Kofax VRS4 User Manual

User’s Manual

10300467-000 Revision A

Copyright

The information contained in this document is the property of Kofax Image Products, Inc. Neither receipt nor possession hereof confers or transfers any right to reproduce or disclose any part of the contents hereof, without the prior written consent of Kofax Image Products, Inc. No patent liability is assumed, however, with respect to the use of the information contained herein.

Trademarks

Kofax, the Kofax logo, VirtualReScan, the “VRS VirtualReScan” logo, ImageControls, and Adrenaline are registered trademarks of Kofax Image Products, Inc.; and VRS is a trademark of Kofax Image Products, Inc.

ISIS

is a registered trademark of Pixel Translations, a division of Captiva Software

Corporation.

TWAIN is a registered trademark of the TWAIN Working Group.

All other product names and logos mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.

Disclaimer

The instructions and descriptions contained in this document were accurate at the time of printing. However, succeeding products and documents are subject to change without notice. Therefore, Kofax Image Products, Inc. assumes no liability for damages incurred directly or indirectly from errors, omissions, or discrepancies between the product and this document.

An attempt has been made to state all allowable values where applicable throughout this document. Any values or parameters used beyond those stated might have unpredictable results.

How to Use This Guide. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix

How this Guide is Organized . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .ix

Related Documentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi

Technical Support Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi

1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Standard Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

VRS Plus Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Certified Scanning Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Certified vs. Non-Certified Scanners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Quick Tour. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

VRS Taskbar Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

VRS Taskbar Menu Commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Preview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

QC Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Admin Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

VRS Interactive Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Working with the VRS Interactive Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Scroll Bars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Persistence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

VRS User’s Manual iii

Contents

Focus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Minimize / Maximize Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

VRS Interactive Viewer Menu Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Zoom Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Profile Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14

Save As . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Save . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Organize . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Tools Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Scanner Driver Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Enable Plus Features Demo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Help Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

VRS Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

User’s Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Installation Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Activate VRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Check for Updates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

About VRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

VRS Adjustment Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Clarity Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Noise Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Skew Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Color Panel (VRS Plus only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Background Panel (VRS Plus only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Blank Page Panel (VRS Plus only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

VRS Interactive Viewer Toolbar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Zoom Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Scanner Driver Settings Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Profile Selection List . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

VRS Image Status Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

VRS Image Analysis Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Getting Started with VRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Selecting VRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Using the VRS Interactive Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27

Creating a Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Setting the QC Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Using the VRS Administration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

iv VRS User’s Manual

Contents

3 Operating VRS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Selecting VRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Kofax VRS Scanning Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Kofax VRS ImageControls Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

Kofax VRS ISIS Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Kofax VRS TWAIN Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39

Configuring VRS Before You Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Using the VRS Administration Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Warnings Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Errors Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Accelerated Scanning Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Updating the VRS Administration Utility Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Setting the VRS Operating Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

On Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

First Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Every Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Disabled . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

QC Later (available only to Ascent Capture 7.0 users) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Hardware Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Working with Profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Creating a Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Changing the Active Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Updating a Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Removing a Profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

Previewing Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Using the Status and Analysis Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Using VRS While You Scan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Using the Auto Resolve Manager . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Using the VRS Interactive Viewer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62

Using the VRS Adjustment Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Using the Clarity Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

VRS User’s Manual

Clarity Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Noise Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Skew Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Color Panel (VRS Plus only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Background Panel (VRS Plus only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Blank Page Panel (VRS Plus only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

VRS Adjustment Controls Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Brightness and Contrast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

Contents

Understanding Contrast, Brightness, and Gamma Settings in VRS . . . . . . . . 68

Manual Image Adjustment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Using the Noise Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Removing Noise from a Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Using the Skew Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

Deskew Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Auto Crop and Edge Cleanup Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Auto Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

Using the Color Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Using the Background Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

Using the Blank Page Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Updating VRS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Enabling the Plus Features Demo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Using Advanced Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94

Using the Advanced Properties Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Endorser Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96

Text Definition Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Color Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .102

Picking Rectangle Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104

Rotation Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

About Tab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106

A VRS Restore Default Values Utility. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .107

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Using the RDV Utility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108

B Long Paper Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Activating Long Paper Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

C VRS Non-Interactive Mode. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

vi VRS User’s Manual

Contents

D Enhanced Bar Code Engine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Standard vs. Enhanced Bar Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

How to Switch Between Bar Code Engines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Accessing the Bar Code Properties Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Using the Bar Code Properties Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Recognition Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Interpret Bar Code Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Bar Size Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Search Direction Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Quality Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Checksum Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

E Patch Code Recognition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123

Using the Patch Code Properties Dialog Box . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124

F Windows XP Look and Feel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127

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Contents

viii VRS User’s Manual

How to Use This Guide

Introduction

The VRS User’s Manual, which gives instructions for using VirtualReScan (VRS), is intended for all potential scan operators. Whether you are an expert at image processing or have no special knowledge of scanning, this manual provides the information you need to make the best use of VRS features and functionality.

This guide is written with the assumption that your VRS product has been installed and tested according to the instructions in the VRS Installation Guide.

How this Guide is Organized

This manual consists of the following chapters and appendices:

Chapter 1 - Overview gives a general description of the VRS product, summarizes the VRS Standard and VRS Plus features, and describes the VRS scanner certification process.

Chapter 2 - Quick Tour introduces the VRS user interface and gives an overview of the process for using VRS with your scanning application.

Chapter 3 - Operating VRS gives detailed instructions on how to select, configure, and use VRS with your scanning application. This chapter includes instructions on how to use the Kofax VRS scan interfaces, the VRS menu, the VRS Administration Utility, the VRS Interactive Viewer, and the VRS Auto Resolve Manager. This chapter also explains how to access advanced options that are available with some scanners: endorsing and annotation, color dropout, JPEG compression, etc.

Appendix A - VRS Restore Default Values Utility explains how to use the Restore Default Values (RDV) utility. The RDV utility can be used to restore VRS settings to their original values or to select the default VRS scanner without reinstalling VRS.

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How to Use This Guide

Appendix B - Long Paper Support explains how to configure VRS for long paper scanning, which is available with some production class scanners.

Appendix C - VRS Non-Interactive Mode explains how to switch VRS from noninteractive mode to interactive mode. In non-interactive mode, the user interface does not appear during a scanning session. Non-interactive mode is supported only for certain scanners.

Appendix D - Enhanced Bar Code Engine gives an overview of how to implement and use the Kofax Enhanced Bar Code engine.

Appendix E - Patch Code Recognition explains VRS patch code support.

Appendix F - Windows XP Look and Feel explains how you can enable the

Windows XP “look and feel” within the VRS Interactive Viewer.

Training

Kofax offers both classroom and computer-based training that will help you make the most of your Kofax solution. Visit the Kofax Web site at www.kofax.com for complete details about the available training options and schedules.

Technical Support Information

For additional technical information about Kofax products, visit the Kofax Web site at www.kofax.com and select an appropriate option from the Support menu. The Kofax Support pages provide product-specific information, such as current revision levels, the latest drivers and software patches, online documentation and user manuals, updates to product release notes (if any), technical tips, and an extensive searchable knowledgebase. You can find VRS FAQs on the VRS Support pages.

The Kofax Web site also contains information that describes support options for Kofax products. Please review the site for details about the available support options. If you need to contact Kofax Technical Support, please have the following information available:

• VRS software version and build number

• Scanning application name

•Operating system and service pack version

• Scanner make and model

• SCSI scanner controller (if applicable)

• Special/custom configuration or integration information

How to Use This Guide

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How to Use This Guide

xii VRS User’s Manual

Introduction

VirtualReScan (VRS) is an image enhancement tool intended to provide the best possible image quality across the widest range of document types. VRS is an extremely effective and versatile imaging tool that is easy to use for beginners and experts alike. VRS works hand-in-hand with your scanning application. By giving you access to the VRS interactive controls, VRS offers the ability to drive your image processing with true power. VRS keeps it simple, though. Basically, VRS can be used in three ways:

1 Default Settings—You can use VRS to scan documents and accurately

capture data effortlessly using the default settings. These default settings have been carefully chosen so that VRS will produce excellent image quality for a wide range of documents without adjustments.

2 Automatic Image Enhancement—VRS also monitors images, detecting poor

image quality and performing automatic image enhancements that greatly reduce errors related to image quality or recognition.

Chapter 1

Overview

3 Manual Image Enhancement—VRS provides interactive controls for cases in

which you want the ability to modify an image manually. You determine the best settings only once for the documents you scan, and VRS does the rest.

Whether you choose to let VRS work completely on its own using the superior default settings, or make image adjustments yourself, you can be certain that every scanned image will meet the highest standards.

Note VRS is equipped with context-sensitive online help. Press F1 to get on-screen

assistance with crucial tasks, without leaving the application.

VRS User’s Manual 1

Chapter 1

Standard Features

With VRS, you can ensure that every scanned image meets your quality standards. While VRS is designed to make production scanning easier and more cost-effective, VRS also provides the same advantages for all types of scanning situations. Through instant detection of poor image quality, VRS performs automatic image enhancements that greatly reduce errors related to image quality or recognition. You can be certain that every scanned image meets your standards, as VRS provides a set of interactive adjustment controls to eliminate guesswork with easy, real-time image correction.

The VRS standard feature set does the following:

• Scans batches that consist of multiple document sizes or varying degrees of

quality. This means you won't have to pre-sort mixed batches. For black background scanners, VRS will deskew images and crop them to the size of the original documents.

• Detects and alerts you to paper jams and equipment conflicts automatically.

This saves time and increases post-processing accuracy.

• Performs automatic deskew without character degradation. Traditional

deskew software produces jagged edges, but VRS character edges remain smooth and precise, even after the deskew process, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1. Traditional Deskew vs. VRS

Because the VRS standard feature set has been optimized for bitonal output, it also does the following:

• Automatically assigns brightness settings that are optimal for your document

type. For batch scans in which Optical Character Recognition (OCR) precision is crucial, low-contrast documents traditionally pose significant problems. With VRS, you are able to enhance faint content, which can result in improved OCR results, even at low resolutions (such as 200 DPI).

• Suppresses any background or noise to yield smaller image file sizes during

image optimization, thus reducing storage requirements.

2 VRS User’s Manual

In addition to contrast enhancement, brightness adjustment, and high quality deskew correction, VRS offers a range of other features to help you ensure the highest level of quality for every scanned image:

•Despeckling

• Gamma correction

• Character dilation/erosion

• Long paper support

• Access to advanced features

VRS Plus Features

In addition to the standard feature set, VRS supports a set of “Plus” features, which include the following:

• Automatic color detection

• Background smoothing

• Content-based rotation

• Blank page deletion

• White background cropping and deskew

• QC Later mode for Ascent Capture 7.0 users

Overview

Unlimited access to VRS Plus features is available to all users with the following VRS license categories: Desktop, Workgroup/Departmental, and Production. Limited access to VRS Plus features is available to users who have the VRS “Standard” license. If you have a VRS Standard license, you can preview the VRS Plus features by using them in demonstration mode. For details, refer to Enabling the Plus Features Demo on page 91. For details about individual VRS Plus features, refer to Operating VRS on page 31.

Note If you enable all of the VRS Plus features at the same time, there is some

potential for performance degradation.

VRS User’s Manual

Chapter 1

Certified Scanning Applications

As part of the certification process, Kofax tests VRS compatibility with a wide range of scanning applications. While the list of certified scanning applications is updated on a regular basis, it is important to know that VRS is designed to work with any application

based on the Kofax ImageControls toolkit, an ISIS programming interface, or a TWAIN programming interface.

Certified vs. Non-Certified Scanners

When a scanner is certified for VRS, it goes through a rigorous testing process during which the best default settings are identified and selected. For this reason, we recommend that you use VRS only with certified scanners. Also, Kofax Technical Support is available only for VRS-certified scanners. You can use the links on the VRS product pages on the Kofax Web site at www.kofax.com to view the list of VRScertified scanners. In addition to listing the scanner name and manufacturer, the VRS product pages include the following information:

• Driver used for VRS (TWAIN, ISIS, or Kofax SCSI).

• Black or white background support.

• Additional memory required for optimal performance (if applicable).

• Interface certified by VRS (SCSI, USB, or FireWire).

VRS is capable of working with some non-certified or “compatible” scanners, if they have been configured with the Kofax Source Manager (KSM). It is important to be aware that you may experience less than optimal image quality when using a noncertified scanner with VRS. Not every scanner can be used with VRS. To be compatible with VRS, a non-certified scanner must meet the following requirements:

• Ability to output a 256-level grayscale image as a single image.

• TWAIN driver or ISIS driver support. While VRS works best with an ISIS

driver, it also supports some scanners with TWAIN drivers.

For more information about using non-certified scanners with VRS, refer to the VRS

Installation Guide.

4 VRS User’s Manual

Introduction

This chapter introduces the VRS user interface and gives an overview of how to use VRS alongside your scanning application. Use this chapter to get familiarized with VRS, and then proceed to Operating VRS on page 31 to learn about VRS in more detail.

