DocView Capture help centre

DocView Capture turns paper and electronic documents into searchable PDFs and clean data for your business systems. Scan or import, let the software separate, classify and read your documents, check the results on screen and export them wherever they are needed — on a single PC, on your own servers or in Microsoft Azure.

New here? Start with What is DocView Capture? and the 15-minute quick start, then pick a ready-made Batch Setup template for your documents.

Getting started

• What is DocView Capture? — DocView Capture is web-based document capture software that scans, imports, classifies and extracts data from documents, then exports PDFs and data.
• Quick start — Go from installation to your first exported batch in about 15 minutes with DocView Capture, using the ready-made Sample Invoices Batch Setup.
• Coming from other capture products — A guide for Kofax/Tungsten Capture, IBM Datacap, Ephesoft and ABBYY FlexiCapture users, mapping familiar capture terms to DocView Capture.

Installation

• Install or update with DocView Capture Setup — One Setup program installs or updates DocView Capture on a Windows PC, Windows Server (IIS), Docker on Windows, Linux or macOS, Azure, AWS or Google Cloud, and sets up the licence.
• The setup wizard — Set up a new DocView Capture server in your browser - database, administrator account, storage, site address, e-mail and a first Batch Setup - with no settings files to edit.
• System requirements — Hardware, Windows, SQL Server, storage and scanner requirements for DocView Capture on a workstation, on IIS servers or on Azure App Service.
• Install on a single workstation — Install DocView Capture document capture software on one Windows 10 or 11 PC in a few clicks - the installer sets up SQL Server Express and the services, and a setup wizard in your browser does the rest.
• Install on Windows Server with IIS — Install DocView Capture on your own Windows Server with IIS - Install.cmd sets up IIS and the site, a setup wizard connects SQL Server, and DocView Workers are downloaded from the server itself.
• Try DocView Capture with Docker — Run DocView Capture on your own computer or a Linux server with one Docker command - web app, DocView Worker, SQL Server Express and, if you want it, DocView OmniRead.
• Install on your existing Azure resources — Run DocView Capture in a web app, SQL database and storage account you already have in Azure, set up from one settings file — DocView's tables in a schema of their own, its files in a container or folder of their own.
• Install on Microsoft Azure — Deploy DocView Capture to your Azure subscription with one click (Container Apps, Azure SQL and Blob Storage), finish in the setup wizard, and add DocView Workers or OmniRead.
• Install on Amazon Web Services (AWS) — Install DocView Capture in your own AWS account with one click, finish in the browser setup wizard, then add DocView Workers or DocView OmniRead by changing a number.
• Install on Google Cloud — Install DocView Capture in your own Google Cloud project with one command in Cloud Shell, then finish in the browser setup wizard.
• Upgrading DocView Capture — Upgrade DocView Capture on a workstation, on IIS or on Azure App Service, update the Scan Agent, and roll back safely if you need to.

Using DocView Capture

• Ask AI — Ask questions about DocView Capture and get answers from the help centre, or turn a requirement into a new Batch Setup or a draft change you review, apply and can undo.
• Dashboard — See how much work waits in each capture step, spot batches in error and track throughput, straight-through rate and operator productivity.
• Language of the screens — Show DocView Capture in English, Czech, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese or Romanian. Each person chooses their own language.
• Scan documents — Scan paper into batches from any TWAIN or WIA scanner, arrange and check pages, add files, and release the batch to the next capture step.
• Scan Agent — Install the DocView Scan Agent to connect TWAIN and WIA scanners to your browser, keep it up to date, and fix common connection problems.
• Import documents — Bring PDF, TIFF, JPEG and PNG files into DocView Capture by browser upload, watched hot folders, email mailboxes or the REST API.
• Virtual pages — Insert notices such as Poor quality original or Page missing, or sample images you upload, into a batch on Scan and QC at the place you choose.
• Quality check — Check scanned image quality page by page or document by document, pass good images, and send poor pages back to Scan for rescanning.
• Classification — Confirm or change document types the classifier was unsure about, fix how pages were split into documents, and release the batch for data extraction.
• Correction — Correct uncertain or invalid values one field at a time across a whole batch, keying what you see in a clip of the page, before full indexing.
• Index / Validate — Check and complete extracted data on the Index / Validate screen: fields, line-item tables, lookups, validation messages, and completing and releasing batches.
• Verify — Use blind double-key verification to have a second person re-key important fields, catch keying and OCR errors, and enforce four-eyes checks.
• Batch Manager — Find, filter and manage every capture batch: open, suspend, resume, retry, move to another step, change priority, restart, delete and export lists to Excel.
• Sharing documents with customers — Send chosen documents to an external customer to answer a question, fill in fields, approve or reject, or upload pages; the batch waits for their answer and comes back to the same step.
• Search — Find any batch, document or page in DocView Capture by name, batch id, field value or the words on the page, with filters on dates, Batch Setup, operator, queue and state.
• Bookings and header sheets — Book in document deliveries and collections at the goods-in desk, print header sheets and box labels, and track which batches were scanned from every box.
• Notifications — See every message DocView Capture showed you, and news about your scheduled reports and batches, in the bell at the top of the screen and on the Notifications page.
• Preparation station — Record the time operators spend preparing booked boxes for scanning (unstapling, sorting, repairs, separator sheets), and see preparation time per box, per operator and per 100 pages.
• Returning original documents — Send originals and cherished documents back to their owners with checked addresses, letters, Royal Mail labels, a dispatch list and tracking.
• Operator performance — Measure each operator's real working time, output, quality and share of target in every step, from preparation to verification, and see who is working on what right now.
• Payments and items found — Record cheques, postal orders, cash, cards and anything else found among the documents, have a second person check them, then pay them in on a banking list or hand them over.
• Effort on field values — See how much keying people do after OCR, per operator, step, Batch Setup and field, measured in characters and Levenshtein edits, with the OCR accuracy of every field.
• Large format documents — Slip sheets stand in for plans and maps too large for the batch's scanner; their separate large format scans replace them in the batch before export.
• Letter templates — Put return letters on your letterhead PDF with the address in the window and a QR code, or upload a Word document with fields; give clients their template, then edit, save and print letters.
• Post-Scan custody — What happens to boxes and batches after scanning: verified, released to the customer, kept for the retention period, returned or destroyed, with every move recorded.

