1、BRITISH STANDARD BS EN 13619:2002 Postal services Mail item processing Optical characteristics for processing letters The European Standard EN 13619:2002 has the status of a British Standard ICS 03.240 BS EN 13619:2002 This British Standard, having been prepared under the direction of the Management
2、 Systems Sector Policy and Strategy Committee, was published under the authority of the Standards Policy and Strategy Committee on 28 November 2002 BSI 28 November 2002 ISBN 0 580 40861 2 National foreword This British Standard is the official English language version of EN 13619:2002. The UK partic
3、ipation in its preparation was entrusted to Technical Committee SVS/4, Postal Services, which has the responsibility to: A list of organizations represented on this committee can be obtained on request to its secretary. Cross-references The British Standards which implement international or European
4、 publications referred to in this document may be found in the BSI Catalogue under the section entitled “International Standards Correspondence Index”, or by using the “Search” facility of the BSI Electronic Catalogue or of British Standards Online. This publication does not purport to include all t
5、he necessary provisions of a contract. Users are responsible for its correct application. Compliance with a British Standard does not of itself confer immunity from legal obligations. aid enquirers to understand the text; present to the responsible international/European committee any enquiries on t
6、he interpretation, or proposals for change, and keep the UK interests informed; monitor related international and European developments and promulgate them in the UK. Summary of pages This document comprises a front cover, an inside front cover, the EN title page, pages 2 to 22, an inside back cover
7、 and a back cover. The BSI copyright date displayed in this document indicates when the document was last issued. Amendments issued since publication Amd. No. Date CommentsEUROPEANSTANDARD NORMEEUROPENNE EUROPISCHENORM EN13619 November2002 ICS03.240 Englishversion PostalservicesMailitemprocessingOpt
8、icalcharacteristics forprocessingletters ServicespostauxTraitementdesobjetspostaux Caractristiquesoptiquespourletraitementducourrier PostalischeDienstleistungenBearbeitungvonSendungen OptischeMerkmalefrdieBriefbearbeitung ThisEuropeanStandardwasapprovedbyCENon16October2002. CENmembersareboundtocompl
9、ywiththeCEN/CENELECInternalRegulationswhichstipulatetheconditionsforgivingthisEurope an Standardthestatusofanationalstandardwithoutanyalteration.Uptodatelistsandbibliographicalreferencesconcernings uchnational standardsmaybeobtainedonapplicationtotheManagementCentreortoanyCENmember. ThisEuropeanStan
10、dardexistsinthreeofficialversions(English,French,German).Aversioninanyotherlanguagemadebytra nslation undertheresponsibilityofaCENmemberintoitsownlanguageandnotifiedtotheManagementCentrehasthesamestatusasthe official versions. CENmembersarethenationalstandardsbodiesofAustria,Belgium,CzechRepublic,De
11、nmark,Finland,France,Germany,Greece, Iceland,Ireland,Italy,Luxembourg,Malta,Netherlands,Norway,Portugal,Spain,Sweden,SwitzerlandandUnitedKingdom. EUROPEANCOMMITTEEFORSTANDARDIZATION COMITEUROPENDENORMALISATION EUROPISCHESKOMITEEFRNORMUNG ManagementCentre:ruedeStassart,36B1050Brussels 2002CEN Allrigh
12、tsofexploitationinanyformandbyanymeansreserved worldwideforCENnationalMembers. Ref.No.EN13619:2002EEN13619:2002(E) 2 Contents Foreword3 1 Scope 5 2 Termsanddefinitions . 6 3 Symbolsandabbreviations. .15 4 Guidelines 15 4.1 Addresszonebackgroundattributes .15 4.1.1 Backgroundcolour. .15 4.1.2 Backgro
13、undnoise .16 4.2 Addressblockattributes 16 4.2.1 Addressblocksize 16 4.2.2 Clearzone .16 4.2.3 Addressblockskew 16 4.2.4 Linespacing 17 4.2.5 Barcodes. .17 4.2.6 Charactersperline. .17 4.3 Characterattributes .17 4.3.1 Fonts .17 4.3.2 Strokethickness 18 4.3.3 Typesize. 18 4.3.4 Characterspacing. 18
14、4.3.5 Wordspacing 18 4.3.6 Charactersets .19 4.3.7 Colour .19 4.3.8 Underlining19 4.3.9 Printquality . 19 4.3.10 Printcontrastratio(PCR)ofaddresscharactersvs.background 19 5 Salienceofattributes 19 5.1 General19 5.2 Addresszonebackgroundattributes .20 5.3 Addressblockattributes 20 5.4 Characterattri
15、butes .21 Bibliography 22EN13619:2002(E) 3 Foreword ThisdocumentEN13619:2002hasbeenpreparedbyTechnicalCommitteeCEN/TC331,“Postalservices“the secretariatofwhichisheldbyNEN. ThisEuropeanStandardshallbegiventhestatusofanationalstandard,eitherbypublicationofanidenticaltextor byendorsement,atthelatestbyM
