FormAssist allows you to perform image enhancement on the filled-in form at two locations of the processing workflow:
- Prior to identification on the entire unknown image.
- After dropout or clip on the image clip.
By performing enhancement at these two locations within the workflow, you can improve identification and alignment separately from improving data extraction results.
- Pre-identification enhancement properties are located in the form set Properties View on the ScanFix Xpress tab.
- Clip image enhancement properties are located in the field Properties View on the ScanFix Xpress tab.
When enhancing images, it is important to remember that the term "enhancement" is subjective. An enhancement that makes an image look good may reduce the identification accuracy. For example, changing the brightness or contrast may produce a better-looking image, but can easily reduce identification accuracy. It may also reduce the effectiveness of dropout and OMR.
Form Enhancements to Consider
See the Form Set ScanFix Xpress Properties topic for detailed information on all the form ScanFix Xpress property settings.
- Scanner - The best place to start improving the quality of the images is at the scanner. If that is not possible or doesn't help enough, use the ScanFix Xpress' powerful image enhancement capabilities.
- Deskew - Template images should be deskewed if possible. While deskew is not necessary for filled forms, if they are commonly skewed, deskewing them before sending them to identification can improve accuracy and reduce processing time.
- Cropping - another enhancement to consider is cropping. If images have a large border, removing it may improve identification.
Field Enhancements to Consider
See the ScanFix Xpress Properties topic for detailed information on all the field ScanFix Xpress property settings.
- Line Removal - When bubbles are bounded by lines, OMR improvement can be achieved if line removal is performed on the image as bounding grouped boxes for the bubbles may interfere with bubble identification.
- Comb Removal - Removing combs from a field can greatly improve ICR or OCR results.
- Despeckle - Removing specks from a field can greatly improve OCR and OMR results.
- Smoothing - Smoothing of characters can greatly improve OCR results.
Enhancements to Avoid for Barcode Recognition
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The deskew operation can reduce barcode recognition. Perform recognition of barcodes before applying image enhancements.
