Indexing Solutions with Barcode Recognition

Barcode recognition is the most efficient way to capture index data printed on documents. If you are unfamiliar with the use of barcodes in document scanning, you can learn more about barcodes in our Barcode Scanning Guide, but if you want to know more about barcode use with SimpleSoftware products, read on.

SimpleCoversheet barcode printing software

Some documents already have key information in barcode format on them. In many cases adding a barcode to a document is as simple as changing or adding a font. Adding barcodes to new documents is preferable as all the index data is on the document at the time it is created and in a format that can be read with near 100% accuracy.

As an alternative to placing barcodes on the individual documents, it is possible to print out a barcode cover page and place it on the file before it is scanned. The SimpleCoversheet application was designed to make this easy by providing a simple interface for selecting index values and printing a standard coversheet that contains these values in barcode format.

Barcode recognition can also be useful when you have documents with a variable number of pages that will all receive the same index values. If it is not possible to generate an indexed coversheet for these at the time they are created, a generic barcode coversheet can be used to separate the scanned images into multi-page files, one for each document. A second process can then be used to index these images one file at a time instead of one page at a time, greatly increasing throughput.

Barcode Recognition Features

With SimpleIndex Barcode you can:

  • Read barcodes printed on scanned paper documents
  • Read barcodes embedded in PDF files
  • Automatically rename files based on barcodes
  • Export barcode data to CSV file or any database
  • Separate multi-page documents with cover pages
  • Recognize 2D formats like PDF417, DataMatrix, Aztec and QR Code
  • Recognize 30 different 1D barcode formatsCode 39, Codabar, UPC, Code 128, EAN 13, 2 of 5, etc.
  • Recognize postal barcodes like Planet, PostNet, Royal Post and Australian Post
  • Lookup barcode values in a database for additional data
  • Complete list of document scanning & indexing features

Turn On Replacement Characters for Barcodes

With OCR processing certain characters will read incorrectly in some cases, such as an I reading as a 1 and an O reading as a 0. If this is expected to happen you can set the OCR to use the character replacement feature to replace all instances of the letter O with the number 0.

Barcodes don’t have this issue nearly as much during the recognition process as OCR does, but sometimes it can be beneficial to have this replacement option available for the barcodes as well. This is turned off by default, but can be turned on in the Job Configuration’s XML text.

Instructions for enabling replacement characters in barcodes:

  1. Right click on the Job Configuration file that you would like to suppress the prompt on and select Open With>Notepad
  2. Search the XML settings text open in Notepad for this term:
    <BARCODE_REPLACE_CHARS>
  3. Set the value between from “False” to “True”. It should look like this:
    <BARCODE_REPLACE_CHARS>True</BARCODE_REPLACE_CHARS>
  4. Save and close the file.
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Change the Dictionary Separator Value

This is used to change the dictionary separator value when doing thesaurus matching from the default character of | to any character(s) that you want. This can be useful in cases where the values you would like in your list or dictionary might include the pipe character or “|” or “Shift Backslash”

This setting is also used as the delimiter when parsing multiple index field values from bar codes (e.g. field1|field2|field3).

Instructions for changing the dictionary separator value:

  1. Right click on the Job Configuration file that you would like to suppress the prompt on and select Open With>Notepad
  2. Search the XML settings text open in Notepad for this term:
    <OCR_DICT_SEPARATOR>
  3. Change the value in-between from “|” to any other single character that you want.
  4. For TAB separation use %TAB%
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Separator1.jpg

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Can SimpleIndex read bar codes from existing PDF files?

There are 2 types of PDF files. PDFs created by scanning applications use images, while PDF files created by software or printer drivers use text. SimpleIndex can read bar codes from either type of document.

With image PDFs, SimpleIndex will use normal image barcode recognition. With text PDFs, SimpleIndex can read the value of the barcode from text (if it was created with a font) or convert the PDF to an image and read it (if the bar code is an image).

To read the barcode from text is much faster and all versions of SimpleIndex include the ability to parse the text of PDF file.

Find out more about bar code scanning on our Bar Code Scanning Guide.

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I cannot recognize PDF417 or QR Code bar codes. What does “Advanced “Only” mean?

This error applies to versions of SimpleIndex prior to version 7. All current versions of SimpleIndex include 2D barcode recognition. The Barcode and Professional licenses include the faster and more accurate Accusoft bar code recognition engine. In order to enable the Accusoft engine with a Server license you need the Advanced Barcode Server add-on.

For SimpleIndex 6 and below:

2D Barcode Recognition (aka Advanced Barcode) is licensed separately from the standard barcode recognition. You can add 2D Barcode Recognition to SimpleIndex Barcode or Full versions. A second serial number must be activated to enable this feature.

Advanced Barcode also removes the 6 barcodes per second limit on recognition speed. Processing will go 5-20 times faster depending on your processor speed. Advanced Barcode recognition speed and 2D formats are enabled in the demo.

Find out more about barcode scanning on our Barcode Scanning Guide.

The Feature Matrix included with our Pricelist has more detail about the which capability and engines are included with the different editions and add-ons of SimpleIndex.

