Microsoft Word - Prepping White Paper

AJointWhitePaper®from:

 

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Preparing Your Documents for Imaging:

Increasing Productivity and Accuracy in Paper Conversion

By: Sergio Quiroz and Dave Steimling

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QualityAssociatesandtheirsubsidiaryDocPointSolutionshavebeenengineeringdocumentconversionsolutionsfor

clientsforover20years.Althoughwecanalmostalwaysfindroomforimprovementinmanyareasoftheprocess,we

recognizethatthedocumentpreparationmethodology(‘docprep’orsimply‘prep’)isan

areawhereaccuracyisofthe

highestimportance.Wehavealsofoundthatthisisasection oftheprocessinwhichimprovementscanoftenbemade

withlittleproblemregardingtrainingandadoption.

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Ourexperiencehasshownthatproperplanningandtrainingintheseparationandpreparationofdocuments

isthe

singlemostimportantfactorinproducingaccurateend‐resultsinadocumentconversionendeavor.Obviouslytheother

variousstepsinthedocumentconversionprocessarealsoimportant, butifthedocumentsarenotproperlyprepared

fortheprocess,deliveringaccurateworktothosesubsequentprocessingstepsbecomeslesslikely

asonegetsfurther

downtheprocessingline.Althoughin anyimagingjobasmallpercentageofdocumentswillalmostalwaysneed

rescanningtocorrectforverypoorimagequality,re‐workingmassesofpoorlyprepareddocumentscandomoreto

skewajob’sP/Lstatementthananyotherfactor.

Forthisreason,itisalsotheareainwhichthebestrecoveriescanbe

made,and,evenbetter:thisiswherethegreatestlossescanbeprevented.



Documentsnotbeingseparatedproperlywillresultinoneoftwoscenarios:eitherthedocumentsare“over‐separated”

(i.e.:thedocumentswere

splitapartmorethanwasnecessary,incorrectlysubdividingindividualdocuments)ortheyare

under‐separated(i.e.:thedocumentsarenotseparatedenough,andmultipledocumentsarestackedtogetherasifthey

wereasingledocument).Eitherofthesecasesresultsindecreasedaccuracyintheretrievalofdocumentsfromthefinal

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repository.Ifonehadtochoosethelesseroftwoevils,theformerwouldlikelybebetter,inthatinthelatterexample

documentsthatarecombinedwith(behind)otherdocumentswilllikelynotberecognizedassuchandthereforewillnot

beindexedasaseparatedocument.Theresult

ofthisarelostdocuments.

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Correctingsucherrorspastthepointofscancanbetime‐consumingand costly. Iftheerrorsbecomerecognized

decisionshavetobemade onhowtohandletheproblems,whichwouldbebasedonwhereintheprocesstheerrors

werefoundandonthe

processitself.Someprocessesmaylendthemselvestocorrectingsucherrorsmoreeasilythan

others,andsomemodulesofaprocessmaylendthemselvestoassistingwiththecorrectionmorethanothers.Oncethe

documentshavebeenreleasedintoafinalrepository,thingscanbecomemoredifficult.Thisisespecially

true

dependentontheaccesstothedigitalrepository,theaccesstotheoriginaldocuments,thefiletypesoftheerrant

documents,theirstorageformat,etc.

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Let’sexplorehowwecanmaintainahighrateofaccuracythroughoutourprocessbylookingathowtobestpreparethe

documentsfor

conversion.

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Therearegenerallythreeportionsofadocumentconversionprocess:thebackfileconversion,theday‐forwardprocess 

andondemandscanning.Oftentheprocessfortheseportionswillbedifferent,as(forexample)theconversionofthe

backfilemaybebestsuitedwithabroader,lessspecificscopedependingon

howandhowoftenthedocumentsare

used,whattheretentionforthosedocumentswillbe,etc.Ontheotherhand,theday‐forwardscanningmightbebest

servedwithtighterspecificationsandfurtherdocumentsubdivisions,dependingontheiruse.Ondemandscanninghas

itsownchallenges,gettingspecificdocuments

totheclientoutofthebackfileconversionastheyneedtoaccessthem.

