Technical FAQs

Question

We are saving files to the PDF/A standard and are running into a few cases where the file cannot be saved as PDF/A by ImageGear .NET. Why is this, and how do we do it properly?

Answer

First, determine whether a PDF document can be converted to PDF/A by creating an ImGearPDFPreflight object from your document, and generating an ImGearPDFPreflightReport object from it:

using (ImGearPDFPreflight preflight = new ImGearPDFPreflight((ImGearPDFDocument)igDocument))
{
    report = preflight.VerifyCompliance(ImGearPDFPreflightProfile.PDFA_1A_2005, 0, -1);
}

The first argument of the VerifyCompliance() method is the standard of PDF/A you want to use. ImageGear .NET is currently able to convert documents to adhere to the PDF/A-1A and PDF/A-1B standards:

PDF/A-1 Standard

ImageGear and PDF/A

There are parts of the PDF/A-2 and PDF/A-3 standards which may allow for more documents to be converted, but ImageGear .NET currently does not support those. This could possibly be why your document cannot be converted in ImageGear .NET.

Once the report is generated, you can access its Status, which will tell you if the document is fixable. You can also access its Code which will let you know if it’s a fixed page or if it has issues; it will return Success if fixed, or some error code otherwise. You can check these conditions to determine whether it’s worth attempting to convert the document:

// If the document is not already PDFA-1a compliant but can be converted
if ((report.Code == ImGearPDFPreflightReportCodes.SUCCESS) ||
(report.Status == ImGearPDFPreflightStatusCode.Fixable))
{
    ImGearPDFPreflightConvertOptions pdfaOptions = new ImGearPDFPreflightConvertOptions(ImGearPDFPreflightProfile.PDFA_1A_2005, 0, -1);
    ImGearPDFPreflight preflight = new ImGearPDFPreflight((ImGearPDFDocument)igDocument);
    preflight.Convert(pdfaOptions);
    saveFile(outputPath, igDocument);
}

// Create error message if document was not converted.
else if (report.Status != ImGearPDFPreflightStatusCode.Fixed)
{
    printAllRecordDescriptions(report);
    throw new ApplicationException("Given PDF document cannot be converted to PDFA-1a standard.");
}

If you want more information on why a document may not be convertible, you can access the preflight report for its records and codes. A preflight’s "Records" member is a recursive list of preflight reports. A preflight report will have a list of reports under Records, and each of those reports may have more reports, etc. You can recursively loop through them as seen below to output every reason a document is not convertible:

    private static void printAllRecordDescriptions(StreamWriter file, ImGearPDFPreflightReport report)
    {
        foreach (ImGearPDFPreflightReport rep in report.Records)
        {
            file.WriteLine(rep.Description);
            file.WriteLine(rep.Code.ToString() + "\r\n");
            printAllRecordDescriptions(file, rep);
        }
    }

Ultimately, the failure of a document to convert to PDF/A is non-deterministic. While some compliance failures can be corrected, in combination they may not be correctable. Therefore, the unfortunate answer is that to determine if it can be converted, conversion must be attempted.

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Document conversion is a top business priority, but many companies don’t have the systems and solutions in place to streamline this process. A quick search for “how do I convert…” returns a host of file names, from .doc to .jpg to .pdf and tiff. It’s a common query that lacks internal ability and forces users to go online looking for out-of-network answers.

As noted by CMS Wire, employees spend more than one-third of their workday searching for and consolidating information. If they can’t find the conversion tools they need in-house or online, staff spend even more time recreating key documents in the correct format. Accusoft’s cloud-based conversion API offers a way to reduce user frustration, streamline implementation, and improve overall productivity.

Reducing ROT

A recent Veritas report found that up to 33 percent of corporate data is redundant, obsolete, or trivial (ROT). While the big data explosion accounts for the uptick in trivial information and the long-tail impact of historic paper processes renders some data obsolete, redundant information persists as a problem in part thanks to lack of conversion options.

With staff now tasked to handle multiple, secure electronic forms and files — and ensure they’re only accessible to the right people at the right time — conversion is critical. Editable .doc files may need to be repurposed as read-only PDFs, while .html files may need to be repurposed as tiff or .png options for the purpose of corporate presentations or branding initiatives.

Accusoft’s conversion API helps developers build this functionality into existing applications, allowing users to provide a file and specify an output type.   Check out all of the combinations our API supports on our demo conversion page.

Incorporating Conversion

While many stand-alone conversion tools now exist, free versions run the risk of increased document security since IT professionals have no idea where sensitive data is being converted or if information is being stored without permission. Other, more expensive standalone solutions offer improved information security but come with their own drawbacks.

To streamline the process, Accusoft’s content conversion API offers easy integration into existing applications. Developers can simply copy-and-paste .NET or Node.js code into current applications to test the conversion functionality and align it with existing application functions.

