FormFix v4

Structured Forms Processing and OMR SDK

FormFix delivers both .NET and ActiveX COM components offering bitonal template-based form identification, form registration, form drop out, and OMR technology to developers of forms processing applications. Highly flexible and optimised for speed, FormFix’s superior form recognition and form registration improve ICR, OCR, and OMR accuracy. It easily interfaces with Pegasus recognition engines (see FormSuite), and with any recognition engine supporting memory-to-memory data transfers. ImagXpress and ScanFix Xpress are included with FormFix for image handling, advanced image cleanup, and TWAIN scanning.

.NET Technical Notes

• Programming environments: Win32 visual development environments including Visual Studio 2005, 2008 and 2010
• Sample code is included for: VB.NET and C#
• Creates .NET AnyCPU applications for use in 64-bit and 32-bit environments
• Deploys within .NET as a managed control
• Fully compliant with .NET Framework 2.0 and above 
• Can be used in a multi-threaded environment and perform synchronous thread-safe processing
• Free demo application available for download
• Free full-featured trial version available for immediate download

ActiveX Technical Notes

• Programming environments include: Visual Studio 2005, 2008, and other Win32 visual development environments
• Sample code is included for: VB, VC++, HTML/Scripting
• Can be used in development environments that host ActiveX controls
• Can be used in multi-threaded applications
• Free demo application available for download
• Free full-featured trial SDK available for download

Form Recognition and Registration

• Ability to add multiple forms to a form template library.
• Ability to identify incoming unknown images by matching them to a form template, returning form identification and confidence level information.
• Ability to align (register) a filled form to its matching form template.
• Ability to limit identification operations to a subset of the available templates.
• Ability to identify and register forms even when the input filled form exhibits these characteristics:
  • Skew
  • Smaller image size than the template
  • Forms scanned at different resolutions than the template resolution
  • Rotated from the template
  • Warped images
  • Printing variations
• Support of simple form registration using registration marks.
• Configurable settings to control the level of effort in completing form matching:
  • Selection and return of a best match
  • Return of a configurable number of additional potential matches
  • Return of a confidence value for each match performed

Drop-out

• Support for form drop-out within specified regions of interest or the entire image to improve OCR, ICR, and OMR recognition accuracy.
• Ability to reconstruct hand or machine printed characters that may have crossed the lines or guide text defining the form and were subsequently dropped out.
• Configurable application of stroke restoration across areas of the image where the form was removed.

OMR

• Ability to define single or multiple mark zones for OMR (Optical Mark Recognition).
• Processing of two dimensional grids of bubbles, such as that used for defining name or identification number fields.
• Return of confidence values aids in catching multiple and questionable marks.
• Provides algorithms for advanced recognition and accuracy of multi-mark fields.
• Includes dropout processing prior to mark detection for most accurate recognition.

FormFix Editions

FormFix version 4 is offered in two editions, Standard and Professional. FormFix Professional is the default edition and includes the maximum functionality available.

• FormFix Professional - designed for high volume applications where processing speed is critical.  FormFix Professional identifies and aligns images at sub-second speeds, limited only by CPU processing speed. This product also includes ImagXpress Professional, ScanFix Xpress, SmartZone ICR, SmartZone OCR, FormDirector, and FormAssist, a forms processing demonstration application.
• FormFix Standard - designed for lower volume/lower cost applications where processing speed is not critical. FormFix Standard identifies and aligns up to 20 forms per minute. This product also includes ImagXpress .Net Standard, FormDirector, and FormAssist, a forms processing demonstration application.

Additional Accusoft Pegasus Demonstrations in FormSuite

• FormAssist Demo – FormAssist is a freeware product provided by Accusoft Pegasus that demonstrates the capabilities of FormSuite. FormAssist C# source code is included in the installation for the FormSuite SDK.

• Sample Applications – Small forms processing applications with source code, designed to demonstrate use of specific functionality, are included with each individual component (FormFix, FormDirector, ImagXpress, and ScanFix Xpress).

FormFix Features

Form Setup

• API for setting up fields, form templates, and form sets
• Define OMR, text, image, and custom fields on each form
• Architecture allows flexible order of operations

Form Identification

• Match forms with user-defined templates and return confidence values
• Quickly identify one of thous-ands of different forms
• Automatic identification without the need for registration or anchor marks

Image Cleanup

• FormFix Professional includes ScanFix Xpress (full product description) for advanced colour and bitonal image cleanup, including automatic binarization, deskew, despeckle, dot shading removal, line removal, character smoothing, inverse text correction, hole punch removal, etc.
• FormFix Standard includes basic cleanup features of ImagXpress Standard (full product description) for bitonal image cleanup, including automatic binarization, deskew, despeckle, rotate, mirror.

Form Registration

• Align a filled form to its template to within two pixels, based on image content
• Automatically determine anchor points on the master template form
• Adjust alignment within a drop out zone to compensate for form variations

Form Drop Out

• Remove template image at sub-second speeds
• Confidence values highlight problem images
• Precisely remove lines, broken lines, shading, noise, guide text
• Automatically repair characters that intersect with removed lines or guide text

Image and Data Transfer

• FormDirector component provides communication between FormFix, SmartZone, and ScanFix components
• Organizes and delivers descriptions and control parameters for processing forms
• Handles over 10,000 unique form templates

OMR
(Optical Mark Recognition)

• Detect the presence of marks or characters (i.e. for signature detection)
• Single and multiple mark recognition
• Set threshold for marks
• Perform OMR at 0, 90, 180, and 270 degree orientations

Image Load, Save, and Manipulation

• FormFix Professional includes ImagXpress Professional (full product description) for image viewing, compression, conversion, thumbnail images, image processing and editing, TWAIN scanning, annotation, and printing
• FormFix Standard includes ImagXpress Standard (full product description) for basic image conversion, image processing, and TWAIN scanning
  

For more information please contact the MicroWay sales team:
Head Office MicroWay Pty Ltd PO Box 84, Braeside, Victoria, 3195, Australia Ph: 1300 553 313 Fax: 1300 132 709 email: sales@microway.com.au ABN: 56 129 024 825	Sydney Sales Office MicroWay Pty Ltd PO Box 1733, Crows Nest, NSW 1585, Australia Tel: 1300 553 313 Fax: 1300 132 709 email: sales@microway.com.au ABN: 56 129 024 825	New Zealand Sales Office MicroWay Pty Ltd (NZ) PO Box 912026 Victoria Street West Auckland 1142, New Zealand Tel: 0800 450 168 email: sales@microway.co.nz
International: call +61 3 9580 1333, fax +61 3 9580 8995