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Can I split TIFF or PDF files based on barcodes as a separator and also name the file with the barcode value?

Yes you can split TIFF and PDF files using barcodes as well as name files using the values from barcodes.

To do this simply create a barcode field and check the “Filename” and “Forward” options for that field on the Index tab.

The “Filename” option means the barcode values will be used to name the files. The “Forward” option means the barcode value will be carried forward to pages after it that don’t have barcodes.

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Will SimpleIndex read multiple barcodes on a page and save the value to the appropriate index field?

Yes, it can. By default barcodes on any page are read left to right and top to bottom. The first barcode read on the page will be filled into the first barcode field set up in SimpleIndex and so on. You can also narrow down results by matching against a template or dictionary as well as excluding barcodes that are not in a defined zone.

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Is there a way to just use part of a bar code or OCR value? For example, extract “50” from the value “124450”

To do this example, create a barcode field (Field 1 for example) and a 2nd field with type “Fixed”. In the template for the 2nd field, enter %FIELD1[5,2]% to get “50” from “124450”.

%FIELD1% would get the entire value for Field #1, the barcode field. By adding the [5,2] you tell SimpleIndex to start at the 5th character (5) and take 2 characters from the value (50).

Find out more about barcode scanning on our Barcode Scanning Guide and read up on Optical Character Recognition on the SimpleOCR scanning solutions guide.

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How can I delete the barcode or blank page cover/separator sheet that I don’t need to save?

To delete any barcode page go into ‘Options’, to the ‘Barcode’ Tab and click the ‘Delete barcode page’ check box.

Blank page deletion is done through the minimum file size threshold located in ‘Options’ in the ‘Batch’ Tab. The option is called ‘Min. File Size (blank pages)’ and it has a field which you can enter numeric values on the left. The number corresponds to the number of pixels or bytes on the page.

To pick a number that will delete the blank pages and keep the pages with information you want, look at your largest blank page and your smallest page with information that you want saved and make the ‘Min. File Size (blank pages)’ number in between that.

For example, one of your largest blank pages is 4KB and one of your smallest pages with information is 8KB. You want to make the number in the ‘Min. File Size (blank pages)’ field in between 4000 and 8000. 6000 would be a good number to start with in this situation. At first, you will want to make sure this number is keeping all the pages you need and deleting those you do not want. Increase this number if blank pages are being saved; decrease it if pages with information are being deleted.

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Some pages in my documents have unwanted barcodes that are being read. How can I exclude these from recognition?

There are several methods for doing this. The fastest, most effective method is to enter a Template for your barcodes to ensure only barcodes that match a specific pattern will be used for that field.

Unfortunately it is not always possible to define a template to describe your barcode. In this case you can employ these methods:

-Specify the “Barcode Type” for the barcodes you want.

-If the wanted barcodes appear on a cover sheet with other barcodes on it, select “Pages with > 1 Barcode” from the “Pages to Process” option.

-If the documents use cover sheets and are quite large, it can be more efficient to scan them one at a time. In this case you can select “First Page Only” from the “Pages to Process” option. This will dramatically improve performance as well, since recognition can be skipped for all but the first page.

-You can set the zone coordinates for a Barcode field using the same method as OCR. Barcodes outside this zone will be ignored.

If multiple barcode zones are drawn, all zones will be searched for all barcodes. This means if a barcode matching the template for Field 1 is found in the zone for Field 2 it will still be read. Only barcodes outside of all zones will be ignored.

Find out more about barcode scanning on our Barcode Scanning Guide.

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How can I use barcodes or blank pages as Document Separators.

For processes that require fast separation for each document a barcode or blank sheet can be used.  Simply insert the barcode sheet (generic barcode sheet with the same value on each sheet) or blank sheet as the first page of each document before scanning or processing with SimpleIndex.

There are two different methods for document separation, which either use just one SimpleIndex Job Configuration file or two that run in tandem.  The advantage on just using one is that you can keep everything for the process together in one configuration file.  The advantage to using two is that you can have the barcode/blank separation process happen automatically and then once separated the user can view the documents for indexing the second job configuration.

How the separation works in SimpleIndex is by having the software increment an autonumber every time it sees a Barcode or Blank Page.  It then names the files with the autonumber or uses the autonumber to group the pages together depending on if you are using a one or two Job Configuration process.

