User Guide

CONTENTS
WHAT IS A FORM? ....................................................................................................................................5
WHAT IS A MACHINE-READABLE FORM? ..........................................................................................5
FORM COMPLETION M ...............................................................................................................................5
ETHODS......................................................................................................................................................5
ELEMENTS OF MACHINE-READABLE FORMS .............................................................................................6
TYPES OF MACHINE-READABLE FORMS ....................................................................................................6
Dropout color forms .............................................................................................................................7
Scanning...........................................................................................................................................7
Choosing the form color...................................................................................................................8
Advantages and disadvantages.........................................................................................................8
Gray forms............................................................................................................................................8
Scanning...........................................................................................................................................8
Advantages and disadvantages.........................................................................................................8
Black&white forms with raster background.........................................................................................9
Background filtering ........................................................................................................................9
Advantages and disadvantages.........................................................................................................9
Black&white forms with raster borders ...............................................................................................9
Black&white linear forms...................................................................................................................10
Advantages and disadvantages.......................................................................................................10
HOW TO CHOOSE A FORM TYPE...............................................................................................................11
Criteria for choosing the form type ....................................................................................................11
Hardware........................................................................................................................................11
Volume, printing method, and form printing cost..........................................................................12
Image size and average form processing speed..............................................................................12
Editors for form creation................................................................................................................12
Table: Summary of form types - advantages and disadvantages........................................................12
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR MACHINE-READABLE FORMS .................................................................14
Form background requirements .........................................................................................................14
Reference point requirements.............................................................................................................14
Requirements for black squares .....................................................................................................14
Requirements for static text............................................................................................................14
Requirements for lines ...................................................................................................................14
Requirements for barcode ..............................................................................................................14
Requirements for geometric field parameters ....................................................................................15
Raster dot size ................................................................................................................................15
Character space size .......................................................................................................................15
Line thickness.................................................................................................................................15
Print quality requirements..................................................................................................................15
Requirements for form completion .....................................................................................................16
CREATING MACHINE-READABLE FORMS........................................................................................16
FORM CREATION STAGES ........................................................................................................................16
DEVELOPING FORMS IN MICROSOFT VISIO 2000 ....................................................................................16
Attaching a stencil set.........................................................................................................................16
The form elements provided by the stencil .........................................................................................17
Form creation in MS Visio: example..................................................................................................18
Creating your own stencils.................................................................................................................20
Preparing an MS Visio form for professional printing ......................................................................21
DEVELOPING FORMS USING MICROSOFT WORD 2000 ............................................................................22
Preparing the workspace....................................................................................................................22
Paper size .......................................................................................................................................22
Page margins ..................................................................................................................................22
Grid ................................................................................................................................................22
Which is best - background or raster? ...............................................................................................23
Setting up the background..................................................................................................................23