Frequently Asked Questions

Do your products rely on image processing plug-ins? No, all of our products are stand-alone products. However, our products do use the Microsoft .NET 3.5 framework, which can be downloaded from the Microsoft Download Center. However, you may already have this framework installed on your machine since most modern applications already use it.

Do you have a version for Linux?  No, our products are designed for Windows XP, Vista, and 7. There are currently no plans for a Linux version. 

How many machines can I install Pedigree on? The retail version allows for only one machine. However, we also have a cost-effective site licensing program that allows unlimited number of machines.

Can I download a demo version of the Pedigree software? Yes, a 15-day trial of Pedigree QP is available on our website.

 How can I purchase your products? We have a growing reseller base in Europe, USA and Canada, and, of course, we also sell directly. Please phone us (or email, if you prefer) so that we can work with you to provide the best solutions for your needs.

What input image formats do you support? JPEG (baseline), TIFF (single and multipage), and BMP are supported, with some limited support for PDF. We support 8 and 16-bit input, color or monochrome.

What output image formats do you support? TIFF (single and multipage) and PDF/A-1b are supported. Support for compressed formats such as JPEG and JPEG 2000 is planned.

How long does it take to process an image? While the processing time is dependent on the image resolution and the CPU speed, the automated target detection usually takes less than 300 milliseconds, and the full quality analysis is typically less than a second. Image processing with Pedigree QP will require additonal time, but as examples, the autodeskew and autocrop functionality typically take around two to four seconds.

How do I tell the software which target is being used? There's no need to identify the target. Our software automatically detects which target is present. However, it is strongly recommended that only one target be present at a time to prevent any ambiguity about the source of the quality measurements.

Can I place an image next to a target and will Pedigree still calculate the quality?  Yes, and it will find and analyze the target automatically.

Can I still do a quality analysis if I crop out the target? Yes, our software will automatically manage a copy of the target so it is processed and analyzed even when it has been cropped from the displayed image.

What are the limitations on target positioning? The Certifi targets and analysis software are designed to be robust to target position, rotation and orientation. However, we do recommend that the rotation be less than plus or minus 15 degrees from the horizontal or vertical axis for the most accurate quality measurements.

Do you have a manual mode for target analysis? There is no need for a manual mode in the Pedigree family of products. All analysis is automatic.

Are the targets calibrated? Yes, the targets include a barcode that indicates the lot number of the manufacturer's run. Each lot is separately calibrated to correct variations that would influence the quality results. Calibration files are provided with the Pedigree products.

We need a color-managed workflow, do you support color management? Yes. Both image quality management and image processing can be performed using a color-managed workflow in our Pedigree products.

How do I access the quality information of my images? Each Certified output image has XMP metadata in the header that represents the quality summary for the image. The XMP metadata is secured with the image data using a digital signature. In addition, separate files are produced in XML that contain detailed quality information. In the case of Pedigree QP, the quality metadata also includes the image processing script.

Why does the quality data get saved to XMP/XML and why don't you save to a database? XML is very easy to import into all modern databases. Rather than restricting the output to a specific database, we provide you flexibility to use whatever database you desire as it is likely that your database has an XML import capability. We'll be glad to assist you in developing filters to read our quality output into your native database. However, in all of our products, we also provide you freely distributable tools that give you job-specific analysis and summary statistics, rendering many database implementations unnecessary.

What is the difference between DPI and Effective DPI? DPI is a measure of the number of pixels over a given distance. For example, if Certifi Pedigree counts 2000 pixels between the centers of two fiducials with a known spacing of 6 2/3 inches, then the DPI is about 300 dots per inch. In a camera-capture setup, the DPI will vary as a function of the distance from the camera to the content, the resolution, the sensor size, and the lens focal length. In flatbed scanners, the DPI usually corresponds very closely to what the user selected as a scanning DPI in the controls provided by the scanner manufacturer. However, it is quite common for a scanner manufacturer to advertise that it can scan at high DPI, say 1200 DPI, when the scanning is actually done at 600 DPI and then interpolated to a higher resolution. In this case, Certifi Pedigree will report an effective DPI of 600 DPI, even thought the image metadata indicates a DPI of 1200 DPI. The concept of effective DPI was introduced in order to provide a measure of the scanners' actual resolution. Effective DPI is based on the concept of the spatial frequency response (SFR), and it's a good way of comparing the actual resolution of scanners. A good paper on this subject is: “Diagnostics for digital capture using MTF,” by Don Williams and Peter D. Burns, Proc. IS&T PICS, pp. 227-232, 2001. Certifi Pedigree uses the 10% modulation point of the SFR as the effecive DPI.

We need a color-managed workflow; do you support color management? Yes. Both image quality analysis and image processing can be performed using a color-managed workflow in our Pedigree products.

How robust is your auto deskew; what technique are you using? Our deskew uses a proprietary algorithm that optimizes the deskew over all signals in the image using phase coherencies, rather than the more common approach of deskewing according to various text or line orientiations. This is very important when dealing with older content that includes hand-set type and layouts, which may not be aligned along the same orientations across a page. We've had the advantage of working with production line QA analysts, and we've found that our approach produces results that are much more consistent with what the analysts and their customers prefer.