Batch Setup

• Image clean-up profiles — Recipes of image clean-up operations that finders read their zone or page through, and that the Image enhancement step can apply to whole pages, tested before and after.
• Batch Setups overview — Learn what a Batch Setup is in DocView Capture, how to create one from a template, edit its tabs and release a draft so operators can use it.
• Split batches — Split a capture batch into several by document type, field values, problems or a script, send each part to its own step or Batch Setup, and let operators move documents into a new batch.
• Design the workflow — Design the capture workflow of a Batch Setup - add QC, Classification, Correction, Index, Verify and Batch split steps, name queues, and set four-eyes rules.
• Image enhancement and separation — Set up image enhancement (deskew, auto-rotate, black and white, despeckle, line removal, colour drop-out, crop and more) and document separation by barcode, patch code, blank page, keyword, page size or page count.
• Document classes and classification — Define document classes in DocView Capture and classify documents automatically with weighted keyword, regex, barcode, anchor text, page size and layout rules.
• Fields and extraction — Add index fields to document classes and extract data automatically with regex, key-value, zonal OCR, tick box (OMR), anchor, barcode and table (line item) methods.
• Finders and zones — Build finders to locate values on documents and draw zonal OCR areas in the zone designer; test them on sample documents before you release.
• Folders — Group the documents of a batch in folders, such as the letters of one envelope or the papers of one customer file, with fields entered once per folder.
• Forms, tick boxes and signatures — Read paper forms with DocView Capture - tick boxes (OMR), signature boxes, hand printing in comb boxes, registration of shifted scans and recognising forms by their layout.
• Validation rules — Set up formatters, validators and rules for invoice validation - check digits, dictionaries, totals that add up, required-if, duplicates and batch control totals.
• Lookups — Connect DocView Capture to your SQL Server data to validate index values, auto-fill fields, suggest values and fuzzy-match suppliers from master data.
• Cloud AI finders — Read documents with Azure AI Document Intelligence, AWS Textract and Comprehend, Google Document AI, or a language model such as Claude, OpenAI or Gemini, from a finder.
• Screen designer — Design the Index, Verify, Correction and Review forms operators see per workflow step and document class, with sections, columns and script buttons.
• Events and scripts — Run JavaScript on batch, document and field events of the Index / Validate screens, in the browser or on the server, add form buttons with Click scripts and route batches between workflow steps.
• Cloud and business-system destinations — Export documents to SharePoint, Teams, Google Drive, S3, IBM FileNet, M-Files, DocuWare, SAP, Dynamics 365, Salesforce, Xero, QuickBooks and more, with metadata and records from each document.
• Output and export — Export searchable PDF or TIFF with XML, CSV or JSON data to folders, SFTP, cloud drives, document management and business systems, with file names per document type.
• Samples and classifier training — Add sample documents for each document type by dropping a folder, train numbered machine-learning classifiers, compare them, choose the one a Batch Setup uses, and check every sample's result.
• Testing a Batch Setup — Test cleanup, OCR, document separation, classification and data extraction on sample files before you release a Batch Setup to operators.
• Versions and publishing — Draft, release, pin, withdraw and roll back Batch Setup versions in DocView Capture so changes reach operators safely and batches in progress are unaffected.
• Import and export Batch Setups — Export Batch Setups as encrypted .dvsetup files, import them on another system, clone them, and update a live Batch Setup from a tested file without losing its history.
• Batch Setup templates for the USA, UK and Europe — 73 ready-made document capture templates — invoices, KYC, HR, tax forms, logistics, healthcare, insurance and legal — for the USA, UK and Europe.
• Import a setup from Kofax Capture, Kodak Info Input and other products — Migrate from Kofax Capture, Kofax Transformation Modules or Kodak Info Input to DocView Capture — upload the export, review everything, and create draft Batch Setups.

