From grading multiple-choice exams, collecting survey responses, tallying ballots, and evaluating safety forms and more, OMR technology helps organizations save time, reduce manual data entry, and improve accuracy.

Watch the video below to see how it all works.

The post What Is OMR? (Optical Mark Recognition Explained) appeared first on Remark Software.

Anchor marks help the Remark software to properly recognize data on forms, particularly those forms that are tightly packed or have lines or other elements near the OMR bubbles. Even when forms are skewed or offset, the anchor marks help to ensure the accurate reading of your forms in Remark Office OMR.

When using anchor marks on your forms, it is recommended that the form layout and location of the anchor marks on the form meet the Remark Form Design Best Practices.

The anchor marks must be located in the printable area on the form (varies by printer). It is recommended that you have at least a 0.50 inch (1cm) margin or border area around the edge of your form. 3 or 4 anchor marks are needed to validate the anchoring of your form in Remark.

Anchor marks need to be a minimum 0.25 inches (6.35mm) by a maximum 0.75 inches (19.05mm) for both width and height, and one of the anchor marks should be notably larger than the others.

All readable for elements (e.g. OMR bubbles, text, or handwriting) that you plan to recognize must be contained inside of the anchored area (i.e. the outer corners of the anchor marks). Anchor marks should align to form a rectangle, where each anchor mark has two sides touching the edge of the rectangle.

The Auto Anchor feature in the Remark Template Editor will attempt to automatically recognize the anchor marks that are present on your form.

Click here for a sample Word document that you can use to create forms with anchor marks.

Did you know? Remark Office OMR 12 even comes with an Anchor Mark utility that adds anchor marks to your existing forms. Search Remark Office OMR Anchor Mark utility in your Windows search.

Remark Product Support can be reached Monday – Friday (except for major holidays) from 9AM – 6PM Eastern time at 610-647-8595 or by email at support@gravic.com

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The post Having Trouble with Skewed Forms? Here’s How Anchor Marks Can Help. appeared first on Remark Software.

As an educator for over 35 years, the first time I saw a student completely freeze during a test, I didn’t understand what was happening. To put test anxiety into perspective and help explain how proper study habits can be employed to address it: Meet “Chris,” a fictitious student in this article who is a composite of many students I have taught.

Chris was a bright, funny, and talented student, who, on one occasion I observed sat staring at the wall while the rest of the class wrote furiously. This was the kid who joked with classmates, played soccer and had the lead in a school musical, and a kid who never missed an assignment. Yet on test days, it was as if someone had flipped a switch. His confidence evaporated. He second‑guessed everything. His scores tanked. And he wasn’t alone.

Anxiety had been rising in my classroom for years, but Chris made the problem impossible to ignore. Within months, he started staying home on test days and avoidingmakeup tests. He wasn’t failing because he didn’t care or didn’t prepare. He was failing because his study habits never actually brought him to mastery, and his anxiety almost swallowed him whole.

Why Traditional Study Habits Fail Under Pressure

Chris’ experience is far from rare and has nothing to do with effort. His struggle, like that of so many students, comes down to how he studies. Most students rely on rereading notes, highlighting what seems important, or flipping through old assignments. They can spend hours doing this and genuinely feel productive, yet still walk into an assessment unprepared. The problem is that passive review only builds recognition. It creates a sense of familiarity that feels smooth and reassuring, but it doesn’t produce the kind of active retrieval needed for real mastery. Students like Chris interpret that gap as a personal failure. They believe it’s proof that they aren’t smart enough or can’t improve. That’s the moment anxiety slips in and takes over.

The Science Behind Retrieval Practice and Memory Strength

Brain science has a simple answer for students like Chris. They need to focus on frequent, fast retrieval exercises to ensure they learn the material. Retrieval is the act of recalling information from memory. The act of recall strengthens learning by rebuilding the memory of the concept. Each time students retrieve knowledge, the neural pathways connected to that information are reinforced, making it easier to access again later. When students retrieve information many times before a test, they access that information faster, spend less working memory on recall, and keep the cognitive load low. This frees up mental space for important testing needs, like understanding complex questions, applying knowledge to different situations, and avoiding careless mistakes.

Implementing Retrieval Practice in the Classroom

I recently started helping my students understand the power of retrieval. They are all naturally interested in themselves and how their brains work, so they are open to hearing about brain-based learning and how to improve studying. I also model quick retrieval exercises in class. As a language teacher, I want my students to memorize a lot of vocabulary words so they can access them easily when trying to speak or write in the target language. The better they know their vocabulary, the less they will struggle on formal assessments.

Using Low-Stakes Quizzes to Build Mastery

At the beginning of the week, I give them a list of 20-25 new vocabulary words. We go over them; talk about any important issues they might have and practice them with in-class activities. The next day, we begin class with a low-stakes multiple choice quiz on all the words. This is the first bit of retrieval. I use Remark Test Grading to grade and analyze the quizzes. It works so quickly, I can grade the quizzes while students work on another assignment. Before the end of class, students get the test grade report and can see which words they did not remember.

