ISO/TS 12029:2002
(Main)Electronic imaging — Forms design optimization for electronic image management
Electronic imaging — Forms design optimization for electronic image management
Imagerie électronique — Optimisation de conception de formulaires pour la gestion d'images électronique
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Standards Content (Sample)
TECHNICAL ISO/TS
SPECIFICATION 12029
First edition
2002-03-15
Electronic imaging — Forms design
optimization for electronic image
management
Imagerie électronique — Optimisation de conception de formulaires pour la
gestion d'images électronique
Reference number
ISO/TS 12029:2002(E)
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ISO/TS 12029:2002(E)
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ISO/TS 12029:2002(E)
Contents Page
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Layout and design . 2
5 User guidance . 7
6 Post-printing features . 9
7 Materials . 11
8 Form testing . 12
9 New technology . 12
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ISO/TS 12029:2002(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies (ISO
member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO technical
committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been established has
the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and non-governmental, in
liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the International Electrotechnical
Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 3.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards adopted
by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an International Standard
requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
In other circumstances, particularly when there is an urgent market requirement for such documents, a technical
committee may decide to publish other types of normative document:
— an ISO Publicly Available Specification (ISO/PAS) represents an agreement between technical experts in an ISO
working group and is accepted for publication if it is approved by more than 50 % of the members of the parent
committee casting a vote;
— an ISO Technical Specification (ISO/TS) represents an agreement between the members of a technical
committee and is accepted for publication if it is approved by 2/3 of the members of the committee casting a vote.
An ISO/PAS or ISO/TS is reviewed after three years with a view to deciding whether it should be confirmed for a
further three years, revised to become an International Standard, or withdrawn. In the case of a confirmed ISO/PAS
or ISO/TS, it is reviewed again after six years at which time it has to be either transposed into an International
Standard or withdrawn.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this Technical Specification may be the subject of
patent rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO/TS 12029 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 171, Document imaging applications, Subcommittee
SC 2, Application issues.
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ISO/TS 12029:2002(E)
Introduction
This Technical Specification discusses issues and provides guidance for the design of forms that are used for
electronic capture of information. Features include colour dropouts, type fonts, printing screen tints, line width, data
storage and other interrelated issues. It is necessary to balance conflicting requirements of user-friendliness and
electronic capture. Making a form appealing by use of colour or graphics could assist users when they complete the
form but could also decrease the form's scannability or other automated related functions. This conflict might require
compromise in the design of a form.
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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION ISO/TS 12029:2002(E)
Electronic imaging — Forms design optimization for electronic
image management
1 Scope
This Technical Specification provides guidelines for the design of forms to be completed by users and scanned for
processing by electronic image management (EIM) systems. These guidelines are limited to forms using roman
characters.
2 Normative references
The following normative documents contain provisions which, through reference in this text, constitute provisions of
this Technical Specification. For dated references, subsequent amendments to, or revisions of, any of these
publications do not apply. However, parties to agreements based on this Technical Specification are encouraged to
investigate the possibility of applying the most recent editions of the normative documents indicated below. For
undated references, the latest edition of the normative document referred to applies. Members of ISO and IEC
maintain registers of currently valid International Standards.
ISO 1073-1:1976, Alphanumeric character sets for optical recognition — Part 1: Character set OCR-A — Shapes
and dimensions of the printed image
ISO 1073-2:1976, Alphanumeric character sets for optical recognition — Part 2: Character set OCR-B — Shapes
and dimensions of the printed image
ISO 2471:1998, Paper and board — Determination of opacity (paper backing) — Diffuse reflectance method
ISO 11108, Information and documentation — Archival paper — Requirements for permanence and durability
ISO 12651:1999, Electronic imaging — Vocabulary
ISO 12653-1, Electronic imaging — Test target for the black-and-white scanning of office documents — Part 1:
Characteristics
ISO 12653-2:2000, Electronic imaging — Test target for the black-and-white scanning of office documents — Part 2:
Method of use
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this Technical Specification, the terms and definitions given in ISO 12651 and the following apply.
3.1
alphanumeric
pertaining to a character set that contains letters, numbers and other characters, such as punctuation marks and
symbols
3.2
dropout ink
ink of a colour that cannot be detected by a scanner
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ISO/TS 12029:2002(E)
3.3
font
complete set of characters of a given size, weight and style of type, including capitals, small capitals and lower-case
characters, together with figures, punctuation marks, ligatures, etc.
3.4
magnetic ink character recognition
MICR
machine recognition of digits printed with magnetizable ink
3.5
character pitch
number of characters per unit length of a line of print
3.6
recognition zone
area around a recognition data field that is free of other data
3.7
optical mark recognition
OMR
machine recognition of a mark such as a tick, cross or spot based on minimum area rather than shape of the mark
4 Layout and design
4.1 General
The design of a form which is the easiest for a person to complete can be in conflict with the most machine-readable
form. For example, in a user-friendly layout, the following items, all interspersed with printed instructions next to
specific areas, might be desirable:
— large print;
— colour-coded areas; and
— areas to be completed with both alphabetic and numeric information.
