Pattern Config
This page/tool is used to create CBT from PDF by defining questions and their locations in the PDF.
You can watch this video to learn how to use this page/tool.
Purpose:
- Test Maker is designed to convert PDF into CBT Format.
- It allows you to crop questions from the PDF and assign details to them
(like subject, section, question type, marking scheme, etc.). - The output from this tool is an essential input for CBT Interface.
Input File:
- You need a PDF file containing the questions you want to use for the mock test.
Output:
- The tool generates a ZIP file containing test related data in a JSON file and PDF, or PNG (image) files of questions generated from PDF.
- This output is essential for the CBT Interface to properly display and manage the questions.
Current Mode:
- Crop: In this mode, you can crop areas of the PDF that contain questions.
Three cropping methods, Line Mode, Box Mode and Pattern Mode are available for you to choose from. - Edit: Allows you to modify previously cropped regions.
You can update them by repositioning/resizing the crop area, or by changing the question details.
Note: If you edit a question's subject, section, or number and another question with the same details already exists, then the two will be merged.
Cropper Mode:
- Line Mode: Ideal for PDFs with consistent layouts. This mode lets you define vertical and horizontal lines to crop questions.
- How it works: You set the boundaries in this order: left, right, top, and bottom. After cropping one region, the left and right boundaries are reused by default. You can skip a region when setting the bottom boundary by right-clicking and selecting Skip Next Bottom Line, or by holding the SHIFT key.
- Box Mode: Works like image cropping. Simply draw a box around the question to define the crop area.
- Pattern Mode: (a.k.a Pattern Based Auto-crop) This is a mode for automatically cropping questions by creating a config which defines patterns of Subject Start, Section Start, Question Start etc.
Once a Config file is created, it will work for all PDFs following the same pattern (i.e. template).
Zoom: Adjusts the zoom level of the PDF viewer.
Page Number: Displays the current page number. You can navigate to any page using this.
Question Details: See the “Question Details” section below for more information.
Crop Coordinates: Displays the left, right, top, and bottom boundaries of the crop area.
Finish Cropping: Once you're done cropping, click on this to go to next steps of generating the Output ZIP file.
Question Details Header Format Info:
The format Question Details [ #q (r) ] means:
q is the question number, and r is the number of cropped regions/areas/images that are (or will be) assigned to that question.
If r = 1, then (r) is not shown, as most questions requires only one region.
If you see (r = 2), it means the question has (or will have) 2 cropped regions.
The format Question Details [ #q (r) ] means:
q is the question number, and r is the number of cropped regions/areas/images that are (or will be) assigned to that question.
If r = 1, then (r) is not shown, as most questions requires only one region.
If you see (r = 2), it means the question has (or will have) 2 cropped regions.
Subject Name:
- Select or enter the subject name for the question (e.g. Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, etc.).
- This helps in grouping sections by subject.
Section Name:
- Select or enter the section name for that subject (e.g. Physics Section 1, Physics Section 2, etc.).
- If your test format does not use sections (e.g. COMEDK, BITSAT), then you can leave this blank.
- IMPORTANT NOTEIf you enter a section name, make sure it's unique across all sections, even those in other subjects.
It is recommended to follow the "SubjectName Section SectionNumber" format (e.g. Physics Section 1) as the subject name keeps it unique across subjects, and the section number ensures uniqueness within the subject. - This groups questions by section.
Question Number:
- This number must be unique within a section.
- RecommendedIt's recommended to use the same question number as in your source PDF. This helps you map questions easily.
If you're wondering about following your target exam's numbering style, for example, in JEE Main, the question numbers are continuous across sections (i.e. from Q1 to Q75) but say your source PDF has separate numbering (1-25, 1-25, 1-25) then don't worry as CBT Interface provides an option to reformat how numbering appears during test configuration.
Question Type:
- MCQ: Multiple Choice Question, only one correct option.
- MSQ: Multiple Select Question, one or more correct options.
- NAT: Numerical Answer Type, answer is a number (integer or decimal).
- MSM: Multiple Select Matrix, this is a question format used by JEE Advanced until 2015.
In this format, you have 2 columns say column A and column B, options in column A can match with one or more options of column B. So it basically is one to many (or one) matching. If you look carefully this basically becomes a matrix, where rows are options in column A and columns are options in column B.
Answer Options:
- Specifies total answer options for MCQ, MSQ, and MSM question types.
For MCQ and MSQ types, input a number (e.g. 4 for A, B, C, D).
For MSM type, input total rows (options in column 1) and total columns (options in column 2) in mxn format respectively (e.g. 4x6, which gives A to D as rows and P to U as columns).
Also in MSM type, for square matrix, while you can use mxn (m = n) format, you can also enter just m (e.g. 4x4 or just 4).
Marking Scheme:
- Correct: Marks awarded for a correct answer. For MSM type, this is marks awarded per correct row.
- Incorrect: Marks deducted for an incorrect answer. For MSM type, this is marks deducted per incorrect row.
- Partial (Only for MSQ): Marks awarded per correct option.
This applies when the selected options are a subset of the correct ones (i.e. partially correct).
For example, JEE Advanced uses this logic, awarding +1 per correct option.
If the correct answers are A, B, and D, and you select A and B, then you'll receive 2 x partial marks. If partial marks = +1, you'll receive +2.
- Upload the PDF:
Upload your PDF file by clicking on Select a PDF at the top of the page.