Brain Dump Activities and Self-Testing Strategies

For homework, they analyze the words they got wrong and do brain-dump vocabulary retrieval activities. For example, students can take a blank piece of paper and write as many of the vocabulary words they can remember in the target language and check it against the list.  Next, they can take that list and write the meanings next to the vocabulary words. They can write down the five words they have the hardest time remembering and reflect on why they are hard to remember. They can give themselves multiple choice quizzes.

Leveraging Assessment Technology for Immediate Feedback

The next day we begin class again with a quick multiple-choice quiz. I make up about five quizzes for each vocabulary list. Sometimes I project them on PowerPoint and the students answer on the Remark answer sheet. I have also used games like Kahoot or Gimkit to generate quizzes, and the students can also answer on the Remark answer sheet. The beauty of Remark is that I can give the students accurate feedback immediately. They can keep track of the words they know and the ones they need to practice. All of this helps them transfer vocabulary words into their long-term memory.

Retrieval Practice and Performance Assessments

At the end of a unit, students have a performance assessment in which they demonstrate their ability to use the language by listening, reading, speaking and writing. The units cover a good deal of material including vocabulary, cultural topics and probably a new grammar concept. The tests are rigorous and students need to be able to finish within one class period. They now know how to use consistent, short retrieval activities to master the vocabulary. When they take their assessment, they will be able to retrieve words instantly from long-term memory and will have more brain power available for grammar, meaning and problem-solving.

Helping Students Replace Anxiety with Mastery

If we want students like Chris to succeed, we have to help them replace passive review with strategies that actually build mastery. Anxiety doesn’t come from a lack of effort; it comes from the painful mismatch between the hours students spend “studying” and the results they see on test day. When we teach them how learning really works, how to retrieve, apply, and practice knowledge in active ways, we don’t just improve their performance. We give them back a sense of control. And for many students, that shift is the difference between shutting down and finally believing they can grow.

Authors Bio

Guest blog provided by Barbara Goodale, a recently retired high school teacher in suburban Philadelphia. Ms. Goodale taught language classes for over 35 years and worked diligently to find solutions to the evolving challenges students have faced during these years. The student “Chris” in this article is a fictitious student who is a composite of many students she has taught.

The post Remark Guest Blog: Using Retrieval Techniques to Battle Test Anxiety appeared first on Remark Software.

On the bottom right corner of any window, you will see the AI Assistant button. Click on it to launch the assistant.

From here, any questions regarding Remark Office can be asked by typing questions in the chat box. The AI will then search the software’s documentation and summarize the information for you.

Questions not directly related to Remark and its functions cannot be answered.

Click here for a how-to-video: Using AI Assistant with Remark Office

Remark Product Support can be reached Monday – Friday (except for major holidays) from 9AM – 6PM Eastern time at 610-647-8595 or by email at support@gravic.com

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This webinar is targeted to all Remark Office OMR user levels. But whether you are a beginner user or a seasoned pro, this webinar is tailored to provide invaluable tips and techniques to leverage surveying effectively. Secure your spot today by clicking the link below and take your data analysis skills to new heights!

Click here to sign up for this month’s webinar.

Webinars are free to customers with current maintenance or technical support agreements. If you do not have a current agreement, each webinar costs $50 USD. Why not consider purchasing a support agreement? A support agreement entitles you to attend any monthly webinar at no additional cost. For support status information, contact our support department.

You can view our upcoming support webinars here.

The post Upcoming Support Monthly Webinar Wednesday January 21 appeared first on Remark Software.

If you are a teacher, professor, trainer, or other education professional, you are aware of the amount of time and energy it takes to grade your students’ exam answer sheets. Here are some options for you to consider that should save you a considerable amount of time and effort.

Option #1 – Manually Grading Exam Answer Sheets (The Worst)

As every educator knows, a good percentage of free time (like their weekend) is consumed with the task of grading exams and quizzes.  When grading by hand, each answer sheet may take several minutes to review and grade. The amount of time your task takes depends upon the number and type of questions on the exam and the number of students who took the exam. Here is a guide on how manual grading typically works: First, an answer key sheet is prepared and filled out with the correct answer to each question. Make sure to do this accurately or all your tests will be graded incorrectly. Now the real grading can begin! For each exam answer sheet, the lucky grader can compare each exam question response to the answer key and mark the ones that are incorrect on the student’s paper, often in red pen. Make sure that you don’t miss any of them! Then, to figure out the grade, the grader counts the incorrect responses and uses math skills to figure out the percentage of correct responses on the test. This may then be translated to a letter grade based upon a pre-defined grade scale. This process is repeated for each student’s test. Finally, once the grades for all the students are completed, the tired teacher can type the grades into their online gradebook. What could possibly go wrong?

