Abbyy Cuts the Cost of Forms Processing

Fremont, CA-based Abbyy (www.abbyy.com) has announced FormReader, low-priced software that captures handwritten and machine-printed data from up to 1,000 forms per day. The software recognizes handprint, machine print, fill-in boxes and bubbles and barcodes, and it includes tools for template creation, scanning, matching templates verification and data export.

FormReader's Template Manager lets users create templates simply by scanning blank forms and specifying the fields to be recognized as text, checkmarks, radio boxes or barcodes. Text fields can be specified as digits, letters or symbols to improve accuracy. The scanning tool is compatible with all TWAIN-compliant scanners, and it automatically detects orientation and rotates, straightens and cleans images as necessary. The text engine recognizes 56 languages. Verification tools help operators proofread and correct recognition results. A Context tool displays the results in a window next to the original image for easy comparison. Group Verification displays multiple occurrences of low-confidence characters in one window for faster correction. Extracted form data can be saved as DBF, Excel, CSV or TXT files, and users can export data to databases or applications via ODBC, an Application Programming Interface or any programming language that supports OLE.

FormReader is priced at $1,600, and the software is reportedly easy to install and operate, even for small companies that lack extensive IT resources.

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