’s Documents shows you so — and there is usually a quick way forward.

If Cedent could not read a document, it flags the file as one it was unable to read. Cedent retries once on its own; if it still cannot read the document, it stops and leaves the flag.

What to do: Open the document and choose Process to try again (or use the Retry option on the status strip when several files failed). A passing network hiccup or a momentary service issue usually clears on a retry.

Even when a document cannot be read, you can still download and view the original — only its searchable text is missing.

  • An unusual format Cedent cannot read the text from. The file is still stored and downloadable.
  • A very large or complex file — a several-hundred-page scanned PDF, say — can exceed the time allowed to read it.
  • A momentary service problem, which a retry resolves.
  • A corrupted file that cannot be opened. If you have a clean copy, upload that.

Cedent expands zip files and reads what is inside. If an archive is password-protected, unusually large, or otherwise cannot be opened safely, Cedent flags it for your review rather than failing silently — any files it did manage to open still appear in the matter.

Reading scanned pages is not perfect on faint, handwritten, or low-resolution documents. The original file is always kept untouched, so when the read-through looks off, rely on the original — open it from the document to read it directly.

I clicked Process but nothing happened — am I allowed to retry? Re-reading a document is available to people who can edit the matter. If you have view-only access to a matter, ask a colleague with edit access to retry it.

A document keeps failing after retries. You can still download and use the original. If its contents need to be searchable, try uploading a cleaner copy or a different format of the same document.