Administration

• Downloads — Download the DocView Scan Agent, and DocView Setup to add DocView Workers and DocView OmniRead, from your own DocView Capture server - each made for that server, so it connects with no configuration.
• Organisations and departments — Keep departments or customers apart in one DocView Capture installation, each with its own users, Batch Setups, batches and reports, and switch between them.
• Users, roles and permissions — Add users, assign roles and control what each role can do with role-based access control, module permissions and operation permissions.
• Windows sign-in and Active Directory groups — Let users sign in with their Windows account, create DocView Capture users automatically and map Active Directory groups to roles.
• Security, sessions and IP access rules — See who is signed in, end sessions, review failed sign-ins, restrict access with an IP allow list, and set idle sign-out and sessions per user.
• Sign-in options and single sign-on — Choose how people sign in - DocView passwords, Windows, or single sign-on with Microsoft, Google, Apple or any OpenID Connect provider - and who gets an account.
• Demo mode (free trial sign-up) — Let visitors try DocView Capture in a workspace of their own - sign-up with their details, e-mail confirmation, limits, what demos cannot do, and following up sign-ups.
• DocView Workers, worker profiles and scaling — Monitor DocView Workers, create worker profiles with module priorities and Batch Setup filters, and scale OCR and export across servers.
• System settings, secrets and licence — Set system-wide options in DocView Capture — retention periods, lock timeouts, upload limits, the Tesseract data folder, encrypted secrets and the licence.
• Audit log — Review the DocView Capture audit trail — filter by user, action, batch, date or text, scroll through every entry and export it to Excel or CSV.
• Licence and activation — Find the installation ID, install a licence file, activate online with a licence key or start a 30-day trial, and what happens when a licence ends.
• Error log — Find any error a user reports by its reference, see the technical details and how often it happens, and follow it up with a status and a note.
• OCR engines and languages — Choose Tesseract, Azure AI Document Intelligence or Google Cloud Vision for OCR, and add OCR languages such as German or French to DocView Capture.
• Import sources and connections — Import automatically from folders, SFTP/FTP, Azure Blob, S3, SharePoint, mailboxes and database tables, with IBML and Kodak scan statistics and REST API keys.
• DocView OmniRead (high-accuracy OCR, handwriting and barcodes) — Install and configure DocView OmniRead, the on-premises recognition service for printed text, handwriting, barcodes and a vision-language model, on the same or other machines.
• DocView OmniRead on its own — Install DocView OmniRead as a recognition service for your own applications - admin page, API keys, API documentation, licence - with or without DocView Capture.
• Scan profiles — Create scan profiles with paper source, duplex, resolution, colour, threshold, brightness, contrast and scanner-side deskew, cropping, rotation and blank page removal for TWAIN and WIA scanners in DocView Capture.
• Scheduled tasks — Run your own JavaScript or C# scripts on a timetable after export, for example to zip the day's exported documents and e-mail them or send them by SFTP.
• Archive and retention — Learn how DocView Capture archives exported batches, when images, batches, history and audit entries are deleted, and how to set retention policies.
• Reports — Run ready-made capture reports, build your own custom reports, save and share them, download them as Excel, CSV or PDF, and e-mail them on a schedule.

Developers

• REST API — Send documents to DocView Capture with the document capture API — authenticate with an API key, create batches from files and poll their status.
• C# export scripts — Write C# export scripts with BatchExportStart, DocumentExport, BatchExportEnd and BatchExportFailed to deliver documents and data your own way.
• JavaScript event scripts — Write JavaScript event scripts that react to fields, documents, buttons and batches on the Index and Validate screens, in the browser or on the server.
• Architecture and plugins — How DocView Capture is built — clean architecture layers, the SQL batch queue, scalable DocView Workers and plugin interfaces for OCR, extraction and export.
• Building from source — Build, test and run DocView Capture from source code — .NET 10 SDK, SQL Server, Tesseract language data, the web app, the DocView Worker and the Scan Agent.
• Configuration reference — Every DocView Capture configuration setting for the web app and DocView Worker — database, storage, key ring, Windows sign-in, rate limits, DocView Workers and logging.
• Releases and versioning — How DocView Capture is versioned and released — semantic versioning, the changelog, tagged builds in CI, release packages, checksums and hotfixes.

Reference

• Frequently asked questions — Answers to common questions about DocView Capture document capture software, including OCR, scanners, installation, security, invoices and export.
• Troubleshooting — Fix common DocView Capture problems with sign-in, IIS errors, the Scan Agent, scanners, DocView Workers, stuck batches, exports and uploads.
• Glossary — Definitions of document capture terms used in DocView Capture, from Batch Setup and finder to straight-through processing, OCR and PDF/A.
• Get support — Contact Dev Soft UK Ltd for DocView Capture support by email or phone, and learn what details to include so we can help you quickly.

Need a hand?

Email support@docview.ai or call +44 7886 864921. DocView Capture is part of DocView.AI — www.docview.ai — and is developed by Dev Soft UK Ltd — www.devsoftuk.com, support@devsoftuk.com.