Technical FAQs

Question

What is the absolute bare minimum I need to use PrizmDoc Cloud?

Answer

This will allow you to load a document via a URL using PrizmDoc Cloud. Just include your PrizmDoc Cloud API key in the POST request headers.

Please note: This is purely intended as a proof-of-concept. You should never include your API key in your client-side Javascript.

<!DOCTYPE html>

<html lang="en">
<head>
    <!-- Metadata -->
    <meta charset="utf-8" />
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
    <meta name="description" content="" />

    <!-- Title -->
    <title>AccuSample</title>

    <!-- Libraries -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/normalize/8.0.0/normalize.min.css">

    <!-- PrizmDoc CSS -->
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://raw.githack.com/Accusoft/hello-prizmdoc-viewer-with-nodejs-and-html/master/public/viewer-assets/css/viewercontrol.css">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://raw.githack.com/Accusoft/hello-prizmdoc-viewer-with-nodejs-and-html/master/public/viewer-assets/css/viewer.css">

    <!-- Inline Stylesheet -->
    <style></style>

</head>
<body>

    <!-- #viewer -->
    <div id="viewer" class="pccv pcc-full-screen"></div>

    <!-- Libraries -->
    <script src="https://raw.githack.com/Accusoft/hello-prizmdoc-viewer-with-nodejs-and-html/master/public/viewer-assets/js/jquery-3.4.1.min.js"></script>
    <script src="https://raw.githack.com/Accusoft/hello-prizmdoc-viewer-with-nodejs-and-html/master/public/viewer-assets/js/jquery.hotkeys.min.js"></script>
    <script src="https://raw.githack.com/Accusoft/hello-prizmdoc-viewer-with-nodejs-and-html/master/public/viewer-assets/js/underscore.min.js"></script>

    <!-- PrizmDoc JS -->
    <script src="https://raw.githack.com/Accusoft/hello-prizmdoc-viewer-with-nodejs-and-html/master/public/viewer-assets/js/viewercontrol.js"></script>
    <script src="https://raw.githack.com/Accusoft/hello-prizmdoc-viewer-with-nodejs-and-html/master/public/viewer-assets/js/viewer.js"></script>
    <script src="https://raw.githack.com/Accusoft/hello-prizmdoc-viewer-with-nodejs-and-html/master/public/viewer-assets/js/viewerCustomizations.js"></script>

    <!-- Inline Script -->
    <script>

        let viewingSessionId;
        let viewerControl;

        $(document).ready(function() {
            $.ajax({
                "type": "POST",
                "url": "https://api.accusoft.com/prizmdoc/ViewingSession",
                "headers": {
                    "acs-api-key": "4lTamQVZmrkqZhH8cZhdu7L0xyhUa3gorcaCFQpA_zmuowZs4zoF39V4IckpnVW_"
                },
                "data": JSON.stringify({
                    "source": {
                        "type": "url",
                        "url": "https://www.usability.gov/sites/default/files/creating-wireframes.pdf"
                    }
                })
            }).done(function(response) {
                PCCViewer.Ajax.setHeaders({
                    "acs-api-key": "4lTamQVZmrkqZhH8cZhdu7L0xyhUa3gorcaCFQpA_zmuowZs4zoF39V4IckpnVW_"
                });

                viewingSessionId = response["viewingSessionId"];

                // Initialize viewer
                viewerControl = $("#viewer").pccViewer({ 
                    "documentID": viewingSessionId,
                    "imageHandlerUrl": "https://api.accusoft.com/prizmdoc",
                    "language": viewerCustomizations.languages["en-US"],
                    "template": viewerCustomizations.template,
                    "icons": viewerCustomizations.icons,
                    "annotationsMode": "LayeredAnnotations"
                }).viewerControl;

                viewerControl.on("ViewerReady", function() {
                    console.log("Ready!");
                });
            });
        });

    </script>

</body>
</html>
Question

In PrizmDoc, why can’t I delete a full page redaction? The menu pops up for a rectangle redaction, so why not for a full page?

