Everything Sqrted does, and how to drive it

Getting started

Three things have to line up: a folder your scanner drops PDFs into, a folder those documents should end up in, and barcodes that say where each document belongs.

1. Install and open Sqrted. It runs immediately, with no signup.
2. Add a source folder with + Add, then pick the destination root when prompted.
3. Put a batch of scans in that folder and press Dry run to see what would happen.
4. Press Run when the preview looks right.

How barcodes become paths

A barcode value is read as a path relative to the destination root. Forward slashes become folders, and the last segment becomes the file name.

Missing folders are created automatically. The .pdf extension is added if the barcode does not already end in one. Characters Windows will not accept in a file name are removed, and a value that tries to climb outside the destination root (with .., for example) is rejected and sent to the error folder.

If your barcodes are plain identifiers rather than paths, see routing rules, which turn them into paths for you.

Where the split happens

A new document begins at every page carrying a barcode and runs until the page before the next one. In a six page batch with barcodes on pages 1, 3 and 5, you get three two page documents. The barcode page is kept as page 1 of its document unless you turn that off.

Pages that appear before the first barcode have no destination, so they go to the error folder as <name>_leading-pages.pdf rather than being guessed at.

The main window

Source folders

A source folder is somewhere your scanner drops files. Each one carries its own destination and its own settings, which is what lets one machine file the depot's paperwork, the workshop's dockets and head office invoices to three completely different places.

Settings live in a small _sqrted.json file inside the source folder, not in the app. Copy that folder to another machine and its configuration goes with it.

Dry run

Dry run does everything a real run does except write. Pages are rendered, barcodes decoded, destinations resolved, name clashes worked out. Then it shows you the result and stops.

Use it whenever something is new or uncertain:

• The first batch from a new scanner or a new operator.
• After changing routing rules, to confirm the paths come out right.
• When a document did not file as expected and you want to see what Sqrted reads.

Running, and reading the results

Pressing Run processes each source folder in turn. For every file it:

1. Waits until the file is finished being written, retrying if the scanner still has it open.
2. Renders and reads each page.
3. Splits the batch at every barcode.
4. Writes each document to its destination, creating folders as needed.
5. Moves the original into processed.

The results tree

Three levels: the run, then each input file, then each document produced. Colours carry meaning.

Double-click any row to open that file in Explorer.

When a file already exists

Sqrted never silently overwrites. Choose per destination in Configure:

Configure a destination

Select a source folder and press Configure. Everything here applies to that folder alone.

Routing rules

Rules exist for the common case where your barcodes are already printed and are plain identifiers, not paths. A rule matches a barcode with a regular expression and builds a path from it. One rule per line:

^(\d{5})$  =>  PODs/%YEAR-%MONTH/POD-{1}

That turns barcode 44821 into PODs/2026-08/POD-44821. Rules are tried in order and the first match wins. If nothing matches, the barcode is used as the path, which is the normal behaviour.

What you can use in a template

Worked examples

A rule can also be marked to send matching documents straight to the error folder, which is handy for a barcode range you know should never be filed automatically.

Lookup tables

When the mapping cannot be expressed as a pattern, use a lookup table: a CSV or TSV with the barcode value in the first column and its destination in the second.

SHEET-001,Contracts/ACME/Supply-agreement
SHEET-002,Contracts/Bell/Service-agreement
DKT-8841,Workshop/2026/Job-8841

The table is applied first, and the result then goes through the routing rules, so the two work together. The path can be absolute or relative to the source folder, and the file is re-read at the start of every run, so you can maintain it in Excel without restarting anything.

Tick Send documents to the error folder when the barcode is not in the table to make the table authoritative, which is the right choice when only known documents should ever be filed.

Recognition and file types

Barcode types

QR and Code 128 are on by default. Also available: Code 39, Code 93, DataMatrix, PDF417, EAN-13, EAN-8, UPC-A, UPC-E, Codabar, ITF and Aztec. Turn off the ones you do not use, which is both faster and less likely to misread something.

Reading effort

When a page does not read first time, Sqrted retries it with progressively harder processing: contrast stretching, then black and white conversion, then inversion for white-on-black labels.