Option #2 – Hope your school has an OMR reader (Good but…)

For many years, schools have invested in hardware-based OMR readers for grading exam answer sheets.  OMR, or optical mark recognition, converts filled in bubbles on an exam answer sheet to data. For instance, a test question having five possible answers (options A, B, C, D, E) is presented on the answer sheet as five individual bubbles, each representing one of the answer options. A student fills in the second bubble to indicate the second option as their answer. The OMR reader sees the filled in bubble and know the student selected “B” as her answer.

Over the years, OMR readers from companies such as Scantron, NCS, and Apperson have been sold to schools for handling this task. These machines typically require the use of specially printed forms and for students to use a soft lead pencil (HB#2) to fill in the forms. The OMR readers are quick enough to grade a stack of forms in minutes. However, there are a few limiting factors with these machines. First, since there may only be one machine in a school, exam sheets are often turned over to a staff member who will process them when convenient. “When convenient” may not be too convenient for the instructor. Feedback for students should be prompt when the assessment is still fresh in their minds. Sometimes it may take a few weeks to get the results back, which mostly negates the value of the data to be gleaned from the exam. Without special software, the OMR readers typically only print a grade on the exam answer sheets, and the instructor still has to manually enter grades into a gradebook. Finally, these devices tend to be expensive, requiring the purchase of special forms and maintenance contracts. While OMR readers have been used to grade billions of answer sheets over the years, they are typically used for large scale exams and are not always a great solution for a busy instructor needing to quickly grade an exam for a single class.

Option #3 – OMR Software to the rescue (Best)

The first OMR software product, Remark Office OMR, was released in 1991 by Principia Products and there have been several other products released over the years. OMR software is a very effective tool for grading exam answer sheets. There are two types of software available, those that use phone cameras to grade answer sheets, and those that use image scanners for the scanning.

Image scanners are the solution

Scanning answer sheets with an image scanner is the best of both worlds. Most schools have a fleet of copiers that include built-in scanners. Instructors can quickly scan a batch of test forms into a PDF file that can be processed with OMR scanner software products. Even simpler, there are many low-cost desktop image scanners with document feeders available on the market for a few hundred dollars from companies such as Xerox, Ricoh, Canon, and others.

These scanners typically scan 25 to 50 or more pages per minute, meaning your tests will be processed in a few minutes. OMR software such as Remark Office OMR or Remark Test Grading automatically scans and grades the exam answer sheets and transfers the grades directly into many gradebook products. Image scanning is a low-cost alternative to a dedicated OMR reader. A scanner with OMR software has added benefits, such as the ability for teachers to create and print their own customized answer sheets.  The scanners can be used for many other tasks, so they are not limited to just scanning answer sheets.

Honorable Mention – Phone cameras for smaller jobs

Almost everyone now has access to a phone camera. There are several online hosted applications that will allow a grader to take a picture of a student exam, and the image ill is processed and graded by the application. For an individual teacher with a smaller class size, this is a good way to save a bit of time in the grading process. However, the requirement to take individual photos of each exam sheet and then upload them to an online service still takes some time and coordination. The key is to make sure the photos are of sufficient quality or you will find yourself retaking pictures. In addition, most phone apps will allow you to print exam forms with limited ability to customize the forms. Depending on your school district, student data and privacy may also be a concern. Sending protected data to a potentially unvetted app opens many holes. Still, if you are a K-12 teacher and you need to grade 20 student tests, the phone apps are worth investigating. It is quicker than manually grading and some apps will even enter the grades into your gradebook for you.

Remark OMR solutions

Gravic’s Remark Office OMR and Remark Test Grading products are heavily used in higher education, public and private K-12 schools, and for many corporate training assessments. Remark Office OMR is a Windows application that runs on any Windows PC and can be used to process exam answer sheets. It is very flexible and also works for many other types of forms such as surveys, evaluations, and more. Remark Test Grading is a hosted application that is easy to use and very powerful. It is designed for educational purposes, specifically for grading exams. It integrates with many popular gradebooks and learning management systems that are used heavily in education. You can find more information about these applications at remarksoftware.com.

Save yourself time and aggravation. Automate your grading tasks!

Grading student exam answer sheets can be a painful process and is a sad reality of every educator’s life. OMR software is here to help! Based upon your needs there are products that fit your or your school’s budget and ease the time and pain of manually grading exams.

Frequently Asked Questions

The post Answer Sheet Scanner Software Can Ease Your Exam Grading Burden appeared first on Remark Software.

Please note that there are limitations when using multiple test versions:

• You cannot use learning objectives with multiple test versions.

You can use partial credit, extra credit and different point values on questions if the total point value for all versions is the same.

