Click the New Segment icon to create a new segment. The Segment contains the checkbox mark areas of a form page. Checkboxes are quickly added using the checkbox tool. The checkbox tool is also used to add an OMR ID Grid for capturing ID numbers for respondent identification.
The segment's barcodes, at top right and bottom left, are used to locate the checkbox mark areas, during OMR form processing.
The segment size can be customized so it fits into the full size of the form
template page (allowing for the form's margins and enough room for the Form ID Barcode) or it can be
smaller so there is more room for text in the heading of the form.
View or download Form Template Samples. to save time if you want a quick trial of form processing.
Screenshot: A form page detected in recogniton preview, the segment (highlighted in green) is added as a separate component to the form page.
The two segment barcodes (highlighted in blue).
The mark areas called Fragments (highlighted in red).
New Segment
Tips
Quick Start to Design a Segment Template
Segment Editor Toolbar
Adding Checkboxes/bubbles
Adding an OMR ID Grid
Adding a Barcode Area
Segment Barcodes
Segment Properties
Alignment Tools
Mark Area Properties
Recognition Preview
A certain amount of consideration needs to be taken when designing a scannable form for capturing response data using Optical Mark Recognition.
- Click the New Segment icon to open the Segment editor. The main purpose of the segment is to contain the mark areas which are used to capture handmarked responses.
A Create New Segment Dialog box will open at which point you
can:
- Name the segment.
- Choose a Preset Size (paper size), or Custom paper size. Letter size paper is the standard paper size for North America (USA, Canada, Mexico) A4 size paper is the standard paper size for the rest of the world (countries that use metric measurements).
- Set the segment's Width and Height details if necessary. The
default size of an A4 segment is 535 wide x 700 high but it can be a custom size as long as it will fit on the form
template page, allowing for margins.
- Change the Fieldname prefix is optional (Note: Giving the segment a unique captured data fieldname prefix means the name will be used for each mark area on the segment, starting at 1, otherwise "fieldname" will be used automatically)
Click OK and a new segment page will open in the Segment Editor application window.
Use the Segment Editor Toolbar to add checkboxes/mark areas and Text areas for typing.
Segment Editor Toolbar
The most important parts of the segment design are the segment barcodes and the mark areas. The segment barcodes are already added and used for location of the checkboxes during data processing, so they need to be kept sufficiently clear of the segment borders and any other dark text or lines. The preview check will let you know if they are detected on the form.
Tips:
- Regularly Save your work. (command / control S) or Click Edit and choose Save.
- Using the Zoom out feature, comes in handy if while
designing the segment, you want to see the whole segment template at
one time. (Good for making selections of large areas).
- Use the Undo feature for those times when you go too far and
want to delete last step. Hold down command/control Z or find it in the
Edit menu.
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- Click the Recognition Preview Tab regularly to preview your segment and make sure what you have added can be recognized by FormReturn.
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Quick Start to Design the Segment Template
Consideration needs to be taken when designing a scannable form that will be marked using Optical Mark Recognition. Breaks in detection can occur when heavy lines or text are interfering with checkboxes or barcodes.
View Short Screencasts
Click here to download a PDF Quick Start Guide.
Click here to view and download some pre-designed response sheet segments and form templates.
Start Designing your own custom Segment.
Design a Custom Segment.
The screenshots below, will describe how to use the segment editor toolbar to add a checkbox mark area and text area to a new segment and
use the Duplicate feature to quickly add as many more of them as you
need, or will fit on the page.
When you start designing a segment, the quickest way would be to:
- Design the first question by adding the elements for it to the segment page, with the correct question text size, checkboxes size and style and Captured Data Fieldname.
- Arrange and align the elements of the question area the way you would like it to appear.
- Select all the elements at once, and duplicate the whole question.
- Edit the Text for each question and edit the Aggregation Rule (the score for the correct checkbox if needed)for each mark area.
You will now have evenly spaced question areas throughout the segment page.
Select all of the elements in the first question and align them using the align tops tool.