However, in a form designed for EIM, strict segregation of spaces for numeric and alphabetic information and
instructional text within dropout colour areas can all be essential features. Optimum design can require a
compromise between ideal user and scanner requirements. All logically connected information should be placed on
the same page.
4.2 Data storage requirement
The designer should be aware of the impact on data storage requirements of line borders, screened tints and logos
or other design elements with large areas of reversed print. Large reverses will make heavy demands on data
storage. For all designs, particularly those having large areas of reversed print, the amount of data storage required
should be determined and compared to the amount of data storage available within the system.
4.3 Page format
On each page of a form, the margin all around should not be less than 10 mm. If the document is bound, padded or
has punched holes or die-cuts, the margin at that edge should be not less than 25 mm, and holes and die-cuts should
be restricted to that margin.
Text and entry fields should not be within 6,5 mm of any crease or perforation.
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ISO/TS 12029:2002(E)
4.4 Type
4.4.1 Typeface
There are two styles of typeface commonly used on forms, serif and sanserif, as illustrated in Figure 1.
E E
Serif Sanserif
Figure 1 — Comparison of serif and sanserif typefaces
Serif style is designed for ease of legibility, has variable line width within a character and a cross-line finishing a
stroke of a letter. Sanserif has uniform line width within a character and no cross-lines. It is the style used in
International Standards.
Serif type will inherently take more data storage capacity in a compressed image than sanserif type because more
information has to be recorded for each character. With the most commonly used compression techniques,
approximately 10 % more storage is required for a page printed in serif, as compared with one printed in sanserif
type.
Sanserif generally requires less horizontal line space and more vertical height than the same point size serif type.
Because of its uniform line width, it is preferred for photocopying, microfilming and scanning.
For forms which might be used in optical character recognition (OCR) applications, sanserif typefaces should be
used.
For information on a form that is not required to be captured by scanning, the style of typeface used is not important.
4.4.2 Symbols
An OCR program can use a particular symbol to prompt an action. The forms designer should be aware of any such
symbols and avoid their use other than as a prompt.
4.4.3 Spacing
In typesetting, character spacing can be either fixed or proportional. In fixed typesetting, each character takes up
equal horizontal space. Proportional typesetting allows for characters of different width, such as that of “i” compared
with “w” and automatically adjusts space between the individual characters to give a more natural appearance.
There should be a clear gap between characters. The recommended minimum gap is not less than the width of the
vertical stroke of characters of the font.
The designer should also be concerned with the vertical spacing requirements of an OCR system. Although 4,2 mm
vertical spacing is usually sufficient for typewritten entries, at least twice that amount of space is necessary for hand-
printed entries and for separating entries for OCR.
4.4.4 Character pitch
Form design should allow no more than 0,4 characters per millimetre for character pitch.
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ISO/TS 12029:2002(E)
4.4.5 Character size
In the printing industry, type size is usually specified in millimetres. In a computer or typewriter, type size is usually
indicated in points. Fortunately, the printing industry is familiar with both systems and can easily translate
requirements. The point (0,35 mm) is a unit derived from the height of metal slugs, once commonly but now rarely,
used to set type. The size of character is not directly related to point size. For a given point size, the actual heights of
the same upper-case character can be different for various typefaces. There is also variation in the ratio of heights of
lower-case “e” to upper-case characters. This means that, for a given point size, even if upper-case characters of two
different typefaces have the same height, there is a possibility that it is not so for lower-case characters. Because it
is the size of the lower-case characters that will limit scannability, minimum acceptable point size should be
determined by the height of the lower-case “e”. The recommended minimum height of the lower-case “e” is 1,4 mm.
If the EIM system is used as a transfer medium as part of overall processing of the information extracted from a form,
the minimum type size used shall allow for any degradation of image quality resulting from subsequent parts of the
process.
4.4.6 Weight
The weight of a type font is its relative line thickness, ranging from light to extra bold. Font weight directly affects the
number of dots or pixels used to display a character of an electronic image. Different weights can also be used to
emphasize or reduce significance of text blocks or captions for the user.
4.4.7 Type family
Design variations on a basic typeface can include italic, condensed, expanded and others. Form designers should try
to keep the number of type families used within a form to a minimum to project an uncomplicated appearance that is
pleasing to the eye. EIM systems, and particularly OCR software, can also benefit from limited use of type families.
4.5 Machine printed stylized information
4.5.1 General
Information may be presented on a form as a bar code or in OCR or MICR characters These bar codes and stylized
character sets are especially designed for automated processing and are machine readable with high accuracy.
Machine reading is not always wholly accurate. The degree of accuracy achievable can be improved if forms have
error-checking features built into their design. Whenever possible, forms should be designed to use a second source
of information for cross-checking. When calculation is involved, both subtotal and entry figures should appear on
forms so that the processing system can recalculate the subtotal to compare it with the amount read. Other examples
of information for cross-checking are account number
...
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