Desktop Scanning in Grooper allows users to scan in documents and create new batches to begin processing.
In this article we will show you how to install and configure Grooper Desktop for scanning documents into the software. We will also go over the basics of how to scan documents into a new Batch in Grooper from both a Reviewer and Designer perspective.
You may download the ZIP(s) below and upload it into your own Grooper environment (version 2023). This contains one or more Projects with resources used in examples throughout this article.
Grooper is designed to extract information from documents. There are a few ways to bring documents into Grooper, but one of the most common methods is scanning documents directly into Grooper. Using Grooper Desktop and the Grooper Web Client 2023, you can easily scan in documents and change scanner settings with the use of Scanner Profiles.
FYI
You may also apply an IP Profile or Separation Profile when scanning in documents.
Applying an IP Profile at scan-time permanently applies image processing commands as pages are fed into the scanner.
Commonly, these IP Profiles will clean up defects arising from scanning, such as correcting skew, removing borders and fixing misaligned pages.
BE AWARE: Applying IP Profiles at scan-time is more inefficient than applying an IP Profile with a separate Image Processing step in a Batch Process. The Image Processing activity can take full advantage of your computer's resources. It will run multithreaded and IP Commands will run more efficiently and effectively due to Grooper's AVX hardware acceleration.
Applying a Separation Profile at scan-time separates pages into folders as they are fed into the scanner.
Separating pages into folders is a critical step in Grooper's document processing. Pages in a folder are effectively what Grooper considers a "document".
Commonly, separator sheets like Grooper Control Sheets are used to separate documents with these Separation Profiles
BE AWARE: Only a limited number of Separation Providers can be used to separate documents at scan-time. The Control Sheet provider and most configurations of the Event-Based provider may be used.
BE AWARE: Applying a Separation Profile at scan-time is more inefficient than separating documents using a Separate step in a Batch Process. The Separate activity will run multithreaded where a Separation Profile executed at scan-time will not.
How To
In order to scan documents using the Web Client, you first need to Install Grooper Desktop, Reserve a URL, and set up the scanner.
Grooper Desktop Installation and Setup
Installing Grooper Desktop
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In some cases, antivirus software will interfere with Grooper's installation, preventing a complete install.
You may need to whitelist the Grooper installers/software before installing.
This will ensure the antivirus software is not preventing DLL files from installing or executing.
Most commonly, this issue has been demonstrated when installing the Grooper Desktop application (required to scan using the web client).
If Grooper Desktop is installed correctly, and you are able to scan using the scanner's native software, you may need to (1) uninstall Grooper Desktop, (2) whitelist the Grooper Desktop installer and GrooperDesktop.exe application and (3) reinstall Grooper Desktop to ensure you can scan from the Grooper web client.
Grooper Desktop can be installed on any desktop computer used to scan documents. The Grooper thick client does not have to be installed on the same computer as Grooper Desktop to operate.
Open up File Explorer and navigate to your extracted folders.
Open the extracted folder "GrooperDesktop_23.00.xxxx" to reveal the installation files.
Double-click "setup.exe" to start the Grooper Installer.
After reviewing the Welcome page to the InstallShield Wizard, click "Next" to continue.
Read through the End User License Agreement and click the radial button next to "I accept the terms in the license agreement".
Click "Next" to continue.
Now you can choose the location where you want the Grooper Application to be installed. It is recommended to use the default file path.
FYI
Notice that this application is being installed in Program Files (x86). We are installing a 32-bit application because it interfaces with scanners.
Click "Next".
Click the "Install" button to begin installation.
Installation should only take a few minutes. When finished, a window should pop up saying that the installation is complete. Click "Finish" to finalize your installation.
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There is one more thing we need to do to finish the installation of Grooper Desktop. We need to reserve a URL for Grooper Desktop to use. See the next tab for instructions on how to do this.
Reserve URL for Grooper Desktop
The first time you run Grooper Desktop, you might notice a notification pop up above your system tray that says Grooper Desktop is "Not Configured".