VRS Taskbar Icon

When you select the VRS scan source from your scanning application, VRS is active, as indicated by the icon that appears in the Windows taskbar. With ImageControlsbased scanning applications, the VRS icon appears as soon as you select the VRS scan source. With ISIS- or TWAIN-based scanning applications, the VRS icon appears once you start to scan. When you position the cursor over the icon, the ToolTip text displays as “VirtualReScan.”

Chapter 2

Quick Tour

VRS Taskbar Icon

Figure 2-1. VRS Taskbar Icon

When you right-click on the VRS taskbar icon, the VRS taskbar menu will display, as shown in Figure 2-2.

Figure 2-2. VRS Taskbar Menu

VRS User’s Manual 5

Chapter 2

This menu gives you options to preview and update image properties, select or change an image properties profile, choose an operating (QC) mode, or specify preferences for responding to potential errors and events.

The VRS taskbar menu is not available while scanning is in progress or when the VRS Interactive Viewer is open (even though the VRS taskbar icon is still active). When the VRS taskbar menu is unavailable, it will appear dimmed, as shown in Figure 2-3.

Figure 2-3. VRS Taskbar Menu - Unavailable

VRS Taskbar Menu Commands

This section explains each command that is available from the VRS taskbar menu.

Preview

You can use the Preview command to view the last image scanned during the current session. If no image is available, you can select Preview after scanning a sample document to test or verify image property settings. For details, refer to Using the VRS Interactive Viewer on page 27.

Profile

You can use the Profile command to select from the list of VRS profiles. The Profile submenu indicates the currently active profile with a check mark, as shown in Figure 2-4.

Figure 2-4. VRS Profiles List

6 VRS User’s Manual

Each profile is a set of property settings for image processing. When you select a profile, the associated property settings from the VRS Adjustment Controls are loaded from permanent storage into operational memory. The profile selection is unique for each VRS user on your computer.

You can also select a profile from the VRS Interactive Viewer toolbar or the Organize Profiles dialog box. For more information, refer to Working with Profiles on page 53.

QC Modes

You can use the QC Modes command to select a VRS operating mode, as shown in Figure 2-5. The operating mode controls the conditions under which scanning stops and the VRS Interactive Viewer opens for image inspection and interactive updates. The active QC Mode or Hardware Warnings setting is indicated by a check mark. The operating mode selections are unique for each VRS user on your computer.

Note If you are using VRS in your Ascent Capture 7.0 installation, an additional

mode called “QC Later” may appear on the list of operating modes. For details, refer to the Ascent Capture online help or the Getting Started with Ascent Capture guide.

For more information, refer to Setting the VRS Operating Mode on page 52.

Quick Tour

Figure 2-5. QC Modes Menu

VRS User’s Manual

Chapter 2

Admin Utility

You can select the Admin Utility command to open the VRS Administration Utility dialog box, which is used to specify your preferences for handling exception conditions and to specify preferences for accelerated scanning. For more information, refer to Using the VRS Administration Utility on page 41.

Figure 2-6. VRS Administration Utility

8 VRS User’s Manual

VRS Interactive Viewer

The VRS Interactive Viewer displays scanned images for your inspection. The purpose of the viewer is to show you what an image looks like when it scans, or to refresh the image as you apply property changes. The VRS Interactive Viewer opens under the following circumstances:

• You select “Preview” from the VRS taskbar menu. Refer to Previewing Images on page 59.

• VRS intercepts or “traps” an exception image for which the response is defined as “Interactive.” Refer to Using the VRS Administration Utility on page 41.

• As appropriate for the active operating mode. Refer to QC Modes on page 7.

From the VRS Interactive Viewer, you can use the VRS Adjustment Controls to apply attribute changes to the image in the viewing pane. For more information, refer to Using the VRS Adjustment Controls on page 64.

The VRS Interactive Viewer also consists of other components: a menu, a toolbar, status information, and image analysis information. Each component is summarized briefly in this chapter. For more detailed information, refer to Operating VRS on page 31.

Quick Tour

Note In a Windows XP environment, the appearance of the VRS Interactive Viewer is

controlled by a manifest file, which is used to enable the Windows XP “look and feel.” For more information, refer to Windows XP Look and Feel on page 125.

VRS User’s Manual

Chapter 2

Figure 2-7. VRS Interactive Viewer

Image status information

VRS Interactive Viewer menu bar

VRS Interactive Viewer toolbar

Image viewing area

VRS Adjustment Controls

Image analysis information

10 VRS User’s Manual

Working with the VRS Interactive Viewer

This section gives details about the user interface that may be helpful as you work within the VRS Interactive Viewer.

Scroll Bars

If you resize the VRS Interactive Viewer so that the individual controls do not fit within the available space, horizontal and/or vertical scroll bars will appear so that you can navigate to the controls that are not in view.

Persistence

The size and state of the VRS Interactive Viewer are maintained from one scanning session to another.

Focus

To navigate among the panels that make up the VRS Adjustment Controls, you can use Ctrl + to navigate to the panels below the one that is currently selected. You can use Ctrl + to navigate to the panels that precede the one that is currently selected.

Quick Tour

Minimize / Maximize Buttons

Within the VRS Interactive Viewer, the Minimize and Maximize buttons work as follows:

• If you select the Minimize button at the top right of the VRS Interactive

• If you select the Maximize button, the VRS Interactive Viewer window will

VRS User’s Manual

Viewer, the result is the same as selecting the Cancel button.

cover your computer screen.

Chapter 2

VRS Interactive Viewer Menu Bar

This section explains each command that is available from the VRS Interactive Viewer menu bar. The availability of some commands may vary, according to the features supported by your VRS license and your scanner.

Table 2-1. VRS Interactive Viewer Menu Commands

Menu Command Description Keyboard

Zoom menu Open the Zoom menu. Alt+Z

Profile menu Open the Profile menu. Alt+P

Profile | Save As Open the New Profile dialog box. Alt+P+A

Profile | Save Save a profile. Alt+P+S

Profile | Organize Open the Organize Profiles dialog box. Alt+P+O

Tools menu Open the Tools menu. Alt+T

Shortcut

Ctrl+N

Ctrl+S

Ctrl+O

Tools | Scanner Driver Settings

Tools | Enable Plus Features Demo

Help menu Open the Help menu. Alt+H

Help| VRS Help Open the VRS online help system. Alt+H+H

Help | User’s Manual Open the VRS User’s Manual in PDF format. Alt+H+U

Help | Installation Guide

Help | Activate VRS Open the dialog box that is used to activate

Help | Check for Updates

Help | About VRS Open the About dialog box, which includes VRS

Open the Advanced Settings dialog box or the Advanced Properties dialog box.

Activate VRS Plus features in demonstration mode.

Open the VRS Installation Guide in PDF format. Alt+H+I

licensed versions of VRS.

Launch the Update Manager, from which you can download VRS product updates.

version and license information, along with contact information for Kofax Image Products.

Alt+T+S

Alt+T+P

Alt+H+A

Alt+H+C

Alt+H+V

12 VRS User’s Manual

Zoom Menu

The Zoom menu lists a range of magnification settings that can be applied to the images that display in the VRS Interactive Viewer.

Figure 2-8. VRS Interactive Viewer Zoom Menu

From the Zoom menu, you can select an option to magnify or reduce the image that appears in the left pane of the VRS Interactive Viewer. You can also adjust the image view with the left and right mouse buttons.

• Using the left mouse button, you can do the following:

3 View part of the image by clicking and dragging the selection rectangle

across the area you want to magnify.

3 Restore the image to the standard view by double-clicking the image.

• Using the right mouse button, you can do the following:

3 Once you have zoomed in on an image, click and drag (or pan) the image

in the viewing pane.

Quick Tour

You can also adjust the image magnification setting by using the Zoom tool on the VRS Interactive Viewer toolbar. Refer to Zoom Tool on page 24.

VRS User’s Manual

Chapter 2

Profile Menu

You can use the Profile menu to create and manage VRS profiles. Each profile represents a saved combination of settings on the panels in the VRS Adjustment Controls. A profile works like a memorized strategy for image correction and enhancement. With the exception of the “Default settings” profile, which is predetermined and automatically included in your VRS installation, profiles are created by the user. VRS uses the “Default settings” profile unless you select another profile. The profile selection is unique for each VRS user on your computer.

Save As

Use this command to assign a name to a new profile, and then save it. When you select “Save As,” the New Profile dialog box opens so that you can assign the profile name. For details, refer to Creating a Profile on page 28.

Figure 2-9. New Profile Dialog Box

Save

Use this command to save modifications to the currently selected profile. For details, refer to Working with Profiles on page 53.

14 VRS User’s Manual

Quick Tour

Organize

Use this command to open the Organize Profiles dialog box, which is used to create profiles and manage existing profiles (refer to Figure 2-10). For details, refer to Working with Profiles on page 53.

Figure 2-10. Organize Profiles Dialog Box

VRS User’s Manual

Chapter 2

Tools Menu

You can use the Tools menu commands to access advanced settings for certain scanners, and to preview VRS Plus features. The Tools menu is available only if the VRS Interactive Viewer opens in preview mode, or as a result of selecting the First Page or Every Page operating mode.

Scanner Driver Settings

If applicable to your installation, this menu command is used to access the driver that VRS uses to connect to the scanner. The “Scanner Driver Settings” command will not be available unless your scanner driver supports advanced options. When available, the command opens the Advanced Settings dialog box or the Advanced Properties dialog box, so that you can view and adjust additional settings associated with your scanner. The availability of the options on the advanced dialog boxes varies from one scanner to another. For more information, refer to Using Advanced Features on page 94.

Enable Plus Features Demo

This menu command is available only if you have a VRS “Standard” license. You can use this command to enable a demonstration of the VRS Plus features. While this mode is enabled, you have full access to the VRS Plus features and a “Kofax Demo Mode” stamp is applied to any images that you scan. For details, refer to Enabling the Plus Features Demo on page 91.

Help Menu

You can use the Help menu to access the VRS online help system and documentation. From the Help menu, you can also activate your VRS product license, check for and download product updates, and view the About dialog box.

VRS Help

Use this command to open the VRS online help system.

User’s Manual

Use this command to open the VRS User’s Manual in PDF format.

Installation Guide

Use this command to open the VRS Installation Guide in PDF format.

16 VRS User’s Manual

Activate VRS

Use this command to activate your VRS product license. This command is available if you have installed a VRS Plus version without activating the license. When you select the “Activate VRS” command, the Activate VRS dialog box opens so that you can request a license code. You must activate your VRS license to be eligible for product updates and technical support. For more information, refer to the VRS online help or the VRS Installation Guide.

Check for Updates

Use this command to check for and download VRS product updates. For more information, refer to Updating VRS on page 90. The “Check for Updates” command is available only if your VRS product license has been activated.

About VRS

Use this command to open the About dialog box, which lists VRS version and license information, along with contact information for Kofax Image Products.

VRS Adjustment Controls

Quick Tour

The VRS Adjustment Controls consist of six panels that give you options for setting preferences associated with image quality adjustments. Each panel is summarized briefly in this section. The number of panels that you see may vary, according to your VRS license and the capabilities of your scanner. For detailed information about individual panels, refer to Operating VRS on page 31.

VRS User’s Manual

Chapter 2

Figure 2-11. VRS Adjustment Controls - Clarity Panel

Clarity Panel

Use the Clarity panel options to adjust the contrast, brightness, and gamma values associated with an image. For details, refer to Using the Clarity Panel on page 67.

18 VRS User’s Manual

Quick Tour

Noise Panel

Use the Noise panel options to apply filters that enhance image quality and remove excessive speckling. For details, refer to Using the Noise Panel on page 78.

Note The Noise panel is available only if the scanner is set for bitonal scanning.

Figure 2-12. VRS Adjustment Controls - Noise Panel

VRS User’s Manual

Chapter 2

Skew Panel

Use the Skew panel options to specify settings associated with automatic or manual deskew, auto crop, edge cleanup, and auto orientation. For details, refer to Using the Skew Panel on page 80.

Figure 2-13. VRS Adjustment Controls - Skew Panel

20 VRS User’s Manual

Quick Tour

Color Panel (VRS Plus only)

Use the Color panel options to enable automatic color detection and specify settings associated with color image processing. For details, refer to Using the Color Panel on page 83.

Note The Color panel is available only if the scanner is set for color scanning.

Figure 2-14. VRS Adjustment Controls - Color Panel

VRS User’s Manual

Chapter 2

Background Panel (VRS Plus only)

Use the Background panel options to enable background smoothing and specify settings associated with processing the background region of a color document. For details, refer to Using the Background Panel on page 86.

Note The Background panel is available only if the scanner is set for color scanning.

Figure 2-15. VRS Adjustment Controls - Background Panel

22 VRS User’s Manual

Quick Tour

Blank Page Panel (VRS Plus only)

Use the Blank Page panel options to enable automatic deletion of blank pages and adjust the VRS Content Sensitivity setting. For details, refer to Using the Blank Page Panel on page 88.