Thedifferencesinthesemethodologiesshouldbe calculatedinadvanceofbeginninganydocumentconversionsothat

allofthescopesarewelldefined.Thisreduces‘surprises’fortheclient,andalsoforthecont ractor. 

ThePurge:

Thefirststepinprocessingabackfileconversionistheremovalofdocumentsandpagesthatdonotneedscanned.This

isreferredtoas‘purging’.Moreoftenthannot,thisprocessiscompletedbytheclientastheywillalwayshavethe

greaterinstitutionalknowledgeabouttheirowndocuments.It

isalwaysmostefficienttohaveonlythedocumentsand

pagesthataretobescannedbroughtintodocumentpreparation.Sometimesthepurgewillbepartoftheprepprocess.

Ifpurgingispartoftheprep,andtobeconsideredthecontractor’sresponsibility,detailedinstructionsmustbegivento

ensurethatthecontractorhasasmuchknowledgeaspossibleofthedocumenttypes,duplic ationschemes,etc,sothat

thepurgeoccursaccurately:insuringnounintentionaldocumentlossesorinclusionofexcessscans.

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ThePrep:

DocumentPreparation(prep)hasmanystepsthatgenerallyoccurrelativelyconcurrently.Noteverystepwillbe

necessaryforeverydocumentsetintheconversion(i.e.:somemayhavestaplesandsomemaynot),butthestepsthat

arenecessarywillbeappliedmoreorless‘onthefly’bytheprep

processor(prepper).Becauseaprepperworksfairly

independently,itisoftheutmostimportancethattheybetrainedproperlysotheymaymakethedecisionsregarding

thedocumentprepwithminimalsupervision.Inordertoinsuretheleveloftrainingoftheprepper(aswellasany

operatorthatis

involvedinaconversionprocess)theirworkshouldbecheckedregularlyandthoroughlyaftertheir

initialtraining,andthenspotcheckedonregularoccasionthereafter.HereIlistthestepsofdocumentprep,andinclude

notesabouteach:

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1. Initialorientation–

a. Preppingandprocessingshouldstartandcontinue

inamannerlogicaltothedocumentcollection.If

thedocumentcollectionissortedalphabetically,thebatchesshouldstartwith“A”andwork

throughto“Z”.Iftheyarenumeric,startatthefilecabinet,etc,withthelowestnumberandwork

towardthehighestnumber.Inmostcases,thepreferred

orderwillbefairlyobvious.Ifitisnot,the

specificationsshouldbeincludedin,andfollowedfrom,thestatementofwork.

b. Startwithastackof‘raw’documentsfromthefirstfolderordrawer,orientedfaceup.

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2. Stapleandpaperclipremoval–

a. Afterallstaples

andpaperclipsareremoved,theoperatorcan“fan”thepagestocheckforstaples

thatmayhavebeenmissedandtoinsuregoodpaperseparationuponinductionintothescanner.

b. Ifastapleremains,itwillpullintothescannerallofthedocumentsthatareinthat

stapledgroup.

Assumingmulti‐feeddetectisturnedon,thedocumentfeedwillstop,buttheattacheddocuments

willbeatleastwrinkledandmorelikelydamagedbybeingtornastheyarebroughtintothe

scanner.

c. Careshouldbetakenwhenremovingstaplesinordernottotearthe

pagewhileremovingthe

staples,buttoremovethemcarefullytomaintainthepageintegrity.

d. Thereisan“industrial”stapleusedtobindlargepilesofpapers.Thereisaspecialtooltoremove

suchlarge,heavystaples.