Answer

First, some terminology for PrizmDoc Viewer menus:

Traditionally, when you right click on a page, application, etc. the menu that pops up is called the “context menu”. However, in PrizmDoc, we refer to that menu as the Immediate Actions Menu, and there is a larger box that appears off to the side that we call the Context Menu

This functionality is viewable in the demo linked below. When you create a full page redaction and right-click on it, you get the Immediate Actions Menu. When you create a rectangle redaction and left- or right-click on it, off to the side you’ll see the Context Menu, and can delete it using either that menu or the “delete” key.

https://www.accusoft.com/demos/redaction-demo/

When you make a full page redaction, the only way to delete it is by using the delete button in the Immediate Actions Menu. You cannot click on it and press “delete”, and you cannot delete it via our Context Menu. This is currently a design feature being discussed below at the time of writing:

https://ideas.accusoft.com/ideas/PDEN-I-512

By default, the parameter immediateActionMenuMode is set to off, which disables the menu. If you are having trouble getting this menu to open in your application, you may need to set it to be on when you have a redaction on the page. You can read more about enabling and disabling this feature here.

Question

What does it mean when I see “Email Address is not Registered” when entering in an email in the Evaluation Dialog?

Answer

You will see this error if you have not registered on the Accusoft website.

To register your email address, please visit the following link below:

https://my.accusoft.com/Account/FirstTimeUser?Length=7

OCR segmentation

Today’s high-speed forms processing workflows depend on accurate character recognition to capture data from document images. Rather than manually reviewing forms and entering data by hand, optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent character recognition (ICR) allow developers to automate the data capture process while also cutting down on human error. Thanks to OCR segmentation, these tools are able to read a wide range of character types to keep forms workflows moving efficiently.

Recognizing Fonts

Deploying OCR to capture data is a complex undertaking due to the immense diversity of fonts in use. Modern character recognition software focuses on identifying the pixel patterns associated with specific characters rather than matching characters to existing libraries. This gives them the flexibility needed to discern multiple font types, but problems can still arise due to spacing issues that make it difficult to tell where one character ends and another begins.

Fonts generally come in one of two forms that impact how much space each character occupies. “Fixed” or “monospaced” fonts are uniformly spaced so that every character takes up the exact same amount of space on the page. While not quite as popular now in the era of word processing software and digital printing, fixed fonts were once the standard form of typeface due to the technical limitations of printing presses and typewriters. On a traditional typewriter, for example, characters were evenly spaced because each typebar (or striker) was a standardized size.

From an OCR standpoint, fixed fonts are easier to read because they can be neatly segmented. Each segmented character is the same size, no matter what letters, numbers, or symbols are used. In the example below, the amount of space occupied by the characters is determined by the number of characters used, not the shape of the characters themselves. This makes it easy to break the text down into a segmented grid for accurate recognition.

OCR segmentation:  Monospace Font Example

“Proportional” fonts, however, are not uniformly spaced. The amount of space taken up by each character is determined by the shape of the character itself. So while a w takes up the same space as an i in a fixed font, it takes up much more space in a proportional font.

OCR segmentation:  Fixed versus proportional font

The inherent characteristics of proportional fonts makes them more difficult to segment cleanly. Since each character occupies a variable amount of space, each segmentation box needs to be a different shape. In the example below, applying a standardized segmentation grid to the text would fail to cleanly separate individual characters, even though both lines feature the exact same character count.

Proportional Font Example

Yet another font challenge comes from “kerning,” which reduces the space between certain characters to allow them to overlap. Frequently used in printing, kerning makes for an aesthetically pleasing font, but it can create serious headaches for OCR data capture because many characters don’t separate cleanly. In the example below, small portions of the W and the A overlap, which could create confusion for an OCR engine as it analyzes pixel data. While the overlap is very slight in this example, many fonts feature far more extreme kerning.

Example of Kerning

In order to get a clean reading of printed text for more accurate recognition results, OCR engines like the one built into Accusoft’s SmartZone SDK utilize segmentation to take an image and split it into several smaller images before applying recognition. This allows the engine to isolate characters from one another to get a clean reading without any stray pixels that could impact recognition results.

Much of this process is handled automatically by the software. SmartZone, for instance, has OCR segmentation settings and properties that are handled internally based on the image at hand. In some cases, however, those controls may need to be adjusted manually to ensure the highest level of accuracy. If a specific font routinely returns failed or low confidence recognition results, it may be necessary to use the OCR segmentation properties to adjust for font characteristics like spaces, overlaps (kerning), and blob size (which distinguishes which pixels are classified as noise).