Documents On-Demand

Users need to convert documents, and they’ll spend a significant amount of time searching for the right tools if in-house options aren’t available. Instead of forcing staff to convert files outside the IT purview, organizations can bridge the document divide with cloud API solutions that are easy to integrate, quick to deploy, and simple to use. Ready to boost conversion convenience? Get started today with 300 free transactions.

 

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Use PrizmDoc to add high-quality document viewing and imaging to your application. Designed to be supported on virtually any platform and language, the viewer is customizable and handles a wide range of document, raster, and vector file formats.

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TAMPA, Fla. – On September 22, 2020, Accusoft announced its latest SDK, ImageGear PDF. This integration enables developers to add a variety of PDF functionalities into an application.

“We are proud to add ImageGear PDF as the latest addition to our product portfolio,” says Jack Berlin, CEO of Accusoft. “We recognized a need in the market for a more robust PDF solution that developers could use to enhance their products. Using our proprietary technology, I knew we could bridge that gap.”

ImageGear PDF gives end-users the ability to merge multiple PDFs, split a PDF into multiple PDFs, rearrange pages within a PDF, add pages or remove pages in a PDF, and more. The SDK adds programmatic annotation capabilities as well as compression, signature, comparison, and data capture.

“ImageGear PDF is a great tool for developers looking to enhance their application,” says Mark Hansen, Sr. Product Manager of SDKs. “Accusoft has a variety of different PDF solutions, but we wanted to add a more robust SDK that solves PDF pain points more efficiently.”

ImageGear PDF is available with an optical character recognition (OCR) add-on feature, which programmers can use to search for specific characters within a document, highlight different sections, and markup the output for easier viewing and collaboration. To learn more about ImageGear PDF, please visit our website at accusoft.com/products/imagegear-collection/imagegear-pdf/.

About Accusoft:

Founded in 1991, Accusoft is a software development company specializing in content processing, conversion, and automation solutions. From out-of-the-box and configurable applications to APIs built for developers, Accusoft software enables users to solve their most complex workflow challenges and gain insights from content in any format, on any device. Backed by 40 patents, the company’s flagship products, including OnTask, PrizmDoc™ Viewer, and ImageGear, are designed to improve productivity, provide actionable data, and deliver results that matter. The Accusoft team is dedicated to continuous innovation through customer-centric product development, new version release, and a passion for understanding industry trends that drive consumer demand. Visit us at www.accusoft.com.

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Question

For ImageGear .NET, what are the feature differences between an OCR Standard license, an OCR Plus license, and an OCR Asian license?

https://www.accusoft.com/products/imagegear-collection/imagegear-dot-net/#pricing

Answer

ImageGear’s OCR library has three different functionality options that you can choose for your website or application. The primary difference between the three options is the output formats created by the OCR engine. The options for your development are as follows:

  1. OCR Standard:
    The standard edition creates output formats for Western languages such as English. The standard edition outputs text only files and generates a PDF. The file formats it includes are searchable text PDFs and text documents.

  2. OCR Plus:
    The standard plus edition creates formatted outputs for Western languages like English. The formatted output is created with recognition technology that identifies font detail, locates image zones, and recognizes table structure in order to create a representation of the original document. The file formats it includes are Word, Excel, HTML, searchable PDF, and text documents.

  3. OCR Asian:
    The Asian edition creates a formatted output for Asian languages like Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. This formatted output is created with the same recognition technology as the Standard Plus that identifies font detail, locates image zones, and recognizes table structure. It also creates a representation of the original file. Formats include Word, Excel, HTML, searchable PDF, and text documents.

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InsurTech SDK

The insurance market is booming. As noted by research firm Deloitte, the property and casualty (P&C) sector saw a massive income uptick in 2018 and steady growth last year that’s predicted to carry forward through 2020. To help manage the influx of new clients and handle more claims, many firms are spending on insurance technology (insurtech) — digital services and solutions that make it possible to reduce error rates and enhance operational efficiency. InsurTech SDKs are important components of this transformation.

Both in-house insurtech solutions and third-party platforms often excel in specific areas but come up short in others, putting insurance firms at risk of writing off potential gains. While solution switching and ground-floor rebuilds offer one route to success, there’s another option that’s more custom to your business needs: software development kits (SDKs). Here’s a look at three top SDKs that offer customized functionality potential.

FormSuite for Structured Forms: Solving for Data Capture

Time is money. The faster insurance companies accurately complete and file documents, the greater their revenue potential. And as noted by KPMG, the need for speed is more pressing than ever. Many insurance sectors have seen substantial increases in both claims and new applications as the COVID-19 crisis evolves. 

As a result, accurate and agile forms processing is critical to keep up with demand. If current insurance software can’t quickly capture forms data, recognize standard form fields, and let users easily create standard form libraries, policy processing falls behind.

