Document processing features

Document processing features expand the capabilities of a workflow from controlling and tracking jobs to controlling and tracking individual documents in a job.

Without changing the application that creates the job, you can change how the individual documents are processed, using business rules to indicate what processing to do. You can pull documents out of a workflow, attach documents to email, or reprint individual documents. The documents in the job can be split into multiple jobs, sorted based on document-specific information such as address data, or grouped into subset jobs based on data in the document.

Two features add basic functions and objects for processing documents. You must install one or both of these features before you can install the other document processing features:

  • PDF Document Support adds functions and objects for processing documents in PDF jobs. This no-charge feature is provided with the base product but is not installed by default.

  • AFP Support adds functions and objects for processing documents in AFP jobs.

PDF Document Support and AFP Support let you identify individual documents within a job and map data, such as customer names or postal codes, in the documents to RICOH ProcessDirector document properties. RICOH ProcessDirector stores the document properties and their values in a document properties file.

In this section:

  1. Archive
    The Archive feature lets you store jobs, documents, and job processing history in a repository and retrieve them by searching on job and document properties. For example, you might search for documents by job name, customer name, and account number. After you retrieve a job or document, you can view it, review the properties that were stored with it, check the production history, and submit the job or document to a workflow for reprinting or other processing.
  2. Electronic Presentment
    The Electronic Presentment feature provides a sample workflow that receives jobs from a sample input device and uses a sample history record notification to capture the times when jobs are printed and mailed. The workflow stores jobs, documents, property values, and history information in a sample repository.
  3. Automated Verification
    The Automated Verification feature lets you add barcodes to the documents in a print job. Cameras or barcode scanners read the barcodes to detect documents that fail to complete a step in their workflow. You choose whether RICOH ProcessDirector automatically reprints any missing documents or an operator specifies an action to take for each missing document.
  4. Inserter and Quadient Inserter Express
    The Inserter features help to automate the insertion of printed documents and extra inserts (such as marketing materials) into envelopes. RICOH ProcessDirector supports two features that support inserters: the full Inserter feature and the Quadient Inserter Express feature.
  5. Postal Enablement
    The Postal Enablement feature lets you extract mailing address data from the documents in a job and prepare the data for processing by external postal software. After the postal software verifies the addresses and improves their quality, the Postal Enablement feature can process results received from the postal software to update the documents in the job.
  6. Preference Management
    The Preference Management feature lets you update document property values with values from an external preferences file. These values can be used to change the content of selected documents or to change the processing of those documents.
  7. Preprinted Forms Replacement
    The Preprinted Forms Replacement feature lets you print jobs on plain paper that previously required preprinted forms. You update the definition of each media object for the media requested by these jobs to include the electronic equivalent of the preprinted form data. The application that submits the print files to RICOH ProcessDirector can continue to specify the media for the jobs in the same way.
  8. Usage scenarios for processing documents
    If you have the PDF Document Support or AFP Support feature, this topic provides links to usage scenarios. These scenarios show how document processing is used to improve your production processes and to offer new services to clients.

Related information:

AFP Support
PDF Document Support
Parent topic: Features