Applying ICR Segmentation

All of the challenges associated with cleanly segmenting printed text are magnified when it comes to hand printed text. Characters are rarely spaced or even shaped consistently, especially when they’re drawn without the guidance of comb lines that provide clear separation for the person completing a form.

Since ICR engines read characters as individual glyphs, they can become confused if overlapping characters are interpreted as a single glyph. In the example below, there is a slight overlap between the A and the c, while the cross elements of the f and t are merged to form the impression of a single character.

ICR Segmentation Properties

SmartZone’s ICR segmentation properties can be used to pull apart overlapping characters and split merged characters for more accurate recognition results. This is also important for maintaining a consistent character count. If the ICR engine isn’t accounting for overlapped and merged characters, it could return fewer character results than are actually present in the image.

Enhance Your Data Forms Capture with SmartZone

Accusoft’s SmartZone SDK supports both zonal and full page OCR/ICR for forms processing workflows to quickly and accurately capture information from document images. When incorporated into a forms workflow and integrated with identification and alignment tools like the ones found in FormSuite, users can streamline data capture and processing by extracting text and routing it to the appropriate databases or application tools. SmartZone’s OCR supports 77 distinct languages from around the world, including a variety of Asian and Cyrillic characters. For a hands-on look at how SmartZone can enhance your data capture workflow, download a free trial today.

 

legaltech

Technology trends are moving quickly in the legal industry as firms scramble to adapt to a shifting business landscape. Although many firms and organizations were already taking steps to break away from old fashioned processes and embrace the potential of LegalTech solutions, the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated change initiatives and forced legal professionals to reassess their foundational business models. To get a better sense of the technology impact on law firms, developers would be wise to review recent tech surveys of the industry that assess how LegalTech software is being utilized.

LegalTech Technology Survey: A Closer Look 

According to a 2020 technology survey conducted by Bloomberg Law, legal firms are seeing tremendous benefits from the implementation of LegalTech tools. Four out of five firms and 73 percent of corporate legal departments have seen an increase in work volume, with both reporting that technology has also improved the quality of their work. On balance, high-value tasks are getting more attention, with 56 percent of respondents indicating that they spend at least somewhat more time on higher-level tasks. Low-value task loads have been reduced by an even larger rate, with 73% of respondents spending at least somewhat less time on less skilled, lower-level tasks.

Critically, these improvements seem to have come without also introducing a new set of challenges. One of the frequently cited concerns about implementing new LegalTech solutions is that it will create workflow disruptions or cause other difficulties with legal processes. In reality, such critiques appear to be largely unwarranted. Bloomberg Law’s 2020 tech survey found that large majorities of respondents did not believe LegalTech added to the number (78 percent) or difficulty (86 percent) of workflow impediments.

LegalTech Automation Needs

Despite the positive technology impact on firms, there are still many tasks being done manually that could be automated with software tools. In 2020, Accusoft conducted a technology survey of legal professionals about how they’re managing productivity and utilizing LegalTech applications. We discovered that while 54 percent of respondents were utilizing digital solutions to view and collaborate on documents, automation tools had yet to eradicate time-consuming manual tasks.

legaltech Manual Skills
Given the enduring prevalence of manual processes, it’s hardly a surprise that 52 percent of respondents had difficulty locating the right document assets when they needed them. That figure, in particular, is unfortunate considering that a 2020 Clio report on legal trends found that 69 percent of consumers would prefer to work with legal firms capable of sharing documents electronically. 

The Technology Impact on Law Firms in Business Terms

Failing to implement effective LegalTech tools, then, could very well be costing many firms business. Longstanding legal business models that focus on profit per partner (PEP) metrics and emphasize short-term priorities are already giving way to technology-driven models that deliver faster, more efficient services at more competitive price points for customers. While boutique “big law” firms may continue to resist automation trends due to the specialized and strategic nature of their business, smaller firms and legal departments will need to reorient their operations to deliver the routine, day-to-day services that most customers are seeking. 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has made many legal organizations more open to adopting technology solutions. Bloomberg Law’s report found that prior to 2020, only 40 percent of legal leaders described themselves as being “very open” to implementing new tech. Following the pandemic, that number has increased to 54 percent, perhaps acknowledging a new reality for the legal industry as existing business models are reconsidered.

