2020.2

The Numbers
First and foremost, the 20,000 patterns is a fixed number - PlanetPress can only generate
20,000 unique patterns as this is the number of patterns that we license through Anoto.
The 20,000 patterns are, however, not all available when generating documents. There are 8
"demo" patterns that are used to generate documents when PlanetPress Capture is in demo
mode (no license activated), and react the same way that the bulk of the 20,000 patterns.
Another single pattern is used to register pens in the database, and one last single pattern is
used when printing a "Preview" from PlanetPress Design. So in reality, the number of available
patterns for document generation is 19990, but for simplicity's sake this FAQ uses the round
number "20,000".
In a typical PlanetPress Capture implementation, a process in PlanetPress Workflow generates
output (generally, this output is directly printed) and, at the same time, will "lock" one pattern for
each page that it generates, if that page contains a pattern. PlanetPress Workflow also stores a
copy of each document in the Capture Database, in PDF format.
While a document is printed, and while this printed document has not received any ink or
signature, the document is deemed "open", the pattern it uses remains locked in the database
and cannot be re-used. Then, when someone writes on the document and sends the pen data
to PlanetPress Workflow (through a docking station or through Bluetooth), if the required
conditions have been met, the document will be "closed", its pattern released and available to
be used immediately.
An open document can also be called a "live" document, in the sense that it is only active
between the time where it is printed and the time where ink from the Anoto Digital Pen is
processed and the document is closed. This duration is called "time to live" or "TTL", and it is
the second very important number: how long is the pattern actually needed.
The third important number is based on your actual output needs. In other words, how many
documents do you intend to print on a regular basis that will contain a pattern?
These three numbers, together, represent an easy way to determine if the 20,000 patterns are
actually enough for you. Basically, if you generate X documents within a specific time frame but
N of these documents are closed through regular process (writing on them with a pen and
docking it) during that period, does the difference between both ever reach 20,000?
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