Automated Forms Processing

Automated Forms Processing (AFP)

Is the automation of the capture of handwritten information from forms, using imaging technology.

It was invented by Joseph Corcoran (Irish) and first patented as Irish Patent S61092 in March 1993.

AFP is a development of ICR technology and in particular allows ICR to work with real world forms that are not designed with drop out ink.

It involves three separate steps, which are performed automatically.

Stage 1:The form is scanned and an image of the form is stored in the computer. This image is then cleaned up. This process can involve any or all of the following; despecking (removing noise) the image, registering the image to the original form and removing the background of the original form leaving only the information added to the form that needs to be captured.

Stage 2:An ICR engine then reads the cleaned up image of the handwritten information on the form.

Stage 3:The results from the ICR engine are now validated in three steps. Primary Validation involves the application of rules to the individual characters to determine whether they are valid or not. Secondary Validations involves applying rules to the zones (group of characters) on the form and in some circumstances validating that the characters are correct by applying rules across two or more zones on one or more forms. Finally Manual Validation is used for the remaining characters that cannot be validated automatically.

In real world applications this technology will reduce the effort involved in capturing handwritten information from forms by at least 80% and will capture the information from the forms without errors.