Building the Future of LegalTech

LegalTech developers face several challenges as they work on designing the next generation of technology solutions for the industry. The first question almost always comes down to whether it makes sense to build application features from scratch or to buy and integrate proven solutions. Many legal organizations are looking for powerful software tools that incorporate the latest in process automation technology, which often demands substantial development resources to build and implement. For many software developers, it can be difficult to get products to market quickly without cutting some corners here and there in terms of features when they have to build everything from the ground up.

By incorporating ready-made functionality in the form of specialized integrations, developers can dedicate more of their resources to the innovative technology that powers their LegalTech solution. From HTML5 viewing that makes it easy to securely view a variety of file types to collaboration tools that allow for markup and redaction, software integrations can rapidly expand the capabilities of an application to make it more attractive to legal organizations.

Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer allows developers to integrate versatile viewing and conversion functionality into their LegalTech solutions. It also features powerful annotation and redaction tools that can significantly streamline the eDiscovery process. Learn more about these and other solutions in our LegalTech Fact Sheet.

Today’s applications need tremendous versatility when it comes to document management. Developers are expected to deliver tools that can handle multiple file types and have the ability to share them securely with internal users and people outside the organization. As more companies transition to remote-first work environments, online (and secure) collaboration tools are becoming a must-have feature. One of the major challenges facing developers is how to adapt existing document technologies and practices to an increasingly interconnected environment without creating additional risks.

Rendering and Conversion Challenges of Microsoft Office

Microsoft Office (MSO) files have long presented problems for organizations looking for greater flexibility when it comes to viewing and marking up documents. This stems in part from the widespread reliance on the Office software itself, which held a staggering 87.5 percent share of the productivity software market according to a 2019 Gartner estimate. Companies of all sizes across multiple industries rely on programs like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, but there are many instances where they would like to be able to share those documents without also surrendering control of the source files.

The challenge here is twofold. On the one hand, if an organization shares an MSO file with a client or vendor, there’s no guarantee that the recipient will be able to view it properly. They may not have access to Office, in which case they can’t open the file at all, or they may be using an outdated version of the software. While they may still be able to open and view the file, it may not display as originally intended if it uses features not included in previous editions of Office.

On the other hand, however, sharing files outside a secure application environment always creates additional risk. Microsoft Office documents are notoriously attractive targets for hackers seeking to embed malicious code into files, and older, unpatched versions of the software contain numerous known vulnerabilities. Sharing MSO files with an outside party could quickly result in the file being exposed to a compromised machine or network. There’s also a question of version control and privacy, as a downloaded file could easily be copied, edited, or even distributed without authorization.

Unfortunately, it has proved quite difficult to natively render MSO documents in another application. Anyone who has had the misfortune of trying to view or edit a DOCX file in Google Docs will understand the challenges involved. While it’s certainly possible to render MSO files in a different application, the end result is often a little off the mark. Fonts may be rendered incorrectly, formatting could be slightly (or drastically) off, and entire document elements (such as tables, text fields, or images) could be lost if the application doesn’t know how to render them properly.

Rendering MSO Files Natively with PrizmDoc Viewer

As a fully-featured HTML5 viewing integration, Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer can be deployed as an MSO file viewer that renders them like any other document type. However, this doesn’t provide a true native viewing experience, which many businesses require for various compliance reasons. Fortunately, the PrizmDoc Server’s Content Conversion Service (CCS) allows applications to natively render MSO documents with a simple API call.

The MSO rendering feature allows PrizmDoc to communicate directly with an installed version of Microsoft Office, which ensures that every element of the file is rendered accurately within the HTML5 viewer. For example, a DOCX file opened in Microsoft Word should look identical to the same document rendered within an application by PrizmDoc Viewer. Once the document is accurately rendered, it can be shared with other users inside or outside an organization. This allows people to view and even markup MSO files without the original source file ever having to leave the secure application environment. It’s an ideal solution for reducing security risks and eliminating the possibility of version confusion.