Wait for the PDF to load completely. - Crop Questions:
Once PDF is loaded, PDF viewer should be now visible. Navigate to the page containing the question you want to crop.
Use the cropping tool to define the question area.
Fill in the details for the cropped question, such as subject name, section name, question type, and marks.
Repeat this process for all questions in the PDF. - When done with cropping all questions, click on Finish Cropping.
Now you should be seeing these steps:- Bulk Edit Questions (optional):
Bulk Edit allows you to set or change data on a group of questions, sections, or subjects.
You can also set Optional Questions (Old JEE Main Format) using this. - Sort Subjects or Sections (optional):
This allows you to sort the order of subjects/sections.
For example, say your PDF has subjects order as Physics, Chemistry, Maths.
You can change the order to Maths, Physics, Chemistry which is the order used by some exams (like JEE Main & Adv). - Test or Section-wise Instructions (optional):
This allows you to set/change:- Test Instructions:
Test Instructions is the instructions panel shown before the test starts. It may provide additional info on the format of the exam (marking scheme, etc). - Section-wise Instructions:
Section-wise instructions are shown in the first question of that section.
They are commonly used in JEE Advanced to inform candidates about the answer format and marking scheme of questions in that section.
- Test Instructions:
- Bulk Edit Questions (optional):
- Download: Finally, you can download the ZIP file that is required for CBT.
Please refer to release notes of text pattern based cropper.
Context Menu is the menu that pops up when you right-click (or long-press on touch screens).
When you open the context menu on the PDF page here, it will show custom menu options you can use.
Options depend on the current mode and the action you are performing.
Most options also have keyboard shortcuts.
Here are all the options, the conditions under which they appear, and what they do:
When you open the context menu on the PDF page here, it will show custom menu options you can use.
Options depend on the current mode and the action you are performing.
Most options also have keyboard shortcuts.
Here are all the options, the conditions under which they appear, and what they do:
- When in "Crop" mode:
- Blur/Unblur Cropped Regions:
Toggle blur for cropped regions; blur strength is controlled by the Blur Intensity setting. - With "Line" Cropper Mode:
- Undo Last Line ( CTRL + Z):
Undo the last selection line (boundary) set. This reverts to the previous boundary selection.
Note: This only undoes the line; it doesn't delete cropped areas (before v1.12.0, undo would delete them as well). - Skip Next Bottom Line ( hold SHIFT):
Signal the tool to skip the next bottom line.
Use this to jump over parts of the PDF you don't want included in the cropped question.
To cancel this, choose Unskip Next Bottom Line or simply press and release Shift key.
- Undo Last Line (
- Blur/Unblur Cropped Regions:
- When in "Edit" mode:
- Copy Region ( CTRL + C):
Copies the selected region's location (coordinates and page number).
You can then paste it into your current question details.
Mainly useful when cropping Paragraph type questions. - Paste Region ( CTRL + V):
Pastes the copied region into your current question details.
This creates a new cropped region with the copied location but uses the current question details.
Mainly useful when cropping Paragraph type questions. - Delete Region ( Delete key):
Deletes the selected cropped region. This action is irreversible, so use it carefully. - Delete all on...
- Current Page: Deletes all cropped regions that are on current page.
- All Pages: Deletes all cropped regions on all pages (effectively clearing everything).
- Copy Region (
Edge cases and how to deal with them:
- Merging two cropped regions (or areas) into one question:
You can merge two cropped regions into one question by giving them the same Subject Name, Section Name, and Question Number.
This is useful when a question's parts span across multiple pages.
Crop the first part on the current page as usual.
Then go to the next page to crop the other part and make sure to use the same question number (you'll need to manually decrease it by 1, because it auto-increments after every crop).
Example:
Say the current question number is 3.
You crop the first part on the current page, the tool will auto-increment the question number by 1 making it 4.
Now go to the next page and set the question number back to 3, then crop the other part.
Both images will now be grouped as one question since they share the same subject, section, and question number. - How to crop questions divided by columns using Line Cropper Mode:
Image 1 above is an example.
Questions 6 to 8 are on the left side and 9 to 12 on the right side.
In Box Cropper Mode, cropping this is easy due to its free-style nature, but it's trickier in Line Cropper Mode.
Since Line Cropper works by defining left and right boundaries, you first set them for the questions on the left.
After cropping questions 6 to 8, you need to undo the left, right and top boundaries to set new ones around the questions on the right side.
Check the Context Menus panel above for instructions on how to do this. - How to crop paragraph/table type questions:
Image 2 above shows an example.
Paragraph or table type questions usually have a paragraph/table followed by multiple questions based on it.
In Image 2, you see a table followed by Questions 13, 14, and 15.
The original structure is:
----- Para / Table -----
----- Q 13 -----
----- Q 14 -----
----- Q 15 -----
We want to convert it into:
----- Para / Table -----
----- Q 13 -----
----- Para / Table -----
----- Q 14 -----
----- Para / Table -----
----- Q 15 -----
So we want the Para/Table to appear in each question.
Here's how we do it:
First, crop the Para and give it question number 13.
Then crop Q13, also assigning it question number 13, this merges the Para and Q13 as one question.
Switch to Edit mode, right-click (or long-press on touch) the Para/Table cropped region, and copy its location.
Press ESC or click blank space to unselect, set the question number to 14, then right-click and paste.
This creates a new region on the same Para for question 14.
Switch back to Crop mode, crop Q14 with question number 14 to merge it with the Para.
Repeat the same for Q15.
That's it!
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