Automate the process of capturing data from documents with SimpleIndex. Dynamic OCR uses complex pattern matching to capture data no matter where it appears on a document. Bar code recognition with database matching can completely automate document indexing and filing processes. SimpleIndex provides the most powerful automatic data capture features of any solution in its price range.
Convert Email to PDF
Import documents from email attachments or archive your email by converting messages to PDF automatically using SimpleIndex.
Once converted to PDF, employ the power of SimpleIndex‘s automatic document separation, OCR, barcode recognition, and PDF text parsing capabilities to organize them into files automatically and upload them to your document management system, SQL database, or cloud storage provider.
Automate Document and Data Capture
We’ve seen so many cases where users download email attachments, open them in Acrobat, separate them into individual documents manually, before finally processing them with their data capture software.
The most common case for this is with invoice processing, since most vendors now send PDF files that have all of the latest invoices in a batch.
SimpleIndex can fully automate this process, downloading the messages and attachment, converting them to PDF in a single step. This can be used with SimpleIndex data capture functions for a complete solution, or as a front-end to an existing enterprise data capture solution that doesn’t support these features.
Use Cloud Storage for Email Archival
Many document management systems have built-in email archival solutions designed to create an official record of all correspondence that can be used to meet records keeping regulations or searching across user inboxes.
Instead of traditional DMS, many companies are choosing to use cloud storage providers like Google Drive, Box, and SharePoint as their primary repository for documents. And enterprise SimpleIndex makes it easy to archive email to cloud storage by converting message bodies and attachments to PDF files, organizing them automatically into logical folders and filenames, and saving them directly to your cloud storage drive.
Archive Only What You Want
Configure pattern matching rules using keyword lists and regular expressions to identify relevant documents targeted for archival and ignore the rest.
Fully Automated and Unattended Processing
With the SimpleIndex Server, email processing can run fully unattended to PDF convert and save your emails automatically. Just set it and forget it!
Email Protocols and Authentication
Email import currently supports direct import from any IMAP-enabled Inbox (supported by most email providers). If your project requires any other email protocol, authentication scheme, Graph API, 2-factor, etc. these can be quickly added by our developers.
Learn More:
KB Articles for SharePoint document scanning
- How to connect to a SharePoint Online site that uses multi-factor authentication
- Reset SharePoint Login Information
- How to Fix SharePoint Login Issues
- Troubleshooting SharePoint Permissions Issues
- SharePoint Managed Metadata
- Can SimpleIndex integrate with Microsoft SharePoint?
- Front End Scanning, OCR Scanning, Scanning Software, SharePoint Migration, SharePoint Scanning
Reduce Click Charges for Data Capture
If you operate a high-volume scanning department or service bureau, chances are you use software like Kofax to scan and index documents for your clients. If you do then you are well aware of the high cost of click charges and the inevitable mad rushes to purchase additional clicks at the end of a peak volume month.
There are some scanning jobs that need the multi-user batching and indexing features of these systems, but many do not. SimpleIndex® can help you save big on click charges by supplementing your primary scanning infrastructure, letting you perform smaller, less complex jobs in a separate workflow.
Many data capture and forms processing applications charge for every page you process, even if all the data being read is only on the first page. Starting SimpleIndex 9, you can automatically send a copy of the first page from each exported file to a separate folder for data processing, helping you avoid unnecessary processing time and license costs.
Jobs like these can be easily processed with SimpleIndex:
- Simple scan-to-file with no indexing
- All indexing is done via bar codes or database lookup
- No custom export or API integration is required
The following scenarios usually require a more robust solution:
- Multi-user workflows
- Complex data extraction and forms processing
- Direct application integration with APIs
Basically, SimpleIndex is great for 1-2 user workflows where a single user performs the whole scanning and indexing process, or where one person scans and another indexes on a separate workstation. When more than 2 users are required to keep up with indexing volume then it makes more sense to use a system designed for multiple users.
Learn More:
KB Articles for Reduce Click Charges
- Language Pack for Standard/Tesseract OCR
- Languages Supported in SimpleSoftware OCR Engines
- What is Document Imaging?
