Zonal OCR User Guide

Last Updated 7/23/2015 10:29:41 AM by [ESwan] © 2015 eFileCabinet. All rights reserved. This publication contains proprietary information not to be distributed outside of eFileCabinet. This document, in whole or in part, must not be reproduced in any form without the express written permission of eFileCabinet.

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Zonal OCR with eFileCabinet User Guide


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Introduction: Zonal OCR is an add-on program to existing eFileCabinet software. This feature allows you to create templates for documents that you frequently enter data from. Zonal OCR uses these templates to extract information from documents and enter it into a profile form for your use, as well as file the document in an appropriate folder in eFileCabinet. This technology can completely eliminate the need for manual data entry in your business.


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Table of Contents 1.0 Getting Started..………...………………….……..4 2.0 Establishing Fields………………………….…....7 3.0 Establishing Automated Routing.. ..…………...10 4.0 Running Zonal OCR……………………………..17


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1.0 Getting Started

To log in to Zonal OCR, enter your eFileCabinet On-Premise credentials for the Username and Password. Select your Server from the available list, or you can manually enter the actual IP Address or the default IP Address of 127.0.0.1 Port 4321. If you click on the box next to “Remember Me’, you will not need to enter your credentials in the next time you run the program. Once you have entered all of the required information, click Login. Note: The eFileCabinet Server needs to be running; otherwise, it won’t show up on the list and you won’t be able to log in. Once the Server is started, click Refresh to reload the server options.


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OCR Mode

There are two main views of Zonal OCR: the OCR Mode and the Configuration area. The Document Processing area is where you bring documents into the Zonal OCR so they can be analyzed and stored into eFileCabinet. This is the area on the left side of your screen, with the blue title bar that says “Files.” If you do not have any forms set up, you will be brought to the Document Processing area when you log in. You can edit existing forms or create new forms by clicking on the Settings Wheel located at the end of the green title bar.

Configuration Mode

Configuration Mode is used to set up the form templates needed to tell Zonal OCR which portions of your document you want to capture. The first time you log in, you will be brought to this mode. It will launch in this mode until you have saved at least one form. The Clipboard Icon at the end of the green header bar will take you back to OCR Mode.


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When you first log in, Zonal OCR will offer you “help bubbles” to guide you through the process. If you don’t wish to see them, check the box next to Do not show tips.


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2.0 Creating a Form Introduction: Zonal OCR is used to analyze data from standard forms, such as a W-2s and 1040s, and input the data into a profile in eFileCabinet of your choice. You are able to choose as many fields from your form as you want converted into searchable profile data. You can use an existing Profile, such as a Drawer, or any other profile that you have already set up through eFileCabinet, or you can create a profile that matches the information you want to capture through Zonal OCR.

Once you are in Configuration Mode, click on the Plus Sign in the blue bar on the left side of your screen to create a New Form. This will open the General Tab of the Edit Form window.

Create a name for the Template by clicking in the box under Template Name. Delete the words “New Form 1” and enter the name you want. Then click Choose Profile.


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The Choose Profile pane will display in the right pane under the green header. If you wish to use an existing profile, select which profile you want the form associated with from this list.

If the profile you want isn’t listed, you can create a new profile by entering the name of the profile in the box under New Profile. Once you’ve entered the name of the profile, click the Plus Sign on the right to add the profile to the list. The new profile will be added to the bottom of the list; you must scroll down and select it. Once your new or existing profile is selected, click Close.

Next, click Choose Template File to select a template file. A template is a blank version of whatever form you’re going to associate with the profile you selected. If you will be using the scanner portion of Zonal OCR, it is highly recommended that you print out your form and scan it using the scanner you will be using to process your completed documents. This helps to ensure that the alignment is consistent to improve the accuracy of the OCR process.


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Navigate through your Windows structure to find your template file. Click Open and the template will be loaded into Zonal OCR. It will display in the pane on the left.

You can use the icons in the green header to navigate through your template file. You can zoom in, zoom out, and move to the next or previous page of a multi-page document. The form is now ready for you to select fields for Zonal OCR to capture information from.


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3.0 Establishing Fields Introduction: Zonal OCR needs to know what information you want analyzed. In this step, you will set up fields that will capture a “zone” from your template document. Drawing a new field will create a new zone on the document from which information will be captured. That information will become a profile field, and profile fields collectively establish a profile for any given document.

After the form has been imported, click on the Fields Tab under the blue header.

The form will appear in the window on the right.

To draw a new field, click the Plus Sign.

Then click and drag with your mouse over the area on the form where you want to establish a new field.

Tip: Be sure when you draw your boxes that you do not accidentally include any words from the form’s title or any form lines.

Some common fields to capture are: First Name, Last Name, Address, etc.


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You can resize the field by clicking and dragging on any of the black squares.

When you draw a new field, you’ll see a New Field line appear on the left of the screen, where the fields are listed.

You can enter a name for this field, or Clear or Remove the field from your list of fields.

When you have multiple fields, you can click on the field name from the list, and it will highlight the corresponding green field on the document.

You can zoom in on the document using the Magnifying Glasses in the top left corner.

If your form has mutliple pages, you can click through the pages by using the Arrows next to the zoom controls.


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Repeat these steps until you have created all of the fields that you want for this form.

You are now ready to establish Automated Routing on your form(s).


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4.0 Establishing Automated Routing

Introduction: Automated Routing will autmotically route your documents to a predetermined destination within eFileCabinet, removing the need to manually assign a place for each document in your directory.

To establish Automated Routing for a form, click the Automated Routing tab.

Then check the box next to Enable Automated Routing.

Automated Routing starts at the cabinet level. To begin the process of automatically sending your forms to a specific area within eFileCabinet, click the Cabinet icon.