Note The Blank Page panel is not available while scanning is in progress.

Figure 2-16. VRS Adjustment Controls - Blank Page Panel

VRS User’s Manual

Chapter 2

VRS Interactive Viewer Toolbar

The VRS Interactive Viewer toolbar gives you convenient shortcuts for selecting zoom options, advanced scanner properties, and profiles.

Figure 2-17. VRS Interactive Viewer Toolbar

Zoom Tool

Use the Zoom tool to select different image magnification options, which are also available from the Zoom menu (refer to Zoom Menu on page 13).

Figure 2-18. Zoom Tool Options

Scanner Driver Settings Tool

Select this tool to view advanced settings (in the Advanced Settings dialog box or the Advanced Properties dialog box) associated with the selected scanner. The “Scanner Driver Settings” tool will be available only if your scanner supports advanced options. The availability of the advanced settings may vary, according to the scanner that you specified during the VRS installation process. You can also access advanced settings by selecting the “Scanner Driver Settings” command from the Tools menu. For more information, refer to Using Advanced Features on page 94.

Figure 2-19. Scanner Driver Settings Tool

24 VRS User’s Manual

Profile Selection List

Use the profile selection list on the toolbar to view or change the active profile selection. You can also select a profile from the Organize Profiles dialog box or the Profile submenu that is available from the VRS taskbar menu. For more information, refer to Working with Profiles on page 53.

Figure 2-20. VRS Profile Selection List

VRS Image Status Information

The title bar of the VRS Interactive Viewer includes the status of the current image and indicates whether it scanned successfully or generated an exception. When an image scans without errors, the status message will indicate “Status: OK.” When an exception occurs, the status message will indicate the source of the error or warning, such as “Status: Brightness Out of Range.” Refer to Figure 2-21.

Quick Tour

Figure 2-21. Image Status Information

VRS Image Analysis Information

The VRS status bar includes analysis results that summarize the properties for the last scanned image. With the exception of the Speckle Count (the number of pixels that are removed from the image when Speckle Removal is enabled from the Noise panel) none of the analysis information is updated as you apply image property changes. You cannot edit the image analysis information. Refer to Figure 2-22.

Figure 2-22. Image Analysis Information

VRS User’s Manual

Chapter 2

Getting Started with VRS

This section gives a quick overview that explains in general terms how to use VRS. Once you understand the basic procedures, proceed to Operating VRS on page 31 to get more detailed information.

Selecting VRS

Use this procedure to select VRS. Once VRS is active, you can use the default settings to scan documents with a variety of background colors, text quality, and paper sizes with exceptional results. Refer to Using the VRS Interactive Viewer on page 27.

X To select VRS

1 Turn on your scanner and your computer. 2 Launch your scanning application and select a VRS scan source. The list of

sources created at the time of installation will vary, according to your scanning application and scanner selection:

ImageControls-based applications

• <Your Scanner Model> with SVRS

• <Your Scanner Model> with SVRS with AIPE

• <Your Scanner Model> without SVRS

• <Your Scanner Model> without SVRS with AIPE

ISIS-based applications

• Kofax VRS Scanner

TWAIN-based applications

• Kofax Software VRS - TWAIN

3 Click OK. With ImageControls-based scanning applications, the VRS icon

will appear immediately in the Windows taskbar, as shown in Figure 2-23. For ISIS and TWAIN applications, the VRS taskbar icon will appear when the scanner interface dialog box is displayed, or when you start scanning.

VRS Taskbar Icon

Figure 2-23. Icon Indicating that VRS is Active

26 VRS User’s Manual

Using the VRS Interactive Viewer

The VRS Interactive Viewer may open as a result of the active operating mode (On Errors, First Page, or Every Page). You can also use the VRS Interactive Viewer to view scanned images for one of the following reasons:

• You want to review the most recent scanned image to determine if the results suit your preferences. If not, you can use the VRS Adjustment Controls to adjust the image properties before proceeding with batch scanning.

• You are presented with an exception image that VRS has “trapped” because it does not meet the criteria specified in the VRS Administration Utility for acceptable images. In this case, you can use the VRS Adjustment Controls to make image property adjustments in real time and then accept or reject them.

X To open the VRS Interactive Viewer in preview mode

1 While VRS is active, scan a sample document representing the type of

documents that you plan to scan in a batch.

2 Right-click on the VRS taskbar icon to open the VRS menu. 3 From the VRS taskbar menu, select Preview.

The scanned image will display in the left pane of the VRS Interactive Viewer.

Quick Tour

4 Use the Zoom menu options to adjust the magnification of the image. 5 Do one of the following:

X To use the VRS Adjustment Controls to update an exception image

1 Inspect the exception or “trapped” image displayed in the left pane of the

2 Use the VRS Adjustment Controls panel to change the appearance of the

VRS User’s Manual

• If the image is acceptable, click OK to close the VRS Interactive Viewer without updating the image properties.

• If the image is not acceptable, use the VRS Adjustment Controls to apply changes to the image property settings before you proceed with batch scanning. Refer to the next procedure for instructions.

Although your image property settings are saved to the active profile, the image that you view in preview mode is not sent to your scanning application; the image is intended only for review and verification purposes.

VRS Interactive Viewer.

image to suit your preferences.

Chapter 2

Each panel affects a different aspect of the image:

• Clarity: Use these settings to update the brightness, contrast, and gamma values.

• Noise: Use these settings to adjust the appearance of lines and speckles.

• Skew: Use these settings to straighten images and enable automatic deskew, auto crop, edge cleanup, or auto orientation.

• Color: Use these settings to enable automatic color detection and related settings.

• Background: Use these settings to control processing for the background region of color documents.

Note The availability of the panels may vary, according to the features

supported for the selected scanner and the active scanning mode (color or bitonal). Also, a VRS Plus license is required to access some panels.

For details about individual panels, refer to Using the VRS Adjustment Controls on page 64.

3 Do one of the following:

• Click OK to apply the adjustments to the exception image.

• Click Cancel to exit without applying adjustments to the exception image. In this case, an error will be returned (without the image) to the scanning application.

• Click Reset to cancel any adjustments and restore the settings to their original values. Then continue by saving or adjusting the original settings.

Creating a Profile

If you use the VRS Adjustment Controls panel to customize image property settings, you can save and reuse them later. Each group of settings is called a “profile.” We recommend that you do not make changes to the “Default settings” profile, because it cannot be restored without using a special utility. For more information about VRS profiles, refer to Working with Profiles on page 53.

X To create a profile

1 Use the VRS Adjustment Controls panel to update the image property

settings.

2 From the menu, select Profile | Save As. 3 When the New Profile dialog box displays, as shown in Figure 2-24, type a

name for the profile and click OK.

28 VRS User’s Manual

Figure 2-24. New Profile Dialog Box

4 The saved profile will be available from the VRS taskbar menu, the Profiles

menu in the VRS Interactive Viewer, or the profile selection list on the VRS Interactive Viewer toolbar.

Setting the QC Mode

By default, the VRS Interactive Viewer is set to open when errors occur. You can use the QC Modes menu to select other intervals for opening the VRS Interactive Viewer for image quality inspection and interactive updates. The currently active QC mode is indicated by a check mark. Once selected, a QC mode setting stays in effect until it is changed, even across scanning sessions. Also, the QC mode setting is unique to each VRS user on the computer.

Quick Tour

X To select a QC mode

1 Right-click the VRS taskbar icon and select “QC Modes” from the menu. 2 From the QC Modes submenu, select one of the following modes to specify

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when the VRS Interactive Viewer will open and how hardware errors will be handled:

• On Errors: opens only when exception conditions occur.

• First Page: opens when you scan the first page of a batch.

• Every Page: opens after each document scans or after each side of a duplex document scans.

• QC Later: opens when VRS is invoked from the Ascent Capture 7.0 Quality Control module. QC Later mode is available only when VRS is installed with Ascent Capture 7.0. For more information, refer to the Ascent Capture online help or the Getting Started with Ascent Capture guide.

• Disabled: does not open, even if exception conditions occur.

• Hardware Warnings: causes VRS to handle errors according to the Action selection on the Errors tab in the VRS Administration Utility. When this option is not selected, it is the equivalent of selecting “Return Error” for all hardware error conditions.

Chapter 2

Using the VRS Administration Utility

You can use the VRS Administration Utility to define settings that specify exactly how VRS should respond when it detects an exception image, an equipment conflict, or a paper transport issue. Also, you can use the utility to specify your preferences for accelerated scanning. For more detailed information, refer to Updating the VRS Administration Utility Dialog Box on page 51.

X To update the VRS Administration Utility settings

1 Right-click on the VRS taskbar icon. 2 From the VRS taskbar menu, select Admin Utility.

Figure 2-25. VRS Administration Utility

3 As applicable, update the settings for the following tabs:

• Warnings tab - Threshold: Type directly into the Threshold text box, or click the arrows to select a new setting.

• Warnings tab/Errors tab - Action: Specify the VRS response to each exception type by selecting the appropriate action from the list.

• Accelerated Scanning tab: Click and drag the slider to make your selection.

4 Once you are satisfied with the settings, click Save. Changes that you have

made on any of the tabs are saved and put into effect at the start of the next scanning session.

30 VRS User’s Manual

Introduction

This chapter explains how to operate VRS using the default settings, how to set up custom profiles, and how to use the VRS Adjustment Controls to configure and use the manual image enhancement features. This chapter also gives you information about advanced features and other options that are available from the VRS user interface.

Selecting VRS

Once VRS is installed and you have started your scanning application, select VRS, as described in the following procedure.

X To select VRS

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Operating VRS

1 Turn on your scanner and your computer. 2 Start your scanning application. 3 From the scanning application, select a VRS scan source. The dialog box used

to select the VRS scan source will vary, as will the scan source name, according to your scanning application and scanner selection:

ImageControls-based applications

• <Your Scanner Model> with SVRS

• <Your Scanner Model> with SVRS with AIPE

• <Your Scanner Model> without SVRS

• <Your Scanner Model> without SVRS with AIPE

ISIS-based applications

• Kofax VRS Scanner

TWAIN-based applications

• Kofax Software VRS - TWAIN

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Chapter 3

Refer to Figure 3-1 through Figure 3-3 for examples.

Figure 3-1. Select Scan Source Dialog Box (ImageControls-based ap plication)

Figure 3-2. Scanner Selection Dialog Box (ISIS-based application)

Figure 3-3. Select Device Dialog Box (TWAIN-based application)

4 Click the OK or Scan button, as applicable to your scanning application. 5 For ImageControls-based applications, the VRS icon (Figure 3-4) will appear

on your Windows taskbar as soon as you select the scan source. For ISIS and TWAIN applications, the VRS taskbar icon will appear when the scanner interface dialog box is displayed, or when you start scanning. Refer to Kofax VRS Scanning Interfaces on page 34 for more information.

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Operating VRS

VRS Taskbar Icon

Figure 3-4. VRS Icon on Windows Taskbar

The scanner associated with the Kofax VRS TWAIN or Kofax VRS ISIS source is the default scanner. The default VRS scanner is set when you do one of the following:

• Select a scanner during the VRS installation process.

• Select a default scanner from the Kofax Source Manager (KSM) in the Control Panel.

• Select a default scanner using the Restore Default Values (RDV) utility.

Note For more information about the VRS installation process or KSM, refer

to the VRS Installation Guide. For information about the RDV utility, refer to VRS Restore Default Values Utility on page 107 of this manual.

6 Follow your scanning application instructions and scan as usual.

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Kofax VRS Scanning Interfaces

The scanning interface consists of basic scanner property settings, along with an option for accessing VRS. The scanning interface serves as a connection between VRS and your scanning application. Depending on the type of scanning application (ImageControls-based, ISIS-based, TWAIN-based), the options that appear on the VRS scanning interface will vary. For example, the ImageControls scanning interface does not include an option that you can select to start scanning, but the ISIS and TWAIN scanning interfaces both include a Scan option.

Most scanning applications support one scanning interface type, but some do support more than one. For applications that support multiple scanning interfaces, the preferred interface is the one that provides direct access to VRS. For best results, we recommend that the Kofax ImageControls interface be your first choice, followed by the ISIS interface and then the TWAIN interface.

Kofax VRS ImageControls Interface

The Kofax VRS ImageControls interface serves as a connection between VRS and your ImageControls scanning application. Once you select the scan source from the scanning application, you can access an ImageControls scanning interface. Then the scanner properties will be available from a custom dialog box created by the application or in a standard ImageControls dialog box. In Figure 3-5, you can see the Scanner Properties dialog box that is available in VCDemo, the ImageControls-based demonstration scanning application that is included with every VRS installation.

Note For more information about VCDemo, refer to Using VCDemo in your VRS

Installation Guide.

Figure 3-5. Kofax VRS ImageControls Interface

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Operating VRS

You can use the Kofax VRS ImageControls interface to control scanner functions. Under General, you can select from the following options:

• Source: Lists the available input paper source as Flatbed, ADF, Manual, or Panel. Depending upon the capabilities of the selected scanner, some sources may not be available.

