Form Editor
Consideration needs to be taken when designing a scannable form for capturing response data using Optical Mark Recognition.
- Create a Form Template.
- Form Editor Application Window.
- Add the form components.
- Recognition Preview
- Publish and Print.
Tips
Form Properties
Form Editor Toolbar
Alignment Toolbar
Choose the New Form icon in the Application toolbar to open a new form in the form editor.
A Create New Form dialog box will open at which point the new form can be named, the page orientation and Preset size (paper size you will be printing on) can be chosen.
Letter Size paper is the standard size for North America (USA, Canada, Mexico)
A4 Size paper is the standard size for the rest of the world (countries that use metric measurements)
Click OK and a blank form page will open in the Form Editor.
Screenshot of Form Editor application window with Algnment toolbar at bottom.
Design a basic form template
using the Form Editor toolbars to add:
- A Form ID barcode, detected by FormReturn during form processing to identify forms and link the captured
response data with the publication and your data table records and store them together in captured data.
- A segment containing the checkbox mark areas, designed using the segment editor. A form template can contain more than one page with a segment on each page.
Tips:
- Using the Zoom feature lets you see the whole page at one time when you are adding or aligning components. Note: Reset zoom level to 100% before performing the recognition preview.
- Save your work regularly. Right Click, Edit and save.
Form files will automatically save with the extension .frf
Segment files will automatically save with the extenstion .frs
- Use the Undo tool to go back one or more steps. Edit, Undo.
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- Click the Recognition Preview Tab to preview your form template and make sure all the components you added are recognized by the software.
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Form Properties
The Page properties panel is shown at the side when a new form is first opened or by clicking on a blank section of the form page.
Use it to control:
Orientation - portrait or landscape
Preset Size - controls the form's page size and the orientation of the
form. Always click the Apply Settings button for any changes you make to
take effect.
Width and Height - are used to create a custom form page size.
Margins - are for controling the margin's width's.
Apply Settings - will cause any changes made to take effect.
The Form Editor Toolbar
The Form Editor Toolbar contains tool icons used to add and edit the form components.
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Select
Circle, Rectangle, Round Rectangle & Line
Text
Image
Segment
Barcode
Add the Form Components
Load Segments
Add a Form ID Barcode
Other Barcodes
Form Identification Components
Recognition Preview
Alignment Tools
Snap to Grid
Alignment Toolbar
Snap to Grid
Snap to Grid is a grid that can be turned on when you are adding elements to the form template. It is helpful when aligning images and text areas etc.
with other elements you have added to the page.
To turn on Snap to Grid, select it from the Edit Menu of FormReturn.
Click Show Grid in the Edit Menu, shows and hides the grid.
Click Adjust Grid Size in the Edit Menu, for different grid sizes.
There are 5 sizes from very small to very large. Keep clicking Adjust
Grid Size until the grid is the right size for aligning the elements
you are adding.
Add the element to the page and Drag into place with your mouse. You will see it snap to the closest grid dot.
The Alignment Toolbar
The Alignment toolbar
(bottom of application window) contains tool icons for zoom, alignment
of text and mark areas, adding and moving between form pages.
Zoom
Alignment Tools
Add Pages
Use the Zoom feature for looking at the whole form page at once.
Use the Alignment tools for aligning form components such as
text areas, so they all appear in line and evenly spaced. Select all
the components you want aligned with each other, and then choose the
tool needed.
Add or remove form pages by clicking page buttons and use the arrows to move between pages. Don't forget to add a Form ID Barcode to each new form page created.
Select
Choose the select tool to select part or all of the form page. Click on the form page and drag the mouse to select an area.
To delete anything you don't want: select it and then use the delete key on your keyboard.
Circle, Rectangle, Round Rectangle, Line
Choose to add shapes or lines on the form page.
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Shapes can be filled or unfilled by selecting or de-selecting the Background: Filled box
Border thickness, style, colors and background colors can be chosen.
Text
The text tool is used to add text areas for typing. Click on the tool and then on the form template to add the text area, dragging it to size with your mouse.
Use the Select tool to find the text areas on the form, as they can't be seen if they don't contain any text. Double click in a text area to start typing.
Text Area Panel
Font Family is for choosing the typeface that is applied to the text.
Font Style is for choosing the attributes of a font, such as bold, italic and underline.
Font Size is for choosing the size of text measured in points.
Embedding is the process of attaching a font to a document so that the font may be used wherever the document is used.
Alignment is for setting the text placement relative to the text area border.
Color is for choosing the text forground color using swatches, HSB or RGB.
Background
is for choosing text area background color using swatches, HSB or RGB.
If the filled checkbox isn't selected the background color will not
show.
Edit Content is for editing the content of the text area.
Image
The image tool is used to add an area to the form for holding an image such as a logo or emblem. See SVG Support for Image types.
Click on the image tool and then on the form page to add the image area. You wil then be able to Upload an Image into the area.
Click on the Retain Shape checkbox to keep the normal aspect of the image.
Image Element panel:
Width and Height of Image.
X: Y: co-ordinates of image on the page.
Image Area panel:
Select Image... button is used to upload an image into an image area.
Set Default Size keeps the image size at it's default size.
Retain Shape - select this box to keep the aspect of the image.
Upload an Image
Keep image area selected.
In the Image Area panel click the Select Image button.
The Image Properties dialog box will open.
