Get Started With ID Capture

Quick overview

ID Capture provides the capability to scan personal identification documents, such as identity cards, passports or visas. In this guide you will learn step by step how to add ID Capture to your application. Roughly, the steps are:

Note

Using ID Capture at the same time as other modes (e.g. Barcode Capture or Text Capture) is currently not supported.

• Create a DataCaptureContext.

• Access a Camera.

• Use IdCaptureSettings to configure the scan process.

• Implement an IdCaptureListener to receive scan results.

• Set up DataCaptureView and IdCaptureOverlay to see the camera feed and the scan UI.

• Begin the scanning by adding an IdCapture to DataCaptureContext and starting a camera.

Prerequisites

Before starting with adding a capture mode, make sure that you have a valid Scandit Data Capture SDK license key and that you added the necessary dependencies. If you have not done that yet, check out this guide.

Note

You can retrieve your Scandit Data Capture SDK license key, by signing in to your account at ssl.scandit.com/dashboard/sign-in.

External dependencies

The Scandit Data Capture SDK modules depend on a few standard libraries that you can find listed below. If you are including the Scandit Data Capture SDK through Gradle or Maven, all of these dependencies are automatically pulled in and there is no need for you to do anything further. If on the other hand you are directly adding the AAR files to the project, you will have to add these dependencies yourself.

Module	Dependencies
ScanditCaptureCore.aar	org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib:[version] androidx.annotation:annotation:[version] com.squareup.okhttp3:okhttp:4.9.2 Not needed if using version 6.22 or newer of the Scandit Data Capture SDK
ScanditBarcodeCapture.aar	org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib:[version] androidx.annotation:annotation:[version]
ScanditParser.aar	No dependencies
ScanditTextCapture.aar	org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib:[version] androidx.annotation:annotation:[version]
ScanditIdCapture.aar	org.jetbrains.kotlin:kotlin-stdlib:[version] androidx.annotation:annotation:[version]

Internal dependencies

Some of the Scandit Data Capture SDK modules depend on others to work:

Module	Dependencies
ScanditCaptureCore	No dependencies
ScanditBarcodeCapture	ScanditCaptureCore
ScanditParser	No dependencies
ScanditTextCapture	ScanditCaptureCore ScanditTextCaptureBackend
ScanditIdCapture	ScanditCaptureCore ScanditIdCaptureBackend (VIZ documents)
ScanditIdCaptureBackend	No dependencies
ScanditTextCaptureBackend	No dependencies

Please note that your license may support only a subset of ID Capture features. If you would like to use additional features please contact us at support@scandit.com.

Show loading status with default UI

To show some feedback to the user about the loading status you have two options: use the default UI provided with the SDK or subscribe to the loading status and update your own custom UI. Let’s see how we you can show the default UI first:

Show loading status with custom UI

You can also just subscribe for the loading status of the library by simply attaching a listener like this:

Note

We suggest to serve the library files with the proper headers Content-Length and Content-Encoding if any compression is present. In case of totally missing information we will show an estimated progress

Create the Data Capture Context

The first step to add capture capabilities to your application is to create a new data capture context. The context expects a valid Scandit Data Capture SDK license key during construction.

DataCaptureContext dataCaptureContext = DataCaptureContext.forLicenseKey("-- ENTER YOUR SCANDIT LICENSE KEY HERE --");

Add the Camera

You need to also create the Camera:

camera = Camera.getDefaultCamera(IdCapture.createRecommendedCameraSettings());

if (camera == null) {
    throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to init camera!");
}

dataCaptureContext.setFrameSource(camera);

Create ID Capture Settings

Use IdCaptureSettings to configure the types of documents that you’d like to scan. Check IdDocumentType for all the available options.

Warning

Using IdDocumentType.DL_VIZ or IdDocumentType.ID_CARD_VIZ together with any MRZ document (IdDocumentType.ID_CARD_MRZ, IdDocumentType.VISA_MRZ, IdDocumentType.PASSPORT_MRZ, IdDocumentType.SWISS_DL_MRZ) while SupportedSides.FRONT_AND_BACK is enabled is currently not supported.

IdCaptureSettings settings = new IdCaptureSettings();
settings.setSupportedDocuments(
        IdDocumentType.ID_CARD_VIZ,
        IdDocumentType.DL_VIZ,
        IdDocumentType.AAMVA_BARCODE
);

Implement the Listener

To receive scan results, implement IdCaptureListener. A result is delivered as CapturedId. This class contains data common for all kinds of personal identification documents. For more specific information use its non-null result properties (for example CapturedId.aamvaBarcode).

class MyListener implements IdCaptureListener {
    @Override
    public void onIdCaptured(
            @NotNull IdCapture mode,
            @NotNull IdCaptureSession session,
            @NotNull FrameData data
    ) {
        CapturedId capturedId = session.getNewlyCapturedId();

        // The recognized fields of the captured Id can vary based on the type.
        if (capturedId.getMrz() != null) {
            // Handle the information extracted.
        } else if (capturedId.getViz() != null) {
            // Handle the information extracted.
        } else if (capturedId.getAamvaBarcode() != null) {
            // Handle the information extracted.
        } else if (capturedId.getUsUniformedServicesBarcode() != null) {
            // Handle the information extracted.
        }
    }

    @Override
    public void onErrorEncountered(
            @NotNull IdCapture mode,
            @NotNull Throwable error,
            @NotNull IdCaptureSession session,
            @NotNull FrameData data
    ) {
      // Handle the error
    }
}

Create a new ID Capture mode with the chosen settings. Then register the listener:

idCapture = IdCapture.forDataCaptureContext(dataCaptureContext, settings);
idCapture.addListener(this);

Use a Capture View to Visualize the Scan Process

When using the built-in camera as frame source, you will typically want to display the camera preview on the screen together with UI elements that guide the user through the capturing process. To do that, add a DataCaptureView to your view hierarchy:

DataCaptureView dataCaptureView = DataCaptureView.newInstance(this, dataCaptureContext);
setContentView(dataCaptureView);

Then create an instance of IdCaptureOverlay attached to the view:

IdCaptureOverlay overlay = IdCaptureOverlay.newInstance(idCapture, dataCaptureView);

The overlay chooses the displayed UI automatically, based on the selected IdCaptureSettings. If you prefer to show a different UI or to temporarily hide it, set the appropriate IdCaptureOverlay.idLayout.

Turn on the Camera

Finally, turn on the camera to start scanning:

camera.switchToDesiredState(FrameSourceState.ON);

And this is it. You can now scan documents.

Capture both the front and the back side of documents

By default, when IdDocumentType.DL_VIZ or IdDocumentType.ID_CARD_VIZ are selected, Id Capture scans only the front side of documents. Sometimes however, you may be interested in extracting combined information from both the front and the back side.

Currently the combined result contains the following information: * AAMVA-compliant documents (for example US Driver’s Licenses): the human-readable front side of the document and the data encoded in the PDF417 barcode in the back; * European IDs: the human-readable sections of the front and the back side, and the data encoded in the Machine Readable Zone (MRZ); * Other documents: the human-readable section of the front and the back side (if present).

First, enable scanning of both sides of documents in IdCaptureSettings:

settings.setSupportedDocuments(IdDocumentType.ID_CARD_VIZ, IdDocumentType.DL_VIZ);
settings.setSupportedSides(SupportedSides.FRONT_AND_BACK);

Start by scanning the front side of a document. After you receive the result in IdCaptureListener, inspect VizResult.isBackSideCaptureSupported. If scanning of the back side of your document is supported, flip the document and capture the back side as well. The next result that you receive is a combined result that contains the information from both sides. You may verify this by checking VizResult.capturedSides. After both sides of the document are scanned, you may proceed with another document.

Sometimes, you may not be interested in scanning the back side of a document, after you completed the front scan. For example, your user may decide to cancel the process. Internally, Id Capture maintains the state of the scan, that helps it to provide better combined results. To abandon capturing the back of a document, reset this state by calling:

idCapture.reset();

Otherwise, Id Capture may assume that the front side of a new document is actually the back side of an old one, and provide you with nonsensical results.

Use ID Validate to detect fake IDs

ID Validate is a fake ID detection software. It currently supports documents that follow the Driver License/Identification Card specification by the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA).

The following two verifiers are available:

• AamvaVizBarcodeComparisonVerifier: Validates the authenticity of the document by comparing the data from the VIZ and from the barcode on the back.

• AamvaBarcodeVerifier: Validates the authenticity of the document by scanning the barcode on the back.

To enable ID Validate for your subscription, please reach out to support@scandit.com.

Supported documents

You can find the list of supported documents here.

What’s next?

To dive further into the Scandit Data Capture SDK we recommend the following articles:

• ScanditIdCapture