DocView Capture
DocView Capture is web-based document capture software from Dev Soft UK Ltd. It turns paper and electronic documents into searchable PDFs and clean, validated data for your business systems.
You scan or import a batch of documents. DocView Capture cleans up the images, reads them with OCR, splits the pages into documents, works out what each document is, and finds the data you need. Operators check anything the software was unsure about. Then the batch is exported to a folder, an SFTP server, a SQL Server table or a web service.
How document capture works in DocView Capture
Every batch follows a workflow that you set up once, in a Batch Setup. A typical workflow looks like this:
| Step | What happens | Automatic or manual |
|---|---|---|
| Scan | Operators scan or import pages and release the batch. Watched folders, mailboxes and the REST API can create batches too. | Manual (or automatic import) |
| Quality check | Operators confirm the image quality of all pages, or a sample. | Manual, optional |
| OCR, separation & classification | Image cleanup, OCR, splitting pages into documents, and deciding each document's class. | Automatic |
| Classification | Operators confirm documents the classifier was not sure about. | Manual, optional |
| Extraction & validation | Finds field values and checks them against your rules. | Automatic |
| Correction | Operators fix one field at a time across the batch. | Manual, optional |
| Index / Validate | Operators check and correct the data next to the page image. | Manual, optional |
| Double-key verify | Blind re-keying of selected fields. | Manual, optional |
| PDF generation & export | Converts images, writes data files and delivers them. | Automatic |
Scan is always first and export is always last. The steps in between are up to you. When every value is found and valid, manual steps can be skipped, so documents go straight through to export. See Workflow.
Key capabilities
- Scanning from the browser. The small DocView Scan Agent connects TWAIN and WIA scanners to the Scan screen. Operators see live thumbnails and can rotate, reorder, split and merge pages. See Scan documents.
- Importing. Drag and drop PDF, TIFF, JPEG or PNG files, or collect them from watched folders, email mailboxes (IMAP/POP3) and a REST API. See Import documents.
- Image cleanup and separation. Deskew, blank page removal, despeckle, border and punch-hole removal, auto-rotate. Separate by page count, page size, blank pages, barcodes, patch codes, keywords or classification. See Image cleanup and separation.
- OCR engines. Tesseract runs on your own server at no extra cost. You can also use Azure AI Document Intelligence or Google Cloud Vision with your own key. See OCR engines and languages.
- Classification. Rules (keywords, patterns, barcodes, anchor text, page size, form layout) or a trained classifier. See Document classes and classification.
- Data extraction. Finders locate values by zone, label, pattern, barcode, table, database lookup or script. See Fields and extraction.
- Forms. Tick boxes (OMR), signature boxes and hand printing in comb boxes, with forms recognised by their layout. See Forms, tick boxes and signatures.
- Validation. Formatters, validators (including UK VAT, IBAN and check digits) and rules across fields, documents and batches. See Validation rules.
- Operator screens. Index / Validate, Correction and Verify screens with keyboard shortcuts, click-to-fill from the image, lookups and a screen designer.
- Export. PDF, searchable PDF, PDF/A and TIFF, plus XML, CSV and JSON data files. Delivered to folders, SFTP, SQL Server, REST web services or a C# script. See Output and export.
- Control and audit. Batch Manager, dashboard, roles and permissions, Windows sign-in, IP rules and a full audit log.
Who it is for
DocView Capture is for organisations that process documents in volume and need reliable data from them:
- Finance teams capturing supplier invoices and credit notes, with VAT and total checks and matching against supplier master data.
- Mailrooms and shared service centres digitising incoming post and routing it by document type.
- Records and archive teams producing searchable PDF or PDF/A files with consistent names and folders.
- IT and integration teams who need a capture platform that plugs into existing systems through files, SQL, SFTP or REST.
It is designed for users in the UK, Europe and the USA. If you have used Kofax/Tungsten Capture, IBM Datacap, Ephesoft or ABBYY FlexiCapture, most ideas will feel familiar. See Coming from other capture products.
Ways to install
| Option | Best for | Guide |
|---|---|---|
| Single workstation | One PC, trials, small offices. Serves only the local PC. | Install on a single workstation |
| Windows Server with IIS | Several users on your own network, one or more DocView Worker servers. | Install on IIS |
| Azure App Service | Cloud hosting with Azure SQL and Blob Storage. | Install on Azure |
All options store data in SQL Server (Express is fine to start with) and keep page images in a folder, a file share or Azure Blob Storage, never inside the database.
Tip: The quickest way to see DocView Capture in action is the Quick start. It takes you from installation to your first exported batch in about 15 minutes.