- Change the Dictionary Separator Value
- Change the OCR Font or Type
- Regular Expression (RegEx) - Syntax or Type
- Autonumber Increment Value
- I'm using full page OCR. The information is all appearing in the txt file but it is losing format about half way through. Data to the right is ending up at the end of the txt doc. Can this be fixed?
- Is there a way to just use part of a bar code or OCR value? For example, extract "50" from the value "124450"
- If I have a form which is filled manually by hand, can SimpleIndex read the data from it?
Zone OCR and Dynamic OCR
Other document scanning applications in this price range use Zone OCR to obtain index data from the page.
SimpleIndex improves upon this time-tested but limited model with its Dynamic OCR feature.
Let’s look at the difference between the two methods:
Zone OCR
Zone OCR is used to read document indexes or tags from text on the page. It is a great way to automate the data entry associated with scanning documents.
However, there are several limitations to zone OCR that must be overcome:
- Index information must be in the exact same place on every page
- Documents shift and skew during scanning, causing the zones to not line up
- If surrounding lines or text on the document are too close, they can encroach on the zone
Dynamic OCR
SimpleIndex overcomes these limitations by using Dynamic OCR technology to extract values from anywhere on the page. Our simplified version of Dynamic OCR works great for many types of documents at a fraction of the cost of other solutions.
- Index information can appear anywhere
- Unwanted characters are ignored
- Find unique patterns of letters and numbers using Template Matching
- Use Dictionary Matching to find a value from a list of possible values
- Use Cloud OCR or ChatGPT to perform AI analysis and intelligent data extraction
Dynamic OCR and AI Assisted OCR
AI assisted OCR is the popular solution to the problem of unstructured and semi-structured documents. But there are many scenarios where simple Template and Dictionary matching provide much better results. And all of these solutions are much more expensive than SimpleIndex!
Often there are only a few key values that need to be extracted, and a wide variety of possible layouts. AI-based document training requires manual processing of several samples of each possible format before it learns how to read them reliably, where a Template could read them all with a single setting. Dictionary matching can perform advanced classification without analyzing thousands of samples.
When data extraction requires natural language processing, field label extraction, handwriting, AI document analysis, or other advanced features, SimpleIndex offers Cloud OCR and ChatGPT integrations.
Dynamic OCR Examples
In the video we see how SimpleIndex approaches a typical Zone OCR example. With SimpleIndex you can use large zones that give a wide margin for error. Template and Dictionary matching are then used to extract the 7-digit Account Number, 6-digit Order Number and Company Name. SimpleIndex discards the surrounding text and keeps the correct value.
Another common example is finding a unique identifier, for example a social security number, that could appear anywhere on the page. Simply enter the template ###-##-#### and SimpleIndex will search the full OCR text until it finds a match. Since only one social security number is likely to appear on the page, a match on this pattern is almost certainly the required value.
With dictionary matching, you can give SimpleIndex a list of possible values and it will automatically search the zone or page for each possible value until it finds a match.
Many dynamic forms processing applications can be implemented using these simple algorithms. This makes SimpleIndex far more versatile than other zone OCR solutions that require the index value to be in the exact same location on every page. Yet SimpleIndex costs only a fraction of the price!
SimpleIndex‘s dynamic forms processing can greatly speed up data entry by eliminating a good percentage of indexing work. For many this can put the labor cost of scanning within their reach.
Dynamic OCR can also be applied to MS Office and PDF files, creating a fully automated process for intelligently indexing and reorganizing electronic documents.
Amazon AWS Textract Cloud OCR
With Textract you can capture data from almost any type of form, including handwritten ones! Textract identifies labeled text anywhere on the document and returns the label text along with the corresponding value. Map the labels to index fields in SimpleIndex and you are ready to capture that data no matter where it appears on the page.
Textract uses machine learning with a huge model based on the billions of pages processed using Textract to provide the most accurate OCR and form field extraction solution available.
By default, Textract is only available as an API and requires custom coding to integrate it into your document workflows. SimpleIndex turns it into a fully-featured batch document and data processing app that is ready to use out-of-the-box.
Since there are no templates to configure or train, setup can be done in hours instead of days or weeks months required by other enterprise data capture solutions.
