Paid Project - Batch Superimpose and OCR

[vagoergens]

I'm new to Image Magick, so this may be silly, but I have a project I need completed. The project has funding.

I assume experts on this forum can handle 2 and 4 below. However, if you happen to have the expertise for 1 and 5, great.

1. Email Order data extraction
I receive emails from my ecommerce site with Order Number and Customer Email Address in the Subject.
I also download Customer Image files from the ecommerce site that I save with Order Number and a sequence number (e.g. 10345-01). An Order Number can have multiple image files associated (10345-01, 10345-02, 10345-03). All Customer Image files are in the same directory called, Customer Images.
Currently, in my Outlook Inbox, I display the several columns including Subject and Date Sent. I copy and paste the Inbox list to a text (or Excel) Flight File, which I edit to include only Order Number, Email Address.
Can this be automated? Specifically, a program that reads my emails and creates a Flight File with Order Number, Customer Email Address, and a unique five (probably) digit Order Identifier (A8265).

2. Superimpose Order Identifier on images
Open the Flight File, then superimpose the Order Identifier on each image that has the associated Order Number. For example, Order 10345 has five images and you have assigned A8265 to that Order Number. Superimpose "A8265" on the bottom right corner of each image and save the resulting images to another directory (Pre-Flight Images). Font size will matter and will be discussed below.

3. Upload and Fly - I'll do this part
Copy all imaged to a device that will display a slideshow. Fly the slideshow device way high up. With a GoPro pointing at and beyond the slideshow device, take a Flight Image of each Pre-Flight Image as it is displayed on the slideshow device. Download all Flight Images and put them in the Flight Images directory.

4. Identify Flight Images
For each Flight Image, find the Order Identifier on the image, use it look up the Customer Email Address in the Flight File and save a copy of the image in the Post-Flight Images directory, with a new filename. The new filename will have the Order Number and a sequence number, and be something like NSS-[10345-001]. There will be multiple Flight Images from each Customer Image, so there is no need to tie this filename to the original filename. I just need to know who to send it to.

5. For each Post-Flight image, I need to send an email to the Customer Email Address with that image file as an attachment. The body will be something like, "Thank You for your order. Here's you image."

I could eventually learn enough to do this or realize it's silly. However, I'm really swamped with web development, business development and building flight hardware and software and I'm sure you can do it faster than I could learn it.

Please contact me at vagoergens(at)Verizon.net if you have the skills and are interested in working this project. I can show you samples of what I'm doing and discuss best approach, payment and timelines.

Thanks for your interest,

Mark Goergen

[vagoergens]

I forgot 3A...

Look at the time stamp on each Flight Image. Use that to open another text file that has date, time, lat, long, altitude, tempC, mPa, direction and speed. Locate the nearest time and superimpose the data from that time on a specific place in the Flight Image.

[snibgo]

Some thoughts on the problem.

(2) is easy.

(4) sounds really difficult. If I understand you correctly, a GoPro camera on a drone or something is pointing towards the slideshow device and other stuff, taking photos. The slideshow is showing the images made from (2). Is the GoPro taking still photos, or will you extract frames from movies?

Is the camera on a fixed tripod so the Order ID is in the same place on all the photos, or on a drone so the Order ID is all over the place?

Then you want to take the photos from the GoPro, find the Order Identifier on each photo, and OCR it, to tie it back to the appropriate cutomer. Is that correct? That's the hard part. Doing it reliably could be very hard. And automatically checking the result was correct would also be hard (but there could be a check, eg show the Order Identifier twice and check the results are the same).

There may be a better way to do this that doesn't involve OCR'ing photos from the GoPro.

You need to tie each Flight photo back to the correct customer. Perhaps this can be done with timing. For example, if each slideshow image is displayed for ten seconds, then take a GoPro photo at 5 seconds, 15 seconds, 25 seconds and so on. As you know which customer images were on the slideshow at those times, you immediately know who to send each Flight photo to.

[vagoergens]

Thanks snibgo!

(2) Let me know if you want to do it. If (4) looks feasible, I'll need it.

(4) Camera and slideshow device are solidly mounted and nonmoving. I can't guarantee sub-pixel stability, but it would only be several pixels of jitter between shots at most. Rock solid for the duration of the exposure. Timing is problematic in that we are looking at less than 2 seconds per image, hopefully tenths of a second. I've looked into controlling the GoPro concurrently with the slideshow, but that's a bigger development effort.
We could spot check the reliability of the match and go from there.

Any thoughts on (3A)?

Thanks much for your response.

Mark

[snibgo]

I've sent you a PM.