This is because you need to reserve the URL as the listening location that the service will use to pull from the scanner. We will run a short command line code to reserve this URL.
right click on the Grooper "G" logo in your system tray and click on "Configure..."
When the window pops up, Web Scanning is set to "Disabled".
Click the drop-down arrow and select "Enabled".
Click the down arrow to the left of "Web Scanning" to expand properties.
Down at the bottom, you will see a property called "URL Reservation". It is populated with a netsh command. Select the contents of this property and copy it to your clipboard.
Open a Command Prompt (as an administrator) in Windows and paste the previously copied netsh command. Hit Enter.
The command prompt should return with "URL reservation successfully added".
Now you should be finished with the installation of Grooper Desktop!
Add Your Scanner
Before scanning documents into Grooper, we need to make sure the correct scanner is selected to run with Grooper Desktop.
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If you have not reserved the URL for your scanner, please return to the previous tab and complete the steps for reserving your URL.
In your system task bar, there should be a "G" icon. Right-click and click "Configure".
If you do not see the "G" icon in your system task bar, Grooper Desktop may not be running. In that case, just run Grooper Desktop from your start menu.
When the Grooper Desktop window pops up, check to see if Web Scanning has been enabled.
If Web Scanning is listed as Disabled, click the drop down menu to switch it to Enabled.
Click the arrow next to Web Scanning to open up the sub properties.
Next to Device, click the drop down menu and select the type of scanner you are using.
Now click the arrow next to Device to access the sub-properties.
Click the drop down menu next to Device Name.
Select the device you will be using to scan.
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If your device is not appearing in the drop down menu, check to make sure that the appropriate drivers for that device have been installed on your machine.
With the proper device selected, you can click the ellipsis button next to Device Settings to update scanner properties.
In this example, we have changed the Color mode to 24-bit Color and the Scanning Side to Duplex. Feel free to look through the properties and customize based on your business needs.
Once your settings are configured, click "OK" to apply.
Once you have set up and configured Grooper Desktop, you are now ready to begin scanning. You will be using either the "Scan Viewer" or "Thumbnail Viewer" configured in your Batch Process to scan in documents. We will be using a "Scan Viewer" for demonstration purposes. The "Thumbnail Viewer" will have a few additional sorting and image adjustment options, but operates similarly to the "Scan Viewer".
Scanning Into Grooper
Navigate to the "Batches" page in Grooper (scanning can also be performed on the "Tasks" page).
Click the plus-sign icon in the top right corner of the window to scan in a new batch.
A "Create New Batch" window will pop up.
The Name may auto-populate with the date and time. Feel free to name the Batch in whatever manner fits your business needs. Here we are just going to add the name of the process to the date and time stamp.
Click the three lines icon next to the Process property to bring up the drop down menu. Select which Batch Process you wish to apply to the documents that you are scanning.
The Batch Process must have been published prior to scanning. If you do not have a published Batch Process on your repository, it will not show up in the drop-down.
Click "OK" to save your preferences.
Now the Batch should be created in Grooper. Locate the Batch in the list of Batches and double click to open the "Scan Viewer" window.
Ensure your scanner is listed in the top left corner of the "Scan Viewer" window. The dot to the left of the scanner name should be green and the scanner should be listed as "Ready".
You may have a couple of extra icons to the right of your Scanner name. If so, click the down arrow icon. If there are no additional icons, then skip to step 12.
When the new window pops up, select the desired Scanner Profile.
Click "OK".
FYI
Scanner Profiles are objects that store different scanner settings. These profiles can then be selected while in "Scan View". When you select a Scanner Profile it overrides the default scanner settings in Grooper Desktop. For example, if you set up one Scanner Profile to scan double sided (duplex), and another to scan single-sided (simplex), you can switch between the two depending on the documents you need to scan.
Place your documents into the scanner, then click the play button at the top to start the scan.
