11.0

ManualsBrandsABBYY ManualsApplicationsFlexiCapture

Table Of Contents

ABBYY FlexiCapture

Dynamic Data Capture System

● 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.

When scanning with a white lamp, some lighter backgrounds can be removed without filtering: the weak saturation of the

background will ensure its disappearance during scanning. In this case, the color and saturation of the background must be

selected by trial–and–error for each particular scanner.

Note. Many color scanners also have software filtering used to filter out blue colors. However, we do not recommend using shades

of blue on your forms, as forms are likely to be completed using not only black but also blue ink. Field contents written in blue ink will

disappear in this case.

Choosing the Right Color

Red–orange colors are preferable to green because they represent the greatest possible contrast to blue, which results in better scan-

ning and recognition quality if the forms are completed using blue ink.

In “Recommended Colors for Dropout Forms” you will find the recommended colors for form processing, i.e. those most likely to

disappear during scanning with almost any scanner. A “dropout” color list for a particular scanner (in Pantone or any other format)

can also be obtained from your scanner manufacturer/dealer.

Black–and–White Forms with Raster Backgrounds

Fields on such forms are simply white spaces (usually rectangles) on a raster background. The background is made up of individual

dots. The recommended size of the dots is no more than 0.1 mm, with the distance between each dot about 1 mm. The size of the dots

and distance between the dots are crucial, because a raster background is removed during despeckling rather than during scanning: the

program will treat the dots as garbage and remove them. Consequently, the dots should not be glued together on scanned images.

Black–and–White Forms with Raster Borders

These forms have no background. All field borders (borders of character cells, checkmark fields and other form elements) are made up

of raster lines, i.e. sequences of small black dots. Raster dot size is usually 0.39–0.5 pt. The recommended size is 0.39 pt, with the dis-

tance between the raster dots being at least five times larger than the dot size. The size of the dots and distance between the dots are

crucial, because a raster background is removed during despeckling rather than during scanning: the program will treat the dots as

garbage and remove them. Consequently, the dots should not be glued together on scanned images.

Black–and–White Linear Forms

These forms usually have no background. All field borders (character cells, checkmark fields and other form elements) are made up of

solid black lines. Field borders do not disappear as a result of scanning or despeckling.

Note. Forms of this type must be completed very neatly. If the forms are completed carelessly, letters may overlap the field borders,

thus reducing recognition quality. This is because whenever the field content overlaps the field borders, it is extremely difficult for the

application to separate the borders from the text. Ideally, the entered text should not touch upon the field borders.

Choosing the Right Type of Form

Besides the design and processing requirements for each type of form, other criteria also need to be taken into consideration when

choosing a form type: printing costs and methods, the number of copies required, the resulting image size, scanning modes, the re-

quired degree of recognition accuracy, form processing speed, overall appearance of the forms, how neatly they will be completed, etc.

The table below summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of each form type.

Criteria

Dropout Form

Black–and–White Raster Form

Black–and–White Linear Form

Disadvantage

Advantage

Disadvantage

Advantage

Disadvantage

Advantage

Design

Complexity

Easy to design using

any graphics editor.

Text editors offer

limited tools for

designing this type

of form. The size of

raster dots is

crucial.

Easy to design

using any graph-

ics editor