Identify Docs 1.0

The initial idea when developing Identify Docs was to create an affordable, easy to use software application for attorneys that would allow them to easily process in house a CD full of Tiff images.
The processing would include performing Optical Character Recognition on the image and stamping the image with identifying information (Bates Stamping), without obscuring any part of the image. The final product does that and more.
Identify Docs is easy to setup and use. The user opens a file or selects a folder (if batch processing) and fills out a one page form of settings.
These settings can be saved in the output folder for use with all documents that pertain to that job or set as a default for all documents.
What it does:
- Batch processes Tiff Images
- OCR’s Tiff Images with three forms of output, a text file, text searchable Tiff, or text searchable PDF
- Stamps PDF Output with identifying information, such as number in a series and page number of document
- Adds meta data to PDF output
What it does not do:
- Identify Docs does not preserve any formatting at all. The output is for research, not for converting image files into files that can be edited.
- Run without Microsoft’s Document Imaging – a component of Microsofts Office Suite
OCR Function:
Identify Docs works in conjunction with Microsoft’s Document Imaging which contains one of the best OCR engines on the market. It uses this engine to process the Tiff images into Searchable Tiff Images, Text Searchable PDF Images or a Text File.
The text file can be a multi-page document (if processing multi-page tiffs) or a series of single page tiff files named the same as the document with a counter placed at the end of the file name.
Please note that when creating text searchable PDFs the text will be placed on the page but not aligned with the image.
Stamping Options:
When outputting to a PDF, Identify Docs has the ability to stamp the image with identifying data. It can place up to 85 characters on the image including a short note (case number or project name), file name, page in a series, page number in the document and date and time entered.
These settings can be saved for later use so as new documents arrive the user has to look up where they left off.
The stamp can be placed on any side of the page with any alignment desired. It can be on the top, bottom, left side or right side of the document with alignment of left, right or centered. It can also be placed on a border, assuring that it will never obscure data on the image.
Processing Methods:
The processing method can be done in three ways, a single document at a time, in a batch process, or in a silent running batch process.
A single document at a time is designed for use with a copier that scans to a file folder on a network. The user opens the tiff image with Microsoft’s Document Imaging and then opens Identify Docs.
The user is prompted for an output folder and the document is processed using settings contained in the output folder. These rules contain, the file numbering, file naming, position of the stamp, text file output if desired, and meta data.
The batch processing method is similar to the single document processing, only it assumes that all the documents in a folder are going to be placed in the same output folder.
This allows a user to scan in numerous files, quickly review them, and add meta data to them if desired.
This is ideal for processing numerous files scanned with a copier or files received on a CD, where they need to be reviewed before entering the system.
The silent batch processing method is the most powerful method of operation. It will look at a root file folder and process silently all the documents in the folder and its subfolders.
This allows a user who receives a disk of tiff images to simply copy all the images on the CD to a file folder on their PC, run the program and then search for any words in any of the documents.
It can also be used to duplicate a file folder structure of tiff images with one of Text Searchable PDF Images.
Speed:
Each document type is different as to the size and contents so the output speed will vary. On average our tests showed a speed of 4 seconds per page on a random sample. This equates to 900 pages per hour on average, there is no guarantee that the end user will achieve this speed on their documents.
Meta Data:
The user can enter up to 256 characters in the Author, Subject, Title, Keywords and Creator fields. By default the producer will be set to the Licensee of the software.
The meta data can be set by default for all documents in a folder or the user can be prompted each time a document is added if using the single document method or batch processing method. Being prompted for meta data is not available in the silent processing method.
File Naming:
The user can keep the original file name, be prompted for a file name each time a document is added if using the single document method or batch processing method, or assign a file name for use with all documents in the job.
It using the same file name for all document in a job, a counter will be placed at the end of the file name assuring the user no existing document is overwritten.
The counter will be the beginning page number in the series not file-1pdf, file-2.pdf, file-3.pdf etc.
If using multi-page documents where file 1 is 10 pages, file 2 is 15 pages and file three is 20 pages the files would be file1-pdf, file11-pdf, file26-pdf and file47-pdf.
Folder Output:
All the files can be output to a single file folder or a folder system matching the folder structure that the documents came from. If output is to be to a single file folder from documents contained in a hierarchal folder structure it is important to use the file numbering option. If it is not used and two files exist with the same name the existing one will be overwritten.
The Original File:
Once processed, the original tiff file will have an invisible layer of OCR text on it. This file can be automatically moved into a subfolder of the output folder allowing the file to be processed again if the numbering is to be changed.
If the files are going to be distributed to someone else and the OCR layer of text is not desirable they need to be copied somewhere else before processing.
Searching for documents:
The user needs to search for documents based on the output format selected. The text searchable tiffs can be searched for with the search engine built into windows. The text searchable PDFs can be searched for with Acrobat or the search engine in Windows provided that the ifilter from Adobe has been installed.
The preferred method of searching is to use dtSearch, with the option selected of "View PDF Files as plain text" in the preferences section of the Options Menu. This allows the user to instantly view the text in the document without having to wait for the PDF file to open.
dtSearch is without question the fastest method of searching and it incorporates the ability to do stemming searches, proximity searches, fuzzy searching, and meta data searches.