Introduction

Organizations regularly collect and process documents such as identity proofs, certificates, licenses, compliance forms, and financial records as part of HR, administration, finance, and operational workflows. 

Manually entering data from these documents into forms is time-consuming and increases the risk of human error. 

Incorrect entries can lead to compliance issues, approval delays, and data inconsistencies across the system.

To address this challenge, uKnowva provides an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) feature within workflows. 

The primary purpose of OCR in workflows is to automatically extract relevant information from uploaded documents and populate predefined form fields.

In this article, we will create a sample workflow to demonstrate how OCR works. 

We will use a PAN card as an example document type, but the same configuration process applies to other documents such as Aadhaar cards, driving licenses, passports, or any supported document type. 

Step 1: Navigate to the Workflow Section

From the side navigation panel, click on the HR menu and then select the Workflow sub-menu. 

The system will open a page displaying the list of existing workflows configured in your instance.

You can either create a new workflow by clicking on the “+” icon or open an existing workflow if you want to enhance it with OCR functionality. 

It is important to note that OCR is not limited to new workflows only. You can enable OCR in existing workflows as well by either adding a new attachment field or enabling OCR in an already existing attachment field.

In the Workflow Settings tab, enter a suitable title such as “PAN Card Submission Workflow.” 

You may also configure approval settings if your process requires verification before final submission or if you want to enable settings such as saving it as a draft, allowing email approval, etc. 

Once you complete the basic workflow configuration, proceed to the Form tab.

Step 2: Design the Form Structure

After configuring the basic workflow settings, move to the Form tab. Here, you will create the structure that captures document details.

Start by dragging and dropping an Attachment field into the form layout. This field will allow users to upload the PAN card for OCR processing.

Next, add three Text fields to capture the extracted details. These fields will store the PAN card holder’s name, PAN card number, and the PAN card holder’s father’s name.

Hover over the first text box, click on the Settings icon, and change the label to “PAN Card Holder Name.” Apply validations if required and click Save.

Then hover over the second text box, open its settings, and change the label to “PAN Card Number.” You may add validations such as mandatory entry or character format restrictions. Save the configuration.

Next, hover over the third text box, open the settings, and change the label to “PAN Card Holder’s Father Name.” Apply validations as needed and save the field.

This completes the structure of your PAN card data form

Step 3: Enable OCR in the Attachment Field

Now configure the Attachment field to activate OCR functionality. Hover over the Attachment field and click on the Settings icon. 

Enter a suitable label such as “Upload PAN Card.”

Set the Multiple Attachments option to “No.” This is important because OCR processes one document at a time. If multiple files are uploaded in the same field, the system will not be able to correctly map extracted data to the respective fields. If you need to process multiple documents, you should use a Data Grid field where each row contains a separate attachment field with OCR enabled.

Select the Allowed File Types and define the Maximum File Size (MB) as per your policy.

Next, enable the Enable OCR checkbox. Once enabled, additional configuration settings will appear.

In the Document Type field, select the appropriate document type. For this example, select “PAN Card.” However, you can choose other document types such as Aadhaar Card, Driving License, Passport, or any supported document, depending on your workflow requirement.

For documents that do not fall under the predefined categories, you can select “Other.” This option can be used for documents like Voter ID cards, invoices, salary slips, bank statements, utility bills, or similar records. 

If the document is password-protected, you should first add a Password field in your form and then enable the “Enable Password Field for Document” option in the attachment settings and select the password field you created. This allows the system to use the entered password to unlock and process the document during OCR.

Step 4: Map Form Fields with OCR API Fields

After enabling OCR, proceed to the Field Mapping (Form Field → API Field) section. Field mapping ensures that the data extracted by OCR is automatically populated into the correct form fields.

In uKnowva, you do not need to manually create API fields. The moment you select a form field from the drop-down list in the mapping section, the system automatically generates and links the corresponding API field in the background. This makes the configuration faster and eliminates the need for technical API setup.

To configure the mapping, simply select the relevant form field from the drop-down. For example, choose the “PAN Card Holder Name” field for mapping the extracted name value. Then select the “PAN Card Number” field for the PAN number extraction, and select the “PAN Card Holder’s Father Name” field for the father’s name extraction.

As soon as you select each form field, the system auto-generates the respective API linkage and connects the OCR-extracted PAN card data directly to that field. No manual API naming or coding is required.

You will also notice a column called “Is Multiple” in the Field Mapping section. This option is used when the OCR output contains multiple values for the same field. For example, in invoice documents, there can be multiple line items such as product names, quantities, and prices. In such cases, enabling the “Is Multiple” option allows the system to map multiple extracted values into repeating fields, typically within a Data Grid structure. This is especially useful for documents that contain tabular or repeating data.

Once all required fields are selected and mapped, click on the Save button to store the configuration.

Step 5: Configure Menu Settings and Access

Next, move to the Menu tab. Enter a suitable title such as “PAN Card Submission.” Select the appropriate Parent Menu under which this workflow should appear. Then choose the User Groups who should have access to this PAN card OCR workflow.

After completing the menu configuration, click on the Submit button to publish the workflow.

Step 6: Use the OCR Workflow

Once the workflow is active, navigate to the PAN Card workflow page. Upload the PAN card file in the “Upload PAN Card” attachment field.

The OCR engine will automatically scan the PAN card and extract relevant details such as the PAN card holder’s name, PAN number, and father’s name. These details will automatically populate the mapped text fields in the form.

Review the extracted PAN card details for accuracy. If everything is correct, click on the Submit button to complete the workflow submission.

Conclusion

That’s it! 

You’ve now successfully configured and used OCR within a workflow in uKnowva HRMS. 

By following this process, you ensure that document data is automatically extracted, accurately mapped to form fields, and submitted with minimal manual intervention. 

If you have any questions or need additional support, feel free to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..