• Destination: Lists the output tray (usually Bin 1 or Bin 2) for the pages to be scanned. Depending upon the capabilities of the selected scanner, some trays may not be available.

• Resolution (DPI): Select an option for scan resolution or DPI.

• Paper Size: Lists the paper size (Letter, Legal, A5, etc.) supported by the selected scanner.

• Orientation: Lists the paper orientation (portrait or landscape) for the documents that you plan to scan.

Other options on the ImageControls scanning interface include the following:

• Timeout: Select the number of seconds allowed for you to load paper into the scanner after starting a scan operation. Once the timeout interval is exceeded, the operation will time out and report an out of paper error.

• Color Mode: Select the color mode (color, black and white, grayscale) for the scan operation. The color mode determines the number of colors or shades of gray into which the scanned page is translated. The availability of the color modes is dependent upon the capability of the selected scanner. The color mode selection also affects the availability of VRS features.

• Other: Select options associated with automatic length detection, continuous sheet operation, and manual start. The availability of these options is dependent upon the capability of the selected scanner. For more information, press F1 from the Scanner Properties dialog box.

• Sides: Select either single-sided or duplex, according the number of sides that will be scanned at one time. Some scanners do not support duplex scanning.

Click the Options button to access a Source Properties dialog box, which is used to specify preferences for your image source. For more information, press F1 from the Scanner Properties dialog box.

Click the Advanced button to open the VRS Interactive Viewer.

With ImageControls scanning applications, the option that you select to start scanning is usually available as a menu command that is separate from the scanner property settings.

Note For more information, refer to your ImageControls documentation.

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X To scan using the Kofax VRS ImageControls interface

1 Open your scanning application. 2 Select a VRS scan source and click OK. The scan source is typically named as

“<Your Scanner Model> with SVRS,” where “<Your Scanner Model>” corresponds to the make and model of your scanner.

Figure 3-6. Kofax VRS ImageControls Int erf a c e – Sel e ct Sou rc e

3 Select Source | Properties to open the Scanner Properties dialog box

associated with the selected scan source.

Figure 3-7. Scanner Properties Dialog Box

4 From the Scanner Properties dialog box, select the desired options and click

OK. For more information about individual settings, press F1 from the dialog box.

5 Start the scanning process by selecting either Source | Process Image or

Source | Process Batch, as appropriate.

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Operating VRS

Kofax VRS ISIS Interface

The Kofax VRS ISIS interface serves as a connection between VRS and your ISIS scanning application. In most cases, the Kofax VRS ISIS interface will automatically appear whenever you select the “Kofax VRS Scanner” source from your ISIS scanning application.

Figure 3-8. Kofax VRS ISIS Interface

Some ISIS applications hide the Kofax VRS ISIS interface and use their own interfaces instead. You can use the Kofax VRS ISIS interface to control scanner features made available via the ISIS driver. The interface consists of settings associated with scanner presets (profiles), as well as general settings related to the scanner.

Use the Scanner Presets group to create and manage scanner preset settings. You type in the name of a new preset which can then be saved, restored, or removed using the New, Save, Restore, or Delete buttons.

Note The scanner presets that you create from the Kofax VRS ISIS interface differ

from the profiles created in VRS. For details, refer to Working with Profiles on page 53.

Under General, you can select the following options:

• Paper Source: Select between the available input paper sources: Flatbed or

• Dots Per Inch: Select an option for scan resolution or DPI.

• Mode: Select from the color modes supported by the scanner, which may

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ADF.

include black and white, grayscale, or color. The mode selection also affects the availability of VRS features.

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• Page Size: Select a paper size, such as Letter, Legal, A5, etc.

• Orientation: Select the paper orientation (portrait or landscape).

• Simplex/Duplex: Select single-sided or double-sided scanning.

You can access the VRS Interactive Viewer by clicking the Advanced button, and you can access the VRS Administration Utility by clicking the VRS Admin button.

X To scan using the Kofax VRS ISIS interface

1 Open your scanning application. 2 Select the “Kofax VRS Scanner” source and click OK.

Figure 3-9. Kofax VRS ISIS Interface – Scanner Selection Dialog Box

3 The Kofax VRS ISIS interface will launch, as shown in Figure 3-8. Under

General, select settings such as the paper source, DPI, mode, and paper size.

4 If desired, click New to create a profile to save the settings for future use.

a At the New Profile dialog box, type a name for the profile in the text box. b Type the filename for the profile into the text box.

Figure 3-10. Kofax VRS ISIS Interface - New Profile Dialog Box

5 Click OK to close the New Profile dialog box, or click Cancel to exit without

making any changes. In the future, you can change a profile by selecting it, updating the settings under General, and then clicking Save. You may also load a profile by selecting it and clicking Restore from the Kofax VRS ISIS interface. Likewise, you remove a profile by selecting it and clicking Delete.

6 Start the scanning process.

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Operating VRS

Kofax VRS TWAIN Interface

The Kofax VRS TWAIN interface serves as a connection between VRS and your TWAIN application. In most cases, the Kofax VRS TWAIN interface will automatically appear when you select the “Kofax Software VRS - TWAIN” scanner source from your TWAIN scanning application.

Figure 3-11. Kofax VRS TWAIN Interface

With some TWAIN scanning applications, the Kofax VRS TWAIN interface includes a More button that typically gives you access to the VRS Interactive Viewer. Some TWAIN applications may hide the Kofax VRS TWAIN interface and use their own interface instead.

Use the Kofax VRS TWAIN interface to control scanner features made available via the TWAIN scanner driver. The Kofax VRS TWAIN interface consists of two groups: the Profiles group and the General group.

Use the Profiles group to create and manage configuration settings (scanner presets). You can use the list box to type in the name of a new profile which can then be saved, restored, or removed using the Save, Restore, or Delete buttons. You can establish multiple profiles to accommodate different scanning situations. Although you can create multiple profiles, only seven profiles at a time will be visible in the Profiles window on the Kofax VRS TWAIN interface.

Note The profiles created from the Kofax VRS TWAIN interface differ from the

profiles created in VRS. For details, refer to Working with Profiles on page 53.

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Under General, you can select the following settings:

• Source (Paper Source): Select either Flatbed or ADF.

• Resolution (DPI): Select an option for scan resolution or DPI.

• Color Mode: Select from the color modes supported by the scanner, which may include Black/White, Grayscale, or RGB (color). The color mode selection affects the availability of VRS features.

• Paper Size: Select a paper size, such as Letter, A5, etc.

• Orientation: Select the paper orientation, such as portrait or landscape.

• Simplex/Duplex: Select single-sided or double-sided scanning.

You can select the Preview check box in the lower left corner of the interface to view the image as it is being scanned and make changes to it in real time using the VRS Adjustment Controls. When Preview is selected, it overrides the “First Page” operating mode in VRS.

You can select the About button to view installation location and version information.

X To scan using the Kofax VRS TWAIN interface

1 Open your scanning application. 2 Select the “Kofax Software VRS - TWAIN” scanning source and click OK.

Figure 3-12. Kofax VRS TWAIN Interface – Select Source

3 The Kofax VRS TWAIN interface will launch. From the General group, make

your selections such as the Source, DPI, Color Mode, Paper Size, etc.

4 If desired, click Save to create a profile to save the updated settings.

a At the Save Profile dialog box, type a name for the profile. b Click OK. In the future, you can load a profile by selecting it and clicking

Restore from the Kofax VRS TWAIN interface. Similarly, you can remove a profile by selecting it and clicking Delete.

5 Click Scan to start the scanning process.

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Configuring VRS Before You Scan

The VRS default settings produce superior results for most document types, and in most cases, you can use VRS successfully without changing anything. VRS does give you the flexibility to configure operating preferences and adjust the default settings if necessary. This section explains some configuration options that are available to you:

• Using the VRS Administrative Utility to customize the way that VRS responds to exception images. For details, refer to the next section.

• Selecting an operating mode to control how often the VRS Interactive Viewer will display during a scanning session. Refer to Setting the VRS Operating Mode on page 52.

• Selecting a profile that will produce the best possible image quality for the documents that you scan. Refer to Working with Profiles on page 53.

• Previewing a sample image to confirm that the selected profile is the best choice for your documents. Refer to Previewing Images on page 59.

Using the VRS Administration Utility

While you may want to scan until all pages have been processed successfully, there are cases in which scanning may stop before a batch is completed. You can use the VRS Administration Utility settings to control scanning behavior under specific image and scanner conditions. Most of the settings are used to specify how VRS responds to exception images and reports problems to your scanning application. The choices vary, according to different warning or error types.

Operating VRS

The VRS Administration Utility dialog box consists of three tabs:

• Warnings tab: settings related to image quality conditions.

• Errors tab: settings that affect the VRS response to errors that occur in

• Accelerated Scanning tab: settings that you can use to maximize the speed of

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connection with equipment conflicts and paper transport issues.

your scanner.

Chapter 3

Figure 3-13. VRS Administration Utility Dialog Box

The default settings for VRS provide optimal scanning and accurate data capture for a wide range of documents. For most situations, it should not be necessary to adjust the default settings, which are listed in Table 3-1.

Table 3-1. VRS Administration Utility Dialog Box Default Settings

Tab Warning/Error

Threshold Action Setting

Type

Warnings Brightness Out of

Range

Warnings Contrast Out of

30 Interactive NA

Ignore Error

40 Interactive NA

Range

Warnings Color Confidence

50 Interactive NA

Out of Range

Errors Auto Crop

NA Ignore Error NA Failure - Page Info

Errors Auto Deskew

NA Ignore Error NA Failure

Errors Paper Jam NA Auto Resolve NA

Errors Out of Paper NA Auto Resolve NA

Errors Cover Open NA Auto Resolve NA

Errors Multifeed

NA Auto Resolve NA

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Operating VRS

Table 3-1. VRS Administration Utility Dialog Box Default Settings (continued)

Tab Warning/Error

Type

Errors Scanner Offline1NA Auto Resolve NA

Errors Feeder Timeout

Errors Scanner Stop

Errors Scanner Page

Accelerated Scanning

1 Böwe Bell + Howell Spectrum series scanners only

Key

Sensor Error

NA NA NA Image quality: Best

Threshold Action Setting

NA Auto Resolve NA

Acceleration: None

If desired, you can modify the VRS Administration Utility settings according to your requirements for image quality and exception handling. To modify the settings, open the VRS Administration Utility dialog box by selecting the Admin Utility command from the VRS taskbar menu.

From the Warnings and Errors tabs, you define settings that tell VRS exactly how to respond when it detects an exception image, an equipment conflict, or a paper transport issue. You can use the default settings on the Warnings and Errors tabs, or customize how VRS handles each exception type. Once you are satisfied with the settings, click Save. Changes that you have made on any of the tabs are saved and they take effect at the start of the next scan operation. When you click Cancel to dismiss the dialog box, changes made on any of the tabs are automatically discarded.

For detailed information on how to modify settings on the VRS Administration Utility, refer to the next section, Warnings Tab, the Errors Tab section on page 46, or the Accelerated Scanning Tab section on page 48.

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Warnings Tab

The Warnings tab lists exception conditions associated with image quality. For each warning condition, you set a threshold value. This threshold value defines the acceptable range that VRS tolerates for brightness, contrast, and color confidence. VRS intercepts any image with values that fall outside the acceptable range, and then handles the image according to the response that you select from the Action column.

Figure 3-14. Warnings Tab

Table 3-2 lists the types of warnings and their causes.

Table 3-2. Warning Types

Warning Cause

Brightness Out of Range Brightness value for the image falls outside the

acceptable range.

Contrast Out of Range Contrast value for the image falls outside the acceptable

range.

Color Confidence Out of Range Color confidence value for the image falls outside the

acceptable range.

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Operating VRS

Table 3-3 lists the actions that you can select as responses to the warnings on the Warnings tab.

Table 3-3. Action Types for Warnings

Action Type Description

Ignore Error VRS does not notify you of the warning or take any action to correct it. VRS

accepts the image “as is,” passes it to the scanning application, and then resumes the scanning session.

Return Error VRS notifies you of the warning, but does not send the image to the scanning

application. The scanning session is then terminated.

Interactive The VRS Interactive Viewer opens and displays the image, so that you can

apply adjustments to correct the condition that caused the warning.

Brightness Out of Range

Use the Brightness Out of Range threshold to define the valid range for brightness values. When a document is scanned, VRS evaluates the resulting image to determine its brightness. Then, VRS compares the actual brightness value to the user-defined acceptable range. The acceptable range is determined by starting with 50 and adding and subtracting the Brightness Out of Range threshold value listed on the Warnings tab. Based on this real-time evaluation, VRS either accepts the image and allows it to be passed on to the scanning application, or intercepts it and responds according to the Action setting in the Warnings tab. The detected value for brightness is reported on the status bar in the VRS Interactive Viewer.