Pay-as-you-go pricing makes SimpleIndex with Textract the most affordable way to batch process forms for projects with less than 50,000 pages per year to process, especially if you need to read handwriting or have forms with many layout variations.
Got a preference for ABBYY Cloud OCR, Microsoft Azure AI Vision, or Google Cloud Vision OCR? These can be quickly added for a small customization fee. Contact Us for a quote!
Wiki: How to configure AWS Textract OCR in SimpleIndex
Handprint and Handwriting Recognition
SimpleIndex 11 adds handprint recognition capabilities to the FineReader OCR engine to allow recognition of simple form fields and printed text. It works best with constrained form fields, with letter boxes for each character like you see on tax forms and credit applications. And no additional licensing or per-page costs are required!
For unconstrained handprint and cursive handwriting, use the Cloud OCR option to achieve the best recognition accuracy available. This option requires additional AWS processing fees for each page.
Support for Regular Expressions
SimpleIndex OCR has a simple built-in template format, as well as support for Regular Expressions. Regular Expressions (RegEx for short) let you define complex search patterns to extract matching values from the text. This greatly enhances the functionality of the dynamic OCR in SimpleIndex, making it capable of finding variable-length fields with no distinct pattern.
Regular Expressions are a commonly used in text parsing applications. The Perl programming language makes extensive use of RegEx, as do UNIX utilities like “grep”. Many programmers and IT personnel are already familiar with RegEx and can create complex expressions without specific training.
Click here for a reference guide to Regular Expressions
How to Configure SimpleIndex OCR
Our Wiki help has extensive information on how to configure OCR for various document and data capture scenarios.
- Zone OCR read data in a specific location
- Template matching to match unique patterns
- Dictionary matching to match a list of possible values
- OCR Options OCR job settings that apply to all fields
- File Formats that can be output by OCR
- Languages supported by OCR
- FineReader versus Tesseract OCR engines
- Searchable PDF with MRC compression
- OCR to Field for point and click OCR during verification
- Cloud OCR using Textract
Watch this Simple Software University training video to see how to configure and run an OCR job with SimpleIndex.
Learn More:
KB Articles for Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
- Language Pack for Standard/Tesseract OCR
- Languages Supported in SimpleSoftware OCR Engines
- What is Document Imaging?
- Change the Dictionary Separator Value
- Change the OCR Font or Type
- Regular Expression (RegEx) - Syntax or Type
- Autonumber Increment Value
- I'm using full page OCR. The information is all appearing in the txt file but it is losing format about half way through. Data to the right is ending up at the end of the txt doc. Can this be fixed?
- Is there a way to just use part of a bar code or OCR value? For example, extract "50" from the value "124450"
- If I have a form which is filled manually by hand, can SimpleIndex read the data from it?
SimpleIndex 10.1 with Textract!
SimpleIndex 10.1 is now available, and it adds a huge new feature — Amazon Textract!
The Cloud OCR License adds the Amazon AWS Textract Cloud OCR engine to SimpleIndex, unlocking a bunch of great new capabilities:
- The highest OCR accuracy of any available engine, using Amazon’s massive machine learning model
- Handprint recognition, including unconstrained and cursive writing
- Automatic form field extraction
- Accounts Payable Invoices and Receipts extraction
- Pay-as-you-go licensing
The form field extraction feature is pretty amazing. It locates any labeled field on the page and its corresponding value regardless of the page layout, even if the value is handwritten. It makes SimpleIndex able to do jobs that once required enterprise data capture software like Kofax, AnyDoc, or ReadSoft, but at a fraction of the price!
SimpleIndex works with your existing AWS account. For standard OCR it costs about $0.01 per page, for invoices and forms it is about $0.065 per page. This price can vary by region.
- Published in Release Notes
FastImport to Disable Automatic Processing During Import
Please refer to the Wiki Documentation for the complete Fast Import Interface reference.
SimpleIndex has a variety of processing functions that automatically happen behind the scenes when importing documents to improve the quality and functionality of the images and processing capabilities of the software.
On some occasions these extra processing functions cause delays and conflicts or aren’t needed at all. If these processing functions are causing SimpleIndex to crash or slow down the import processing too much for a particular Job Configuration that can be turned off with a registry setting.