Converting Additional MSO File Elements

In many instances, organizations need to share MSO files that have already been marked up or commented upon. This could include Word documents with multiple tracked changes or PowerPoint slides with extensive speaker notes. Those additional markups could be important elements that need to be shared or reviewed, so it’s critical to include them during the conversion and rendering process.

Using the server’s CCS, PrizmDoc Viewer can convert Word documents with accepted or rejected markup changes when converting the file into a different format (such as converting an MSO file to PDF) or rendering it for viewing in the application itself. The same capabilities extend to PowerPoint presentations with speaker notes. When converting these MSO files, the outputted version can consist of slides only or include the speaker notes along with them.

These conversion and rendering capabilities provide developers tremendous flexibility when they’re integrating viewing features into their applications. They can easily deploy them to help their customers collaborate and share MSO files without having to remove them from a secure environment. It’s also a winning feature for end users, who don’t need to worry about downloading files or having access to the latest version of Microsoft Office.

Improve Your Document Capabilities with PrizmDoc Viewer

With its extensive file conversion, redaction, and annotation capabilities, Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer is an essential integration for any document management platform that requires an MSO file viewer. It provides support for dozens of file types to give applications the flexibility needed to meet the demands of today’s complex workflows and improve efficiency. As an HTML5 viewer, it can be integrated into any web-based solution with minimal development effort, which frees up valuable resources developers need to focus on the innovative features that will help set their applications apart in a competitive market.

To learn more about PrizmDoc Viewer’s robust feature set, have a look at our detailed fact sheet. If you’re ready to see what our HTML5 viewer will look like within your application environment, download a free trial and start integrating features right away.

digital vault application

Security is everything for organizations when it comes to their sensitive data assets. Whether it’s vital documents, account passwords, or proprietary financial formulas, essential business information needs to be well-protected as companies continue to incorporate digital platforms into their operations. Developers can support this critical goal by providing secure digital vault applications that allow their customers to manage and use information assets without exposing them to unnecessary risks.

The heightened emphasis on security has made digital vault services quite popular in recent years. In order to maximize the potential of these security platforms, however, developers must integrate the right tools for managing multiple file types ranging from standard documents to complex financial spreadsheets.

What is a Digital Vault?

Much like its physical counterpart, a digital vault is a secure repository for storing vital assets in one easy-to-manage and fully-encrypted location. In some respects, these platforms are similar to information management services or cloud-based storage, but they set themselves apart by emphasizing security and access control. Digital vaults are frequently used for estate planning thanks to their ability to securely store account log-in information and vital documents, but they’re also popular with high-net worth individuals and organizations that need a safe place for sensitive financial data.

The core feature of a digital vault is its ability to prevent unauthorized access to materials stored inside them. They do this by strictly monitoring access rights at multiple levels. Just because someone has access to the vault itself, for instance, doesn’t mean they have access to everything it contains. The files and documents stored within the digital vault can all be set with their own access permissions. These controls mirror those used in a physical bank vault, such as:

  • Requiring manual authorization from an administrator to access data.
  • Implementing dual key control mechanisms.
  • Limiting access to certain times of day.
  • Segmenting access to relevant assets only.

Managing Digital Vault Information

Digital vaults also make the process of managing data much more secure. Since all of the assets stored within the vault are protected by encryption, they can be shared through a portal rather than downloaded, copied, or transmitted over poorly secured channels like email. The data itself never leaves the protective confines of the vault, and the security controls track who has been granted access when files are shared. This makes it easy to monitor activity and ensure that confidential files are not broadly distributed.

In order to facilitate this access, however, digital vault developers need to build viewing and editing tools into their applications. Without the ability to open and view a document within the web-based portal, for instance, users will be forced to rely on external software. This defeats the whole purpose of a digital vault, as it exposes the file to whatever security vulnerabilities that application might possess.

Integrating HTML5 viewing capabilities into their vault’s web portal allows developers to let their customers review documents and even make annotation markups without having to remove the file from a secure, encrypted environment. For most documents and images, this is a relatively straightforward process using a series of API calls to render the file within the browser.

