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INDEXIA BLOG

Indexing Large Documents: Handling 500+ Page Books with Indexia

Indexia Team•

Academic monographs. Technical manuals. Legal document collections. Some books run 500, 800, even 1,000+ pages. Indexing them requires special consideration—both for the AI extraction process and for your own workflow.

Here's how to handle large documents with Indexia.

Understanding Processing Time

Indexia's AI reads and analyzes every page of your document. For a 500-page book, this means:

  • Extraction phase: 15-30 minutes depending on content density
  • Term processing: Additional time for relationship detection
  • Initial load: First render may take a moment with thousands of terms

This is expected behavior. The AI is doing thorough work—and you only wait once.

Best Practices for Large Documents

1. Set Appropriate Page Ranges

Not every page needs indexing. Consider excluding:

  • Title pages and copyright: No indexable content
  • Blank pages: Common in print layouts
  • Pure image pages: Charts, photographs with no text
  • Bibliography pages: Unless you're indexing cited works

Set your start and end pages to focus on substantive content.

2. Use Extraction Instructions

With large documents, targeted extraction becomes even more important. Provide clear guidance:

Focus on: key theoretical concepts, named methodologies, 
important historical figures, technical terminology specific 
to [your field]. Avoid: generic terms, common phrases, 
words that appear on nearly every page.

Better instructions = better initial extractions = less manual cleanup.

3. Consider the Bulk Upload Feature

For extremely large projects or when you need maximum control, use Bulk Upload:

  • Upload page ranges separately
  • Provide extraction instructions per section
  • Monitor processing in stages

Bulk upload is designed for professional indexers working with complex, large-scale documents.

4. Plan for Term Volume

A 500-page book might generate 2,000-4,000 terms initially. Prepare your workflow:

  • Use Groups: AI-detected similarity groups help you process related terms together
  • Work in sections: Focus on one letter or category at a time
  • Use Trim early: If your target is 600 terms, trim to 1,500 first, then refine
  • Take breaks: Large indexes are marathons, not sprints

Optimizing Performance

Browser Considerations

With thousands of terms loaded, browser performance matters:

  • Use a modern browser: Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Safari all work well
  • Close other tabs: Free up memory for Indexia
  • Avoid mobile for editing: Large indexes are best edited on desktop

View Mode Optimization

For very large indexes:

  • Use collapsed groups: Reduces visible elements
  • Index view over Graph view: Lighter rendering for massive term lists
  • Search to navigate: Rather than scrolling through 3,000 terms

Processing in Sections

For books over 800 pages, consider a sectional approach:

Option A: Single Project, Staged Review

  1. Upload the full document
  2. Wait for complete extraction
  3. Review and edit in batches (A-F, G-M, N-S, T-Z)
  4. Use filters to focus on unreviewed terms

Option B: Multiple Projects, Then Merge

  1. Split your PDF into sections (Part I, Part II, etc.)
  2. Create separate projects for each
  3. Review and refine each section
  4. Export and combine for final delivery

Option B gives you faster iteration on each section but requires manual combination.

Memory and Reliability

Indexia automatically saves your work as you edit. For large projects:

  • Edits are saved immediately: No need to manually save
  • Browser crashes recover: Your work persists on our servers
  • Export regularly: Keep local backups of work in progress

Expected Term Counts by Document Length

Rough guidelines for initial AI extraction:

| Document Length | Expected Terms | After Curation | |----------------|----------------|----------------| | 100-200 pages | 800-1,500 | 300-500 | | 200-400 pages | 1,500-3,000 | 500-800 | | 400-600 pages | 2,500-4,500 | 700-1,000 | | 600-800 pages | 3,500-6,000 | 900-1,200 | | 800+ pages | 4,000-8,000+ | 1,000-1,500 |

These vary significantly by content density and extraction settings.

When to Use "Highly Detailed" Extraction

For academic or technical documents where comprehensive term coverage matters, select "Highly Detailed" extraction:

  • Captures more specialized terminology
  • Identifies more proper nouns
  • Generates more subentry candidates
  • Results in higher initial term counts (plan for more curation)

For general nonfiction, "Default" extraction usually suffices.

Getting Help

Working with an especially challenging large document? Contact us for guidance. We've helped users index:

  • 1,200-page technical manuals
  • Multi-volume academic series
  • Legal document collections
  • Historical archives

Large document indexing is what Indexia was built for.

Ready to index your large document? Start your project and let the AI do the heavy lifting.