Follow these instructions to add this registry setting:
- Close out of SimpleIndex entirely
- Open the Windows Registry by going to the Windows Search and searching for “RegEdit”
- Go to this location in the Registry Folder Tree: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\SimpleIndex\Misc
- In the right section of the Registry window Right Click in the white space and select New>String Value
- Name the new key “FastImport”
- Open the “FastImport” Registry Key, set the value to “1” and then click OK
What is Document Imaging?
Document Imaging was the more commonly used term in the early days of document scanning and OCR and refers to any system used to replicate documents used in business. It evolved from the microfilm days where it was referred to as Document Image Management.
Document Imaging allows for the scanning of paper documents, as well as the processing of files saved electronically. These files are then named and saved for later searching.
Other document imaging terms include automatic imaging software, best digital imaging software, best imaging software, desktop imaging software, digital document imaging, digital imaging software, document imaging download, document imaging PDF, document imaging processing, document imaging products, document imaging software, document imaging solution, document imaging solutions, document imaging systems, document imaging technologies, document imaging technology, document imaging tools, image to database, imaging resource, imaging scanning software, imaging software companies, imaging software download, imaging software for windows, imaging solution, scanner imaging software, scanning and imaging, scanning imaging, and software for imaging.
Index With Non-Latin Character Sets
Please refer to the Wiki Documentation for the complete Languages reference.
By default SimpleIndex uses the ANSI character set to display and edit captured OCR data, index field values and full-text OCR. This works for all languages based on the Latin alphabet (English, French, Spanish, German, etc.)
To index documents in other languages like Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Arabic and other non-Latin alphabets, set the default character set using this registry key. If the key is not set correctly then Unicode text will show up as ??????????.
Use Notepad to edit the “Charset” value from the sample setting below and save it to a .reg file. Then double-click the .reg file to install (Administrator privileges required).
You can download the .reg file here but you still need to edit in Notepad to set the Charset value before installing.
If you are on a 32-bit operating system be sure to remove the extra “\WOW6432Node” from the registry path.
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\SimpleIndex\Misc]“Charset”=”1”
| Charset Name | Charset Value |
| ANSI_CHARSET (Latin) | 0 |
| DEFAULT_CHARSET | 1 |
| SYMBOL_CHARSET | 2 |
| SHIFTJIS_CHARSET (Japanese) | 128 |
| HANGUL_CHARSET (Korean) | 129 |
| GB2312_CHARSET (Simplified Chinese) | 134 |
| CHINESEBIG5_CHARSET (Chinese) | 136 |
| GREEK_CHARSET (Greek) | 161 |
| TURKISH_CHARSET (Turkish) | 162 |
| HEBREW_CHARSET (Hebrew) | 177 |
| ARABIC_CHARSET (Arabic) | 178 |
| BALTIC_CHARSET (Baltic) | 186 |
| RUSSIAN_CHARSET (Russian) | 204 |
| THAI_CHARSET (Thai) | 222 |
| EE_CHARSET | 238 |
| OEM_CHARSET | 255 |
The full list of values is at https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc194829.aspx.
How do I configure the output folder and file naming scheme?
Use the Folder and Filename check boxes on the Indexing & File Naming step in the Job Settings Wizard to indicate whether field values will be used to generate subfolders or filenames. Any field with the Folder option checked will create nested subfolders for each value in the order the fields are listed. Any field with the Filename checked will have the values concatenated to form the filename.
For example, if Field 1 and Field 3 have the Folder option checked, and Field 2 and Field 3 have the Filename option checked, image filenames will be created in the format:
%OUTPUTFOLDER%\Field 1\Field 3\Field 2 – Field 3.tif
The Filename Separator option on the Advanced tab lets you change the ” – ” between the fields in the filename to anything you want.
Related Pages
- Published in Export
Automatic Indexing Using Existing Data
Automatic Indexing Using Existing Data
The Autofill feature of SimpleIndex is an easy way to associate many index fields with one document without retyping data that already exists in another database. Autofill uses a database lookup to retrieve records that match a key value entered by the user. Blank index fields are then filled in automatically with the data from this lookup. The result is a document database with many different possible search fields, of which only one needed to be entered during scanning.