For example, if the Brightness Out of Range threshold is 10 on the Warnings tab, VRS accepts any image with a detected brightness value ranging from 40 to 60. The range starts at 40, which is 10 less than 50, and it ends at 60, which is 10 more than 50. Therefore, an image with a brightness value of 70 would fall outside the valid range. VRS would respond by taking the action listed on the Warnings tab for Brightness Out of Range. Refer to Figure 3-14 on page 44.

Contrast Out of Range

Use the threshold to define the valid range for contrast values. When a document is scanned, VRS evaluates the resulting image to determine its contrast. Then, VRS compares it to the user-defined acceptable range. The acceptable range is determined by starting with 50 and adding and subtracting the Contrast Out of Range threshold value listed on the Warnings tab. Based on this real-time evaluation, VRS either accepts the image and allows it to be passed on to the scanning application, or

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intercepts it and responds according to the Contrast Out of Range action setting in the Warnings tab. The detected contrast value is listed on the status bar in the VRS Interactive Viewer.

For example, if the Contrast Out of Range threshold is 15 on the Warnings tab, VRS accepts any image with a contrast value ranging from 35 to 65. The range starts at 35, which is 15 less than 50, and it ends at 65, which is 15 more than 50. Therefore, an image with a contrast value of 25 would fall outside the valid range and generate a warning. VRS would respond by taking the action listed on the Warnings tab for Contrast Out of Range. Refer to Figure 3-14 on page 44.

Color Confidence Out of Range

Use this threshold to define the valid range for color confidence values. When a document is scanned, VRS evaluates the image to determine if it is color or bitonal. VRS also determines how confident it is that the correct assessment was made. The confidence level is expressed as a percentage that appears in the status bar of the VRS Interactive Viewer.

VRS compares the percentage to the user-defined acceptable value, which is the Color Confidence Out of Range threshold setting on the Warnings tab. Based on this realtime evaluation, VRS either accepts the image and allows it to be passed on to the scanning application, or intercepts it and responds according to the Color Confidence Out of Range action in the Warnings tab.

For example, if the threshold is 50 on the Warnings tab, VRS accepts any image with a color confidence value of 50 or higher. Therefore, an image with a color confidence value less than 50 would fall below the valid range and generate a warning. VRS would respond by taking the action listed on the Warnings tab for Color Confidence Out of Range. Refer to Figure 3-14 on page 44.

Errors Tab

The Errors tab lists exception conditions such as errors caused by equipment conflicts or paper transport issues, along with the VRS response to each condition.

Note The list of error types on the Errors tab may vary, according to the scanner that

you are using with VRS.

In the Action column, select the desired VRS response for each error type. To change the setting, click in the Action box and select the new setting from the list.

46 VRS User’s Manual

Figure 3-15. VRS Administration Utility - Errors Tab Table 3-4. Error Types

Error Description

Operating VRS

Paper Jam Paper jam occurs in the scanner paper path.

Multifeed

Out of Paper No paper is available to scan.

Cover Open Scanner cover is not closed securely.

Scanner Offline

Feeder Timeout

Scanner Stop Key

Scanner Page Sensor

Auto Crop Failure Page Info

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Multiple pages have been pulled into the transport.

The scanner is not ready to scan.

The document feeder tries, but is unable to move the page for a period of time that exceeds the ADF timeout setting.

The user presses the “OI STOP” key on the scanner, causing an immediate transport stop, and pages are left somewhere in the transport.

The sensor detects an unexpected page sensor transition during scanning, such as a hole in the document or a ragged page edge. The transport continues to run until it clears and all pages are in the exit tray.

Due to excessive skew or other condition, VRS is unable to detect the edges of the scanned document.

Chapter 3

Table 3-4. Error Types (continued)

Error Description

Auto Deskew Failure The image does not contain sufficient horizontal or vertical lines to

perform a correct deskew. Use the Skew panel to make a manual correction. Refer to Using the Skew Panel on page 80.

1 Böwe Bell + Howell Spectrum series scanners only

Table 3-5 lists the action types that are available from the Errors tab.

Table 3-5. Action Types for Errors

Action Type Description

Ignore Error VRS does not notify you of the error or take any action to correct it. VRS

accepts the image “as is,” passes it to the scanning application, and resumes the scanning session.

Return Error VRS notifies you of the error, but does not send the image to the scanning

application. The scan session is then terminated.

Auto Resolve VRS opens the Auto Resolve Manager in automatic mode. As a result, the

scanner automatically attempts to retry the scan until the user resolves an equipment or paper transport impediment, such as a paper jam or out of paper condition. Refer to Using the Auto Resolve Manager on page 61.

Interactive The VRS Interactive Viewer opens and displays the image in the VRS

Interactive Viewer, so that you can apply new settings to the current image.

Accelerated Scanning Tab

When used with a scanning application that requests a bitonal image, VRS requests a grayscale image from the scanner. VRS analyzes the grayscale image and produces a clean, clear, bitonal image that is passed to the application. This means that, when used with VRS, the scanner never actually produces a bitonal image. Historically, scanners run at their optimum speed when scanning in bitonal mode and more slowly when scanning grayscale or color images. This has changed in the last few years, because nearly all scanners now scan in grayscale mode as fast as they scan in bitonal mode. In fact, some scanners can even scan in color mode as fast as they do in grayscale or bitonal modes.

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Operating VRS

When used with some scanners (old or new) that run more slowly while scanning in grayscale mode, VRS may appear to be responsible for the slowdown. The perception is that the application is requesting a bitonal image and VRS is causing the scanner to run more slowly than usual. In reality, the scanner is running at its rated speed in grayscale mode, rather than bitonal mode. Most users accept this slight slowdown because the image quality produced by VRS far outweighs the reduced throughput.

If you prefer your scanner to run at, or near, rated bitonal speed, you can use the setting on the Accelerated Scanning tab to accelerate the scanner and experience only a slight reduction in image quality.

Note With some scanners, the Accelerated Scanning setting has no effect.

Figure 3-16. Accelerated Scanning Tab

You can use the slider to select a scanning acceleration level from None to Maximum, while reducing the image quality from Best to Good. VRS performs the acceleration by scanning a grayscale image at a lower resolution then what was requested by the application. VRS performs its normal analysis on this image and produces a clean, clear, bitonal image. VRS then scales this image up to the resolution requested by the application, and this process affects the image quality. As you move the slider from None (no acceleration) to Maximum, the difference between the requested resolution and the actual scanned resolution is increased. At Maximum, the difference is the greatest and as a result, the reduction in image quality is also the greatest.

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For example, suppose you select 300 DPI in your scanning application and enable the first level of Accelerated Scanning in VRS. The image scans at 200 DPI to accelerate scanning speed and VRS translates it to 300 DPI to achieve the desired resolution. Table 3-6 lists the DPI settings that VRS uses for a typical scanner. Use this table as an example of how VRS treats DPI settings defined in a scanning application.

Note When you select the first level of accelerated scanning, the image quality is

virtually equivalent to non-accelerated scanning. However, higher levels of acceleration affect the image quality. Not all scanners increase in speed when you select accelerated scanning. If your scanner does not offer lower resolutions than the resolution selected in your scanning application, accelerated scanning will have no effect.

Table 3-6. Accelerated Scanning DPI Settings for the Typical Scanner

DPI Setting as Defined in Scanning Application

300 240 150 100 300

240 200 150 100 240

200 150 100 75 200

150 150 75 75 150

100 75 75 75 100

75 75 75 75 75

Actual Scan DPI Setting Level 1 Acceleration

Actual Scan DPI Setting Level 2 Acceleration

Actual Scan DPI Setting Level 3 Acceleration

Image Output DPI Setting

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Updating the VRS Administration Utility Dialog Box

Use these instructions to update the VRS Administration Utility settings.

X To update the VRS Administration Utility settings

1 Right-click on the VRS taskbar icon to open the VRS menu. 2 From the VRS taskbar menu, select Admin Utility.

Figure 3-17. VRS Administration Utility

Operating VRS

3 When the VirtualReScan Administration Utility displays, select and adjust

4 Once you are satisfied with the settings, click Save. Changes that you have

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the settings for the following tabs:

• Warnings tab—Threshold. Type directly into the Threshold text box, or

click the arrows to select a new threshold setting. For more information, refer to Warnings Tab on page 44.

• Warnings tab/Errors tab—Action. Define a VRS response to each

exception type by clicking in the Action option and selecting from the list. For more information, refer to Warnings Tab on page 44 and Errors Tab on page 46.

• Accelerated Scanning tab. Click and drag the slider to make your

selection. For details, refer to Accelerated Scanning Tab on page 48.

made on any of the tabs are saved and they take effect at the start of the next scanning operation.

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Setting the VRS Operating Mode

You can configure settings that control how often the VRS Interactive Viewer will be displayed during a scanning session. By selecting the QC Modes command from the VRS menu, you can set the VRS Interactive Viewer to open under different conditions.

The default QC mode is “On Errors.” The default value for the Hardware Warnings setting is on (checked). Once selected, a QC mode setting and the Hardware Warnings setting stay in effect until they are changed, even across scanning sessions. The operating mode selections are unique for each VRS user on your computer.

On Errors

The VRS Interactive Viewer will open only in connection with exception conditions for which the action selection in the VRS Administration Utility is “Interactive” (refer to Using the VRS Administration Utility on page 41). After you install VRS, “On Errors” is the default operating mode selection.

Exception images typically account for 5 percent or fewer of the documents that are scanned with VRS.

First Page

The VRS Interactive Viewer will always open when you scan the first page of a batch. This mode gives you the ability to apply a VRS profile or select special settings for all the documents in a batch. In this case, you can use the first page in the batch to verify the VRS Adjustment Controls settings.

Every Page

The VRS Interactive Viewer will open after each document scans, or with duplex scanning, after each document side scans. This mode can be used for small batches of extremely complex documents that require individual adjustments. The need to select Every Page operating mode is unusual because VRS has the ability to process a wide range of document types without requiring any adjustments.

Disabled

The VRS Interactive Viewer will not open, even if exception conditions occur.

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QC Later (available only to Ascent Capture 7.0 users)

When exceptions occur while QC Later mode is in effect, the VRS Interactive Viewer will remain out of view until it is invoked from the Ascent Capture application. This mode is available to users who are licensed to use VRS in an Ascent Capture 7.0 installation. For more information, refer to the Ascent Capture online help or the Getting Started with Ascent Capture guide.

Hardware Warnings

Use the Hardware Warnings option to specify how VRS should respond to hardware conditions such as Paper Jam, Out of Paper, and Cover Open. Selecting the Hardware Warnings option means that you are choosing to handle these errors exactly as defined by the “Action” settings in the VRS Administration Utility. When this option is not selected, it is the equivalent of choosing “Return Error” as the action for all hardware error conditions in the VRS Administration Utility. Refer to Table 3-5 on page 48.

Note If you selected VRS Non-Interactive mode during the installation process, your

default QC Mode is Disabled and the default value of the Hardware Warnings setting is off (not checked). VRS Non-Interactive mode only applies to certain scanners. For more information, refer to VRS Non-Interactive Mode on page 113.

X To change the operating mode

1 Right-click on the VRS taskbar icon. 2 From the VRS taskbar menu, select QC Modes. 3 From the QC Modes submenu, select the desired operating mode. A check

mark will appear next to your selection.

4 Proceed with your scanning session.

Working with Profiles

With VRS, you can scan documents and accurately capture data in the shortest time possible using the default settings. These default settings have been carefully chosen to allow VRS to excel at a wide range of documents without adjustments. However, some document types may pose a challenge and they may require custom adjustments. If you expect to work with a high volume of problematic or challenging documents, the best solution may be to create a profile that contains custom settings.

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In VRS, a “profile” consists of a saved combination of settings from the VRS Adjustment Controls (refer to Using the VRS Adjustment Controls on page 64). A VRS profile is the equivalent of a memorized strategy for image correction and enhancement. VRS includes one default profile that can be used to process a range of document types. VRS uses the default profile unless you define and select another profile. The profile selection is unique for each VRS user on your computer.

Figure 3-18. VRS Profiles

You can use the options on the Profile menu in the VRS Interactive Viewer to create, update, load, and remove profiles. You can establish multiple profiles to accommodate different scanning situations. The first eight profiles will be assigned a shortcut key.

We recommend that you do not update the “Default settings” profile, as it can be restored only by reinstalling VRS or by using the Restore Default Values utility. For more information, refer to VRS Restore Default Values Utility on page 107.

Creating a Profile

You can create a profile by doing either of the following:

• Saving the current VRS Adjustment Controls settings under a new profile name.

• Creating a profile from the Organize Profiles dialog box.

Before creating a profile, note the characters that are not acceptable for profile names, as shown in Table 3-7.

Table 3-7. Invalid Characters for VRS Profile Names

Character Description Character Description

: Colon ' Single quotation

; Semicolon " Double

quotation

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Table 3-7. Invalid Characters for VRS Profile Names

Character Description Character Description

\ Backslash > Greater than

/Slash<Less than

|Pipe ^Caret

& Ampersand . Period

?Question mark

X To save the current VRS Adjustment Controls settings under a new profile

name 1 Scan a sample image. 2 Open the VRS Interactive Viewer and make selections from the VRS

Adjustment Controls to achieve the desired adjustments.

