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ABBYY FlexiCapture is a software solution for single-flow data capture from documents of various types. You can process documents of different types in a single flow, including documents of mixed type, for example documents that contain both structured and semi-structured sections. The document type affects system configuration only, namely the method of creating Document Definitions. The nature of the Operator’s work is not affected. FlexiCapture can be configured for automated input of the following document types, including in a single flow.

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Structured fixed forms

Structured forms are documents with a set of marked information fields whose formatting, number, and layout do not change from one document instance to the next. Such documents are called fixed forms. Most questionnaires and application forms are fixed forms. They are usually distributed as blank forms and filled out by hand. To identify a fixed form in a document flow and extract data from it, create a single fixed layout that tells the program where the fields containing data are located. Fixed forms created to meet the requirements of automatic input are processed most effectively. Such forms are called machine-readable forms. To learn about the requirements for these forms and how to create them, see About machine-readable forms. ABBYY FormDesigner, supplied with ABBYY FlexiCapture, is a convenient tool for designing machine-readable forms. The basic stages of creating a Document Definition are described specifically for structured documents.
Fixed forms received by fax can be distorted: their size and the relative positions of their fields may change. Use a FlexiLayout to increase recognition quality when processing such forms.

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Semi-structured flexible forms and documents

These documents have a set of information fields whose design, number, and layout can vary significantly between instances of the document. These documents are called flexible. Bills, for example, are semi-structured documents: they often vary in the number of items and in formatting because they come from different companies. Every bill has a bill number and an amount due, but in different places. To identify flexible forms and extract data from them, ABBYY FlexiCapture uses a flexible layout (FlexiLayout). A flexible layout is created with a dedicated module, ABBYY FlexiLayout Studio. The processing of semi-structured documents differs from the processing of fixed forms only at the stage of creating and loading a layout. For more information, see Creating a Document Definition for semi-structured document processing.

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Unstructured documents

ABBYY FlexiCapture can process unstructured documents that present information in a free style, for example contracts, letters, orders, and graphs. The program can identify unstructured documents automatically as annexes to fixed or flexible forms, or with a flexible layout, and then export them as PDF searchable files or as graphic files. You can extract index fields from unstructured documents automatically with a flexible layout or by manual input. NLP can also process unstructured documents. This technology uses NLP models to extract information from text. A typical scenario for unstructured documents is converting a hardcopy archive into electronic form while extracting two or three index fields to organize a quick attribute-based search. For more information, see Creating Document Definitions for unstructured and semi-structured documents.