The key field may be typed by the user, or it may be read from the document automatically using barcode recognition or OCR. The lookup is performed either when the user changes this field or when the index values are saved. If the lookup finds multiple matching records, the user will be notified and the first set of values will be used by default.
When used with pre-index batches, key information can be read automatically from barcodes or OCR and matched to database records with a single click. Search on up to 99 index fields without a single keystroke!
Learn More:
KB Articles for Automatic Indexing
- Exclude Index Field from Index Log
- Turn Off Prompts and Pop Ups on Job Configurations
- Change the Font Size of Index Fields
- Large Documents (>500 pages) are Slow to Process
- Regular Expression (RegEx) - Syntax or Type
- Index With Non-Latin Character Sets
- Skip to Blank Index on Save Index
- Stop Autorun When Double Clicking Configuration
- Autonumber Increment Value
- Overlap of SimpleView Viewer in SimpleIndex Display
OMR Optical Mark Recognition
Simple Checkbox Recognition
Some forms require scanning software to recognize the presence or absence of a mark in a particular location, such as a checkbox, without worrying about the specific shape or symbol drawn therein. The ability to do this is called Optical Mark Recognition, or OMR. Let’s take a look at how this feature can help you index your documents and how SimpleIndex improves upon the standard OMR process:
Optical Mark Recognition
Optical Mark Recognition lets you define check box regions on scanned images. OMR is very fast and can be used for a variety of applications:
- Business reply mail
- Simple surveys
- Separate multi-page documents
- Document routing control
- Verify presence of signatures
To configure OMR, use an unfilled form to obtain baseline counts of how many black “pixels” are in the box. When processing, SimpleIndex compares the amount of black in each image to the baseline value to determine if the box is checked or not.
With OMR, it is very important that the check boxes appear in the same place on every scan, and that other text on the document does not move into your check box zone. For best results, use large boxes with plenty of white space around them.
We wouldn’t recommend using the SimpleIndex OMR feature to grade the SATs, but if your documents include a few check box values that you want to capture the SimpleIndex OMR feature is what you need. For more advanced OMR and forms processing solutions, please visit ScanStore.com.
OMR Document Separation
SimpleIndex includes a unique use for mark recognition that can save you thousands on document separator pages. One of the most labor-intensive parts of scanning multi-page files is detecting where one document ends and the next one starts. Traditionally this has been done with blank pages (which doesn’t work with 2-sided documents) or barcodes and patch codes (which must be printed). All of these solutions require someone to insert a piece of paper between each document before scanning, wasting time, money, and paper.
- Using the OMR feature in SimpleIndex, create a checkmark field in the upper-left corner of the page.
- Create an Autonumber field that increments a document number each time the checkmark is found.
- Use this job file to scan and separate documents into multi-page files.
- Create a 2nd job file to index the multi-page files.
- Use the Post-Process feature to run the two jobs consecutively.
When prepping files, simply take a felt tip pen and put a small mark the upper-left corner on the first page of each new document. This can be done very quickly, creates no additional paper and has a negligible effect on scan quality.
Learn More:
KB Articles for Optical Mark Recognition
Streamlined Interface
Maximum Data, Minimum Clicks
Learn More:
KB Articles for Streamlined Interface
- Full-Page OCR Indexing Demo
- Take control of Sales Tax exemption forms
- Instant Integration With Any Application
- Reduce Click Charges for Data Capture
- Network Scanners & Copiers
- The All-In-One Scanning & Sorting Tool
- Automatic Indexing Using Existing Data
- Indexing Solutions with Barcode Recognition
- Automated Processing & 1-Click Interface
- Stop Autorun When Double Clicking Configuration
Scanning & Document Migration for SharePoint
SimpleIndex gives you an affordable, automated way to populate custom metadata tags when migrating documents to SharePoint. SimpleIndex uses a variety of methods to extract data, including zone OCR, barcode recognition, mark recognition (OMR) and text pattern matching. The data is assigned to index fields that correspond to the custom columns in your SharePoint document library. The extracted values can be reviewed and corrected if necessary before uploading.
Uploading individual documents to SharePoint is easy. The hard part is migrating thousands of files and tagging them with custom metadata that can be used for fast, precise searching and sorting.
