| Design complexity | Easy to design using any graphics editor. | Text editors offer limited design tools, and the size of raster dots is crucial. | Easy to design using any graphics editor. |
| Printing | Difficult to print large quantities of good-quality forms in-house. | Easy to print in-house. | Easy to print in-house. |
| Printing costs | Higher than black-and-white forms if professionally printed. | Lower than dropout forms if professionally printed. | Lower than dropout forms if professionally printed. |
| Image size | Smaller image files. | Larger image files. | Larger image files. |
| Scanning mode | Only special scanning modes (color filtering) can be used. | Limited range of brightness and contrast settings. | Limited range of brightness and contrast settings. |
| Processing speed | Higher average processing speed. | Longer, because the images need despeckling. | Errors are more likely if characters are glued together or overlap field borders. |
| Recognition quality | Very high. | High. | Depends on how neatly the form is completed; high if completed correctly. |
| Location of explanatory text | Can be placed anywhere, including inside fields, if printed in the form’s background color. | Must be carefully arranged with the other form elements. | Must be carefully arranged with the other form elements. |
| Appearance and legibility | Aesthetically pleasing, but low background and text contrast may reduce legibility. | Less eye-catching, with lower legibility. | Less eye-catching, but good legibility. |
| Neatness of completion | Less sensitive to text overlapping field borders. | Less sensitive to text overlapping field borders, but small characters must be written carefully and large enough not to be removed as garbage. | Very sensitive to text overlapping field borders. |
