How do I build a chronological timeline from a folder of PDFs?

What the tool extracts

For each file, it identifies the most relevant date — a letter’s date, an invoice date, an event described in the text — plus a short summary of what the document is. Sorted chronologically, that turns a folder of loose exhibits or records into a chronology you can actually read.

Where it is used

• Litigation chronologies — order exhibits, correspondence, and records by date.
• Compliance audits — reconstruct the sequence of submissions and approvals.
• Project histories — line up change orders, RFIs, and reports over a job’s life.

Files stay in place

PDF Timeline reads folders through the browser’s File System Access API — the files are read where they sit, not uploaded to a server. For legal and medical material, local processing is the difference between usable and unusable.

Refining the output

The CSV export is a starting point: correct the dates a parser would reasonably get wrong (a document about May that was signed in June), add columns for custodian or exhibit number, and import it into Excel or your case-management system.