Zone templates

A template contains a page background value and a set of zones and their attributes (including shape, size, position, zone contents and zone type), stored in a file. Zone templates can be created and used for documents with the same layout. A zone template file can be loaded to have template zones used during recognition.

When you load a template, its background and zones are placed:

  • on the current page, replacing any zones already there

  • on all further acquired pages

  • on pre-existing pages sent to (re)recognition without any zones.

With manual processing the template zones in the first two cases can be viewed and modified before recognition.

With automatic processing the template zones can be viewed and modified only after recognition.

This behavior continues until the template is unloaded.

With workflow processing, a load template step can be followed by a manual zoning step, so you can see the template zones and modify or supplement them before recognition.

Templates accept ignore and process zones and backgrounds. They can therefore be useful to define which parts of the pages to process with auto-zoning, and which parts to ignore. Process zones or process background areas from a template will be replaced during recognition by one or more zones; specific zone types will be assigned to these zones.

The Zone Template Files dialog box displays all zone template files created by the program or added from elsewhere. When you save a template file it is by default saved to the Template subfolder, but you can select a different location, including network drives. This allows you to make your template files available to other users. When a template file is selected, its path is displayed.

You can add a previously removed template file or import a template file, for instance from a network location. You can remove a template file from the list. You can load or unload templates by using the Layout Description drop-down list on the OCR Toolbox.

To load a zone template:

  • Select a template file in the Layout Description drop-down list.

To create and save a zone template:

  1. Select a background value and prepare zones on a page.

  2. Check their locations and properties.

  3. Click Zone Template… in the Tools menu.

  4. In the dialog box, select [zones on page].

  5. Click Save.

  6. Name the template file and click OK.

  7. Click Set as Current to use the new template immediately.

  8. Close the Zone Template Files dialog box.

To modify a zone template:

  1. Load the template and acquire a suitable image with manual processing.

    The template zones appear.

  2. Modify the zones and/or properties as desired.

  3. Click Zone Template… in the Tools menu.

    The current template is selected in the Zone Template Files dialog box.

  4. Click Save and then Close.

To unload a template:

  • Select a non-template setting for layout description in the Layout Description drop-down list.

The template zones are not removed from the current or existing pages, but template zones will no longer be used for future processing.

  • You can also open the Zone Template Files dialog box, select [none] and click the Set As Current button. In this case, the layout description setting returns to Automatic.

To replace one template with another:

  • Select a different template in the Layout Description drop-down list, or open the Zone Template Files dialog box, select the desired template and click the Set As Current button.

Zones from the new template are applied to the current page, replacing any existing zones. They are also applied as explained above.

To add a template file to the list:

  1. Click Add… in the Zone Template Files dialog box.

  2. Accept the default folder or select the folder where your template file is located.

  3. Select the template file and click OK.

The zone template file will appear in the dialog box.

  1. Click Set as Current to use the new template immediately.

  2. Click Close.

To remove a template file from the list:

  1. Select a template file in the Zone Template Files dialog box.

  2. Click Remove.

The selected template file will be removed from the list but it will not be deleted from the disk.

  • The program will not be able to offer template files that have been moved to new locations without using OmniPage.

To delete a template file:

  1. Select the template file to be deleted in your operating system. The default location is

under Vista and Windows 7:
Users\<username>\AppData\Roaming\ScanSoft\OmniPage18\ZoneTemplate

under Windows XP:
Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>\Application Data\ScanSoft\OmniPage18\ZoneTemplate

Template files have a .zon extension.

  1. Click Delete. Click Yes to confirm file deletion.
    Zones already placed by this template are not removed.

  2. Templates are available in Direct OCR, in the Workflow Assistant and also for use in Batch Manager jobs.

To embed a template file in an OmniPage Document

  1. Load, or create and save a template.

  2. Display the Zone Template Files dialog box and click Embed…. The Embed in OPD dialog box will appear where you can enter the name of the zone template file to be embedded in the current document. Close the dialog box.

  3. Save your OmniPage Document.

When you load an OPD with one or more embedded template files, they appear in the list of zone template files as [embedded]. Select one and click Extract to save it to your local computer.

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Zone templates