Resolution

300 dpi suits nearly every scan. Raising it can rescue very small barcodes at the cost of speed; lowering it is faster but starts losing fine detail. Change it only if dry runs show pages that will not read.

File types

PDF and TIFF, including the CCITT Group 3 and Group 4 fax compressions that copiers and older capture systems produce. Multi-page TIFF is split the same way as PDF. Output is PDF by default; choose keep the original format if TIFF must stay TIFF.

Separator sheets

Press Separators to make the sheets you put in front of each document. Type one destination per line, or paste a CSV exported from another system.

Write path,title,subtitle to put your own heading on a sheet, which helps whoever is standing at the scanner:

PODs/2026-08/POD-44821,Proof of delivery,Job 44821 - Northern run

Choose 1, 2 or 4 sheets per page. Full page sheets are easiest for the scanner to see and easiest to grab from a pile; four to a page saves paper when you are cutting them up for a job pack.

Run history

Every real run is recorded beside its own source folder, so the record survives closing the app and includes runs the Windows Service did overnight.

The search box filters by folder, file name, barcode value, destination or status, so where did that docket go is one search rather than a hunt through folders.

Unattended running

Two ways to have documents filed without anyone pressing Run. Both need an Unattended seat.

Watch, from the app

Turn on Watch. Sqrted files documents as they arrive for as long as the app is open. Best for a desk where somebody is working anyway.

Watching is enabled per folder in Configure, along with how often to sweep and how long a file must sit unchanged before it counts as finished. That quiet period matters: a scanner writing a large PDF, or OneDrive still syncing one down, should not be grabbed mid-write.

The Windows Service

For a machine that just quietly files documents, install the service. It survives logoff and reboot and needs nobody signed in.

Sqrted.Service.exe --install          register and start it (run as administrator)
Sqrted.Service.exe --add "C:\Scans\Depot A"
Sqrted.Service.exe --list
Sqrted.Service.exe --console          run in the foreground to troubleshoot
Sqrted.Service.exe --uninstall

The installer offers to register the service when run as administrator. Configuration lives in C:\ProgramData\Sqrted\service.json, because a service has no user profile of its own, and problems are written to the Windows Event Log. A folder is only watched if watching is switched on in its own settings.

Alerts

Unattended filing is only trustworthy if failures reach a person. Configure alerts per source folder, by email or webhook.

Email needs an SMTP server, port and credentials; the password is encrypted for the current Windows user rather than stored as text. A webhook is a URL that receives a JSON summary, which Teams, Slack and most other tools accept. Alerts are throttled, so one folder of bad scans cannot flood the channel.

Registration

Sqrted is either registered or not. There is no trial countdown and no expiry.

When the five free documents are used, anything still unfiled is left in the source folder rather than skipped. Register and press Run again and the batch finishes where it left off, with nothing lost.

Seats

Seats are bought against an email address, and registering claims one for the machine you are on. Two kinds exist: Desktop for manual runs, and Unattended which also allows watch mode and the service. It is one application either way; the edition belongs to the seat, not to a separate download.

Moving to another machine: release the seat here first, then register on the new machine with the same email. Documents already filed are untouched.

Command line

sqrted-cli.exe ships alongside the app, for scheduled tasks and scripts. It uses the same engine and the same per-folder settings.

sqrted-cli [--dry-run] <sourceFolder> [<sourceFolder2> ...]
sqrted-cli watch <sourceFolder> [...]
sqrted-cli separators <out.pdf> <destinations.txt> [--per-page 1|2|4]
sqrted-cli make-sample <workspaceFolder>
sqrted-cli status

To file every fifteen minutes with Task Scheduler, point a task at:

"C:\Program Files\Sqrted\sqrted-cli.exe" "C:\Scans\Depot A"

make-sample builds a small working example, with an inbox, a destination and a batch containing three QR separator sheets. It is the quickest way to see the whole thing work.

Files and folders Sqrted creates

results.csv lists every document with its barcode, page range and final path, which makes it easy to feed into a spreadsheet or another system.

Troubleshooting