3. Fileandpagedetails–

a. Keeppagesinsame

orderastheywereinthefile.

b. Keepthematerialarrangedinsuchawaysothatthedocumentscanbere‐filedintotheirres pective

filesand/orfolders.Sometimesitiseasiertousetwodifferentcolorseparators:oneatthe

beginningofthefolder(let’ssay:pink)

andoneinbetweeneachindividualdocumentfromthat

folder(let’ssay:orange).Thiswillallowforamoreefficientun‐preppingprocess(seebelow).

c. Flattendog‐earedcornersofpages.

d. Unfoldanyfoldedpages.

e. Stickynoteswillstopthescanningprocess,astheywillbede tectedas

adouble‐feed.Oftentheycan

beputtoonesideofthepage,whichwillnotbedetectedbythesensor(asthesensorisofteninthe

middle).Ifthereisnospacetoputthenoteonthesideofthepaperwithoutcoveringupsomething

on

thepage,itmightbeeasiesttomakeacopyofthestickynoteandscanthefull‐pagedduplicate

infrontofthepageitwasattachedto.(Clientmaypreferitbehind.Alwaysgetclarificationin

writing.)

f. Ifsomepagesaretoolargetobescannedintheconventionalbatchmode,insertthemintothe

batchinapredeterminedmethodsothatthescanoperatorcanseetheminordertostophisbatch

scan,andthenscanthesedocumentsontheflatbed(orwhatevermethod

isnecessary).

g. Ifsomeofthepagesneedscannedincolororgrayscale(whenthenormforthistaskisB&W),insert

themintothebatchinapredeterminedmethodsothatthescanoperatorcanseetheminorderto

stophisbatchscan,andthenscanthese

documentsincolor/grayscalemode.

h. Thepreppercanalsomarkpagesthatneedspecialattentionwithpaperclipsorbinderclipsthatwill

forcethescanoperatortostopandhandletheissue.

i. Spiralboundreportsshouldhavethebindingremoved.

j. Magazinesandbooksmayrequirehardware

andtraininginordertocutthebindingoffofthe

materialtofacilitatescanning.(Caremustbetakentoinsurethat*only*thebindingisremovedand

thatthedataisnotremoved.

k. Pagesshouldbestackedupsothat

l. Smallpages(anythingsmallerthanthenorm

inyourtask)mayrequirecopyingto“standard”sizein 

ordertoinsurethattheywillbepulledintothescannerun‐skewed.



4. PreppedOrientation–

a. Increatingabatch,allpagesaretobepulledfromapilethatisorientedface‐up.Removestaples,

etc,

aslistedabove,andthenrestackthepilefacedowninthesameorder.Becausethepapergets

placedintothescannerface‐down,thepage1thatwasontopoftheun‐preppedpile,willbepage

oneinthepreppedstackinthescanner .

b. Documentsshouldall

havetheirtopstothesameside(i.e.:theyshouldnot beupsidedowntoone

another).

c. Allpreppedbatchesofdocumentsshouldbearrangedinsuchawaysothatthetopsofallpagesare

flush.Smallerpagesmayexistinthebatch,buttheymustbe

alignedwiththepull‐edgeofthe

standardsizedocumentstoavoiddouble‐feeds,documentdamage,paperjams,etc.



5. Separation–

Allpagesimmediatelyfollowingaseparatorsheetwillbepreppedandscannedasaunique

document.

Anewuniquedocumentwillbeginatthenextseparatorsheet.

6. NotesonPaperTypes–

a. Foldouts–ifanoperatorcomesacrossamultipagefoldout,itwilllikelyneedcutintoseparate

pages,andthescanoperatorwillhavetorearrangethepages,asthebackofpage1willnotbepage

2.

b. Onion

skin–verythinpaper,pronetotearingandjamminginascanner.Staplesaredifficultto

removewithoutdamaging.

c. Carbonlesscopies

d. CardStock–verythick.Dependingonthescanneritmayrequirehardwaresettingadjustments.

Mayalsodetectasmulti‐feedinsomescanners.



7. Un‐

prepping(reconsti tutingthefiles)

a. Takeabatchforwhichthescanningiscomplete.Theyshouldbetakeninorder,astheyshouldhave

beenscanned(A‐Z,1‐9999,etc).Itshouldcomeintotheun‐prepperfaceup.

b. Anun‐preppershouldonlyhaveonebatchata

timeandshouldun‐prepitcompletelybefore

startingworkonanotherbatch.

c. Fromthecompleted,scannedbatch,separatethedocumentsbackintotheirfolders/filesby

insertingtherespectivesetofdocuments“as‐is”backintoitsrespectivefolderfromthefront(top)

ofthebatchtotheback

(bottom),re‐stackingthefilledfoldersfacedown.(Again,pullingfromthe

topofafaceupstackandreplacingasthebottomofafacedownstackmaintainstheorder.)

