Zone settings
Configure each OCR zone — type, character set, validation, line selection, page targeting, and per-zone OCR.
Every zone you draw in The Designer has its own settings. Select a zone to open its editor, which is split into two tabs:
- General — type, character set, validation, line selection, page targeting, per-zone OCR, blank detection, and the review threshold (this page).
- Anchoring — pin the zone to nearby text or a code so it follows content that shifts between scans (see Anchoring).
An OCR Preview panel sits above both tabs. It shows the cropped zone image, the extracted value, a check against your Validation Regex, and a Re-analyze button to run the zone again against the sample page.
Screenshot: templates-zones-01 — The zone editor with the OCR Preview panel at top and the General / Anchoring tab strip below it.
Zone Type
The Type dropdown sets how the zone's text is extracted, normalized, and validated. Scalar types (the first block) are also auto-detected on the first OCR pass; structured types (barcodes, MRZ, tables, image) are decoded by a dedicated reader and keep the type you set.
| Type | Captures |
|---|---|
| Text | Free-form text. |
| Number | Numeric value. |
| Currency | Monetary amount. |
| Date | Calendar date (see Date Format below). |
| Date+Time | Calendar date with a time component. |
| Yes / No | A yes / no value. |
| Email address. | |
| Phone | Phone number. |
| Dropdown | A value chosen from a fixed list. |
| Long | Long numeric value. |
These types are read by a dedicated decoder rather than plain OCR. For what each one captures and decodes, see Data capture.
| Type | Reader |
|---|---|
| Barcode | 1-D barcode. |
| QR Code | QR code. |
| PDF417 | PDF417 stacked barcode. |
| Aztec | Aztec code. |
| Data Matrix | Data Matrix code. |
| MRZ | Machine-readable zone (passports / ID cards). |
| MICR | Magnetic-ink character line (cheques). |
| Handwriting | Handwritten text. |
| Handwriting (Boxed) | Handwriting in comb / boxed fields. |
| Data Table | Tabular region (see Table options below). |
| Image | Captures the region as an image, no OCR. |
| Raw | Unprocessed OCR text. |
| Full Page | The whole page. |
| Checkbox | Checkbox state. |
Screenshot: templates-zones-02 — The Type dropdown open, showing the scalar and structured zone types.
Char Set
Char Set constrains which characters OCR is allowed to read for the zone. Changing it re-runs OCR and, unless you have typed a custom Validation Regex, keeps the regex in sync.
| Option | Allows |
|---|---|
| Alphanumeric | Letters and digits. |
| Numbers | Digits only. |
| Letters | Letters only. |
| Custom | Only the characters you list in Custom Characters. |
When Char Set is Custom, a Custom Characters field appears — type the exact set of allowed characters (for example 0123456789.-).
MRZ zones always use the fixed ICAO machine-readable alphabet. The Char Set is forced to Custom for them so the band is read intact.
Validation Regex
Validation Regex is the pattern the captured value must match to count as valid. Type your own, or pick a preset from the combo box. The OCR Preview shows a ✓ / ✗ against the extracted value so you can confirm the rule before saving.
A preset is suggested automatically based on the zone Type (and Date Format), and is filled in only while the field is empty or still holds a recognised preset — a custom pattern you type is never overwritten.
