ABBYY - Image import profiles

Document processing starts with adding new images: these can be either hard-copy documents that need to be scanned, or existing electronic images.

You can automate the image adding routines if images are regularly imported from the same source. To automate the process, create an image import profile on the Administrator Station. Additionally, you can configure the import of images at regular time intervals and the processing of the imported images in background mode. Once the required settings have been configured, images can be scanned and imported from a preset source with the click of a button. The obtained images will then be processed (for example, despeckled). If required, you can change the import source or its settings.

If your import sources change frequently, you can create several import profiles and switch between them to avoid changing import source settings each time you choose a different source.

Creating an import profile

To add an import profile, click Project → Image Import Profiles... in the main program window. In the dialog box that opens, you can create new import profiles or edit, remove, or copy existing ones.

You can create a new import profile with the help of the Profile Wizard, which can be run from the Image Import Profiles dialog box by clicking New.... Select an import source, e.g. a scanner or a Hot Folder, when the wizard prompts you.

Create an import profile with a scanner

Make sure the scanners is connected and selected as the import source. To connect the scanner correctly, consult the documentation supplied with the scanner. Be sure to install all of the software supplied with the scanner.
Configure the options for scanning and processing scanned images:
1. Style of the settings dialog Choose how the program will interact with the scanner:
  1. FlexiCapture Scanner Settings: The Scanner settings dialog box of ABBYY FlexiCapture will be used. Click the Settings... button to configure scanning options. If you select the Show scanner settings before scanning option, then the Scanner settings dialog box of ABBYY FlexiCapture will appear prior to scanning when you select this import profile.
  2. Scanning Options: The dialog box of the scanner driver will be used. You will not be able to change scanning options when creating an import profile, but the scanner settings dialog box will appear each time you start scanning an image.
2. Specify whether you want to scan one or multiple images at a time.
Configure image pre-processing options.
If required, change the default name of the import profile and add a comment.

Creating an import profile with a scanner

Select Hot Folder as the import source. Select the type of your Hot Folder: Local folder or LAN folder, POP3 server, IMAP server,MAPI (mailbox), SFTP server or FTP server. Clicking Browse... to specify the path to the Hot Folder or click Settings... to enter your login and password.Important! To be able to add images from a Hot Folder, the user must have read and write privileges for that folder.

To set up import from a MAPI mailbox

An e-mail account must be configured on the computer.
The Operator Station or the Processing Station must be run under the user account that is used for accessing the mailbox.Note: Microsoft Outlook has to be started under this user account on the given computer at least once before the import profile is set up. The bitness of Microsoft Outlook has to be the same as the bitness of ABBYY FlexiCapture 12, e.g. if you are using the 64-bit version of ABBYY FlexiCapture 12, you will need to use the 64-bit version of Microsoft Outlook.
Click Browse... and select the mail box.

To set up import from a POP3 server

Specify the address of the POP3 server (e.g. pop.server.com).
Click Settings... and in the dialog box that opens, enter the user name and password required to access the messages on the server.
Under Type of encrypted connection, select one of the following:
None – The connection will not be encrypted. Use this option for connections over an unsecured port.
SSL – The connection will always be encrypted.
Auto – The connection will be encrypted if a secured port is specified and will not be encrypted if no port is specified.

Note: If all the settings are correct but ABBYY FlexiCapture is still unable to retrieve messages from the POP3 e-mail server, check to make sure that the connection to the e-mail server is not blocked by a firewall.

To set up import from an IMAP server

Specify the address of the IMAP server (e.g. imap.server.com).
Click Settings... and in the dialog box that opens, enter the user name and password required to access the messages on the server.
Under Type of encrypted connection, select one of the following:
None – The connection will not be encrypted. Use this option for connections over an unsecured port.
SSL – The connection will always be encrypted.
TLS – The connection will always be encrypted.
Auto – The connection will be encrypted if a secured port is specified and will not be encrypted if no port is specified.
Click Browse... and select a subfolder inside the mailbox.

