Document Capture

  • Create powerful capture tasks for workflow automation including scanning, metadata extraction, and document indexing.
  • Share capture tasks throughout your organization to capture data uniformly.
  • Extract and automatically index metadata from your files including PDF forms, Microsoft Word forms, email, and XMP.
  • High-speed, native scanning on Macintosh and Windows, fully integrated, and never a per-page scanning fee.
  • Use OCR to extract fielded information from scanned images.
  • Built-in automated tools to detect blank pages, auto size, and deskew.
  • Optional OCR Pro and Forms module to automatically recognize different forms and extract information.

How Document Capture Works

Capture Tasks

A Capture Task is a collection of Scanner Setups, Destinations, Metadata Extraction Setups, Messages and Capture Scripts that define exactly how a document should be scanned or processed and where it will be saved or sent. A Capture Task can be saved and re-used as needed.

Each type of document we encounter during day-to-day business has a strong tendency to be processed in the same way. For example, when you receive an invoice, you might pay the invoice and file it for future reference. Or perhaps you generate invoices to several customers and wish to email each invoice to the client and file a copy on your computer. Or perhaps you are a lawyer working a case with a distant colleague. For every document you receive on discovery, you might wish to email a copy to your colleague, generate a hard copy printout, and keep an electronic copy on your computer.

With Optix and Capture Tasks, you can quickly and easily create a Capture Task for each type of document you encounter. Then, simply by scanning or dropping a file onto the Capture Task, the document or form may be scanned, auto-indexed, saved to disk, placed into a workflow, archived to the Optix Server, emailed, or otherwise distributed to your specifications. Optix is designed to eliminate the drudge work connected with processing your documents, so you can concentrate on the job — not the processing. Optix even supports automatic scanning of multiple documents or special handling of certain pages means of inserting Patch Cards between the pages being scanned.

Optix can remember which Capture Tasks you left on the desktop and re-open them when Optix is re-started. This means that the tasks you perform most often are always ready for use.

The steps executed by a Capture Task are predefined and may come built-in to your Optix Workstation or may be created by you as needed. The various types of instructions and the actions they perform are described in the next section below.

Optix Document Capture Tasks and automations for each type of document you may see.
Sample Capture Task (PC)

The Task Item Palette

The Task Item Palette is a handy window that contains all of the Capture Task instructions available for your use. These consist of Scanner Setups, Destinations, Metadata Extraction Setups, Messages and Scripts that define exactly how a document should be scanned or processed. You can create as many new instructions as you need. You can also share your setups with other capture operators or import setups shared by co-workers. The types of instructions that can be created are represented by tab buttons across the top of the Task Item Palette window:

Task item palette PC screenshot example

Task Item Palette (PC)

Document Scanning Software

Scanning digitizes physical documents. Primary scanning parameters include the physical page size, number of pages to be scanned, the desired image depth (black and white, grayscale, color), resolution in dots per inch (DPI), brightness, and contrast. Secondary scanning parameters typically leverage hardware resident scanner features such as double-feed or paper jam detection, scan-ahead (buffering), and auto threshold. Finally, post-scan filters can be applied to improve image quality and include deskew, margin erasure, and auto page cropping. Each page scanned is examined to detect Patch Cards that are used to perform scan-time operations such as document separation and page rotation.

Scanner setup PC screenshot example

Scanner Setup (PC)

Destination

Destination specifies the disposition of a captured document. This can include storage to a server-managed, secure indexed repository, workflow process, or folder, or unmanaged destination such as an FTP folder, printer, fax, or email.

Destination mac setup screenshot example

Destination Setup (Mac)

Data

Use data setup to gathers as much extractable information as possible from the captured document. The available information will vary depending on the document type but may include text recognition using full-page, template, or smart OCR, recognition of 2D and 3D barcodes, extraction of embedded metadata from PDF, Word, or other form types, camera settings and copyright info from digital photos. Each piece of extracted data is added to an XML collection of properties and can be formatted and assigned to target database fields to save manual indexing labor.

Custom capture actions for associated OCR document templates - PC screenshot

Data Setup to OCR Scanned Document (PC)

Messaging

System communication with the capture operator for informational, alarm, or control purposes.

Scripts

Perform custom capture actions such as automated form recognition with subsequent invocation of associated OCR templates for flexible processing of documents such as invoices. Constructed using platform-appropriate language – Visual Basic on Windows workstations and Applescript on Macintosh workstations.