Methods and systems for transforming at least a portion of a physical document into digital data. One method includes obtaining a first plurality of data items automatically extracted from a first physical document and a validated value for a data field. The method also includes automatically identifying a first linked data item included in the first plurality of data items that is linked to the validated value and setting a physical position included in a rule to the physical position of the first linked data item. In addition, the method includes obtaining a second plurality of data items automatically extracted from a second physical document and automatically identifying a candidate data item included in the second plurality of data items based on the rule. Furthermore, the method includes automatically populating a value for the data field for the second physical document based on the candidate data item.