Lesson Videos:
Introduction
In this lesson you will dig into why templates are used, how to create them, and how to edit them. Along with templates, you will learn about X-keys and how assigning them to specific tasks, such as which template to use, can help make your work faster and easier. Instead of trying to tailor each shot individually, which would require a number of tasks for each shot, using templates allows you to move through the image capture process with the click of a single button.
You can quickly set up different templates to assist you in capturing documents of various types, sizes, shapes, and orientations: from small index cards to large bound volumes. Normally, you can get to the Template screen from the Capture screen. When practicing, however, use the Practice Configuring Imaging Device link on the Home Screen.
When in the capture screen, at the top of the blue instructional panel, click the Template file tab, or at the bottom of the capture screen, click the Template button.
You can also use the corresponding X-key. When the Templates window opens, the control panel displays in the color purple (as opposed to the blue color of the Control Panel in the Capture window).
The Templates menu lists what templates are available to use. This list includes predefined templates including Single Crop, Double Crop, and Autosplit, along with any other templates that were created by users.
Next, there are 3 action buttons:
- Select Image
- Recapture
- Preview
The steps in creating a template are straightforward:
Step 1: Choose a document that is a good representative of the group of documents you want to capture.
Example: If you have a group of standard letter-size documents in portrait format, select 1 to act as the model document.
Step 2: Place the model document on the copy board, centered directly below the camera, and click Create.
A new control panel displays on the left.
At the same time, a blue selection box displays in the Capture Window. The blue box is surrounded by a dotted line.
Step 3: In the Name field at the top of the control panel, give the template a name. This field is required. For the name, choose a concise description of the document that allows both you and other operators to quickly identify the size of the document as well as any other distinguishing detail.
Example: For a standard letter sheet of paper (8 ½” x 11”) in the vertical, or portrait, format you might name the template “Standard letter.” For a standard letter sheet of paper (8 ½” x 11”) in the horizontal, or landscape, orientation you might name the template “Landscape letter.”
Step 4: In the Template Type, make sure to click on the appropriate radio button:
- Single Crop is used for single-page documents or, for example, if a book’s left-handed pages are blank, you would only need a single frame that is adjusted for the right page.
- Use Double Crop when capturing books when both right- and left-hand pages need to be captured. This option has 2 blue selection boxes in the capture window, each with a dotted outline: one is named Autocrop 1 and the other Autocrop 2. When used in capture mode, this template captures both pages of a book at once and then separates them into individual images afterward.
- Autosplit is also a double-crop option, but with a special difference: when used correctly, and with very specific documents, it will automatically identify the gutter, or center, of the book being captured.
Step 5: In the Crop Attributes, adjust the edges of where the frame will be cropped. To adjust the crop range:
- Drag the control points that adjust the blue selection box in the Capture Window.
- Hover your mouse cursor over the corner of the dotted line. Control points appear in each corner and in the center of each side. A directional arrow displays on the control point beneath your cursor.
- To increase or decrease the size of the box:
- Click on the arrow (continue to hold the left mouse button down).
- Drag the control point.
- To increase or decrease the size of the box:
- Continue to adjust the selection box until you surround the model document that you previously placed in the center of the copy board.
Note: The blue selection box should entirely cover a single page with a border around all 4 sides of the document. This border should be 1 inch to 1 ½ inches wide.
- You can also move the whole selection box:
- Simply click the center of the box and, while you continue to hold down the left mouse button, move the box the same way as you would move the mouse cursor.
When using Double Crop:
- Surround the 3 sides of each selection box, once again cover the entire document, and include a border that is 1 inch to 1 ½ inches wide.
- On the fourth side, where it meets the opposing page (or gutter), place the dotted line over the gutter in order to capture a portion of the other page. Doing this ensures that both the quality team and the guest know that the entire page was captured.