FormSuite for Structured Forms makes it easy for developers to build in form identification and data capture that includes comprehensive form field detection with OCR, ICR, and OMR functionality and the ability to automatically identify scanned forms and match them to existing templates.

ImageGear for .NET and C/C++: Simplifying Conversion

Conversion is critical for insurance firms. Depending on the type and complexity of insurance claims, companies are often dealing with everything from Word documents for initial client assessments and .GIF or .JPG images of existing damage to contractor-specific PDFs or spreadsheets that detail necessary materials, time, and labor costs. The result? A mash-up of multiple file types that forces adjusters to spend valuable time searching for specific data instead of helping clients get their claims process up and running. This makes it difficult to recognize value from emerging digital initiatives. 

Accusoft’s ImageGear for .NET and ImageGear for C/C++ empower developers to integrate enterprise-class file viewing, annotation, conversion, and image processing functions into existing applications, allowing staff to both quickly collaborate on key tasks and find essential data across a single, easy-to-search document.

 

ImageGear: Streamlining PDF Capabilities

While insurance technology offers substantive opportunities for end-users to capture, convert, and retain data, this technology can also come with the challenge of increased complexity. According to recent research from PWC, for example, firms looking to capitalize on insurtech potential must be prepared to rapidly develop new product offerings and embrace the expectations. 

As a result, companies need applications that streamline current functions and allow them to focus on creating cutting-edge solutions. For example, PDF is a file format that is still used by enterprises worldwide to maintain document format consistency and maximize security. When it comes to converting multiple files into a PDF, software can be expensive and introduce data security issues. 

This can all be solved with an SDK like ImageGear, which makes it possible to integrate the total PDF package into any document management application, both reducing overall complexity and freeing up time for staff to work on new insurance initiatives.

Insurtech forms the framework of functional futures in policy applications, claims processing, and compliance reporting, but existing software systems may not provide the complete capability set companies need to make the most of digital deployments. These top SDKs offer insurance IT teams the ability to integrate key services, improve speed, and boost security at scale. Learn more about Accusoft’s SDKs at www.accusoft.com/products. 

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The year was 1996. Dot-com was booming, Y2K loomed on the horizon, and Australia-based Outback Imaging needed adaptable software development toolkits (SDKs) to prototype a desktop imaging application capable of pushing scanned documents into popular EDRM systems without the need for manual import tools. They also needed a custom-built TWAIN UI to unify the customer experience without locking them into specific scanner brands.

In what one can only imagine was a montage of classic search engine queries, the company sourced three likely candidates. Within six months, they found their front runner was Accusoft, and the partnership began.

In 2003, they rolled out their first commercial product, EzeScan. Today, the product does more than just document imaging — EzeScan now offers server-based automated task processing and browser-based document workflow and approval capable through Robotic Task Automation (RTA) 24/7/365 with no human intervention.

With B2B churn rates rising, Medium notes that “regardless of industry, customer retention is often many leaders’ main strategic objective given today’s highly competitive landscape.” What’s the secret to Accusoft and EzeScan’s ongoing, mutually beneficial relationship?

Thankfully, the answer isn’t a vague, inspirational quote. In fact, it’s possible to debrief this age-defying agreement with three key characteristics including scalability, simplicity, and support.

Document Imaging at Scale

For EzeScan to evolve from a digital imaging application to a document transformation powerhouse, Outback needed toolkits that operate seamlessly within a Microsoft IDE, enables easy deployment on Windows, and includes superior code examples and documentation.

After four months of building three prototypes, Outback selected Accusoft SDKs to help jumpstart EzeScan R&D and embrace the need for digital transformation at scale. Today, the company leverages Accusoft’s TWAIN, ISIS, and PDF tools along with their OCR, MICR, and ICR search engines to drive continual evolution in their application.

Avoiding Technical Debt

Outback now supplies software solutions to a global network of customers, enabling them to both “go digital” and leverage their digital information in a more meaningful way. But developing this worldwide reputation for quality components and actionable results required an SDK foundation that was easy to implement and simple to use.

Accusoft offered the ideal solution to their problem. Toolkits that are customizable, incredibly simple to integrate, and work as expected. For Outback, this meant the ability to easily test and maintain new code without worrying about technical debt building up behind the design team as they innovate.

You Need It? You Got It

As noted by the Harvard Business Review, responsiveness plays a critical role in the strength and stability of B2B relationships. Without ongoing, committed support for software and toolkits organizations often have no choice but to shift suppliers or run the risk of losing what they’ve built.

Support is an integral component of the Accusoft and Outback’s relationship. While problems rarely occur, when they do, these issues are prioritized and quickly remediated. The result? Both businesses come out ahead. B2B relationships rely on scalability, simplicity and support to stay afloat. Now in its 23rd year, the Outback and Accusoft partnership has never been stronger.

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