The Challenge of Excel Spreadsheets

Microsoft Excel spreadsheets, however, frequently pose a major challenge to digital vault platforms. Unlike documents, spreadsheets are often designed to be interactive and can contain sensitive financial calculations within cell fields. Simply sharing a static, print preview image of a spreadsheet might be helpful for reviewing financial records, but it’s not very useful to someone who needs to enter fresh data into the formulas to calculate new results.

While the XLSX file could be made available for download to anyone who is authorized to use it, this defeats the purpose of having it stored in a digital vault. Not only would it be impossible to track the downloaded file, which creates serious data security risks, but allowing multiple copies of the file to proliferate will quickly lead to version confusion.

Enhancing Spreadsheet Functionality with PrizmDoc Cells

Digital vault developers can easily solve their spreadsheet challenges by integrating Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Cells into their application. A completely web-based spreadsheet viewer and editor, PrizmDoc Cells provides native XLSX file support without any external dependencies. The API-based integration allows users to open their existing Excel files to view, edit, and add comments completely within the application’s web portal. PrizmDoc Cells provides a familiar interface that developers can customize to meet the specific needs of their customers.

That same customization extends to the spreadsheet elements themselves. A digital vault provider may not want to allow users to have full access to every element of an Excel file. For instance, an organization may be fine with allowing someone to enter new data and calculate results in the spreadsheet, but not want anyone to be able to view the proprietary formulas buried within the cell fields. When integrating PrizmDoc Cells, developers can control what aspects of the XLSX file are actually shared. This makes it easy to keep formulas and other data locked in place within the spreadsheet and secure from unauthorized viewing.

Unlock Your Digital Vault’s Potential with PrizmDoc Cells

Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Cells gives digital vault developers the ability to control how spreadsheet files are shared and managed within their secure application environment. By integrating native Excel support, they can sever their dependency on Microsoft Office and other potentially insecure software platforms and enhance the value of their digital vault services. With PrizmDoc Cells, their customers can easily access, review, and edit their spreadsheets without exposing them to additional security risks or version confusion.

To learn more about the versatile functionality of PrizmDoc Cells, check out our detailed fact sheet for an overview of critical features and use cases. If you’re ready to test the integration in your application environment, download a free trial today in an easy-to-deploy Docker file.

Automated data capture tools are an essential feature of today’s business applications. Without the ability to quickly extract information from incoming forms and documents, organizations will struggle to keep their records, databases, and customer-facing software up-to-date. While software SDKs like Accusoft’s SmartZone can deliver powerful optical character recognition (OCR) and intelligent character recognition (ICR) to help applications accurately capture the information they need, these tools were not designed to operate in isolation. To get the best performance out of them, they need to be incorporated into a comprehensive and well-designed forms processing workflow.

Building an Efficient and Effective Forms Processing Workflow

Although data capture is often the primary objective of forms processing, a number of elements need to be in place for an application to be able to deploy SmartZone’s powerful OCR/ICR functionality. The first step involves the creation of form templates that can be used both for identifying incoming scanned forms and for defining field regions on the page from which data can be extracted. Building this library of templates provides a road map of sorts for the recognition process.

After form images are acquired, either from pre-existing digital documents or newly scanned images, they may need to be enhanced or cleaned up to ensure the best recognition results. Operations such as binarization, despeckling, deskewing, and line removal can all improve the data capture process, especially in the case of scanned documents. Older documents frequently include a great deal of image noise when scanned into digital format, which can make it difficult for an OCR/ICR engine to properly segment and read characters cleanly.

Once a form image has undergone enhancement, it can be matched and aligned with the correct template to ensure that the SmartZone recognition engine will be able to obtain a clean field clip. Scanned images can be overlaid via an alignment algorithm that performs minor adjustments to match it exactly with the correct template. This step is crucial because the data capture process is set up to read the field areas identified by the template rather than recalibrating for each form. If the alignment is off, the engine will not get a clean read of the characters, which could result in inaccurate recognition results.

After the form is identified and aligned, additional enhancement and cleanup operations can be performed on the specific areas of the form that contain information to be extracted. This typically means individual field areas where text or other characters have been entered. The locations to be cleaned up can be designated during the template creation process when data extraction zones are defined. In some instances, a processing workflow may skip the initial full-page enhancement and instead only perform clean-up on areas where data capture will be carried out. This approach is often more efficient from a processing standpoint, especially when targeted, zonal recognition is being applied.