Separatingthebatchintotherespectivefolderspriortoactuallyun‐preppingthedocuments

ensuresthattherearenoexcess

foldersin,ormissingfoldersfrom,thebatch.

d. Startingfromthetopofanupsidedownpile,theoperatorwouldtakethefirstfolderandunprep

thedocuments,inorder,bystartingatthebackofthetopfolderandworktothefront,stackingthe

un‐preppeddocumentsfaceup,layingtheothersfaceupontop

ofthem.Thiswillensurethatthe

documentsendupbackinthefolderinthesameorderfromwhichtheystarted.Thisshouldbe

doneaccuratelyregardlessofwhathefinaldispositionofthedocumentsistobe.

Un‐prepby:

i. Staplingbacktogetherthedocumentsasthey

originallywerepriortoprepping.

ii. Pullingouttheseparatorsheets

iii. Rebindingbooks 

iv. Stampingtheoutsideofthefolder“scanned”.Thestampshouldalwaysbeinthesame

placeonthefolder:eitheratthefrontupperleftorthefrontupperright.Ifsomethingis

printedonthe

folderontheright,stamptheleftandviceversa.Placingthestampinthe

sameplaceeverytimeensuresthatwhensomeonegoestocheckthefolder,th ey’ll seethe

stampandnothavetolookalloverthefoldertofindwhetherornotit’sstamped.

v. Re‐

fileintodrawers,archives,etc.

Note:Inre‐filing,amethodologymustexisttoensurethatnewdocumentsarenot

filedintofoldersthathavealreadybeenscanned,northatfoldersofunscanned

documentsaremixedwithfoldersofscanneddocuments,astheunscannedfolders

mayendupbeingoverlooked.





Notes:

Mostscannershaveduplexcapability,allowingbothsidesofapagetobecapturedsimultaneously.Also,mostscanning

softwarepackagesallowfortheconfigurationfordeletionofblankpagebacks.



Thereare,ofcourse,manymethodsthatmightworkforpreppingdocumentsforinclusionintoascanningprocess,and

this

isbutanoverview.Beingthattheremaybemanypossibilities,amanagermustbevigilantinmakingsurethatthe

prepandscanoperatorsarenottakingunacceptableshortcuts.Astheymaynotalwaysbeawareofthepreviousor

subsequentsteps,theymightnotunderstandwhyacertain 

instructionshouldbecarriedoutthewaytheyweretrained

asopposedtothewaytheymayseeit.Trainingoperatorsinpreviousandsubsequentstepscanhelpavoiderrorsmade

bytakingunacceptableshortcuts.Itisalsorecommendedthattheoperatorsbeinstructedtofollowtheinstructions

thatthey

weregivenandaskiftheybelievetheymayhaveanalternativemethodofprocessing.



Itmaynotbenecessarytoun‐prepdocuments,andtherearevariouslevelsofun‐prep.Itisrecommende dthatatleast

theseparatorsheetsareremovedsothattheycanbere‐used,

butitmaynotalwaysbenecessarytore‐staplethe

documents,re‐bindthebooksortore‐filethemintothecabinets(theymaybeheadingfordestruction). Thisshouldbe

specifiedinthestatementofwork.Ifitisnot,inquiry shouldbemadetoseea)

ifitisnecessary,b)toseeifun‐prepwas

calculatedintotheoverallprocessingbudget(asitmaytakeasmuch,orevenmore,timetoun‐prepasitdoestoprep).



Glossary:

Backfileconversion:Convertingmassesofexistinglegacydocuments.



Batching:Processinglargegroupsofdocuments

withminimalintervention.(i.e.:50documentsof20pageseach,

separatedwithbarcodes,scannedinasonegroup)



DayForwardConversion:Themethodthatgovernstheprocessingofnewdocumentscomingintothesystem. 



Duplex:Describesadouble‐sideddocument.



OnDemandScanning:Scanningdocumentsfromabackfileas

needed,oneorasmallgroupatatime–asneeded.



Simplex:Describesasingle‐sideddocument.