16、ay2003,andconflictingnationalstandardsshallbewithdrawnatthelatestby May2003. ThisdocumenthasbeenpreparedunderamandategiventoCENbytheEuropeanCommissionandtheEuropean FreeTradeAssociation,andsupportsessentialrequirementsofEUDirective(s). ThisEuropeanStandardcontainsabibliography. AccordingtotheCEN/CEN
17、ELECInternalRegulations,thenationalstandardsorganizationsofthefollowing countriesareboundtoimplementthisEuropeanStandard:Austria,Belgium,CzechRepublic,Denmark,Finland, France,Germany,Greece,Iceland,Ireland,Italy,Luxembourg,Malta,Netherlands,Norway,Portugal,Spain, Sweden,SwitzerlandandtheUnitedKingdo
18、m.EN13619:2002(E) 4 Introduction RapidityofmailprocessinganddeliveryisthemostimportantfeatureofQualityofServicewhichisrequestedby anyCustomerofaPostalOperator. Mailprocessingishighlydependentuponthelevelofautomationachievedinthemailsortingprocess.Such automationdependsonthespeedandaccuracyofinterpre
19、tationofmailitemaddressesbyopticalcharacter recognition(OCR)equipmentand/orhumanoperators(videocoders)workingfromvideoimagesofthemailitems. ThepurposeofthisstandardistoassistmailerstomaximisetheOCRreadabilityoftheirmailitemsbyproviding guidelinesforprintingpostaladdresses.Someoftheguidelinesalsosupp
20、ortvideoencodingfromgreylevel pictures. TheguidelinesarenecessarilyderivedfromaviewofthecurrentstateoftheartintheapplicationofOCRand imageprocessingtechnologytoaddressreading.Suchastateoftheartisnotaperfectlydefinedconcept.First,it islikelytoevolvewithtime,resultinginimprovedrecognitioncapability.Se
21、cond,theperformanceofanOCR systemisalwaystheresultofacompromisebetweenrecognitioncapabilityandcost.Thisiswhythestandardis expressedintheformofguidelinesratherthanprescriptions. Compliancewiththeguidelinesshouldassureahighlevelofaddressreadabilitywithcurrentlyavailable technology.However,theguideline
22、sshouldnotbeinterpretedasstrict,mandatory,allornothingrules.Rather,the degreeofcompliancewiththemcanbeexpectedtoinfluencethelevelofaddressreadability:thehigherthedegree ofcompliance,thehigherthelikelylevelofaddressreadability. Theguidelinesarebasedonaddressattributesthattendtoinfluenceaddressreadabi
23、lity.Totheextentthatthisis possible,theseattributeshavebeenselectedsoastobeeasilycontrollablebymailersandtobemeasurableusing simple,lowcost,means.Thisisthereasonwhythestandardislargelybuiltoncommonnotionsoftypographyand makesuseofcolourreferencesystemsthatarelikelytobeknownbymailers. Itisnottechnica
24、llypossibletodefineguidelinesconcerningsolelytheprintingofaddresseswithouttakinginto accounttheproductionofthemailitemasawhole.Forexample,printcontrastisnotonlydependentonthe ink/papercombination.Italsoresultsfromavarietyofotherfactors,includingthecoveringofthemailitemandthe materialofthetransparent
25、windowthroughwhichtheaddressisread.Theguidelinesprovidedinthestandard thereforeapplytotheaddresszonesoffinishedmailitemsandnotjusttotheaddressandthesubstrateonwhichit isprinted.EN13619:2002(E) 5 1Scope ThisEuropeanStandardspecifiesopticalcharacteristicsforprocessinglettersandgivesguidelinesonthevalu
26、es oftheseattributesthatwillassureahighlevelofaddressreadability.Itisaimedatfacilitatingrelationsbetween PostalOperatorsandCustomersbyprovidinginformationthatmailerscanusetoensurethattheaddressesthey printcanbeprocessedsuccessfullybypostalautomationsystems. Thestandardisintendedtosupport: assessment
27、oftheprobablereadabilityofaprintedaddress,usinggivenaddressrecognitionequipment, withoutactuallysubmittingittotheequipment; determinationofthechangesinaddressprintingcharacteristicsthatarerequiredtoachieveadesiredlevelof addressreadabilityusinggivenaddressrecognitionequipment; assessmentofthecomplex
28、ity,andthusthecost,oftheaddressrecognitionequipmentneededtoachievea desiredlevelofreadabilityofaddresseswithgivenprintingcharacteristics. ThestandardappliestomailitemswhosesizeisuptoandincludingC5 1 ,butmayalsobeappliedtooversize items,commonlyreferredtoasC5+,andtoflats.Theaddressblockscoveredare: t
29、hedeliveryaddressblock; thesenderaddressblockifthisisprintedonthesamesideofthemailitemasthedeliveryaddressblock. Theguidelinesprovidedinthestandardapplytoaddressblocksastheyappearonfinishedmailitemswhen submittedtopostaloperators,andnotjusttoaddressesandthesubstrateonwhichtheyareprinted.Usersofthe s
