Create a manual collection using Analyzer in Sign

Last updated on Aug 17, 2026

Create a manual collection to work with files uploaded directly from your local system without connecting to an external content source.

A manual collection contains a set of files you select and manage directly in Analyzer. It does not synchronize with external repositories such as Microsoft SharePoint.

When to use a manual collection

Use a manual collection when you want to:

Work with a specific set of uploaded files.
Test attribute extraction or analysis on a smaller sample.
Perform ad hoc analysis without configuring an external source.
Control which files belong to the collection.

How manual collections work

When you create a manual collection, you:

Create the collection.

Upload one or more supported files.

Allow Analyzer to process the files.

Work with the files after processing completes.

Analyzer adds the uploaded files to the collection for analysis and review. It does not modify the original files.

Create a manual collection

From Home, select Create a Collection.

Enter a name for the collection, and then select Create.

The "Home" page with the "Create a collection" tile highlighted, and the panel to name the new collection exposed.

Upload files to the collection. You can drag and drop files into the upload panel or browse to files on your local system.

Up to 100 files can be uploaded at once. Each file can contain up to 400 pages and be up to 150 MB.
- Excel and CSV files can be up to 5 MB.
You can skip this process at this time and add files later.

Select Add to start the upload.

Upload files to collection panel with an inset showing the same panel populated with selected files ready to upload. — Add files by dragging them into the upload panel or browsing your local system, then review the selected files before uploading them to the collection.

Select the attributes you want to extract from the files in this collection.

You can select the group to all attributes in the group, or expand the group and select specific attributes.

Select Apply when done.

You can also skip this step and associate attributes later.

Choose Attributes panel showing available attributes that can be selected for a new collection. — Select the attributes you want Analyzer to extract and display for documents in the new collection.

Analyzer processes the files automatically and displays upload progress.

The upload tracker highlighting how man y documents are left to be uploaded.

When processing completes, refresh the page to display the uploaded files in the collection.

The tracker displaying the "Completed" notice and the button to refresh the page.

Note

By default, Analyzer does not extract data from hidden or very hidden sheets in Excel files. To enable extraction from hidden and very hidden sheets for your organization, contact your Adobe account manager.

The setting applies only to files uploaded after Adobe enables the feature.

The collection then appears in Collections and is ready to use.