Double click on any mark area to open the Mark Area Properties dialog box:
- Rename the Captured Data Field Name and the Score field name if needed. Every Captured Data Fieldname and score field name for the segment needs to be different so your processed response data can be found when it is stored in Captured Data. Using numbers that correspond to the question number is a good way of doing this.
- Add more checkboxes to the mark area by changing the # Columns and give it a Mark Area Value.
- An Aggregation Rule can be assigned if needed. in this case A is the correct answer. (A?+1:-1) means if ( A ) is chosen by the respondent, it will get a score of 1 all other checkboxes chosen will get a score of negative 1 each. Note: The Aggregation rule for the other checkbox mark areas in the segment can be edited after they have all been added.
Now that the first question is done you can duplicate it so that all the question areas on the page will be uniform in design.
Important Information:
For your Response data to be Captured and processed properly, it is imperative that each mark area added to your segment has a:
- Unique Captured Data Fieldname.
- Unique Score_Fieldname.
Captured Data can't be stored in the correct place if you have any two fieldnames exactly the same as each other.
When you add mark areas using the duplicate tool, the Captured Data fieldnames and Score fieldnames will be automatically added in numerical order with each one being unique.
Keeping the three elements that have been added selected, choose Duplicate from the Edit Menu or right mouse click, Edit, Duplicate to open the Duplicate Element dialog box.
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- In Vertical Duplicates: type a number for however many questions
you want to appear on the page. FormReturn will tell you if you choose
too many.
- In the Fieldname Prefix type the Captured Data Fieldname Prefix. (any name you choose is fine as long as it doesn't contain spaces or symbols)
When the Mark Areas are duplicated the Captured Data Fieldname will be
different for each one starting at the number 1.
- Click Duplicate.
Screenshot: Duplicated Elements on the segment keeps everything uniform, then you can edit the text and mark area properties.
Edit each text area by double clicking and typing to change the question numbers and questions.
Now go back to the Mark Area Properties for each checkbox and change the Aggregation rule in each checkbox mark area to suit the question it belongs to.
A?+4 will give a score of 4 to the correct answer A.
The next step is to look at the Recognition Preview to make sure the barcodes, segment and mark areas you have added, are detected by FormReturn.
If any heavy lines
or text are touching checkboxes or barcodes, it can cause errors to
occur with form recognition and the processing of returned forms.
- Check both the segment barcodes are detected.
- Check that the segment is detected.
- Check that each mark area is detected.(if a mark area isn't detected it could be the captured data fieldname hasn't been changed to a unique name)
- Check there is a Mark Area Value in each checkbox and all the text for your questions is detected.
- The detected segment barcodes are highlighted in blue.
- The detected segment is highlighted in green.
- The detected fragments (mark areas) are highlighted in red.
If everything is detected the segment is now ready to load onto a form template.
The segment editor toolbar is used to add checkbox mark areas and text areas to the segment.
The Checkbox mark areas and the segment barcodes are the main components of the segment, anything else you want to add is optional.
Design a Scannable form.
Tools in the Segment Editor Toolbar
All tools are selected using your mouse cursor to point to the icon and click,
then point the mouse cursor onto the page where you want to use the tool and click. Double clicking on a tool will keep it selected until you click on another tool.
The Select Tool is used to select the elements on all of or part of the Segment page. Click and drag to select.
The Circle, Rectangle, Round Rectangle, Line Tools are used to draw shapes or lines on the segment page. Click to select the tool and then click on the page and drag to size.
Use the element panel at the side to change style and color of border or background fill.
The Text tool is used to create an area on the Segment page for typing text. 
Click on the tool and then on the form template to add the text area.
Click and drag to size an area large enough to type the text. Make sure the text area is large enough so that everything you type is detected in the Recognition Preview.
To
duplicate text areas, right click on the text area and choose edit (or choose edit from the menu bar) then
select duplicate. In the dialog box select the number of text areas you
want to add.
This will create evenly sized and spaced text areas.
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 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 backgroung color will not
show.
Edit Content is for editing the content of the text area.
The Image tool is used to create an area on the Segment page in which to load an image.
(.svg, .png or .jpg files can be used)
- Click on the Image tool and then Click on the page to add an empty image area.
