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Definition Editor, click Project > Document Definitions…, then select the definition name and click
Edit….
To create a new definition, click Projects > Document Definitions... and, in the dialog box that opens,
click New…. The Document Definition Creation Wizard will open. In the Create New Document
Definition window, you can specify the main properties of the definition: the name, comment, language
and style. Then set the text type: select ICR (for hand-printed text) or OCR (for machine-printed text) from
the dropdown list. Later, it will be possible to change the text type for individual fields, and the type
selected at this stage will be used as default.
Next, you need to load or scan the image serving as a prototype for the Document Definition. (If your
document consists of multiple pages, load the first page for now. To learn how to add additional pages,
refer to the «Creating a Document Definition for Multi-Page Documents»). You can scan the page
(preferably not filled in) or load the image from a file. If you are going to process semi-structured
documents, use a FlexiLayout. Select Load FlexiLayout and enter the path to the FlexiLayout file with the
*.afl extension (the file that was created in ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio). If you were creating a flexible
Document Description, this will be the last step.
If you are creating a fixed Document Definition, the next step is as follows. Select field types to be
automatically found on the image. You can set checkmarks and text entry fields. The best results during
automatic search can be achieved if you use text fields with marking and retangular checkmarks. If entry
fields have no marking, and the checkmarks are to be set against a white background, it is recommended
that you create them manually.
If your form has anchors (static elements of the given form, for example, squares used for identification
and/or matching of a Document Definition), they will be found and automatically marked on the image as
well.
3.1. Creating a Layout
3.1.1. Definition Objects’ Geometric Marking
When all the steps of creating a Document Definition are complete, the loaded image will appear in the
Document Definition Editor window. The image will have fields of the types you selected at the last step
as well as anchors.
Automatic object selection can be carried out later by clicking
and clicking somewhere in the area of
the element you need to select. The element type and loation will be identified automatically.
The Document Definition Editor has a set of easily accessible tools for field and static element marking:
· Field Regions Mode ( ) and
· Static Element Mode ( ).
To create a static element or field manually, you need to select one of these modes by clicking the
corresponding button on the toolbar, and then, clicking and holding the left mouse button, draw a rectangle
around the desired element. You can also hold Shift and left-click somewhere in the object area. In this
case the field or static element region will be defined automatically.
This is the list of tools for creation of different element types: