Document image processing system including a first document path for the

Abstract

An image based, dual path, document processing system including an imaging unit, a character recognition unit, a dual path module and an encoder. A document received by the system is sequentially processed through the imaging unit, the character recognition unit, the dual path module and the encoder. The imaging unit images the front face of the document and attempts to identify character data appearing on the face of said document, such as a hand-written courtesy amount appearing on a bank check, while the character recognition unit is utilized to reads machine-readable data, such as MICR data, printed on the face of the document. The dual path module includes a first document path for directly delivering the document through the dual path module to the encoder upon successful processing of the document by the imaging and character recognition units, and a second document path including an action window wherein an operator may perform corrective action on the document upon unsuccessful processing of the document by either the imaging unit or the character recognition unit.