Notary and Loan Signing ID Capture with PDF417

The Identity Data Problem for notaries and signing agents

Notaries record signer identification details in their journal, and handwriting errors make records hard to rely on later. Teams also need to keep a readable barcode separate from a verified person or authentic card; mixing the two creates compliance and product risk.

Deterministic Barcode Parsing with Human Confirmation

Scan the signer’s license or state ID to fill the journal entry, then complete the identification steps your commission requires. StructOCR’s PDF417 API decodes the barcode on the back of US driver licenses and state ID cards and parses the AAMVA record without asking a generative model to reconstruct unreadable values. Both licenses and non-driver state ID cards are accepted; document_kind records which one was presented. Satisfactory evidence of identity is defined by state notary law and remains the notary’s judgment.

Workflow Applications

Server-Side PDF417 Integration

Send the complete card-back image from a protected backend. This example selects fields relevant to notaries and signing agents and treats HTTP 422 as a retake or review state.

import base64
import os
import requests

with open("card-back.jpg", "rb") as image_file:
    image = base64.b64encode(image_file.read()).decode("ascii")

response = requests.post(
    "https://api.structocr.com/v1/driver-license-pdf417",
    headers={"x-api-key": os.environ["STRUCTOCR_API_KEY"]},
    json={"img": image},
    timeout=30,
)

if response.status_code == 422:
    body = response.json()
    print("Retake or review:", body.get("error"), body.get("capture_issue"))
else:
    response.raise_for_status()
    data = response.json()["data"]
    print("given_names:", data.get("given_names"))
    print("surname:", data.get("surname"))
    print("document_number:", data.get("document_number"))
    print("date_of_expiry:", data.get("date_of_expiry"))

{
  "success": true,
  "data": {
    "type": "drivers_license",
    "document_kind": "id_card",
    "source": "pdf417",
    "country_code": "USA",
    "region": "CA",
    "document_number": "SAMPLE1234",
    "surname": "SAMPLE",
    "given_names": "ALEX MORGAN",
    "first_name": "ALEX",
    "middle_name": "MORGAN",
    "sex": "X",
    "date_of_birth": "1990-01-15",
    "date_of_issue": "2025-01-15",
    "date_of_expiry": "2030-01-15",
    "address": "100 EXAMPLE AVE",
    "city": "SAMPLE CITY",
    "postal_code": "00000",
    "vehicle_class": null,
    "restrictions": null,
    "endorsements": null,
    "document_discriminator": "SAMPLE-DISCRIMINATOR",
    "issuer_identification_number": null,
    "aamva_version": 10,
    "jurisdiction_version": 0
  }
}