Quick Start Guide
From download to your first EFT file in about ten minutes.
1. Install the app
Download the Windows installer from the downloads page and run it. Windows may show a "protect your PC" notice for new publishers — choose More info → Run anyway. The installer includes everything: the processing engine, the FBI-standard tools, and the scanner driver. No other software is needed.
2. Plug in your scanner (live capture)
Connect your Integrated Biometrics Kojak to a USB port. The driver installs with the app, so within a few seconds the Capture Prints screen should show 🟢 Scanner Ready. If it stays disconnected: try a different USB port (prefer a rear/mainboard port), replug, or restart the app.
3. Your first capture
Open Capture Prints, choose your applicant flow, and follow the finger guidance — the scanner's LEDs light up under the finger it expects, red while waiting and green while scanning. Rolled prints roll nail-to-nail; flat mode just presses. Each print gets a quality score, and you can redo or retry any capture before finishing. In Settings → Capture Preferences you can choose whether sessions collect rolled or flat prints.
4. From a paper FD-258 card instead
On New EFT, upload a scan or photo of the card (500+ DPI recommended — a flatbed scanner works best). Crop and rotate, confirm the print boxes line up with the card, fill in the applicant's details, and generate.
5. Fill applicant details fast
On the Personal Details step you have shortcuts in the toolbar:
- 📇 Scan ID / Passport — read the barcode on the back of a driver's license (webcam, photo, or USB barcode scanner) or a passport's photo page. Name, DOB, and most physical details fill themselves.
- Online orders — if the customer filled out your intake form, open Online Orders and click Use in New EFT: every field loads for review.
- QR intake — the offline customer form generates a QR code you scan from their phone screen. No internet required.
6. Generate, save, send
Generating produces a full-quality and a compressed EFT (FBI-standard WSQ, usually under 1 MB — handy for eForms upload limits). Files save to your chosen folder (Settings → This Computer & Storage), appear in History with the computer that made them, and can be emailed to the applicant right from the completion screen.
7. Set up your online intake form (optional)
Register your company in Online Orders — one account works on all your computers. You get a personal link like eftcapture.com/f/your-company, a QR code for your counter, and embed code for your website. Submissions are end-to-end encrypted: only your app can read them. Important: back up your encryption key when the app offers it (Account → Export Key Backup) — without it, a lost computer means lost orders.
Troubleshooting
- Scanner not detected — different USB port, replug, restart the app. Check that no other fingerprint software is running.
- Webcam won't read a license — the barcode is dense; fixed-focus webcams can struggle. Use the photo option or a USB barcode scanner, or have the customer scan from their phone on your intake form.
- EFT rejected by eForms — open the file in View/Edit; invalid field values (like place-of-birth codes) are flagged with a ⚠ and can be corrected and re-saved.
- Update problems — Settings → App Updates → Check for Updates, or reinstall from the latest installer; your data is kept.
Still stuck?
Email info@eftcapture.com — include what you were doing and a screenshot if you can.