SmartSoft Capture quick start guide
Use the following steps to process images using SmartSoft Capture on a dedicated workstation.
Before you begin
- Install the SmartSoft Capture software
- Ensure the FileHold Desktop Application is installed and running.
- Connect the scanner to the computer and ensure the TWAIN driver is installed.
- Ensure that the document schema with the appropriate metadata fields has been created and that there is a cabinet/drawer/folder structure available to send the images.
- Have a variety of documents ready to scan. For example, if you are using invoices, have 5 to 6 invoices from different vendors.
Sometimes it is difficult to be sure your TWAIN driver has been correctly installed. FileHold is not able to support your scanner or your TWAIN driver installation, but you may be able to get some assistance from the organization that promotes TWAIN. They have a tool called TWACKER that can help you to independently test and verify the installation of your TWAIN driver. You can download the tool from their web page http://www.twain.org/.
Configure the scanner
Do the following if scanning from a scanner in SmartSoft Capture.
To configure the scanner
- Go to Tools > Select Scanner.
- Select the scanner from the list and click OK.
- Go to Tools > Scanner Settings. Configure the settings and click Save.
- Resolution: Use 300 DPI
- Color mode: Greyscale
- Page source: Automatic
Processing images
Use the following steps to process the images.
To process images for data capture
- Go to Tools > Settings or click ALT+S.
- Select the Archive tab and set the Archive folder path. This is the location to store the processed images. By default this is C:/Scans.
- Select the XML Export tab and set the Default export folder path. This is the location of the XML file which contains the form field information that will be used to populate the metadata fields in FileHold. This must be the same folder location as the Archive folder. By default this is C:/Scans.
- Go to File > Edit Form Templates or click CTRL+F11.
- Ensure the check box next to the field template name is selected and click Close.
- If you are not using the default template to scan invoices, you will need to create your own template. See the SmartSoft Capture help for more information on creating your own form templates.
- Click Scan. The images are scanned and shown in the Session View area.
- Alternatively, to process images from existing PDF, BMP, JPG, JPEG, PNG, TIFF, or TIF files, click Open and select the files.
- The software attempts to automatically capture the form field information.
- Review the captured information in the fields to ensure its correctness. Any field marked in red requires validation. Press F3 to validate the field if the value captured is correct.
- If needed, provide manual input by first selecting the field in the Form View and then select a region on the page in the Image View. Using the mouse, draw a box around the data.
- Manually entry of the value is also allowed.
- Once you have validated the information, click Export.
- In the pop-up window, click Close.
Importing processed images into FileHold
Once the images have been processed, validated and exported from SmartSoft Capture, the documents can be imported into the FileHold library. The managed imports tool is used to import the documents in the FileHold Desktop Application.
To import images into FileHold
- Go to File > Preferences and Settings > User Preferences.
- Set the Format of document imports to Capture and click OK.
- Only use the Capture import format when using SmartSoft Capture. If using QuickScan Pro, set to QuickScan Pro.
- Go to Tools > Manage Imports and add an import. See Importing Documents from Scanning Applications for more information on configuring a document import. Be sure to select the folder path set in the SmartSoft Capture settings. For example, C:/Scans.
Tips for validating the captured form field values
- Use Tab and Shift+Tab to quickly move forward and backward between fields in the Form View Panel.
- Use Page Down and Page Up to quickly move between invoice documents.
- Use a vendor list to help the system recognize and validate vendor names. This can be exported from an existing accounting system or can be created manually. See the SmartSoft Capture help for more information.
- After some training of the system, only verify form fields displayed in red. After identifying a missing field for a particular vendor, the program memorizes the template and recognizes the field automatically for the next invoices from the same vendor.
- Date based fields are validated against your Microsoft Windows OS regional settings.
How to train SmartSoft Capture
- Select the form field in the Form view and then point and click, or draw a box around the correct value. If the incorrect value is captured, right click on the area in the Image view and select Refresh region. This helps the system to learn where to collect the correct information.
- If all attempts at capturing the information fail, enter the value manually.
- If adding a value to a field that contains a list of values, such as a list of vendor names, right-click on the name and select Add to list. Adding values to lists help train the software.
- Use the Tab key to move to the next field or F4 to jump to the next invalid (red) field.
- Press F3 to force validation on invalid or empty (but required) fields. You will want to correct or verify any form field that is in red.
Watch the short clip below.
Tips and tricks
For more SmartSoft Capture tips and tricks, see the FileHold blog: