ABBYY FlexiCapture A Guide to Creating Machine-Readable Forms © 2011 ABBYY. All rights reserved.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem Table of Contents What is a Form? ................................................................................................................ 3 Machine–Readable Forms ................................................................................................. 4 Form Completion Methods .................................................................................................................................................................
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem What is a Form? Questionnaires, social security forms, polling slips, warranty cards are all different types of form used to collect different types of information. How do forms differ from other types of documents? 1. A form always has a set number of fields 2. Each field may contain only a certain type of information, e.g. a "Last Name" field contains only last names (if completed correctly) and a "Date" field contains only dates.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem Machine–Readable Forms To be able to read information on the forms, a form–processing application must do the following: 1. 2. Determine the location of form elements. Separate field contents from field borders, text marking, backgrounds, explanatory text, etc. Machine–readable forms enable the program to carry out these tasks. In order for the first task to be carried out successfully, the forms must correspond to the form pattern or template, i.e.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem Checkmark Field A checkmark field is an element of a machine–readable form (usually a square that is called a "check box") in which a mark should be made by the person who completes the form. A checkmark field usually has an accompanying text which explains the use of the checkmark. Possible shapes of checkmark fields are shown in the table below. Square Circle Underline Other shapes are also possible, e.g. polygons, ovals, etc.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem For example, the part of the form where a stamp or signature should be put is a picture. Table A table contains columns with same-type elements. Table columns can contain elements of the following types: ● text; ● entry field; ● date; ● number; checkmark. A table can contain a line with column headers.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem Types of Machine–Readable Form Machine–readable forms are designed with automated input in mind, i.e. the program should be able to easily distinguish between the data to be captured and the non–recognizable form elements, such as field borders, text marking, backgrounds, or explanatory text. This can be achieved in one of two ways: 1.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem ● ● on a non–color scanning using a white lamp and a red or green filter (filtering quality in this case is much lower, as the background may not disappear completely, or field contents may be inadvertently removed); or on a non–color scanner using a white lamp without any filters.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem Criteria Printing Printing Costs Dropout Form Disadvantage Black–and–White Raster Form Disadvantage Advantage Advantage Difficult to print large quantities of good quality forms in–house. If professional printing services are used, printing costs are higher compared with black–and– white forms. Image Size Black–and–White Linear Form Disadvantage Advantage Easy to print in– house. Easy to print in– house.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem General Requirements for Machine–Readable Forms Let us now consider the general requirements a form must meet in order to be machine–readable. Form Background 1. 2. 3. 4. Use dropout forms or forms with raster field borders if possible. Use a color that vanishes during scanning when creating a dropout form. See the list of recommended colors in “Recommended Colors for Dropout Forms”.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem Checkmark Field 1. The recommended field sizes are 3.5x3.5 mm, 4x4 mm, 4.5x4.5 mm, or 5x5 mm (if circular checkmark fields are used, they must fit into squares of recommended sizes). 2. The recommended line width for checkmark field borders is 0.4 mm (irrespective of the size of the field). Text Marking Raster dot size: 1. If the field borders are raster dots, the thickness of the raster line (i.e. the raster size) must be 0.39 pt. 2.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem Print Quality When you print blank forms, keep in mind the following requirements: 1. The forms must be printed either professionally or using a printer. We recommend that color forms be printed professionally. If this is impossible, test the form color on a scanner before starting your print run. 2. All the copies of the form must be printed using the same source document, as the field location on each form must be identical. 3.
ABBY Y Fle xi Cap ture Dynam ic Data C apture Sy stem Recommended Colors for Dropout Forms The table below contains dropout color samples and their corresponding Pantone numbers. These background colors disappear if forms are scanned: ● using any scanner; ● using a color scanner with software red color filtering or using a non–color scanner with a red lamp/red filter © 2011 ABBYY. All rights reserved.
