Scanning and Text Recognition (OCR)

Paper documents can be added to M-Files by using a network scanner or a local scanner. For more information on network scanning, refer to Scanner Sources. When using local scanning, the scanner must be directly connected to the computer that is used to add the scanned file to M-Files. The scanning functions are located under the Operations menu.

Note: Scanner integration in M-Files Desktop uses the TWAIN and WIA technologies. Only scanners that can be equipped with a TWAIN or WIA driver are supported.
Note: The text recognition functionality requires the M-Files OCR module, an M-Files add-on product available for an extra fee. It can be activated with a license code. You also need to have installed the necessary files for the OCR module. Refer to Enabling the M-Files OCR Module for more information.

Adding Documents from the Scanner

Steps

  1. In M-Files, press ALT to display the menu bar and select Operations > Scanning and Text Recognition (OCR) > Add Document from Scanner...
    Alternatively, you can right-click an empty space in the listing area and select Scanning and Text Recognition (OCR) > Add Document from Scanner... from the context menu.
  2. Optional: If the Select Source dialog appears, select your scanner from the list and click Select.
  3. Scan your document using the scanner application.
    When the scanning is complete, the Scanner Job dialog appears.
  4. Select one of the following options:
    Select the option... If you...
    Scanning done do not want to scan additional documents.
    Scan more pages to the current document want to scan another document and combine it with the previously scanned document.
    Scan another document want to scan another document and do not wish to combine it with the previously scanned document.
  5. Optional: If the Conversion to Searchable PDF dialog appears, select Convert if you want to convert the scanned document into a searchable PDF. Otherwise, click Skip Conversion.
  6. When the New Document dialog appears, fill in the metadata and click Create once you are done.

Results

The scanned document or documents are added to M-Files.

Adding Documents from the Scanner to a Multi-File Document

Steps

  1. In M-Files, locate the multi-file document for which you want to add a file from the scanner.
  2. Right-click the multi-file document and select Add File > Add File From Scanner... from the context menu.
  3. Optional: If the Select Source dialog appears, select your scanner from the list and click Select.
  4. Scan your document using the scanner application.
    When the scanning is complete, the Scanner Job dialog appears.
  5. Select one of the following options:
    Select the option... If you...
    Scanning done do not want to scan additional documents.
    Scan more pages to the current document want to scan another document and combine it with the previously scanned document.
    Scan another document want to scan another document and do not wish to combine it with the previously scanned document.
  6. Optional: If the Conversion to Searchable PDF dialog appears, select Convert if you want to convert the scanned document into a searchable PDF. Otherwise, click Skip Conversion.

Results

The scanned document or documents are added to the multi-file document.
Note: The multi-file document only has one set of metadata and separate files belonging to the multi-file do not have any separate metadata.

Replacing a Document with a Document from the Scanner

Steps

  1. In M-Files, locate and highlight the document that you want to replace with a document from the scanner.
    Single-file documents and documents in a multi-file document can be replaced with a document from the scanner.
  2. Press ALT to display the menu bar and select Operations > Scanning and Text Recognition (OCR) > Replace with File from Scanner...
    Alternatively, you can right-click the document and select Scanning and Text Recognition (OCR) > Replace with File from Scanner...
  3. Optional: If the Select Source dialog appears, select your scanner from the list and click Select.
  4. Scan your document using the scanner application.
    When the scanning is complete, the Scanner Job dialog appears.
  5. Select one of the following options:
    Select the option... If you...
    Scanning done do not want to scan additional documents.
    Scan more pages to the current document want to scan another document and combine it with the previously scanned document.
    Scan another document want to scan another document and do not wish to combine it with the previously scanned document.
  6. Optional: If the Conversion to Searchable PDF dialog appears, select Convert if you want to convert the scanned document into a searchable PDF. Otherwise, click Skip Conversion.

Results

The existing document in M-Files is replaced with the document from the scanner.

Text Recognition (OCR) and Searchable PDFs

If the M-Files OCR module is enabled, M-Files suggests that the scanned file can be converted to a searchable PDF by text recognition once the scanning is completed. You can activate the text recognition or ignore it. You can also define advanced settings for the text recognition.

You can also convert an image file to a searchable PDF. The text recognition is performed on the image file in order to enable full-text searching across the file. After the conversion, you can find, for example, a contract document converted from an image by performing a search using the names of the contracting parties or any other text included in the original image file.

M-Files also automatically suggests the text recognition if you drag an image file to M-Files, provided that you have the M-Files OCR module installed.

Text recognition can be performed on the following file formats: TIFF, JPEG, BMP, PNG, and PDF. TIFF files using an alpha channel or JPEG compression are not supported. For more information, see Searchable PDF.

Note: If the text recognition is performed on an image file which was not saved and returned to M-Files, the file will only be saved as a PDF. Otherwise, the original image file can be found in the document version history.

Importing and Converting an Image File to a Searchable PDF

Steps

  1. Drag and drop an image file to M-Files.
  2. Once the Conversion to Searchable PDF dialog appears, click Convert.
    By clicking Advanced in the Conversion to Searchable PDF dialog, you can improve the quality of the text recognition by selecting primary and secondary language options to match the language used in the image.
  3. Once the conversion is complete, the New Document dialog appears. Finish importing the image by filling in the metadata and clicking Create.

Converting an Existing Image File in M-Files to a Searchable PDF

Steps

  1. In M-Files, locate and highlight the image file that you want to convert to a searchable PDF.
  2. Right-click the file and select Scanning and Text Recognition (OCR) > Convert to Searchable PDF... from the context menu.
    Alternatively, you can press ALT to display the menu bar and select Operations > Scanning and Text Recognition (OCR) > Convert to Searchable PDF...
  3. When the Conversion to Searchable PDF dialog appears, click Convert to convert the image file.

Results

The image file is converted into a searchable PDF and any textual content in the image can be found using the search functions of M-Files.
© M-Files Corporation 2016
Last updated 10/2016