To load an image keep the image area selected and in the
Image Area panel at left click Select Image.
In the Image Properties
Dialog Box which opens click on Load Image and choose an image from a
location on your computer.
Open the image and click OK and the chosen image will fit into the image area.
Click Retain Shape to keep the image in proportion.
The Checkbox tool is used to add Checkbox Mark Areas to the Segment Page. The checkbox/es for a question is called the mark area, used by respondents for handwritten response marks as answers to questions. The properties of the mark areas are set up using Mark Area Properties.
Over time it has been proven that an oval bubble is easier to fill in by respondents than a square checkbox. For optimal detection of response marks by OMR, it is more satisfactory if the bubbles are completely filled.
Adding Checkboxes / bubbles to a Segment
Checkboxes/bubbles which are the Mark Areas are easily added to the segment by clicking on the Checkbox icon, located in the Segment Editor Toolbar.
FormReturn can detect marks
in single or multiple checkboxes
as well as grids used for capturing ID numbers.
Important Information:
For your Response data to be Captured and stored in the right place, it is imperative that each mark area added to your segment has a:
- Unique Captured Data Fieldname.
- Unique Score_Fieldname.
Captured Data Fieldnames or Score fieldnames that were exactly the same would confuse the software and the data for one column could be stored in the other column and visa versa.
When you add mark areas using the duplicate feature, the Captured Data fieldnames and Score fieldnames will be automatically added in a numerical order, making each one unique on the segment.
If there will be more than one segment in the same form, they cannot have any Captured Data or Score Field names that are the same.
- Click on the area of the Segment page where you want the Checkboxes
to be located, ( usually to the right hand side of the page) and a
Checkbox Area containing 5 checkboxes will be added to the segment page with the mark values of A,B,C,D & E.
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Make sure the checkbox edges are not touching any other text, barcodes or heavy lines.
Duplicate Feature:
A valuable feature for adding multiple elements to the
segment, is the Duplicate feature. If you want all ten or twenty questions that you are adding to a segment, to be the exact same size and directly underneath or beside one another, duplicate the original question and text and mark area properties can be edited later on. Tip: Make sure the zoom is on 100% or more when you are
duplicating elements on the segment or an error can occur because the
software thinks the page size is too small for the number of duplicates.
- Select one or more elements you want to duplicate.
- Right mouse click on the checkbox mark area
or click Edit in the file menu and choose Duplicate from the list.
- A
Duplicate Element(s) dialog box will open.
- Choose from Horizontal or Vertical Duplicates, or both.
- Click the Duplicate button
- The selected segment elements will be alligned underneath or beside one another on the page.
Duplicating a mark area:
When you duplicate a checkbox mark area, all of the duplicate mark areas will
be set up in the same way as the original mark area, (Eg: the Aggregation Rule) except for the
Captured Data Fieldname.
Use the Fieldname Prefix field to name
your first Captured Data Fieldname, and the duplicate mark areas will
be named in numerical order following on from the original mark area.
Use Fieldname Counter starts at: will start the Captured Data Fieldname numerical order at 1.
Use Horizontal duplicates to make duplicate checkboxes across the segment page and Vertical duplicates to make duplicate checkboxes down the segment page.
20 x default size checkbox mark areas, will fit easily down the segment with 3 across.
Click the Duplicate Button to perform the duplication.
Mark Area Element Panel
The Element Panel shows the Width and Height of each Mark Area (These elements can only be changed in the Mark Area Properties dialog box) and the co-ordinates X: Y: (position of the mark area on the page).
To open the Mark Area Properties dialog box which is used to set the style and properties of the checkboxes, double click on the checkbox area or choose the Set Properties button in the Mark Area panel.
Adding an OMR ID Grid
An OMR ID Grid is key field added to the segment as a method of form identification and reconciliation of the captured data.
ID numbers are marked into the grid by the respondents of the forms and the number is captured using Optical Mark Recognition and links the captured data information with the matching record from your source data table.
Use a grid for form identification when you want to have pre-printed, anonymous forms on hand which can still reconcile captured responses with the records in your data table.
