SmartZone v6.1 for .NET - Updated
SmartZone in a Forms Processing Workflow
Overview > Concepts > SmartZone in a Forms Processing Workflow

A forms processing workflow can be achieved by using FormSuite. FormSuite is a collection of Accusoft components that together fully cover a typical forms processing workflow.

What's Included

Trial versions of Accusoft products include Accusoft components licensed for evaluation.

FormSuite for Structured Forms

SmartZone ICR/OCR

FormDirector

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FormFix

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FormsAPI

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FormAssist application

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SmartZone OCR

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SmartZone ICR

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ScanFix Xpress

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ImagXpress

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NotateXpress

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PDF Xpress

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Overview of the Forms Processing Workflow

While it is not required to use each of these components to process forms, you need to understand the role that each component can play in your forms processing workflow.

The workflow can be divided into the following phases:

  1. FormSet Creation (FormDirector, FormAssist)
  2. Image Acquisition (ImagXpress, PDF Xpress)
  3. Image Enhancement (ScanFix Xpress, ImagXpress)
  4. Form Identification, Alignment, and Dropout (FormDirector, FormFix)
  5. Recognition (SmartZone OCR, SmartZone ICR, FormFix OMR)

These are more options for your forms processing workflow that are not required but can be very helpful:

    A. Presentation (ImagXpress, NotateXpress) 
    B. High Level Forms Processing (FormAssist, FormsAPI)

Component Workflow Matrix

The following table shows where each component falls in the phases of the FormSuite workflow:

1. FormSet Creation

A FormSet is a collection of FormDefinitions where each FormDefinition is representative of a single page form that can be processed. A FormDefinition contains fields which are regions on a page to recognize and extract data from. Each field can have associated with it various recognition and image clean up operations to be carried out at forms processing time. FormSet creation is carried out by either FormDirector or the FormAssist Application:

While you are able to create forms programmatically using the FormDirector API, we recommend using FormAssist to simplify the process.

2. Image Acquisition

The acquisition of filled forms to be processed can be handled by the following FormSuite components:

Otherwise, various image formats are supported and can be processed without the use of these components

3. Image Enhancement

With images of filled forms we want to process, you can perform image enhancements and clean up operations to get the most out of your identification and recognition results.

Although ImagXpress has similar image enhancement options as ScanFix Xpress, we recommend using ScanFix Xpress for enhancement as it is designed primarily for the purpose of cleaning up scanned images.

4. Form Identification, Alignment, and Dropout

Once we have acquired our images and performed general enhancements on them as defined in the FormSet, the image can now be analyzed to determine which of the FormDefinitions in the FormSet matches the input image. It will also undergo an alignment and dropout process which further normalizes the image and ensures the recognition engines get the cleanest field clips possible. This effort is carried out by the previously mentioned FormDirector and FormFix.

The form has now been identified and aligned. Any image clean up operations defined at the FormDefinition level are applied. Focus now narrows to the fields within the FormDefinition where their pre-printed content is dropped out and if they have any enhancement operations assigned, those will be applied as well.

5. Recognition

Each field in a FormDefinition can have assigned to it a dropout operation, a number of enhancement operations, and usually one recognition operation. The fields are clipped from the form based on the rectangle area to which the field was originally defined in the FormSet Creation phase. After the dropout is handled by FormFix and the Field-level enhancements are made by ScanFix Xpress, the cleaned up image clips are passed to the recognition engine that is specified in the field’s recognition operation.

The following are recognition engines that can be used on form fields:

Our recognition engines will provide you with the highest confidence results. From here, you can pass the resulting data along to the next stage of your business or development process.

A. Presentation

Alongside your forms processing workflow, you may want to visualize certain elements. Included with FormSuite are several components that provide these presentational options:

B. High Level Forms Processing

FormSuite includes higher level solutions to forms processing for those who do not want to manage code against multiple components. With these solutions, you can get to processing forms easier and faster and still be able to fine tune and customize if needed.

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