In the window on the right of your screen, a dropdown menu will appear. You can select the cabinet your want your forms routed to from this dropdown menu.


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Next, select the drawer you want to store your forms in. The Create Drawer icon is located directly underneath the Cabinet icon in the Automated Routing window.

If you wish to direct your forms to a specific folder, click the Plus Sign at the top of the Automated Routing window.

This will add the option to route your forms to a folder. The process for routing your forms to a folder or a cabinet is the same.


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When you click the Cabinet or Folder icon, a new menu will appear in the right window. This menu is the Action Menu.

The Action Menu features three different options for routing your forms – Find, Exact Location, or Create.

Find

Choosing Find from the Action Menu means that Zonal OCR will route your forms by finding a drawer based on one of three different criteria: Name, Form Fields, or Profile Fields.


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Find by Name

Select By Name.

In the Name field that appears, enter the name of the drawer or folder where you wish to store your form.

Find by Form Fields

Selecting the Form Fields option will bring up a menu of options.

This option will route your forms to a drawer or folder by name, based on the fields you select from the menu.


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Find by Profile Fields

The Profile Fields option will store your forms in a drawer or folder based on the profile fields of the form.

First, select which profile your form is associated with.

A menu will appear with two columns: one that lists eFileCabinet fields, and one that lists Zonal OCR fields. These are the fields associated with the profile you chose. If the names of the fields in Zonal OCR differ from those in the eFileCabinet fields, you can correlate the fields correctly by assigning the Zonal OCR fields to the proper eFileCabinet fields. If they’re the same, choose N/A on all options.

Exact Location

Choosing this option will route your forms to a specific location. To select an exact location for the form, choose Exact Location from the Action Menu. Then, choose the drawer or folder you want the form routed to from the dropdown menu below the Action Menu.

Remember, if you are routing a form to a drawer, you need to have the drawer icon selected.

If you wish to route the form to a folder, select the folder icon.


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Create

This is the final option available in the Action Menu. Selecting the Create option will bring up this window.

This option will create a new drawer or folder in which to store your forms. Enter a title for the drawer in the Name text box.

Create If Doesn’t Exist

This option will create a drawer or folder automatically if the one you selected doesn’t exist. At the bottom of the Find by Name, Find by Form Fields, and Find by Profile Fields windows, the Create if doesn’t exist checkbox is available

This option is a failsafe to make sure that forms you run through Zonal OCR end up in one central location if their automated routing destinations don’t exist. Enter the name of the drawer or folder you wish to be created in the event that Zonal OCR can’t locate the drawer or folder you want the forms stored in.


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Once you have established automated routing, click Save in the top left corner of your screen.


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4.0 Running Zonal OCR

With automated routing established, you are now ready to run Zonal OCR and gather information from your forms.

To begin, start back on the OCR Mode main screen and click the Plus Sign in the top left corner to add the files you want to OCR.

Clicking the Plus Sign will bring up your Windows Directory. Choose which form(s) you wish to apply OCR to from your library.

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Once your files have been added, click the Play button in the top left corner to initiate the OCR.


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You’ll see a Run Zonal OCR dialog box appear with the following options: Forms Identification Confidence, Fields OCR Confidence, Step-by-Step Confirmation, and Skip Processed. Forms Identification Confidence When you are running more than one type of form and template through Zonal OCR, this relates to how confident you are in the software correctly recognizing the different forms and fields on those forms. The recommended confidence setting is 50, and unless you are certain your forms are all correct, we recommend leaving the setting at 50. Fields OCR Confidence This relates to how confident you are that the fields you have selected on each form are translated correctly through the OCR engine to the profiles established by your template files. Again, 50 is the recommended confidence setting, and unless you know for sure your OCR fields are completely correct, we recommend leaving the setting at 50.


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Step-by-Step Confirmation Selecting this option will make the software stop and ask you to update your Forms ID Confidence and Fields OCR Confidence each time a new form is being processed. If you want to verify every document, select this option. If you want to take advantage of the Automated Routing, leave this option unselected. Skip Processed Enabling this option will prevent Zonal OCR from scanning the same form twice if you’re putting more than one of the same form (i.e., 1040s, W2s) through OCR. Once you have selected both confidence levels and selected either Step-by-Step Confirmation or Skip Processed, click Run.

If you have Automated Routing enabled and the document has been run through Zonal OCR, your document will automatically be routed and stored into eFileCabinet. If Zonal OCR is unsure about the accuracy of a field, the Form Fields box will display, with information populated from the form. Any items that are in red text are fields that Zonal OCR would like you to manually validate. Once the files have been manually validated, click on the eFileCabinet Icon at the top right-hand corner to manually store the document through eFileCabinet’s regular store window.


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Scanning eFileCabinet’s Scanner application has been updated to incorporate Zonal OCR into the regular scanning process. This will allow you to scan multiple documents at once, Zonal OCR will separate each form into the appropriate template type, route them, and automatically store them in the appropriate place. If you are familiar with the scanner application, you may notice two small changes to the interface. There is a small arrow next to the Scan Icon. If you choose Scan from the dropdown box or click the Scan Icon, the Scanner will scan the way it always has. If you select Scan and OCR, your documents will be scanned, Zonal OCR will be launched, and it will automatically process and store the documents. If you have scanned the documents normally because you would like to view the documents before launching Zonal OCR, you can launch the Zonal OCR process by clicking on the arrow next to the Store Icon and selecting Zonal OCR.

Questions, Comments, or Issues? If you have any questions about Zonal OCR, or you are encountering any errors when using this add-on feature, please contact eFileCabinet Customer Support at 877-574-5505 or support.efilecabinet.com.

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Zonal OCR User Guide