> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.abbyy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Skill Designer overview

> Use the ABBYY Vantage Skill Designer to create, train, and deploy Classification, Document, OCR, and Process skills for document processing.

The **Skill Designer** is the cloud-based core of ABBYY Vantage for creating, training, and deploying document processing skills. Use it to build extraction rules, classify documents, and assemble multi-step processing workflows directly from your browser.

<Note>
  Skill Designer is the right tool for most skills. For [Document Splitter skills](/vantage/documentation/advanced-designer/document-splitter/splitter), or for Document skills that need custom activities, scripting, or many varying layouts, use the desktop [Advanced Designer](/vantage/documentation/advanced-designer/introduction) instead.
</Note>

## Types of skills

The Skill Designer supports four types of skills:

| Skill type                                                                                        | Description                                                                                               |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| [Classification skill](/vantage/documentation/skill-designer/classification/classification-skill) | Identifies which type of document you have and routes it to the correct handler.                          |
| [Document skill](/vantage/documentation/skill-designer/document/document-skill)                   | Defines document type layouts and extraction rules for pulling structured data from documents.            |
| [OCR skill](/vantage/documentation/skill-designer/ocr-skill/ocr-skill)                            | Controls text recognition settings such as languages, PDF processing mode, and output format.             |
| [Process skill](/vantage/documentation/skill-designer/process/process-skill)                      | Combines Classification skills, Document skills, and business rules into multi-step processing workflows. |

## How it works

The order below is typical for a Document skill. The exact steps vary by skill type — OCR and Process skills, for example, do not require labeling or model training.

<Steps>
  <Step title="Collect sample documents">
    Gather representative documents of the types you want to process — structured, semi-structured, or unstructured.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Classify documents">
    If you have multiple document types, build a Classification skill to automatically route each document to the right Document skill or extraction step.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Label and annotate fields">
    Define which pieces of data you want extracted by marking fields on your sample documents.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Train the skill">
    Use ABBYY's training pipeline (fast learning or deep learning) to train the extraction model.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Review and validate">
    Use human review to catch low-confidence extractions. Adjust labeling and business rules to improve accuracy.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Publish and deploy">
    Publish the skill so it can be used within business workflows and called via APIs.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Monitor and iterate">
    Track performance metrics and feed new samples to retrain or adjust the skill over time.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## What's next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Classification skill setup" icon="tags" href="/vantage/documentation/skill-designer/classification/classification-skill-setup">
    Configure a Classification skill from scratch to route documents by type.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Document skill setup" icon="file-lines" href="/vantage/documentation/skill-designer/document/set-up">
    Set up a Document skill and define extraction fields for structured data.
  </Card>

  <Card title="OCR skill setup" icon="text-size" href="/vantage/documentation/skill-designer/ocr-skill/set-up-ocr">
    Configure an OCR skill for languages, PDF mode, and output format.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Process skill activities" icon="diagram-project" href="/vantage/documentation/skill-designer/process/process-skill">
    Chain Classification, Document, and OCR skills into a workflow.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>