Importing an agreement from a PDF

Turn the agreement you already use into an editable Eave template, then check the merge fields before you save.

If you already have a pre-inspection agreement, you don't have to retype it. Agreements → Import from PDF reads your existing document and turns it into an editable template.

What to upload

A text-based PDF, TXT, or HTML file — anything exported or "printed to PDF" from a word processor.

A scanned or photographed agreement won't work. Those files are pictures of text, not text, so there's nothing for us to read. If your only copy is a scan, open the original in your word processor and export a fresh PDF, or paste the agreement in by hand instead.

How the conversion works

The conversion is mechanical — there's no AI involved, and nothing is guessed at from context. We read the text out of the document, drop the page headers, footers, and page numbers that repeat on every page, rejoin words that were split across a line break, and then make our best guess at which lines are headings, which are bullet lists, and where each paragraph ends.

A PDF doesn't record any of that structure — it only records where each letter sits on the page — so those are guesses. They're usually close, and occasionally wrong.

Merge fields

We also look for the fill-in spots your agreement already has and convert them to Eave merge fields, which fill in the real details of each inspection automatically. Two kinds are recognized:

  • Placeholders from other software[Client Name], <<Inspector Name>>, %COMPANY NAME%
  • Labeled blanksInspection Fee: ________

Anything we don't recognize is left exactly as it was written, and named for you in the review banner. That's deliberate: this is a legal document, and a wrong guess is worse than no guess.

Review before saving

The imported agreement opens in the editor with a banner listing what we changed and what we couldn't. Nothing is saved until you click Save, so take the time to:

  • Check every merge field landed in the right place. They show up as colored chips.
  • Replace any blanks we missed. Use the merge field buttons above the editor to drop the right one in.
  • Fix any headings that came out wrong — a section title read as a paragraph, or vice versa.
  • Delete the signature block, if your document ends with one. Eave collects the client's signature itself, so you don't need lines to sign on.

Read the whole thing once before saving. And as always, have your attorney review any agreement before you use it with clients.