One Job Configuration Instructions

  1. Create a Job Configuration.
  2. Set-up a Barcode Index Field in the Indexing & File Naming step or set the Blank Page Deletion in the Image Enhancement Step.
  3. Create an Autonumber index field in the Indexing & File Naming step.
  4. Set the number that you want to start on in the template of the  Autonumber index field.  Starting with “00001” is a good choice for this.
  5. In the Advanced Setting step expand Autonumber Settings and set the Autonumber Increment Event either to Barcode Field Found or Every Blank Page depending of if you are using Barcodes or Blank Pages as separators.
  6. Also check the box labeled “Combine pages into documents after processing” in this same step

Two Job Configurations Instructions

  1. Create a Job Configuration.
  2. Set-up a Barcode Index Field in the Indexing & File Naming step or set the Blank Page Deletion in the Image Enhancement Step.
  3. Create an Autonumber index field in the Indexing & File Naming step.
  4. Set the number that you want to start on in the template of the  Autonumber index field.  Starting with “00001” is a good choice for this.
  5. Check the Filename checkbox for the Autonumber field.
  6. In the Advanced Setting step expand Autonumber Settings and set the Autonumber Increment Event either to Barcode Field Found or Every Blank Page depending of if you are using Barcodes or Blank Pages as separators.
  7. Also check the box labeled “Combine pages into documents after processing” in this same step
  8. Create a second Job Configuration file that has the Input folder set to the same folder that the Output folder was set to in the first Job Configuration that separates with the Autonumber field.
  9. Uncheck “Split-Multi-Page Files” in the File Input step
  10. Configure the Index fields that you would like to assign to the documents that have been split in the first Job Configuration
  11. Open the first Job Configuration and set the second Job Configuration to run after it is complete by going to the Advanced Settings step, expanding Pre-Process & Post-Process and then putting in the full path to the configuration file in the Post-Process field. 
    EX. The second job configuration is named “Step 2 Naming.sic” and is in C:\Images then this would be put in the Post-Process:  C:\Images\Step 2 Naming.sic

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Why are my barcodes not being recognized properly?

Several factors can affect barcode recognition.

-Scan in Black & White instead of color. Barcode recognition must convert color to B&W which can decrease quality.

-Print barcodes with a laser printer. Dot-matrix barcodes are very difficult to read accurately.

-Check your Zone settings. If there are zone coordinates defined for any barcode fields, only barcodes in those regions will be recognized.

-Check the barcode format. Code 39 (the most common font-based barcode) requires a * at the start and end of each barcode for it to be readable. Many document barcodes are missing this character.

-Check the barcode engine.  SimpleIndex uses the DTK engine (included with Standard, OCR, Barcode and Pro) and the Accusoft engine (included with Barcode and Pro) to recognize barcodes on the page.  You can pick the one the desired engine or pick Voting to use both engines. 

-Check the barcode type. Select “Unknown or All” if you don’t know the type. If you do know the type, select it from the list to prevent false positives.

-Check the Template setting. If the template does not match the barcode exactly it will appear as though no barcode is read. Remove the template to see what is being recognized.

-Check the Pages to Process.  This option tells it which pages to process in the entire batch, so normally the default setting of Every Page is best, so each page is read to determine if it has a barcode.

-Check the “Minimum Confidence” value. A higher value will prevent false positives (incorrect values) but may cause fewer barcodes to be read. If a barcode is detected on a page it will be enhanced and re-read until all barcodes are read above the minimum confidence level. 0 will disable re-reading.

-Check “Enhanced Analysis (Slower)”.  By checking this box extra checks will be done on the each page to find the barcode at the cost of processing speed.

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Applications

Out of the Box Solutions:

These advanced SimpleIndex configurations provide out-of-the-box solutions for common scanning applications, and integrations with popular third party applications. Please contact us for more information about these integrations or to get a demo from our experts.

  • Mortgage – LoanStacker is a pre-configured solution for scanning and recognizing over 500 mortgage loan origination and closing documents with SimpleIndex‘s dictionary matching OCR.
  • Title Attorneys – Title attorneys that use RamQuest can automate the scanning of title and settlement documents using SimpleIndex.
  • Accounts Payable Invoices – Our invoice scanning solution can read the Vendor Name, Invoice Date, Invoice Number, PO Number and Total fields from invoices and export the data to your accounting software. Using SimpleQB you can fully integrate this solution with Intuit QuickBooks. For more advanced solutions capable of capturing line item data, see the Invoice Processing page.
  • NAPA Auto Parts Invoices – All NAPA authorized auto parts dealers receive invoices from NAPA that need to be archived. SimpleIndex has an out-of-the-box configuration that lets NAPA dealers scan and file these invoices.
  • Litigation Support – SimpleIndex can export scanned documents to the Summation DII data file format, allowing you to put the low cost, streamlined SimpleIndex scanning workflow to use in litigation support applications.
  • Patent Scanning – Read the patent number, title and abstract from any US patent document.
  • Statement Splitting – Companies that receive multiple bills or account statements in a single PDF file can automatically split these into separate PDF files in seconds.
  • Laboratory Document Management – Our partner, BlueRiver Systems, uses SimpleIndex as the document capture interface for their document management solution designed especially for the clinical laboratory market.
  • Federal Income Taxes – automatically recognize all the major forms and schedules in a federal tax return and create a bookmarked PDF with labels for each.

Case Studies:

PDF files detailing various SimpleIndex Case Studies:

 

Common SimpleIndex Applications

SimpleIndex‘s open architecture and automation features mean it can perform virtually any scanning and indexing task. These sample applications show how SimpleIndex can be used in a variety of business environments.

 

Industry-Specific Applications

PDF brochures on how to put SimpleIndex to use within your industry:

KB Articles for OCR Applications

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