Note: If all the settings are correct, but ABBYY FlexiCapture is still unable to retrieve messages from the IMAP e-mail server, make sure that the connection to the e-mail server is not blocked by a firewall.

To set up import from an SFTP/FTP server

Specify the address of the SFTP/FTP server. If you are using a non-standard port to connect to the server, please specify it after the address using the following format: sftp://address:port/ or ftp://address:port/
Click Settings... and in the dialog box that opens, enter the user name and password required to access the messages on the server.
Click Next. If you are setting import from an SFTP server, you will see a public key validation dialog box.

Note: If all the settings are correct but ABBYY FlexiCapture still cannot receive a response from the SFTP/FTP server, check to make sure that the connection to the server is not blocked by a firewall.

Specify the image loading options:

Check Hot Folder every Select this option and enter a time interval for the program to check the Hot Folder for new images.Note: To import images from Hot Folders, you must select the Autochecking option for the profile in the Image Import Profiles dialog box.
In Batch Settings, select one of the following options to specify a batch to which new images should be added:
- Add images to current batch Select this option to add images from the Hot Folder to the current batch.
- Add images to specified batch Select this option and then select a batch name from the drop-down list to add images to a specific batch.
- Create new batches for imported images automatically Select this option to create batches for new images automatically. Each time the Hot Folder is checked (the time interval can be specified in Check Hot Folder every), one or several batches will be created, and images from the Hot Folder will be added to those batches according to the rule you specify in this dialog box.In the Batch type field, specify the batch type. If required, specify the batch registration parameters (click Registration parameters...) and modify the batch priority in the Priority field.Note: If import tasks are processed on the Processing Server, the Create new batches for imported images automatically option must be selected. The Add images to current batch and Add images to specified batch options can be used only if images are imported on the Project Setup Station, or if you are using a standalone edition of ABBYY FlexiCapture.
Attach mail to batch (only for a POP3 server Hot Folder)
Select this option if you want to attach an e-mail message file in EML format to the newly created batch. Attached e-mail messages can be downloaded and opened using an e-mail client. For details, see User attachments.
In the Number of files to add drop-down list, select one of the following options, which determine the number of files to add to an existing or a newly created batch.

All files All files from the Hot Folder will be added. Files from subfolders will be ignored.
From subfolder Files will be added from subfolders whose names comply with a naming scheme. Click Settings... to specify a naming scheme.Note: An asterisk (*) indicates any string of characters; a question mark (?) indicates any single character.Note: Rename a subfolder according to your naming scheme only after all the required files have been copied to it. Otherwise, file access conflicts may occur.
Several files Several files will be added. To specify the number of files, click the Settings... button and enter a number or a range. Files from subfolders will be ignored.Note: If you specify a certain number of files, e.g. 5, and there are only 4 files left in the Hot Folder, these files will not be imported. If you specify a range, e.g. 1-5, the remaining 4 files will be imported.
Single file One file will be added.
Attached to the letter All the files attached to the e-mail message will be added.Note: New images are added to the batch according to their file names in ascending order.
Message bodies and attachments Both the attached files and the message bodies will be added.

Configure image pre-processing options. You can select the Use image processing options from batch type option to apply the document separation and image processing settings specified for the batch type.

The Profile Wizard will prompt you to specify options for Hot Folder cleanup after import. Successfully imported images can be either deleted or moved to another folder. Images that have been processed with errors (e.g. if the file is corrupt or there has been a network error) can be either left in the Hot Folder or moved to another folder.Note: Avoid keeping in the Hot Folder images that have been processed with errors. It may want to keep such images in the Hot Folder if:

images are imported manually (note that during automatic export, a corrupted file in the Hot Folder may prevent the other files in the Hot Folder from being processed);
Hot Folder processing is often interrupted due to an unstable network connection.

If required, change the default name of the import profile and add a comment.

You can also edit and create image import profiles in the Select Import Profile dialog box. Click File → Import Images... to open this dialog box.