OCR should keep the same created date on new file

[lucaberta]

I am starting to populate different data in DT3, and one of the things that I have always wanted to automate is OCR of screenshots which I take using an app called SnapNDrag.

This software allows dragging files out of the archive, and keeps the created and modified date in the exported PNG file to the exact time the screenshot was taken.

In DT3 I have created a smart rule to convert the PNG into PDF while performing OCR, and the results are great.

The only issue I have is that the new PDF file completely “forgets“ the created date of the original file, and treats the file as a brand new one, with the same created and modified dates as those of the OCR process.

I know, technically speaking the PDF file has just been created, but I hate to be losing the original creation date on the new file.

Short of having this feature implemented in a future release, is there a way to overcome this issue maybe with a script? The issue was also mentioned in this old thread:

OCR should no alter the creation date

Morning. I have to OCR all my scanned PDF files. If I do so the creation date of these PDF files will be changed to the date and time of OCR. But I want to keep the original creation time. Is there a script to do it? 1.) Save the creation time of the file. 2.) OCR the file. 3.) Replace creation time of the OCR’ed file by the saved time. Thanks in advance for your support! Kind regards, Friedrich

Thanks, Luca

[BLUEFROG]

You could only script this if you retained the original file and queried it to apply to another file.
So possible? Yes.
Optimal experience? I don’t think so.

And actually, post a screen capture of the smart rule you’ve created.

[mals]

@lucaberta did you solve this problem?

[lucaberta]

Hi @mais, I don’t believe I followed up much on this issue, to be frank.

This was a while back and I don’t recall doing more tests.

Bye, Luca

[mals]

hi @lucaberta - thank you for your reply. No problem. Have a great day.

[Blanc]

As mentioned in the thread referenced above, when performing Convert to Searchable PDF, the creation date remains identical to the source file. The same is true when you use OCR Apply in a smart rule. If you use OCR to Searchable PDF in a smart rule, then a new file is created (rather then the original file being modified); that file uses the actual creation date as its creation date rather than the creation date of the original.

So, solutions:

• Use a smart rule which uses OCR Apply rather than OCR to searchable PDF
  • if you need to keep the original, use Duplicate and Continue followed by OCR Apply in the smart rule; your original will remain untouched and the duplicate will be OCR’d, keeping the original creation date (and will no longer be a duplicate).