Systems and methods for preserving and maintaining document integrity
Systems and methods consistent with embodiments of the present invention provide for a method for preserving and maintaining document integrity. In some methods for preserving and maintaining document integrity, the contents of a document, or contents of a document layer may be encoded into a machine-readable form. In some embodiments, the encoded information may be represented using a 2-dimensional bar code. In some methods for preserving and maintaining document integrity, the machine-readable code is printed along with contents of the document based on space available in the document. In some embodiments, a printed document containing the machine-readable code may be scanned and digitized, and content extracted from the scanned data. In some embodiments, the machine-readable code printed on the document is used to recreate layer data from the printed document.
1. A computer processor configured to execute instructions that perform steps in a method for preserving and maintaining document integrity, the steps comprising:
selecting document layer data for encoding;
encoding the selected document layer data in a machine-readable format;
determining the amount of space available on each page to print the encoding corresponding to layer data associated with that page of the document; and
printing the contents of each page of the document with its associated machine readable encoding, if space is available on the page to print the machine-readable encoding; or
printing the machine-readable encoding on a separate page, if space available on the page is not sufficient to print the machine-readable encoding.
2. The computer processor of claim 1 , wherein the document layer data corresponds to pages of a document.
3. The computer processor of claim 1 , wherein the amount of space available on each page to print the encoding is determined by a printable area based on margins of each page.
4. The computer processor of claim 1 , wherein printing the machine-readable encoding on a separate page comprises:
printing a machine-readable marker on a page to indicate that the machine-readable encoding is being printed separately; and
printing the machine-readable encoding in a separate section following printed pages containing document content.
5. The computer processor of claim 1 , wherein the machine-readable format comprises a two-dimensional bar code.
6. A system for preserving and maintaining document integrity comprising:
a selecting component for selecting document layer data for encoding;
an encoding component for encoding the selected document layer data in a machine-readable format;
a determining component for determining the amount of space available on each page to print the encoding corresponding to layer data associated with that page of the document; and
a printing component for:
printing the contents of each page of the document with its associated machine readable encoding, if space is available on the page to print the machine-readable encoding; or
printing the machine-readable encoding on a separate page, if space available on the page is not sufficient to print the machine-readable encoding.
7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the document layer data corresponds to pages of a document.
8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the amount of space available on each page to print the encoding is determined by a printable area based on margins of each page.
9. The system of claim 6 , wherein printing the machine-readable encoding on a separate page comprises:
printing a machine-readable marker on a page to indicate that the machine-readable encoding is being printed separately; and
printing the machine-readable encoding in a separate section following printed pages containing document content.
10. The system of claim 6 , wherein the machine-readable format comprises a two-dimensional bar code.
11. A processor executing instructions for controlling a computer system to perform steps in a method for retrieving the content and meta-data associated with the content, from at least one page of a printed document containing document content data and a first machine-readable encoding on one face of the at least one page, the steps comprising:
scanning the face of the at least one page of the printed document containing the document content data and the first machine-readable encoding;
processing the scanned document section data to extract document content;
processing the first scanned machine-readable encoding to extract document meta-data, wherein the first machine-readable encoding encodes the location of a second machine-readable encoding on a second page containing document meta-data; and
associating the extracted document meta-data with the extracted document content for the at least one page of the printed document.
12. The processor of claim 11 , wherein scanning the face of the at least one page of the printed document comprises reading the first machine-readable encoding from the printed document.
13. The processor of claim 11 , wherein processing the scanned document section data to extract document content comprises using at least one of a character recognition and image processing technique on the scanned document section data.
14. The processor of claim 11 , wherein processing the first scanned machine-readable encoding to extract document meta-data comprises correlating data read from the machine-readable encoding with document content.
15. The processor of claim 11 , wherein associating the extracted document meta-data with the extracted document content comprises storing the extracted document meta-data as a document layer.
16. A system for retrieving the content of document sections and meta data associated with document sections, from a printed document containing a first machine-readable encoding comprising:
a scanning component for scanning the printed document containing the first machine-readable encoding;
a document processing component for processing the scanned document section data to extract document content;
a code processing component for processing the scanned first machine-readable encoding to extract document meta-data, wherein the first machine-readable encoding encodes the location of a second machine-readable encoding on a second page containing document meta-data; and
an associating component for associating the extracted document meta-data with the extracted document content.
17. The system of claim 16 , wherein scanning the printed document comprises reading the first machine-readable encoding from the printed document.
18. The system of claim 16 , wherein processing the scanned document section data to extract document content comprises using at least one of a character recognition and image processing technique on the scanned document section data.
19. The system of claim 16 , wherein processing the scanned first machine-readable encoding to extract document meta-data comprises correlating data read from the machine-readable encoding with document content.
20. The system of claim 16 , wherein associating the extracted document meta-data with the extracted document content comprises storing the extracted document meta-data as a document layer.