Without metadata, only the filename is used for searching scanned documents. OCR can be used to enable text searching of images, but there are several limitations to text searches:
- OCR cannot recognize any handwritten data
- Low quality scans or documents with complex layouts often OCR poorly
- OCR errors mean that you won’t always find all the files you are searching for
- Cannot perform date range or number range searches
- Cannot sort results by anything other than title and create/modified date
Advantages of the SimpleIndex SharePoint migration solution include:
- Complete document imaging solution as well as electronic document migration
- Advanced text pattern matching finds precise data in unstructured text
- Parse folder and file paths to find metadata values
- Unattended server processing mode available
- Easy yet powerful alternative to managed metadata services
- Far more features for the price than other SharePoint migration tools
KB Articles for SharePoint Migration
MS Office & PDF Text Parsing
Office Videos | PDF Video
The template and dictionary matching capabilities of SimpleIndex‘s OCR function can be used to extract index information from the text of existing MS Office and PDF files, or any file with an accompanying TXT file. SimpleIndex® will search the document for matches on unique patterns and value lists, then index the document with the matching data. Zone coordinates can be set to limit the search area to pre-defined regions on standard forms. The result is a fully automated indexing and renaming process for all your electronic documents!
Using existing text, SimpleIndex can index and rename hundreds of files each minute and achieve perfect accuracy. These files can then be quickly searched with SimpleIndex Retrieval, SharePoint and Google search engines, or uploaded into your company’s document/content management system or custom business applications.
Enhanced Text Parsing & PDF Support
MS Office and PDF text parsing features are now included in the Basic version of SimpleIndex, making it much more affordable to enable automatic document sorting on the desktop. Additional Office and PDF features include:
- Convert any MS Office, HTML, XML and image files to PDF before processing
- Read and write password protected PDF file
- Searchable PDF output (Image + Hidden Text)
- Interactive template builder and tester
- Easily select PDF or PDF/A output format
- Native PDF viewer and auto-repair of problematic PDFs
- Read data from PDF forms
- Populate blank PDF forms with index data
Batch Convert Office Documents to PDF
If you have Microsoft Office or OpenOffice installed, you can use SimpleIndex to automatically convert MS Office documents to PDF files for archival. PDF files are better for archival than editable formats like Word and Excel. They can be annotated, encrypted, searched and viewed with free PDF readers.
There are many free applications that let you convert documents to PDF one at a time. SimpleIndex lets you convert thousands of files at once while it also extracts data from the text for indexing or data entry automation. This feature is ideal for migrating or archiving Office documents to SharePoint, document management systems and custom web applications.
Quickly Organize Any File on Your Computer
SimpleIndex lets you process any type of file on your computer. If an OLE-enabled viewer is installed, SimpleIndex will display the document on the screen. Other documents can be opened automatically in their default application when they are indexed. Quickly type index field data that can be used to reorganize the files into subfolders and structured filenames for browsing and searching on your network, or uploaded to your document/content management system or custom business application.
If the file has an accompanying text file (*.TXT) with the same name, the text in that file can be used for index field extraction, fully automating the process.
Viewing & Indexing MS Office Documents
SimpleIndex features full support for viewing and editing MS Office documents (Word, PowerPoint and Excel) on computers with or without MS Office installed. The full application interface is displayed within the SimpleIndex viewer, letting users view the full content of the documents, edit them with all the features of MS Office and save the changes. Modify privileges can be denied using Windows file security or by the SimpleIndex administration wizard to keep out unauthorized changes.
If MS Office is not installed, SimpleIndex can open and display them in the built-in viewer in read-only mode.
Learn More:
KB Articles for MS Office & PDF Text Parsing
- Change the Dictionary Separator Value
- Regular Expression (RegEx) - Syntax or Type
- Check and Repair All PDF Files
- Keep Pages in Original Order when Bookmarking
- Do Not Combine Pages to 1 Bookmark
- Can I split a PDF based on bookmark values?
- Is it possible to search for and retrieve documents with Windows desktop search?
- Can SimpleIndex read bar codes from existing PDF files?
- Is there a way to just use part of a bar code or OCR value? For example, extract "50" from the value "124450"
- How do you configure OCR to read index information from MS Office or PDF documents?