Your documents should be scanned in according to the settings configured in either Grooper Desktop or the Scanner Profile selected.
Rescanning Pages
Sometimes you may need to rescan certain pages in your batch. You may not be able to see all the information on the page due to skewing or a folded corner. Go ahead and go through the physical paperwork and find the documents that needs to be rescanned. After you place it back into the scanner, follow these steps:
To access the Scan Viewer, click the "Scan Viewer" tab on the left side of the page.
In the Scan Viewer, select the pages you need to rescan.
Right-click and click "Delete" to delete the selected pages.
Click "Execute" to confirm the deletion.
After you have re-inserted the pages you need to rescan into the scanner, right-click on a page in the batch.
Hover over "Scan", and you will see several selections become available. Choose the option that places the new pages where you need them to be:
Scan (scans to the end of the batch)
Scan After
Scan Before
Scan Repeat
The documents will then be scanned in to the selected position in the batch.
Image Adjustment
After you scan in documents, you may notice some images need to be adjusted. There are several tools available to adjust images in the Scan Viewer.
Rotating Images
When reviewing a scanned batch, you may come across pages that were not in the proper orientation. You can manually rotate the images in the Scan Viewer.
Find and select the image you need to rotate.
Right-click on the thumbnail of the image.
Select "Rotate Left" or "Rotate Right" to rotate the image 90 degrees.
Repeat steps 2-3 until the image is in the proper orientation.
Additional Image Adjustment Options
There are several additional image adjustment options you can access while reviewing the document scans:
Invert
Skew Angle
Brightness
Contrast
Saturation
Follow these steps to access the "Adjust Image" window.
Select the document that needs adjustment.
Click the image icon at the top of the Document Viewer.
When the "Adjust Image" window pops up, move the sliders to adjust the image.
The following instructions are intended to show Grooper Designers how to set up a Scan Review step in a Batch Process. There are several properties you can customize when setting up your Scan Review step. Scanner Profiles are a helpful tool to save pre-configured scanner settings. The Scanner Profiles can then be accessed from the Scan View during the Review step of the Batch Process.
Setting Up the Scan Viewer
If you intend to scan documents directly into Grooper, you will need to set up a Batch Process with a Review step. This tab will show you how to configure your Review step and add a Scan Viewer.
After setting up your Batch Process, select your Review step in the node tree. In this example, our Review step is named "Scan".
Ensure that the Activity is set to Review.
Under the "Activity Properties" click the ellipsis button next to the Views property.
Once the "Views" window pops up, click the plus sign button to add a new view to the review step.
Click "Scan View" to add.
In some cases you may also want to add a "Thumbnail View" to the Review step. You can perform many of the same steps in the "Thumbnail View" as the "Scan View". It just displays the Batch in a different layout and allows access to several sorting and image adjustment options.
Click "OK" to apply the "Scan View".
Click the save icon to save your settings.
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At this point, you might notice an error icon at the top of the "Step Properties" and "Activity Properties" sections. This error is due to a Scanner Profile folder not being selected. However, if you have your scanner settings appropriately set up in Grooper Desktop, you can actually stop here. If no Scanner Profile is set, scanning will default to the Grooper Desktop settings. Simply ignore the error. If you would like to set up a Scanner Profile, please continue to the next tab.
Creating a Scanner Profile
Scanner Profiles are objects that store different scanner settings. These profiles can then be selected while in "Scan View". When you select a Scanner Profile it overrides the default scanner settings in Grooper Desktop. For example, if you set up one Scanner Profile to scan double sided (duplex), and another to scan single-sided (simplex), you can switch between the two depending on the documents you need to scan.
You are able to save your current scan settings that are set on Grooper Desktop as a new Scanner Profile. Anytime you need to create a new Scanner Profile you will first need to update the scanner settings in Grooper Desktop.
Click here and follow the instructions located under the "Add Your Scanner" tab to set up your scanner settings in Grooper Desktop.