Click on Load Image and choose an image from a location on your computer.
Open the image and click OK and your image will open in the image area.
Click on the corner of the image and drag to make smaller or larger.
To keep the aspect of the Image, check the Retain Shape box in the Image Area panel.
Segment Tool
The Segment tool is used to add an empty segment area to the form template, which you can load your designed segment into. Segments are created and designed in the New Segment - segment editor, then loaded into the empty segment area on the form template.
- Choose the segment tool and click on the form page and drag with your mouse to make an empty segment area (size doesn't matter, the segment will take up the room that it needs)
Segment Area Elements and Panels
Use the segment elements to control the size of the empty segment area.
The empty segment area can be set to the same size as the segment that will be uploaded into it.
To control the Width and Height of the segment area on the form page.
X: Y: the co-ordinates of the segment area on the form page.
The Load Segments... button is used for Uploading Segments
Load Segments
Normally only one segment would be added to each page of a form template.
To Add your designed segment to the form template, an empty segment area is added first, to upload the segment into.
Choose the Load Segment button from the segment area panel.
A segment area properties dialog box will open.
Click Add Segment and choose the segment from where it was saved in your computer's directory.
The segment file will appear in the dialog box.
Click OK and the segment will open and fill into the empty segment area.
If more pages are needed on the form template to fit more segments, use the Add page button.
Click the arrows to move between form pages.
Tip: If you have previously deleted a segment from the form template, click save before creating another empty segment area.
Advanced: Multiple segments per form template
A form can contain one or more Segments each one containing their own segment Barcodes.
You can embed one or more segments into a segment area. If there is
more than one segment loaded into the segment area, the segment that is
printed on each published form, will be determined by the segment area's segment selector;
either a random segment, a pre-selected segment or a segment chosen by
matching its segment selector ID to records that come from the database
when publishing a form.
Adding Barcodes
Add a Form ID Barcode
The barcode tool is most often used to add a Form ID Barcode to the form template. If there is more than one page in the form, then a Form ID Barcode
needs to be added to each form page. The form ID barcode can be added whereever you want on the form template as long as it doesn't overlap any other component on the form. Make sure it is detected with the recognition preview.
The Form ID barcode is used by FormReturn, for linking the captured response data to the source data records it belongs to and storing them together in Captured Data.
Barcode Panel
The
Height of the barcode can be increased for better detection if your scanned form image is good enough quality to detect the barcode. Uncheck the Use Default Height and
change the size of the barcode. Then click Apply Settings to make the
changes take effect.
Barcode Element Panel
The Element panel controls the Width and Height in pixels of the barcode and it's position on the page.
X: Y: shows the co-ordinates of the barcode on the form page. These
settings can be updated but changes won't take effect until the Apply
Settings button in the Barcode Panel is clicked.
Other Barcode Types
Other barcodes can be created and recognized in FormReturn, as either a static or dynamic barcode of your own choosing.
You can put
either a number that appears throughout all forms (static) or a number
that is taken from a database query (dynamic).
Positioning of barcodes
Adding your own Barcodes
To place barcodes in forms, choose the barcode tool from the editor toolbar
Click the editor page with your mouse to create a new
barcode.
Barcode Panel
Locate the barcode panel and update the values to the barcode type and value
of your choosing. You can also set the height of the barcode, barcode
text display and the quiet zone (white space on the left and right of
barcodes).
Barcode Creation
FormReturn can create many different 1D and 2D barcodes such as: Code128, EAN13, EAN128, Codabar.
Barcode Recognition
In the recognition preview, FormReturn can recognise the following barcode types:
Code128
Form Identification Components.
Choose any of the methods of form identification but Template Variable Replacement is the only one that is added to the form template. All other identification methods are key fields which are added to the segment
Form ID - Template Variable Replacement
Key Field - OMR ID Grid
Key Field - Barcode Area
Anonymous Forms
Template Variable Replacement
Similar to mailmerge, Fieldnames taken from your data table are typed into a text area on the form template. When the form template is published the fieldnames are replaced with the records from the data table.
The fieldnames typed must correspond exactly with the ones in your data table and be surrounded by the characters less than (<<) and greater than (>>) to trigger FormReturn to source
these records from the chosen data table, when you publish the template. Example: Dear <<firstname>>
<<lastname>> will print the firstname and lastname of each record from the data table.
When you publish your form template, a form for every record from the typed TVR fieldnames is published and
printed. The fieldnames you type, indicate which records will be used
from the data table, so they must be typed exactly as they appear in
your source Data table.
When your returned forms are processed, the captured response data will link with the records they belong to from the data table and will be stored together in Captured Data.
To add records to FormReturn's database see... Full guide to Adding Source Data
Recognition Preview
This process will test Barcodes, segments and mark areas (fragments) you have added to the form template for detection by FormReturn but it is still imperative that you do a test preview using a scanned image from a printed form from the template, before you go ahead and publish the template.
The Recognition preview detects if Barcodes, Segments, Fragments and Marks are recogized.
Full guide to Form Recognition Preview
Publication Process
A form that has been designed using the Form editor and recognition tested, is published and printed using the Publish Form tab.
A data table is chosen that contains the records that you want your captured response data to link to.
A check is performed to verify a Form ID barcode appears on each page of each form.
The forms can be printed directly or saved to a PDF File for printing when needed.
Publication Process