PDF Research Adobe Capture...
- Using the Capture Plug-in vs. Buying the Full Program?
- Cost-Justifying Acrobat Capture
- Implementing an Imaging Service Bureau
- Case Studies and Lab Tests
Adobe Capture® turns printed business and "legacy" documents into indexable electronic files that look exactly like the original. More than a bitmap scan of the source documents and more than an OCR (optical character recognition) read and conversion of the text, captured documents retain the font and typesetting characteristics, layout, and images composed the way the original document was composed. The resulting files are PDF format so that they can be Cataloged and added to other PDF documents or server locations.
This full blown program should not be confused with the Capture plug-in which is included as part of the Adobe Acrobat® suit of programs, although it performs all of the same functions and results in PDF file creation. The main differences are:
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For a broad overview of the basic steps involved in capturing images, refer to an article written by The Rheinner Group titled Scanning in a Production Imaging Environment
An alternative to Adobe Capture is Paravision Imaging's PageGenie 2000 which has similar benefits while listing a competitive set of features.
"PageGenie 2000 is superior for:
- OCR Color as well as Black and White Pages
- Capture Lagacy Document into PDF
- WYSIWYG proofing and page editing for re-publishing
- Batch processing of images for OCR, Archiving, Publishing, Format Conversion, etc.... There is a trial version downloadable from their website - like Adobe Capture, it is available for Windows only."
There is a 15-day trial version downloadable from their website - like Adobe Capture, it is available for Windows only.
1. Using the Capture Plug-in vs. Buying the Full Program?
People new to the marvels of Capturing often want to know whether a project can be done with just the plug-in, or whether they should go out and buy the full Capture program. They are leaving out an obvious third option - namely, buying the service out from a reputable supplier like Glyphica. They can not only scan and capture paper documents, but have special batch mode processing tools and skilled personnel that can create better files at a lower cost while amortizing the cost of the overhead (scanners, document feeds, program costs, etc.)
But, assuming you are determined to "do-it-yourself"...
There are three major questions - how many pages, how accurate, and how will you use the final product.
- How many pages could discourage you from using the free Capture Plug-in. Flat-bed scanning is tedious, particularly when you realize that a service with a specialized scanner can scan pages at roughly one per second.
- How accurate will determine not only what dpi you scan at (200 to 400dpi) but also how long you will devote to cleanup. Numbers require special scrutiny as do underlined text, equations, special characters, etc. Again, services have an advantage with experience and pay scales that probably rival yours (offshore proofing can cost as little as $8/hour for 6-8 pages/hour).
- How you will use the product will determine whether you want to go PDF Normal (lots of cleanup but smallest files necessary for internet usage) or PDF image+text (less cleanup but bigger files adequate for legacy archives on servers).
Bottomline...you can play with Capture Plug-in for short conversion projects. You can buy Capture if you have a Windows machine, plenty of RAM (128Mb recommended), lots of storage, and a good sheetfed scanner ($10,000 to $30,000). Be advised that Capture comes with a counter that in essence charges the buyer a royalty per converted document. But unless you are seriously committed to many batch jobs over the course of the next couple of years, I would recommend using a service, at least to get your feet wet.
Does it matter if your document is full of charts, graphs, and pictures?
It matters. Longer conversion times, more proofing, much bigger files. If you want color that will cost in time, file size, and money.
For additional information on evaluating Capture solutions for document conversion projects, take a look at "Bringing Paper to Life: Adobe Acrobat Capture Unlocks Corporate Memory, " (PDF, 159K) by Bruce Silver and Associates.
2. Cost-Justifying Acrobat Capture
Bruce Silver Associates has compiled an exhaustive (37 pages) report that is useful for any corporation interested in researching the return on investment for using Acrobat Capture. This report (176K PDF file) can be downloaded from this site. It is titled Cost Justifying Acrobat Capture. The following is the author's own description of the scope of this report:
"As organizations begin to investigate making document information available over the web, they are increasingly confronted with the complexity of the business case for this investment. What are the costs, and where are the savings and other financial benefits? Is a formal ROI calculation even appropriate? And what is the complete set of hardware and software components required for a real business solution? Or do you want to consider outsourcing the job completely?
This document is designed to answer those questions for potential users of Adobe Acrobat Capture 2.0, the industry's leading "paper-to-web" software technology. Acrobat Capture allows paper documents to be scanned and converted to a text-searchable, web-accessible format, optimized for integration with a corporate information system."
3. Implementing an Imaging Service Bureau
Many corporations are launching massive Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) for converting paper documents into digital form. Below is a JPEG of a flow diagram for a proposed imaging service bureau. The entire project is password protected and includes a job specifications questionnaire, pricing worksheets and cost comparisons between inhouse production & buyouts, and manhour/storage requirements. Contact Performance Graphics for more details concerning our consultation on this project.
Once a document has been converted to PDF, it can be enhanced with bookmarks, hyperlinks, color scans, etc., using Adobe Exchange. In some cases, conversion vendors will provide a small sample of your project to demonstrate the fidelity and accuracy of their conversion processes.
Excellent resources for investigation:
Techinfo Center - This website is full of information and educational links and opportunities for learning more about the development and implementation of a document management resource within and across enterprises. It includes aacess to the Rheinner Guide Library, "the world's largest free information resource on document systems technology."Bruce Silver & Associates - Dr. Silver has researched and published numerous articles and reports concerning document management and retrieval systems.
4. Case Studies and Lab Tests
There are three sites that can offer case studies for Adobe Capture.
- There is a listing of successful implementations at the Case Studies library section of Adobe's website.
- An excellent resource for any library on Adobe Capture is Tony McKinley's Imagebiz website. His book From Paper to Web is included on-line as a series of PDF files. It is also available in book form ($40) from Amazon (the on-line bookseller). There are lab tests with statistical results included at this site that do a good job of substantiating Adobe's claims concerning the utility of the Capture approach to document management.
- Samples of PDF files that have been created from document scans using Adobe Capture® can be found at an Adobe site featuring the work of Glyphica. One of their premiere samples is the work they are producing for the Amateur Athletics Federation - The Olympics Archives.
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