30、tandardareresponsiblefordeterminingthephysicalparameterswhicharerequiredtoachievecomplianceafter takingaccountofcharacteristicswhichresultfrommailitemfeatures,otherthanprinting,suchascovering,theuse oftransparentwindowenvelopesandtheuseofaddresslabels. Theguidelinesarebasedonphysicalattributesthatte
31、ndtoinfluencethereadabilityofaddressesbyoptical characterrecognition(OCR)equipmentandbyvideocoders.Totheextentthatthisispossible,attributeshave beenselectedsoastobeeasilycontrollableandtobemeasurableusingsimple,lowcost,means.Theattribute valuesgivenarebasedoncommonnotionsoftypographyandoncolourrefer
32、encesystemsthatarelikelytobe knownbymailers.Thevaluesgivenshouldbeinterpretedasrecommendationsorguidelines,notasstrict, mandatory,allornothingrules. OCRsystemsarecomplexandtheirbehaviouristhereforenoteasilymodelledbysimpleattributes.Asaresultthe ambitionofthestandardislimitedbythedifficultyofdefinin
33、gsomeattributesinformalterms,eventhoughtheir influenceonaddressreadabilityhasbeenproven.Wherethisisthecase,thestandardusesexamples,listsof preferredvalues,orliteraldescriptionstogivehintsonhowtomaximiseaddressreadability. Sinceallattributesdonotcontributeuniformlytothereadabilityofanaddress,thestand
34、ardidentifiestwolevelsof salienceforeachattribute(highandnormal).Thesetwolevelsaredesignedtoaidinthedefinitionofreadability classesbyusersofthestandard. Thisstandardconsidersaprintedaddressasbeingmadeupofaseriesoflinesofprintedinformation 2 .Guidelines relatedtosuchaddresslinesarerelevantforalllines
35、inanaddressblock. 1 SeeISO269 2 Notethatthisstandarddoesnotdefinethelogicalcontent,intermsofaddresscomponents,ofeachline. Nordoesitdirectlyimposelimitson thelengthofindividuallinesorcomponents,oronhowinformationisrepresented(e.g.astextand/orincomputerreadableba rcodes).Address Componentsarecoveredin
36、CEN/TC331WI015PartI;theselectionandorderingofcomponentsforprintingandtheabbreviation ruleswhich maybeusedtolimitprintedaddresslinelength,aretobeaddressedinPartIIofthatstandard.EN13619:2002(E) 6 2 Termsanddefinitions ForthepurposesofthisEuropeanStandard,thefollowingtermsanddefinitionsapply.Inaddition
37、relevant definitionsmaybefoundinthedocumentslistedintheBibliography. 2.1 addressblock the minimumrectangle encompassingtheaddresslines 2.2 addresszone largestrectangle,withsideswhichareparallelandperpendiculartothereferenceedgeofamailitem,which enclosesthe minimalrectangle butdoesnotincludecharacte
38、rs,ormarkingswhichmaybeinterpretedas characters,otherthanthoseintheminimalrectangleitself.Whenpresent,thebordersoftransparentenvelope windowslimittheextentoftheaddresszone NOTE1 SeeFigure1. NOTE2 Whenpresent,thebordersoftransparentwindowslimittheextentoftheaddresszonebecausedarkshadowsmay appearonOC
39、Rimagesduetothereliefexistingatthoseborders.Labeledgesmayhaveasimilareffect. Figure1Definitionoftheaddresszone,clearzoneandminimalrectangle 2.3 align lineuptypesetorothergraphicmaterialinaccordancewithrelevantspecifications,usingabaseorverticallineas reference 2.4 ascender partofcertain lowercaselet
40、tersthatextendsabovethe xheight ofa font NOTE Examplesofsuchlowercaselettersarebandf.SeeFigure2.EN13619:2002(E) 7 Figure2Referencelinesanddimensions 2.5 ascenderline see capline NOTE SeeFigure2. 2.6 baseline linealongwhichthebasesofall capitalletters (andmost lowercaseletters)arepositioned NOTE SeeF
41、igure2. 2.7 barcode lineararrayofrectangularmarksof(possibly)varyingwidth,heightandverticalalignment,separatedbyspacesof (possibly)varyingwidth,inwhichthepositioningandsizeofmarksandspacesareusedtoencodeinformation 2.8 binarization processbywhicha greyscaledigitalimage isconvertedintoa binaryimage N
42、OTE Thisprocessmayinvolvecomplexcomputations. 2.9 binaryimage digitalimage formedby pixelsofbinary(0or1)value NOTE 1isusuallyinterpretedasblackand0aswhite. 2.10 bodysize heightofthetypemeasuredfromthetopofthetallest ascendertothebottomofthelowest descender NOTE Bodysizeisnormallygivenin points(pt).
43、2.11 boldtype typewithaheavierdarkerappearance EXAMPLE Thisisinbold ;thisisinnormalfont. 2.12 cap commonlyusedabbreviationfor“capitalletter” EXAMPLE Misacapitalletterorcap;misthecorresponding lowercase letter.EN13619:2002(E) 8 2.13 capheight theheightoftheuppercaseletterswithina font NOTE SeeFigure2. 2.14 capline linetouchingthetopsofuppercaseletterswithina font NOTE SeeFigure2. 2.15 characterskew extenttowhichindividualcharactersareskewedrelativetothebaseline 2.16 c