The ID grid is added using the checkbox tool in the segment editor. As of version 1.1 being released, the grid can be designed with the grid numbers reading across or down.
Important Information:
The grid is set up in the Mark Area Properties:
- Make the captured data fieldname the same as your source data fieldname, so the data can reconcile. (Eg: Student_iD)
- Tell FormReturn this is an OMR ID Mark Area, so it knows to look for the grid.
- Combine checkbox column numbers so the ID number will read as a single number 4321 (not separate numbers 4,3,2,1).
- One of the Key Field Reconciles publication types is chosen when the form template is being published.
An example of an OMR ID Grid
which would be added to the segment for
capturing ID numbers.
Choosing the Publication Type for an ID Grid.
Because an ID grid is a key field used for capturing a number, one of the Key Field Publication Types must be chosen.
If the ID number captured when a form is processed doesn't correspond with a record in the data table, FormReturn can automatically create a New record in the data table. Use the Publication Type called, 'Key Field reconciles - Append or new record', when you are publishing the form template. FormReturn uses the captured ID number from the grid, to generate a new record if the number doesn't already exist in your data table. The automatically generated record can be edited later on with the respondent's details. The captured response data from every returned form will either append to the record it belongs to in the data table or to a newly generated record.
Set up the OMR ID Grid in Mark Area Properties.
- The Captured Data Field Name in Mark Area Properties, is changed to correspond exactly, with the fieldname in your data table holding the ID number records. Eg: student_ID
- In the Mark Area Settings area, check both of the boxes.
- A key fields Publication Type must
to be chosen during publication of the form template.
In the Mark Area Settings, select both boxes. This will trigger the form processor to recognize the OMR ID grid and to read the marked in numbers as a string. Eg 1285 not 1,2,8,5
The Publication Types that will cause the form processor to detect OMR ID Grid numbers:
- Key Field Reconciles - Append Only (used when there is always a corresponding record in the data table)
- Key Field Reconciles - Append or New Record. (used when there isn't always a corresponding record in the data table for every respondent)
An OMR ID Grid could look like this. Respondents mark in their ID number using a column for each digit. A 5 digit number could have 5 columns and so on. The marked in number reads as a string (not separate numbers)
The Barcode tool. Form ID Barcodes are not usually added to segments because FormReturn uses the segment barcodes to locate the segment on the form and doesn't need any other identifying barcodes on the segment.
Barcodes of your own choosing can be added if one is needed on the segment. Add a barcode and select your barcode type.
Reconcile handmarked response data from your checkbox questionnaires by adding a Barcode Area to the segment page. When the forms are printed, the barcode area is used for affixing barcode labels of your own to the printed forms. The barcode information is then captured when the forms are processed and used for one of these things:
- Form Identification and Reconciliation of the captured response data with the respondent's record in your data table.
- Identifying something particular about the respondent. Eg: in a healthcare assessment, a disease or symptom.
A barcode area is a key field added to the segment template, which means it will be recognized by FormReturn for capturing and reconciling information. It is located by FormReturn by using the segment barcodes, which is the reason why it must be added to the segment template.
Adding a Barcode Area
Add Barcode Area
Adjust Size and Appearance
Set up the Properties of the Barcode Area
Barcode Area Recognition Preview
To add a Barcode Area, click on the Barcode Area tool, then click on the segment, where you would want to affix the barcode sticker.
The barcode area with 4 corners will appear on the segment.
Click and drag the corners of the barcode area with your mouse, or use the Element panel to change the size to suit the size and style of your barcode labels. important: barcode labels should fit neatly within the borders of the barcode area.
Setting up the Properties of the Barcode Area is simple.
It will depend on how you want the barcodes information to reconcile with records in your data table, or if you purely want the barcode to identify something particular about the respondent.
Double Click on the barcode area to open the Barcode Reader Area Properties dialog.
Barcode Area Recognition Preview:
In the recognition preview the barcode area is detected as a mark area / fragment.