Go back to your Batch Process and select the applicable Review step (here we have named this step "Scan").
Click the ellipsis next to the Views property.
Look for the Allow Upload property and click the check box to change it to True.
Click "OK".
Publish your Batch Process and update the process on your current Batch if needed.
Switch from Design to Batches.
Double Click the Batch currently at the appropriate "Review" step (in this case, our Review step is named "Scan").
Next to the play button, there should be two arrow icons. Click the up arrow icon.
In the window that pops up, enter a name for your new Scanner Profile next to New Profile Name.
Click OK.
Now if you go back to the Design page and look in your scanner profiles folder, you should have a new profile.
Adding Scanner Profiles to Review Steps
To access the Scanner Profiles you have created, you will need to adjust the properties in the Review step in your Batch Process.
Select the Review step of your Batch Process (in this case, the Review step has been named "Scan").
Click the ellipsis button next to the Views property where Scan View is selected.
In the "Views" window that pops up, click the three lines icon next to the Scanner Profiles Folder property to access a drop down menu.
Navigate to the folder containing your Scanner Profiles and select it.
Click OK to apply your changes.
Click the save icon to save your changes.
FYI
Notice that once a Scanner Profiles Folder is selected, the error icons disappear. However, even if the error icons show, as long as you have your Grooper Desktop configured appropriately, the scanner will run using the Grooper Desktop defaults if a Scanner Profile is not selected during scanning.
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Remember to republish your Batch Process and update the process on any current Batches to apply your changes.
There are a few more things you can do when configuring the scan viewer. None of these are required for you to begin scanning in Grooper, however, they can offer additional functionality and may save you time in the long run. You can: set a default Scanner Profile, apply an IP Profile at the time of scanning, or have Grooper separate the documents at the time of scanning.
Depending upon the type and amount of documents you are scanning, you may wish to configure an IP Profile or Separation Profile here or in its own Batch Process Step.
Setting a Default Scanner Profile
If you would like your scanner to default to a specific Scanner Profile, you can adjust the properties to do so.
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Once you set a default Scanner Profile, the individuals scanning in the documents will no longer be able to configure Grooper Desktop and use those settings as the default. This is a good way to lock down scanner settings, but also limits what is available to the individuals working the scanners.
Select the Review step of your Batch Process (in this case, the Review step has been named "Scan").
Click the ellipsis button next to the Views property where Scan View is selected.
In the "Views" window that pops up, click the three lines icon next to the Scanner Profile property to access a drop down menu.
Navigate to the folder containing your Scanner Profiles and select Scanner Profile you wish to set for the default settings.
Click "OK" to apply your settings.
Click the save icon to save your changes.
Image Cleanup During Scanning
Let's say you have some documents that are scanned in and due to the scanner or quality of the documents. There may be discolorations, black borders, or pages skewed. These can all be corrected with an IP Profile. An IP Profile can be set to run at the time of scanning.
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Keep in mind that an IP Profile can only be run single-threaded during the scanning step. This can significantly slow down your scanning and processing speed. It is generally recommended to instead apply the IP Profile on a later Batch Process Step where it can be run multi-threaded.
Select the Review step of your Batch Process (in this case, the Review step has been named "Scan").
Click the ellipsis button next to the Views property where Scan View is selected.
In the "Views" window that pops up, click the three lines icon next to the IP Profile property to access a drop down menu.
Navigate to the IP Profile you wish to use during scanning.
Click "OK" to apply your settings.
Click the save icon to save your changes.
Document Separation During Scanning
You can set a pre-configured Separation Profile to perform separation during the scanning step of your Batch Process.
Select the Review step of your Batch Process (in this case, the Review step has been named "Scan").
Click the ellipsis button next to the Views property where Scan View is selected.
In the "Views" window that pops up, click the three lines icon next to the Separation Profile property to access a drop down menu.
Navigate to the Separation Profile you wish to use during scanning.