3 Select Profile | Save As to open the New Profile dialog box.

4 In the New Profile text box, assign a name to the new profile. Be sure to assign

5 Click OK to save the profile and close the New Profile dialog box.

X To create a new profile from the Organize Profiles dialog box

1 Scan a sample image. 2 Open the VRS Interactive Viewer and make selections from the VRS

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Figure 3-19. New Profile Dialog Box

a profile name with alphanumeric characters and avoid the characters listed in Table 3-7.

The new profile name will be added to the list of profiles, and it will also become the active profile.

Adjustment Controls to achieve the desired adjustments.

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3 From the VRS Interactive Viewer, select Profile | Organize. The Organize

Profiles dialog box will display, as shown in Figure 3-20.

Figure 3-20. Organize Profiles Dialog Box

4 Click Save As to open the New Profile dialog box, as shown in Figure 3-19 on

the previous page.

5 In the New Profile text box, assign a name to the new profile. Be sure to assign

a profile name with alphanumeric characters and avoid the characters listed in Table 3-7.

6 Click OK to save the profile name and close the New Profile dialog box. 7 Click Close to exit the Organize Profiles dialog box.

VRS automatically associates a function key to the first eight profiles that you create. You can change the sequence of any profile and its associated function key by moving a profile up or down with the Up and Down controls that are available in the Organize Profiles dialog box. The function keys for profiles are available only when the VRS Interactive Viewer is active. If the list of profiles exceeds the available viewing area in the Organize Profiles dialog box, you can use scroll bars to bring additional profiles into view.

Changing the Active Profile

You can change the active profile from the Organize Profiles dialog box, the VRS Interactive Viewer toolbar, or the Profile submenu on the VRS taskbar menu.

Note If an image is open in the VRS Interactive Viewer when you change the active

profile, the image is refreshed with the new settings.

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X To change the active profile from the Organize Profiles dialog box

1 From the VRS Interactive Viewer, select Profile | Organize. The Organize

Profiles dialog box will be displayed.

2 From the list, select the profile you want to use. 3 Click Load. (This step is important; clicking Close without clicking Load will

not change the active profile.)

4 Click Close to exit the dialog box.

The profile selection stays in effect until you change it again.

X To change the active profile from the VRS Interactive Viewer toolbar

1 From the VRS Interactive Viewer toolbar, place your cursor in the profiles list

to expand the list of saved profiles.

2 Do one of the following:

X To change the active profile from the VRS taskbar menu

1 From the VRS taskbar menu, select the Profile command. 2 When the Profiles submenu opens, select the name of the profile you want to

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Figure 3-21. VRS Profile Selection List

• From the list of profiles, select the profile that you want to use.

• Press the function key associated with the profile that you want to use.

The profile selection stays in effect until you change it again.

use.

The profile selection stays in effect until you change it again.

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Updating a Profile

If desired, you can update and save the settings associated with an existing profile.

X To update a profile

1 From the VRS Interactive Viewer toolbar, select a profile name. 2 From the VRS Adjustment Controls, update the settings associated with the

currently selected profile.

3 Select Profile | Save.

- or -

1 From the VRS Adjustment Controls, update the settings associated with the

currently selected profile.

2 From the VRS Interactive Viewer, select Profile | Organize Profiles. The

Organize Profiles dialog box will display.

3 Make sure that the appropriate profile is selected from the profile list and

then click Save.

4 Click Close to exit the Organize Profiles dialog box.

Removing a Profile

You can use the Organize Profiles dialog box to delete a profile. If desired, multiple profiles can be deleted at once.

We recommend that you do not remove the “Default settings” profile, because it can be restored only by reinstalling VRS or by using the Restore Default Values utility. For more information, refer to VRS Restore Default Values Utility on page 107.

X To remove a profile

1 From the VRS Interactive Viewer, select the Profile | Organize. The Organize

Profiles dialog box will display.

2 From the profiles list, select the profile you want to remove. If desired, you

can select multiple profiles for removal.

3 Click Delete. The profile name clears from the list. 4 If the deleted profile was the last profile in use, select another profile from the

list and then click Load to make it active.

5 Click Close to exit the Organize Profiles dialog box.

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Previewing Images

If desired, you can use the preview process to scan a sample image to ensure that it meets your quality requirements and to validate the settings in the current profile. If necessary, you can make adjustments to the profile. If your scanner supports advanced features, you can use the preview process to test settings such as color dropout, JPEG compression, etc. Use the Preview feature before you scan a batch of documents, or to adjust the settings between batches.

When you select Preview, VRS opens the most recently scanned image in the VRS Interactive Viewer. For this reason, the Preview function is available only if a scanned image exists in the VRS cache (if you are using VRS with a production class scanner, the last image may not be available). As you apply property changes from the VRS Interactive Viewer, the preview image is refreshed so you can evaluate the impact of the adjustments. Be aware that the changes to the preview image are not sent to your scanning application; the image is intended only for preview purposes. You can invoke the preview process by selecting the following:

• Preview from the VRS taskbar menu.

• First Page from the QC Modes menu.

• Preview check box from the TWAIN scanning interface.

For information on the VRS Interactive Viewer window and using the Zoom options, refer to Using the VRS Interactive Viewer on page 62. For information on updating image properties, refer to Using the VRS Adjustment Controls on page 64.

X To preview an image

1 Scan a document that is similar to the type you plan to scan in a batch. 2 From the VRS taskbar menu, select Preview. The VRS Interactive Viewer will

open and display the image that you scanned.

3 If desired, select a zoom option to adjust the magnification level. 4 If necessary, use the VRS Adjustment Controls to adjust the image property

settings to suit your preferences. For more information, refer to Using the VRS Adjustment Controls on page 64.

5 If you expect to use the updated settings on a regular basis, you can save

them as a profile. Refer to Working with Profiles on page 53.

6 When you are satisfied with the preview image, select OK from the VRS

Adjustment Controls. The property settings are saved and put into effect for the next batch of documents that you scan with VRS. Note that the preview image is discarded; it is not sent to the scanning application.

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Using the Status and Analysis Information

The VRS Interactive Viewer gives you image status information, along with analysis statistics that summarize the properties for the current image in the viewing pane. The image status message appears in the title bar and indicates the status of the current image, such as “Status OK” or “Brightness Out of Range.”

Figure 3-22. Image Status Information

The image analysis information appears in the VRS Interactive Viewer status bar and includes the following properties:

• Size: Lists the image dimensions in pixels.

• Skew: Lists the detected skew angle in degrees.

• Brightness: Lists the detected brightness value as a percentage.

• Contrast: Lists the detected contrast value as a percentage.

• Color: Lists the detected image type as “color” or “bitonal,” along with a confidence value expressed as a percentage. The percentage is listed only if Automatic Color Detection is enabled.

• Speckles: Lists the number of pixels that are removed from the image when Speckle Removal is selected from the Noise panel.

The analysis information can help you identify appropriate threshold values for contrast, brightness, and color confidence on the Warnings tab in the VRS Administration Utility, as well as for settings for the panels in the VRS Adjustment Controls.

With the exception of the Speckle Count, none of the analysis information is updated as you use the VRS Adjustment Controls to apply image property changes. You cannot edit the analysis information on the status bar. Refer to Figure 3-23.

Figure 3-23. Image Analysis Information

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Using VRS While You Scan

You can use VRS to scan documents and accurately capture data using the default settings. VRS also gives you the ability to handle challenging documents; you can apply real-time adjustments to documents as they scan, eliminating the need to rescan them manually. This section explains how to use VRS while you scan to achieve optimal image quality.

Using the Auto Resolve Manager

You can use the Auto Resolve Manager to handle VRS exception conditions such as errors caused by equipment conflicts or paper transport issues. VRS opens the Auto Resolve Manager dialog box for each occurrence of an exception condition specified as an “Auto Resolve” or “Intervention” action type on the Errors tab in the VRS Administration Utility. When Auto Resolve is the selected action, the Auto Resolve Manager opens in automatic mode. When Intervention is the selected action, the Auto Resolve Manager opens in manual mode. Refer to Figure 3-24 and Figure 3-25.

Operating VRS

Figure 3-24. VRS Auto Resolve Manager - Automatic Mode

Figure 3-25. VRS Auto Resolve Manager - Manual Mode

The Auto Resolve Manager displays text indicating the exception condition and operator instructions for dealing with the condition. The Auto Resolve Manager dialog box may also display the image that triggered the exception, depending on the exception.

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The options on the Auto Resolve Manager will vary, according to the active mode (automatic or manual):

• OK - Automatic Mode: When the Auto Resolve Manager opens in automatic mode (when the Action selection is “Auto Resolve”), the OK button is dimmed. VRS automatically will attempt to retry the scanning process, which will resume once you do something to resolve the exception condition.

• OK - Manual Mode: When the Auto Resolve Manager opens in manual mode (when the Action selection is “Intervention”), you need to resolve the equipment or paper transport issue. Then select OK to accept the image “as is,” send it to the scanning application, and proceed with the scanning process.

• Cancel: Stop the batch or cancel the scanning process. When you select Cancel, any error information is passed to your scanning application. The images that caused the errors are not sent to the scanning application.

• Rescan (Manual Mode only): Rescan a sheet after you have reloaded a document into the scanner.

Using the VRS Interactive Viewer

The VRS Interactive Viewer displays scanned images for your inspection. The purpose of the viewer is to show you what an image looks like as it scans, and to refresh the image if you apply property changes. During a scanning session, the VRS Interactive Viewer opens under the following circumstances:

• VRS intercepts an exception image for which the response is defined as “Interactive.” Refer to Using the VRS Administration Utility on page 41.

• As defined by the active operating mode. Refer to Setting the VRS Operating Mode on page 52.

From the VRS Interactive Viewer, you can use the VRS Adjustment Controls to apply adjustments to the image in the viewing pane. For more information, refer to Using the VRS Adjustment Controls on page 64.

The VRS Interactive Viewer also consists of other components: a menu, a toolbar, and a status bar. Each component is explained in subsequent sections.

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Figure 3-26. VRS Interactive Viewer

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Using the VRS Adjustment Controls

The VRS Adjustment Controls consist of six panels that give you options for adjusting image properties. The default settings are saved to a VRS profile called “Default settings.” Once you identify a set of adjustments that work well for a particular document type, you can save them in a custom profile that can be used in place of the default profile. For more information, refer to Working with Profiles on page 53.

Figure 3-27. VRS Adjustment Controls

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This section explains each panel in the VRS Adjustment Controls. Some panels are available only with VRS Plus installations.

Clarity Panel

The Clarity panel consists of settings for brightness, contrast, and gamma correction. Use this panel to enable or disable the Auto Brightness feature. For details, refer to Using the Clarity Panel on page 67.

Noise Panel

The Noise panel consists of settings for applying character thinning/thickening (Line Filter) or to remove unwanted speckling from an image. For details, refer to Using the Noise Panel on page 78.

Skew Panel

The Skew panel contains controls to straighten (deskew) an image. In addition, you can use this panel to select automatic deskew, image cropping, edge cleanup, and auto orientation options. For details, refer to Using the Skew Panel on page 80.

Color Panel (VRS Plus only)

Use the Color panel to specify your preferences for processing color images. For details, refer to Using the Color Panel on page 83.

Background Panel (VRS Plus only)

Use the Background panel to specify your preferences for smoothing the background of color documents. For details, refer to Using the Background Panel on page 86.

Blank Page Panel (VRS Plus only)

Use the Blank Page panel to specify your preferences for processing and deleting blank pages. For details, refer to Using the Blank Page Panel on page 88.

VRS Adjustment Controls Buttons

These buttons are available from each of the VRS Adjustment Controls panels.

Click OK to transmit the current settings to your scanning application. If the VRS Interactive Viewer opened because of an exception, the settings will only apply to the

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image in question. If the viewer appeared as the result of a First Page QC mode, or in connection with the Preview option, then the changes apply to subsequent scans or batches.

Cancel

Click Cancel in Preview to close the VRS Interactive Viewer without applying any changes. If an exception is detected when scanning, click Cancel to return an error (without the error image itself) to the scanning application. In addition, the batch scan will be stopped.

Reset

Click Reset to clear any changes and restore all VRS Adjustment Controls settings to their original values. After selecting Reset, you can continue by updating or saving the original values.

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Using the Clarity Panel

This section gives you details about the Clarity panel, which gives you options to adjust the contrast, brightness, and gamma values for an image. In general, a high Contrast value enhances faint text and lines in your documents. Since Brightness increases or decreases the overall density of your images, increasing the brightness level can clear up dark shaded documents. Finally, Gamma Correct allows you to adjust images created with incorrect gamma encoding.