The Autosplit feature is similar to Double Crop, but there are some key differences:
- Autosplit is meant for capturing books so that 2 selection boxes (the 2 adjacent pages of the book) are attached to each other to create 1 image for both pages. Double Crop creates a separate image for each page.
- With Autosplit you also use the Autocrop feature. It is preselected by default.
- The gutter overlap where the 2 pages meet is set to ½ inch.
- Autosplit automatically finds the gutter of the book. It then automatically adds the overlap to the opposite page.
Note: The gutter overlap will not display in the center of the screen image while you are capturing the image. Overlap is not shown until after an image is taken. Also, remember not to split the book by using different templates. You must make sure that the entire book resides within the Autosplit template.
The best thing about Autosplit is that you may not have to move the book as much, if at all. For example, if a book is quite thin, the position of the gutter appears to move as you turn the pages over time.
With Double Crop, for example, you may need to move the book now and then to keep the gutter in the exact center of the image. The thicker the book, the more pages turned, the greater the distance the gutter will appear to move. The center line does not have to be exactly on the gutter of the book, but you may have to shift a very thick book to keep the center line near the gutter and in that way sync up the book with the DCam program.
It is important to note that if the book has vertical lines anywhere near the gutter of the book, Autosplit might identify those lines as being the gutter. This will cause the split and the overlap to be placed incorrectly. If this happens, you need to reassess whether Autosplit or Double Crop is the best way to capture individual pages of the book.
Step 6: Assign your new template a button on the X-key bar. As mentioned in previous videos, the X-key bar holds a set of keys. Some of these keys were programmed previously, and some of them are available for you to program. That means when you create a template, you can assign it to an X-key to call that template up for use.
Example: You have X-key number 13 assigned for a particular size of document in the portrait format. Within the folder, however, are some documents that, though they may be the same size as the portrait documents, are in the landscape format, and you have assigned X-key number 14 to capture landscape pages. As you page through the folder capturing documents, you can select X-key 13 to capture documents in portrait format and X-key 14 to capture landscape pages. Using these 2 X-keys, you can quickly and efficiently change the capture orientation.
X-key Automation is set to Automatically capture as the default setting. This means that when using the X-keys, all attributes of the template will be initiated when the assigned X-key is pressed. Leave X-key Automation at the default setting.
The first 8 X-keys are preassigned with the following actions:
- Capture
- Templates
- Retake
- Comment
- Blank
- Insert
- Evaluate
- Close Folder
You can assign all of the other X-keys. When assigning a template to the X-keys, assign them to the empty 9 through 16 X-key buttons.
Warning: While it is possible, do not override the previously programmed X-keys that all other operators are accustomed to using. To assign an X-key:
- Click the drop-down menu. A list of the key assignments displays, including those that are preassigned.
- Choose 1 of the unused keys for the template you created.
- Click Save.
If you forget to assign a template to an X-key, or you decide to assign it at a later time on the template home screen, do the following:
- Click the template to which you would like to assign an X-key.
- Under Change X-key, click the drop-down menu, and choose an unused key.
- Once X-keys are assigned, click Return to Capture.
You can see all of the X-key assignments listed in the action buttons at the bottom of the capture screen. If you need to edit any one of the templates that were created at that workstation, in the Template list, highlight the template you would like to edit, and below the template window, click the Edit button. You can change any of the features of the template, including the size of selection box on the capture screen. When you are satisfied with your changes, click Save.
Note: You cannot change the AutoSplit or the Single Page Autocrop templates.
You should delete any templates that you will not use. Too many templates can slow down the DCam software. To delete a template in the Template List:
- Highlight the template you would like to delete.
- Below the template window, click the Delete button.
- A dialogue box displays asking if you really want to delete the template. Click OK.
Note: To return to the capture screen, at the top of the screen, click the Return to Capture button or the Capture Images file tab.
Learning Experiences
Activity 1: Check Your Understanding
- Identify the 3 template types and provide a brief description of each of them.
- What are X-keys?
- What actions do the first 8 X-keys do?