| Preset | Pattern | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Integer | ^-?\d+$ | Whole number, optional leading minus. |
| Positive integer | ^\d+$ | Digits only, no sign. |
| Decimal (point) | ^-?\d+(\.\d+)?$ | Decimal point — 1234.56. |
| Decimal (comma) | ^-?\d+(,\d+)?$ | EU decimal comma — 1234,56. |
| Alphanumeric | ^[A-Za-z0-9]+$ | Letters and digits only. |
| Letters only | ^[A-Za-z ]+$ | A–Z and spaces. |
| Phone (any) | ^(?:\+|00)?[\d\s().-]{6,}(?:\s*(?:ext\.?|x|#)\s*\d{1,6})?$ | +, 00, local, parens, dashes; optional extension. |
| Phone — E.164 | ^\+[1-9]\d{6,14}$ | Strict international, no separators. |
| Phone — US / NANP | ^(?:\+?1[\s.-]?)?\(?\d{3}\)?[\s.-]?\d{3}[\s.-]?\d{4}(?:\s*(?:ext\.?|x|#)\s*\d{1,6})?$ | (555) 123-4567, with or without country code. |
| Phone with extension | ^(?:\+|00)?[\d\s().-]{6,}\s*(?:ext\.?|x|#)\s*\d{1,6}$ | Extension required. |
| Date — ISO (YYYY-MM-DD) | ^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$ | |
| Date — US (MM/DD/YYYY) | ^(0?[1-9]|1[0-2])/(0?[1-9]|[12]\d|3[01])/\d{4}$ | |
| Date — EU (DD/MM/YYYY) | ^(0?[1-9]|[12]\d|3[01])/(0?[1-9]|1[0-2])/\d{4}$ | |
| Date (any common) | ^\d{1,4}[/.\-]\d{1,2}[/.\-]\d{1,4}$ | Permissive — 2026-05-24, 24/05/2026, 5.24.26. |
^\S+@\S+\.\S+$ | ||
| URL (incl. www.) | ^(?:https?://|www\.)\S+$ | |
| US ZIP | ^\d{5}(-\d{4})?$ | |
| IBAN | ^[A-Z]{2}\d{2}[A-Z0-9]{11,30}$ | |
| GUID | ^[0-9a-fA-F]{8}(-[0-9a-fA-F]{4}){3}-[0-9a-fA-F]{12}$ |
Line Selection
Line Selection clips the captured value to a single line after OCR — handy when you draw a generous zone but only want the heading or the total.
| Option | Keeps |
|---|---|
| All lines (default) | Every line in the zone. |
| First line only | Only the first line (for example a heading). |
| Last line only | Only the last line (for example a total). |
Line Selection is hidden for structured types (barcodes, MRZ, Data Table, Image, Checkbox) where line semantics do not apply.
Apply zone to
Page targeting under Apply zone to controls which pages of a multi-page document the zone runs against.
| Option | Targets |
|---|---|
| All pages | Every page (the default). |
| First page only | The first page. |
| Last page only | The last page. |
| Specific page index | One page — enter a 1-based page number. |
| Page range | A from–to span. Enter end for to to run to the last page. |
Screenshot: templates-zones-03 — The Apply zone to section expanded, with the page-range from / to inputs visible.
OCR settings (per zone)
By default a zone inherits the template's OCR engine and language. Expand OCR settings to override them for this zone only.
| Control | Options |
|---|---|
| Engine | Field default (inherit), Tesseract, EasyOCR, PaddleOCR, Scanix Vision. |
| Language(s) | One or more recognition languages. Enabled only once an Engine is set; otherwise the zone inherits the template language. |
Clearing the Engine back to Field default (inherit) also clears the per-zone Language(s), since the language code is engine-specific.
Required field & default value
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Name | The field name this zone fills. |
| Default | A value used when the zone captures nothing. |
| Required field | Marks the field as mandatory for review/validation. |
Min confidence (review threshold)
Min confidence (review threshold) sets the OCR confidence below which the captured value is flagged for review. It is a slider from 0% to 100%.
- Cleared (no explicit value) → the zone uses the global default of 85%.
- An explicit value sticks for this zone regardless of the global default. Use Reset to return the zone to the global default.
Set a strict threshold on critical zones (for example an invoice number) and a looser one on free-form zones (for example notes).
Screenshot: templates-zones-04 — The Min confidence (review threshold) slider with its percentage readout and Reset link.
Blank zone detection
Enable Blank zone detection to skip a zone that is empty on a given page — distinct from page-level blank-page removal, which drops whole pages.
| Control | Effect |
|---|---|
| Blank zone detection | Turns per-zone blank detection on. |
| Sensitivity | A 0–1 slider. Lower values ignore minor ink / bleed-through; higher values treat only pristine zones as blank. |
| Test blank detection | Runs detection against the sample page at the current sensitivity and reports Contents detected or Blank. |
Screenshot: templates-zones-05 — Blank zone detection enabled, showing the Sensitivity slider and the Test blank detection result.
Type-specific options
Some zone types reveal extra controls in the General tab.