Operating VRS

Figure 3-28. Clarity Panel

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Brightness and Contrast

When the Auto Brightness check box is selected, VRS automatically assigns optimal values for brightness and displays those values in the manual Brightness slider and numeric text box. The Auto Brightness setting is not applicable when you scan in color mode.

Moving the Brightness slider, entering a value in the Brightness numeric text box, or clicking in the Brightness-Contrast custom control turns off Auto Brightness.

Figure 3-29. Auto Brightness Check Box

Understanding Contrast, Brightness, and Gamma Settings in VRS

What are brightness, contrast, and gamma in VRS? When an image has high brightness, it seems to give off more light. It is like looking at a drawing under a 45watt bulb, then looking at it using a 75-watt bulb. The drawing will seem “brighter” under the 75-watt bulb. In the same way, moving the Brightness slider up will increase the amount of light in the image. Moving it down will decrease the amount of light.

The VRS manual brightness setting ranges from 0 (very dark) to 100 (very bright). Adjusting the manual brightness setting by moving the Brightness slider, by entering a new value in the Brightness numeric text box, or by clicking within the BrightnessContrast custom control causes Auto Brightness to be turned off.

Another way to understand the use of the Brightness slider is how it affects the content in the image. The Brightness slider affects how background and fill colors, as well as highlighted areas, are enhanced. As the Brightness slider is adjusted to a higher value, less of the background and fill colors, as well as the highlighted areas, are enhanced. When the Brightness slider is adjusted to a lower value, more of the background and fill colors, as well as the highlighted areas, are enhanced.

Contrast is the amount of difference between the lightest and darkest areas on an image. For example, the ratio of light to dark in a photograph stays the same, regardless of the flash you use. When you increase the contrast on a totally bitonal image (binary image), the white parts become whiter and the black parts become blacker.

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For VRS, the Contrast slider affects how the content is enhanced. VRS sees content as anything that has an edge. When VRS detects an edge, it is enhanced based upon the setting in the Contrast slider. As the Contrast value increases, the content doesn't need as much of an edge in order to be enhanced. Fainter content will become more visible. At the highest value, VRS may even enhance invisible tape or the grain of the document. As the Contrast value decreases, the content needs more of an edge in order to be enhanced. Darker content will remain, while faint content will begin to disappear. At the lowest value, only content like solid lines, barcodes, and logos will be visible.

A Gamma value is a way to manually “sync up” the image you see on the screen with what you are supposed to see. In other words, sometimes output devices (such as monitors or televisions) do not produce the same image that the input devices (such as a scanner) tell them to produce. In VRS, moving the gamma slider to the right will remove pixels from the entire image, which will create an overall appearance of brightening the image. Moving the slider to the left will do the opposite—adding pixels to make the overall image appear more dark, or dense.

VRS handles this gamma adjustment automatically for you, so even though the gamma correction slider is available, you will not need it to adjust images. Gamma should be considered as a scanner calibration and the default value should be maintained.

Divide and Conquer

Every scanned image has two basic parts: the part you want and the part you do not want. One of the major tasks of any image processing software is to separate these two entities so that the desired elements are preserved. VRS excels at this task because VRS takes advantage of two different technologies: simple thresholding and edge detection.

In simple thresholding, a grayscale image (256 levels of gray) is converted to a binary image (two levels: black and white). This is done by first setting a threshold level, which acts as a dividing line. Everything (all the pixels) above that number (level of gray) becomes white and everything below that number becomes black. Black pixels are assigned a value of 1, and white pixels are assigned a value of 0. Because the threshold level influences the brightness of the resulting image, we also refer to the threshold level as the brightness level. So in VRS, the Brightness slider on its own acts as a simple threshold level.

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Simple Thresholding

Simple thresholding is fine for black text on white paper, but it is tricky when you have a combination of dark and light text and lines, and dark and light background surfaces on one page. Figure 3-30 shows a good example of this kind of document.

Figure 3-30. Color Scan of Original Document

A color or 24-bit image is an exact representation of how the original document looks, much like a photograph of the original. A 24-bit image can contain more than 16 million different colors and is capable of showing all the shades, as well as the darkest and faintest elements of a document.

It is important, however, to point out that while a 24-bit image can be converted to a grayscale or a bitonal image, a grayscale or bitonal image cannot be converted to a color image. Just as a photo taken on black and white film cannot be converted to a color photograph, an image cannot be converted to color if that original color data was never captured.

Like the color image, an 8-bit grayscale or 256-level grayscale image also looks like a photographic representation of the original, but without the color. Because it can display up to 256 gray levels, it is suited for representing documents containing different shades of text. Black and white only document scanners capture the

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documents in 8-bit grayscale, but convert these images to single bit or pure black and white images before sending the images to your application.

In this example, we will scan a document and show the effects of VRS Contrast, Brightness, and Gamma settings on it. In the image shown in Figure 2-32, we have scanned a document we will refer to as the “CORE” document as a black and white image at 200 DPI. If we first set the Contrast value to 0, then set the Brightness value to 12 (remember that setting the Contrast to 0 is basically like using VRS as a simple thresholding device), the faint text on the top of the page is visible, but the text behind the highlighter is unreadable.

This text is revealed.

Figure 3-31. Brightness with a Low Setting

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This text disappears.

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Now this text is hidden!

This text is revealed.

Figure 3-32. Brightness with a Higher Setting

With a higher Brightness setting such as 50, the highlighted text appears and the faint text becomes unreadable. Refer to Figure 3-32.

It becomes apparent that these kinds of situations cannot be solved with simple thresholding. They need a technology that detects objects on a page—both faint and dark—and sets the brightness level dynamically for each of these objects. This technology is called edge detection.

Edge Detection

Edge detection in VRS is controlled with the Contrast slider. Edge detection, or edge finding as it is sometimes called, is a technology that can recognize transitions of one gray level to another level. The larger the difference between the levels of gray, the more “edgy” the object is. With a low contrast level, only very edgy objects become black (such as black text on a white background); very faint text and lines would still not appear because the transition from a white background to light gray is relatively minor. Faint text and lines are therefore not “edgy.” A background, because it does not have transitions from one level of gray to another, would not be edgy. A gradient, because there are no sudden transitions from one level of gray to another, would not be edgy.

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Even something that is technically invisible to the eye, such as a piece of transparent tape placed on a document, could be detected when contrast is set high enough, since there is ultimately a transition from the tape to the paper surrounding it.

Let us look at the CORE sample document with the lowest Contrast level—zero. In addition, to truly see what Contrast does on its own, we will set the brightness value to zero. When it is necessary, as in the case of the CORE document, brightness and contrast both contribute to produce the best image. Contrast (edge detection) takes the primary role in dealing with anything edgy, while the Brightness function deals with everything else.

If you slide the Contrast slider to a level around 50, and set the Brightness to 29, you can see how the Brightness slider does not affect the edgy objects, leaving that completely to the edge detector. The only elements that are affected by the Brightness slider are the non-edgy objects, typically large surfaces of the same gray level (the inside of a highlighter, the background of a document, a shading on the document, the inside of very big text or logos, etc.)

Then when the Contrast slider is on level 50, and you change the Brightness level, it does not affect the text any more; it only makes the large surfaces white or black. That’s why there’s a tendency to relate the contrast slider with the foreground or text and the brightness slider with the background because the higher the contrast, the clearer your text will be, and the higher the brightness the more the background will be cleared up. The lower the contrast, the less readable your text will be; the lower the brightness the darker the background will become.

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Your Optimal Scan

The default settings will provide optimal results for most scans. For a list of default settings, refer to Table 3-1. By simply scanning the CORE document without adjusting the settings, you will get optimal results, as shown in Figure 3-33.

Figure 3-33. Document Scanned With VRS Default Settings—Perfect!

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Manual Image Adjustment

VRS provides the option to manually adjust the settings for an image or images. You can use the Clarity panel to make the adjustments.

Brightness-Contrast Custom Control

The Clarity panel includes custom controls (visual markers) to assist you in identifying the optimal range for brightness and contrast.

Current brightness setting

Acceptable range of contrast and brightness

Current contrast setting

Figure 3-34. Brightness-Contrast Custom Control

The Brightness-Contrast custom control indicates the current value of the Brightness setting by means of a horizontal solid black line. The Brightness-Contrast custom control indicates the current value of the Contrast setting by means of a vertical solid black line. When Auto Brightness is enabled, the black lines (along with the slider) are automatically adjusted to reflect the automatic brightness adjustment.

The Brightness-Contrast custom control indicates the current acceptable range of detected brightness and detected contrast values by means of a rectangle with solid blue lines. This box shows you the region of acceptable Brightness and Contrast values. The box is centered on the 50-50 baseline settings for Brightness and Contrast, with the borders representing the Brightness and Contrast threshold values from the VRS Administration Utility dialog box. Valid VRS-detected values must fall within the blue box. VRS detected values that fall outside the blue box borders are invalid and they generate warnings.

Brightness Text Box

When the VRS Interactive Viewer is launched, the Brightness numeric text box on the Clarity panel indicates the current Brightness setting. If desired, the Brightness setting may be changed manually using the Brightness numeric text box. Brightness may be

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set from 0 (very dark) to 100 (very bright) for black and white, grayscale, or color images. Keep in mind, though, that the manual brightness setting is not shared between black and white, grayscale, and color modes. Changing the value of the manual brightness setting in black and white mode does not affect the value of the manual brightness setting in grayscale or color mode, because VRS keeps these values separate.

Contrast Text Box

When the VRS Interactive Viewer is launched, the Contrast numeric text box indicates the current value of the Contrast setting. The Contrast value of an image may be set manually using the Contrast numeric text box. The Contrast value may be set from 0 (very low contrast) to 100 (very high contrast). Similar to the Brightness setting, the Contrast setting is not shared between black and white, grayscale, and color modes. You must enter a separate Contrast value for each mode.

Gamma Slider and Gamma Correct Text Box

The Gamma slider and Gamma numeric text box indicate the current value of the Gamma setting, which can range from -100 (very dark gamma) to +100 (very light gamma). Gamma may be set for black and white, grayscale, and color images, but is only shared between black and white and grayscale modes. This means that changing the value of the Gamma setting while in black and white mode also changes the Gamma setting for grayscale mode because VRS internally uses a single value to represent gamma for black and white and grayscale.

The Gamma setting is not shared between non-color and color modes. Changing the value of the Gamma setting in black and white mode does not affect the value of the Gamma setting in color as VRS uses a dedicated value to represent color gamma.

X To update the Clarity panel settings

1 From the VRS Adjustment Controls, select the Clarity panel.

a To adjust the contrast and brightness at the same time, click within the

boundaries of the brightness/contrast grid, then insert the pointer so that the intersection of the crosshairs represents the desired values for brightness and contrast. For best results, stay within the blue rectangle.

b To adjust the contrast and brightness separately, skip to the next step.

2 In the Brightness text box, VRS displays the current brightness setting. To

change the setting, do one of the following:

• Click the arrows on the Brightness text box to increase or decrease the brightness level.

• Click in the Brightness text box and type in a value.

• Move the Brightness slider control up or down to select a value.

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Note As soon as you change the brightness value, the Auto Brightness option

is automatically disabled. To enable it again, select Auto Brightness again and VRS will calculate and reapply the brightness level automatically.

3 In the Contrast text box, VRS displays the current contrast setting. To change

the setting, do one of the following:

• Click the arrows on the Contrast text box to increase or decrease the contrast level.

• Click in the Contrast text box and type in a value.

• Move the Contrast slider control left or right to select a value.

4 In the Gamma text box, VRS displays the gamma correction setting. The

correction values range from Dark to Light, with Normal at the midpoint. To change the setting, do one of the following:

• Click the arrows on the Gamma Correct text box to increase or decrease the gamma level.

• Click in the Gamma text box and type in a value.

• Move the Gamma slider control left or right to select a value.

5 Click OK.

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Note Changes to the Clarity panel settings are handled according to the way

the VRS Interactive Viewer was launched. If the viewer opened as the result of an exception, the changes apply to the image in question only. If the viewer opened because you selected Preview or First Page mode, the changes also apply to subsequent scans. When VRS restarts, the Clarity panel is reset to the settings in the last selected profile.

Chapter 3

Using the Noise Panel

Noise in an image consists of pixels accidentally and randomly added to the image during image processing. The level of shading for these pixels is also random and can vary quite a bit. Unfortunately, images attained through even the most sophisticated sensors can still be contaminated by noise sources and they have to be corrected.

You can use the filters on the Noise panel to enhance image quality and remove excessive speckling. As you adjust the Noise settings, the effects are applied to the image in the VRS Interactive Viewer window. You can fine-tune the settings until the image appearance meets your quality standards.

The VRS Noise panel is available only if the scanner is set for bitonal scanning.

Figure 3-35. Noise Panel

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Removing Noise from a Document

Follow these general rules for removing noise from a document:

• If you have batches of mixed documents with varying quality, never use the Speckle Removal filter. You could risk losing information on documents.