Form image dropout can also be performed at this stage, which involves the removal of image content like signature lines, text field boxes, comb lines, or other extraneous guiding content. Here again, proper form alignment is crucial. If the form is slightly “off” from the template, valuable character content could be removed, making accurate recognition much more difficult. Good form dropout tools should also be able to reconstruct characters that lose pixel data during the dropout process, which is common for characters that have an element that overlaps form lines (such as the lower half of a “j” or a “y,” which might otherwise be read as an “i” or a “v” if not repaired prior to recognition).

SmartZone’s Role in the Recognition Phase of Application Workflows

After a form is acquired, enhanced, identified, and aligned, it can be passed along to the next stage of the workflow for text recognition using SmartZone OCR/ICR. There are a few options that can be selected at this point to help improve recognition accuracy and faster data capture performance.

1. Select Character Sets

SmartZone supports a wide variety of languages and alphanumeric character sets. Realistically, only a few of these sets will need to be used at any one time. Selecting only the sets needed for a particular form will improve recognition accuracy and speed. For instance, there’s no need to have support of Cyrillic languages (like Russian or Greek) enabled if all of the forms being processed are in English.

2. Designate Field Types

SmartZone can designate the expected format of text found in specific fields on a template. Rather than reading each field out of context and extracting the contents without knowing whether or not it’s been filled in correctly, field types can be set to values such as date, email, currency, phone number, or Social Security Number. Regular expressions can also be established for more customizable results. If the character content of the field doesn’t match the designated field type, SmartZone will immediately return an exception and move on rather than trying to recognize and extract the incorrect data. Setting this parameter can greatly improve both accuracy and speed.

3. Set Minimum Character Confidence

Every character SmartZone reads is assigned a confidence value, which reflects the OCR/ICR engine’s assessment of its recognition accuracy. A lower value means that there is a higher likelihood that a character was incorrectly identified. Setting a minimum character confidence value ensures that any character result below that value will be rejected and replaced with a designated rejection character. In practice, this control is used to determine which characters require a manual review following recognition. Setting a high confidence value will ensure higher recognition accuracy, but will likely lead to more exceptions that need to be reviewed by a human.

SmartZone Recognition Results

After character recognition is performed, results can be returned for the character, text line, or text block level. This data can then be passed along to the next stage of a business workflow or used to populate databases connected to the application. Operation instructions, identification, and image areas defined can be transferred to other components for additional forms processing or stored in memory for later access using SmartZone’s Read From Stream or Write From Stream functions.

Getting Started with SmartZone

With support for both OCR and ICR data capture, Accusoft’s SmartZone SDK can serve a vital role in high-performance forms processing applications. The powerful OCR engine can recognize multiple languages, including select Asian, African, and Indian characters. Capable of performing full page or zonal text extraction, SmartZone also includes a variety of customization features that can improve accuracy and recognition speed. Learn more about this versatile SDK’s features and use cases in our product fact sheet.

PrizmDoc Viewer customizing interface

As the software industry continues to transition to web-based applications and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions, developers are prioritizing flexibility more than ever. Building a unique and compelling customer experience frequently requires versatile software toolkits that are easy to customize and adapt to changing requirements.  Customizing the PrizmDoc Viewer interface makes this simple.

Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer is an HTML5 viewing integration that not only provides an extensive array of viewing, conversion, and annotation features, but was also designed with customization in mind. Creative developers have several options at their disposal when they deploy this innovative solution within their applications.

PrizmDoc Viewer Interface Basics

Once PrizmDoc Viewer is integrated into an application, developers can deploy the pre-built user interface to start viewing documents and image files. Out of the box, the viewer consists of a number of components:

PrizmDoc Viewer customizing interface

  • Tab Navigation: PrizmDoc Viewer can perform a variety of different functions, such as basic viewing, annotation, and redaction. The Tab Navigation indicates which function is currently active.
  • Tab Pane: Each tabset selected in the Navigation features a specific set of tools. They can be configured to display either vertically or horizontally.
  • Status Bar: This component indicates the current page being viewed. By selecting a different page number, a user can quickly jump to another document page.
  • Dialog: Extended options and settings are displayed in this menu area.
  • Context Menu: Used primarily for markups, this menu allows users to change annotation properties.
  • Page List: The core element of the viewer control, this component is where the document or image itself is rendered for viewing.