Note: (In version 1.0.7, the barcode area won't be detected in the
recognition preview but will still be detected in form processing. A
quick fix is to add a barcode to the area, using the barcode tool, just
to do the recognition preview, then remove it. This bug will be fixed
in version 1.1 of the software)
Segment Barcodes are automatically added to a segment when it is created. They are located in the top right and bottom left of the
segment area and are used by FormReturn to calculate where the mark areas
are, based on the position of the segment barcodes on the form.
Segment Barcodes
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The Segment Barcodes can be enlarged to scale if needed, to make them clearer for detection on the scanned image when the form is being processed. Scale: 5 is the largest size, then Apply Settings so make the changes. (you would only need to do this if the scanned image quality on a form test preview isn't good)
The segment properties are shown in the Segment panel when a new segment is first opened or by clicking on a blank section of the segment page.
Preset Size is for choosing the page size and orientation of the form the segment will be loaded onto . Always click the Apply Settings button for any changes made to take effect.
Width and Height is for choosing the segment size so it will fit between the form template's margins. Choosing the width and height of the segment is important before the segment is loaded onto a form. The Maximum segment width will equal the form width less left and right margins. The maximum height of the segment equals form height less the size of the form heading and the bottom margin.
Segment Barcode box should be kept selected so the segment will contain the segment barcodes for identifying the segment. These barcodes are located at top right and bottom left of the segment.
Scale is for sizing the segment barcodes. The segment barcodes cannot overlap with any other elements located on the segment.
Text Area Panel
The text area panel is shown whenever a text area is selected.
Font Family is for choosing the typeface that is applied to 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 for setting the text placement relative to the text area border.
Color for choosing text forground color using swatches, HSB OR RGB.
Background for choosing text background color using swatches, HSB OR RGB. If the Filled checkbox isn't selected the background color will not show.
Edit button is for editing the content of the text area.
Alignment Tools
Snap to Grid
Alignment Toolbar
Snap to Grid is a grid that can be turned on when you are adding elements to the segment. It is helpful when aligning mark areas 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, to show or hide 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 Mark areas, Text areas etc. to the page and Drag. They will be placed between the closest grid dots.
Alignment Toolbar: Located at the bottom of the Segment Editor is the Alignment Toolbar used for alignment and equal spacing of any of the elements on the segment.
Hover the mouse over each icon in the toolbar to see what it does.
Align Tops alligns the tops of selected areas with each other.
Align Bottoms alligns the bottoms of selected areas with each other.
Align Lefts alligns the left sides of selected areas with each other.
Align Rights alligns the right sides of selected areas with each other.
Align Horizontal Centers alligns the center of selected areas horizontally.
Align Vertical Centers alligns the center of selected areas vertically.
Distribute Horizontal Spacing equalizes the horizontal spacing between selected areas.
Distribute Vertical Spacing equalizes the vertical spacing between selected areas.
An example of how to align areas of a Segment
A number of Checkbox Areas have been added to the page underneath one another but they are not aligned and look messy.
Select all of the Checkbox Areas that need to be aligned. (Do this by holding the control or command key and clicking each one separately.)
Click the Distribute Vertical Spacing icon. This will put equal vertical spacing between each Checkbox Area.
Re-select the Checkbox Areas and click the Align Horizontal Centers icon. This will align the Checkbox Areas so they are directly under one another.
Selecting a checkbox area and double clicking on it will open the Mark Area Properties dialog box.
The Mark Area Propeties dialog box is used to set up the appearance and
properties of the checkboxes that have been added to a segment. This
will enable the hand written responses for each question to be
collected the way you want during data capture.
Important Information:
For your Response data to be Captured and processed properly, it is imperative that each mark area added to your segment has a:
- Unique Captured Data Fieldname.
- Unique Score_Fieldname.
Captured Data can't be stored in the correct place if you have any two fieldnames exactly the same as each other.
Full guide to Mark Area Properties
Recognition Preview
A Recognition Preview is easy to perform and tests if everything on the segment is properly detected before you go ahead and add it to the form template.
Determine if Barcodes, Segments, Fragments(which are the mark areas) and any practice Marks, (which can be added to the checkboxes using the line tool) are detected. This ensures accurate response data collection from the returned forms (Note: Make sure you delete any practice marks before adding the segment to the form)
Full guide to Recognition Preview