• If the noise was produced by bleed-through of text from the back side or background patterns (such as the patterns commonly found on boarding passes), decrease the contrast from the Clarity panel. If text starts to disappear as you remove the noise, compensate by adjusting the Brightness slider to a lower setting.

• If the noise is produced by shaded backgrounds, gradients, or dark-colored paper, increase the brightness from the Clarity panel.

• If you have only one or two kinds of documents with consistent quality, try to apply various levels of the speckle removal filters.

• If the filter removes part of the characters even at low levels of the speckle removal filter, apply the rules for mixed batches.

X To update the Noise panel settings

1 From the VRS Adjustment Controls, select the Noise panel. 2 Use the Line Filter slider to select the amount of thinning/thickening to apply

to image elements.

• Move toward Thin for image elements ballooned or blended together.

• Move toward the Thick setting for image elements too thin or too light.

3 Use the Speckle Removal Filter slider to remove unwanted black dots.

4 Click OK.

VRS User’s Manual

• Move the slider toward Small if removal of small dots will achieve the desired image quality.

• Move the slider toward Medium if removal of small and medium dots will achieve the desired image quality.

• Move the slider toward Large if removal of small, medium, and large dots will achieve the desired image quality. Moving the slider too far to the right may interfere with text recognition.

Note Changes to the Noise panel are handled according to circumstances

under which the VRS Interactive Viewer launched. If the viewer opened as the result of an exception, changes apply to the exception image only. If the viewer opened because you selected Preview or First Page mode, changes apply to all subsequent scans. Upon restart, the Noise panel is reset to the settings associated with the last selected profile.

Chapter 3

Using the Skew Panel

You can use the Skew panel to select settings that control automatic deskew, auto crop and edge cleanup, as well as auto orientation, which is used to automatically rotate a page that scans in a non-standard orientation. The Skew panel also gives you options to perform manual skew adjustment on an image.

Images can be rotated up to 360 degrees clockwise or counter-clockwise using the movable angle control arm, or they can be automatically deskewed if you select the Deskew check box. If necessary, you can fine-tune the rotation with the Fine Angle Adjustment slider. When the Angle box lists 0.00, the image is displayed as it was originally scanned.

Figure 3-36. Skew Panel

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Deskew Option

When you use a scanner that produces white borders around the scanned images, the deskew correction is calculated based on horizontal and vertical text lines in the image. When you use a scanner that produces black borders around the images, VRS switches to using black borders and not the content of the document to determine the skew correction with faster and better results.

Figure 3-37. Skew Panel - Deskew and Crop Options

Auto Crop and Edge Cleanup Options

When you use a scanner that produces black or white borders, the Auto Crop option is available. Select this option to automatically crop every page to its original size. Auto Crop is important for a precise registration of each image in order to perform accurate optical character recognition (OCR). With black background scanners, Edge Cleanup activates the VRS feature that automatically removes any black borders around the image. It is different from image cropping because it does not crop the image to its actual size. Instead, it replaces any black pixels in the border around the image with white pixels, preserving the width and length of the image size determined by the image crop.

Auto Orientation

You can select the Auto Orientation check box to turn on the feature that performs content-based rotation. With this feature enabled, VRS will automatically rotate a page that is scanned in a non-standard orientation. As a result, you do not have to perform manual rotation after the image is scanned. This feature eliminates the need to pre-sort batches of documents to ensure that they are facing in the same direction. With Auto Orientation enabled, you can place a stack of documents in the scanner feeder without checking to make sure that they are facing the same way, and VRS will automatically rotate the images at scan time, if necessary.

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Chapter 3

Note Auto-Orientation may conflict with the rotation options that are available with

some scanners that support advanced features. If you are using VRS with such a scanner, we recommend that you enable either Auto Orientation or the advanced rotation options, but not both. For more information, refer to Rotation Tab on page 105.

X To change the Skew panel settings

1 From the VRS Adjustment Controls, select the Skew panel. 2 Select the desired Deskew and Crop options. 3 If automatic deskew is not selected, you can use the movable angle control

arm to straighten an image by clicking anywhere on the grid. You can also adjust the skew as follows:

a Position the mouse over the vertical arm, click, and hold. The cursor will

change to a hand.

b Drag the arm counter-clockwise to rotate the image to the left, or

clockwise to rotate it to the right. You can rotate the image up to 360 degrees.

4 If desired, use the Fine Angle Adjustment slider to fine-tune the deskew angle

in single degree or partial degree increments, as follows:

a Move the slider all the way to the left to complete a one-degree, counter-

clockwise angle adjustment.

b Move the slider all the way to the right, to complete a one-degree,

clockwise angle adjustment.

c Move the slider to a position in between the leftmost or rightmost setting,

to select an angle shift that is less than a full degree. Each line on the slider scale represents 0.05 degrees.

5 Click OK.

Note Changes made to the Skew panel are handled according to

circumstances under which the VRS Interactive Viewer launched. If the viewer opened as the result of an exception, any changes apply to the exception image only. If the viewer opened because you selected Preview or First Page mode, the changes apply to the exception image as well as to subsequent scans. Upon restart, the Skew panel is always reset to the last selected profile’s settings.

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Using the Color Panel

Use the Color panel to specify your preferences for Automatic Color Detection and related processing options. VRS uses the Automatic Color Detection process to determine if an image has any color content. If no color content is detected, then the document is processed as a bitonal image. When using Automatic Color Detection, it is important to test your settings on a sample document that is similar to the documents you expect to scan. The adjustments that you make to the Color Sensitivity and the Color Area Sensitivity settings will directly affect the outcome of the Automatic Color Detection process.

Figure 3-38. Color Panel

Note The availability of the Color panel depends upon your VRS license and scanner,

as well as the active scanning mode, which must be set to “Color.”

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Chapter 3

X To configure the Color panel settings

1 From the VRS Adjustment Controls, select the Color panel. 2 Select the Enable Detection check box if you want to enable Automatic Color

Detection. If this check box is not selected, a color image is always returned when you scan in color mode, regardless of the extent of the color content in the document.

3 Adjust the Color Sensitivity setting (possible values range from 1 to 100) by

doing one of the following:

• Move the slider to the left to decrease the likelihood of detecting a color document.

• Move the slider to the right to increase the likelihood of detecting a color document.

• Click the arrows of the text box to increase or decrease the Color Sensitivity value.

• Click in the Color Sensitivity text box and type a value.

4 Select the Detect Small Color Areas check box if you want to enable the

function that is used to detect small amounts of color (such as a date stamp or small amounts of highlighter text) on otherwise bitonal documents. If this check box is not selected, the scanner may not detect small amounts of color.

5 Adjust the Color Area Sensitivity setting (possible values range from 1 to 100)

by doing one of the following:

• Move the slider to the left to decrease the likelihood of detecting small amounts of color.

• Move the slider to the right to increase the likelihood of detecting small amounts of color.

• Click the arrows of the text box to increase or decrease the Color Area Sensitivity value.

• Click in the Color Area Sensitivity text box and type a value.

6 At Background Color Detection, select “Suppress color if applicable” to have

VRS suppress the background color for images in which the foreground is bitonal.

Note The availability of the Background Color Detection feature may vary,

according to the scanner that you are using with VRS.

7 You can use the Output Format settings to override the results of Automatic

Color Detection. These settings apply only to the current image in a batch.

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These settings are available only if Automatic Color Detection is enabled. You can select the following options:

• Color: Image is processed in color, regardless of the results of the automatic color detection process.

• Bitonal: Image is processed in black and white, regardless of the results of the automatic color detection process.

• As Detected: Image color is processed according to the results of the automatic color detection process. This is the default selection.

8 If you make adjustments that you do not want to save, click Reset to clear

them and restore the default values. Then continue by adjusting or saving the original values.

Note Changes to the Color panel are handled according to circumstances

under which the VRS Interactive Viewer launched. If the viewer opened as the result of an exception, changes apply to the exception image only. If the viewer opened because you selected Preview or First Page mode, changes apply to all subsequent scans. Upon restart, the Color panel is reset to the settings associated with the last selected profile.

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Chapter 3

Using the Background Panel

Use the Background panel to select preferences that affect the way that the background region of a color image will be processed by VRS.

You can use the options on the Background panel to convert and smooth the background region to black, white, or to a color that represents an “average” of the detected background colors.

Note The availability of the Background panel depends upon your VRS license and

your scanner, as well as the active scanning mode, which must be set to “Color.”

Figure 3-39. Background Panel

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X To configure the Background panel settings

1 From the VRS Adjustment Controls, select the Background panel. 2 Select the Enable Smoothing check box to turn on the background smoothing

feature, which you can use to modify the background of a color image. If this check box is not selected, the background region of a color image is not altered when it is processed.

3 Select an option for processing images with color backgrounds:

• White: All background color is changed to white.

• Black: All background color is changed to black.

• Automatic: All background pixels are smoothed to the same value, representing an average of the detected background colors. This selection is appropriate only when minor variations exist in the background color.

Note If you select Automatic, the results may vary, according to the color

detected in the background region of the scanned document.

4 If you selected Automatic in the previous step, the results will be directly

affected by the Snap to White setting, as follows:

• If Snap to White is selected and the image background is close to white, the resulting background color is white.

• If Snap to White is selected and the background is not close to white, the background color is set to a smoothed color value determined by the scanner.

• If Snap to White is not selected, the background color is set to a smoothed color value representing an aggregate of the detected background colors.

5 Do one of the following to adjust the Background Color Sensitivity setting:

6 Click OK.

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Note The Snap to White feature is not available with all scanners.

• Move the slider to the left to decrease the level of background region processing in color documents. A low value decreases the likelihood that a pixel will be determined to be part of the image background.

• Move the slider to the right to increase the level of background region processing in color documents. A high value increases the likelihood that a pixel will be determined to be part of the image background.

• Click the arrows of the text box to increase or decrease the Background Color Sensitivity value.

• Click in the Background Color Sensitivity text box and type a value.

Chapter 3

Note Changes to the Background panel are handled according to

circumstances under which the VRS Interactive Viewer launched. If the viewer opened as the result of an exception, changes apply to the exception image only. If the viewer opened because you selected Preview or First Page mode, changes apply to all subsequent scans. Upon restart, the Background panel is reset to the settings associated with the last selected profile.

Using the Blank Page Panel

Use the Blank Page panel to enable automatic deletion of blank pages, a feature that is intended for batch scanning in duplex mode. VRS will detect and delete a blank page, based on its assessment of its content.

You use the Content Sensitivity setting to control how sensitive the system is to page content. For example, you can configure VRS to ignore small amounts of content, such as speckles, so that a speckled page would be considered blank, resulting in deletion. If desired, you can also configure VRS to detect small amounts of content, in which case the same speckled page may not be considered blank and it would not be deleted. When VRS evaluates the page content, the background color is ignored.

Some scanners include their own blank page deletion feature. If you are using VRS with such a scanner, we do not recommend that both blank page deletion features be enabled at the same time. For best results, select blank page deletion from VRS and disable the counterpart feature that is available from the scanner.

Note The availability of the Blank Page panel depends upon your VRS license, as

well as your scanning mode selection. If your VRS license and scanning mode give you access to the Blank Page panel, it will be available only in Preview or First Page mode; you cannot access the Blank Page panel while scanning is in progress.

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Kofax VRS4 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

Copyright

Contents

How to Use This Guide

Introduction

How this Guide is Organized

Related Documentation

Training

Technical Support Information

Introduction

Overview

Standard Features

VRS Plus Features

Certified Scanning Applications

Certified vs. Non-Certified Scanners

Introduction

VRS Taskbar Icon

Quick Tour

VRS Taskbar Menu Commands

Preview

Profile

QC Modes

Admin Utility

VRS Interactive Viewer

Working with the VRS Interactive Viewer

Scroll Bars

Persistence

Focus

Minimize / Maximize Buttons

VRS Interactive Viewer Menu Bar

Zoom Menu

Profile Menu

Save As

Save

Organize

Tools Menu

Scanner Driver Settings

Enable Plus Features Demo

Help Menu

VRS Help

User’s Manual

Installation Guide

Activate VRS

Check for Updates

About VRS

VRS Adjustment Controls

Clarity Panel

Noise Panel

Skew Panel

Color Panel (VRS Plus only)

Background Panel (VRS Plus only)

Blank Page Panel (VRS Plus only)

VRS Interactive Viewer Toolbar

Zoom Tool

Scanner Driver Settings Tool

Profile Selection List

VRS Image Status Information

VRS Image Analysis Information

Getting Started with VRS

Selecting VRS

Using the VRS Interactive Viewer

Creating a Profile

Setting the QC Mode

Using the VRS Administration Utility

Introduction

Selecting VRS

Operating VRS

Kofax VRS Scanning Interfaces

Kofax VRS ImageControls Interface

Kofax VRS ISIS Interface

Kofax VRS TWAIN Interface

Configuring VRS Before You Scan

Using the VRS Administration Utility

Warnings Tab

Errors Tab

Accelerated Scanning Tab

Updating the VRS Administration Utility Dialog Box