Any of these tabs can be disabled easily by altering the configuration parameters. For example, to disable the navigation tab for redaction, the following code could be applied:

var pluginOptions = {
    uiElements: {
        redactTab: false
    }
};

Customizing the Viewer

While developers can simply deploy the viewer interface as-is, PrizmDoc Viewer provides extensive customization features that allow them to change almost every aspect of the viewing experience. The viewer’s functionality itself is built upon the Viewer API, so changing different elements of the viewing interface doesn’t alter the rendering performance or other core PrizmDoc Viewer functionality.

Here are just a few quick customization options that can be added to the viewer with minimal effort:

Custom Buttons

Adding a customized button that performs a specific task can greatly improve the viewer’s functionality for end users. Developers can quickly add custom buttons with a bit of JavaScript and uploading an SVG icon for display.

Keyboard Shortcuts

The PrizmDoc Viewer interface already supports a variety of keyboard shortcuts that allow users to easily scroll up and down the page, adjust the zoom level, and delete selected marks. Developers can alter the existing key bindings to enable new shortcuts or create their own.

Customize Style

In order to provide a consistent brand experience, many developers choose to alter the look and feel of the viewer to match the rest of their application. PrizmDoc Viewer provides extensive controls that allow them to alter image resources, colors, toolbar sizing, icons, and more.

Reorganize Menus

All of the menus and navigation elements can be adjusted based on application needs. Developers can add or remove different viewer templates that feature unique elements for specific use cases. Each template could use different styles and feature custom tabs or markup tools.

Create/Customize Mouse Tools

Unique mouse tools can be created along with a custom button within the UI, although PrizmDoc Viewer comes with a variety of predefined mouse tools that can be deployed and customized. Creating a new mouse tool is a quick two-step process that involves some JavaScript code that first defines the tool and then updates the UI to add a button for it (usually in the annotation tab pane).

Step 1

// Create the new mouse tool. var myTool = PCCViewer.MouseTools.createMouseTool(
                 "PinkLine",
                 PCCViewer.MouseTool.Type.LineAnnotation);

// Configure the tool to draw a pink (#FF69B4) line that is 10 pixel thick myTool.getTemplateMark()
    .setColor("#FF69B4")
    .setThickness(10);

Step 2

<!-- The following markup will create a button that enables use
     of the mouse tool named "PinkLine".

     The custom attributes that are used:
      \* data-pcc-mouse-tool="PinkLine" - specifies that the button selects the mouse tool named "MyLineTool"
      \* data-pcc-context-menu="false" - specifies that a context menu is not shown for this mouse tool
     -->
<button>
    data-pcc-mouse-tool="PinkLine"
    data-pcc-context-menu="false"
    class\="pcc-icon pcc-icon-annotate-line"
    title="Pink Line Tool"\></button>

Build a Customized UI

Developers may decide that the default PrizmDoc Viewer UI isn’t quite right for their application needs. In such cases, they can easily use the available components to build a customized viewing UI that is better suited to their application and end users. Creating a custom interface allows developers to strategically place menu and button elements to improve application workflows and conform to their own user experience priorities.

Embrace the Power of Flexibility

Turning to a third-party solution for an application’s viewing and imaging needs doesn’t mean a developer has to give up control over their application’s user experience. Accusoft’s PrizmDoc Viewer delivers powerful viewing, conversion, and annotation features in a fully customizable package that can be adapted to a wide range of application needs. Developers can use the available tools to craft a unique viewing experience from the ground up or utilize the built-in viewing interface to get their solution up and running quickly while putting off customization until later in their development cycle.

PrizmDoc Viewer’s versatile HTML5 rendering technology makes it an ideal integration for web-based applications that need the flexibility to adapt to changing user expectations. Thanks to those customization options, the application a developer brings to market can evolve over time to support a wide range of additional features throughout the product’s lifecycle. To experience the customizable power of PrizmDoc Viewer firsthand, download your free trial today.