To create multiple test versions:

Start out in the class in which you would like to create a test and click New Test in the top right corner.

Enter the Test Name and click Save and Design. This directs you to the Test Editor. The default to Design test from scratch is used.

In the Test Editor to create more than one answer key, under Design Settings select the drop down labeled “Number of Test Versions”.

You can choose up to 5 different Versions.

When you select the number of answer keys you would like, click Save Design Settings.

You will notice that your test now has bubbles at the top of the page that correspond with the test version. These are for the student to fill out as identifiers of which test version they are completing.

Construct your test by adding in all the sections you would like to on your test.

Click Finished when you completed designing your test.

This will direct you to the Test page where you can create your individual answer keys.

You can either create your individual answer keys by clicking Create for each version to define or you can print the answer keys with the blank student tests and then bubble in the correct answers.

To Print your tests, click Distribute at the top right of the page and select For Paper (Download and Print).

This directs you to the Print Tests page, where you can select how many blank tests you want (if any), if you want the answer key printed, and which students you would like to print tests for. Once you click Download Tests, you are directed to a PDF of the answer sheets you selected.

At this point, you can print the tests or save them as a PDF to print later.

Once you print, distribute, and receive your completed tests back, you are ready to start scanning and grading your tests as you normally would.

Click Creating a Test with Multiple Versions in Remark Test Grading to view the video.

Remark Product Support can be reached Monday – Friday (except for major holidays) from 9AM – 6PM Eastern time at 610-647-8595 or by email at support@gravic.com

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The post Creating a Test with Multiple Versions in Remark Test Grading appeared first on Remark Software.

This webinar is targeted to beginner and intermediate Remark Quick Stats users. But whether you are a beginner user or a seasoned pro, this webinar is tailored to provide invaluable tips and techniques to leverage surveying effectively. Secure your spot today by clicking the link below and take your data analysis skills to new heights!

Click here to sign up for this month’s webinar!

Webinars are free to customers with current maintenance or technical support agreements. If you do not have a current agreement, each webinar costs $50 USD. Why not consider purchasing a support agreement? A support agreement entitles you to attend any monthly webinar at no additional cost. For support status information, contact our support department.

You can view our upcoming support webinars here.

The post Upcoming Support Monthly Webinar Thursday November 20 appeared first on Remark Software.

The Remark Team at Gravic, Inc., is excited to announce the release of Remark Office OMR 12 German! This latest version brings all the powerful features of Remark Office OMR 12, like the AI Assistant, anchor mark support, customizable review colors, change tracking, and more, together with a fully localized German user interface. Whether you’re a long-time Remark user or new to OMR technology, this release makes it easier than ever to collect and analyze data from tests, surveys, and assessments quickly and accurately.

Customers using previous versions of Remark Office OMR German having valid maintenance are able to upgrade to the new version at no cost. Upgrades are available for those customers who have version 11 or 10 of Remark Office OMR German.

Click here to find the partner in your country.

For over 35 years, Remark Office OMR has been the world’s leading OMR software package for collecting data from tests, surveys, evaluations, assessments, and many other types of forms. Click here to see more about the Remark 12 upgrade.

The post Remark Office OMR 12 German is here! appeared first on Remark Software.

Back in 1999 the world was a very different place. Remark Office OMR was around, but Gravic was then known as Principia Products. The Internet was still a relatively new phenomenon, and most of the world was still using dial-up service to access it as broadband was just starting to gain popularity.

The Remark Team, in consultation with many of our customers, decided that the world was ready for a product that would allow customers to create and host their own web surveys. As most people were still collecting data on paper, this product would enable customers to host online versions on their own website. Things such as course evaluations and student life surveys could now be offered in a new hybrid state existing both on paper and online. It was a great idea!

Launched in 1999 (read about it here), Remark Web Survey proved to be a hit with many of our customers, particularly those in higher education. The initial version created fairly vanilla web forms with some customization available. As customers started using the product we released new versions with much more customization and many more complex features such as question branching, skip patterns, tighter control over invitations and the respondent list, and much more. Remark Web Survey grew to include just about every feature you can imagine for web forms. Best of all, it ran on the customer’s website, which allowed them to keep control of their own data.

Being in control of one’s data is important in many situations, but as time went on, more and more hosted solutions emerged in the market. Many of these were free to use, with their revenue generated from advertising. Most everyone now uses hosted applications and as such, our customer base has continued to shrink to where we had to make the painful decision to shelve our good old friend, Remark Web Survey, as of December 31, 2025.

The Remark Team is committed to doing what we can to make sure the transition for you is as smooth as possible. For those customers still using Remark Web Survey, we will accept support renewals for one more year from your current end date and then the product will be officially unsupported. It is possible that it will continue to work for years to come but we will not be making any updates to Remark Web Survey after December 31, 2025.

We thank all our customers, some of whom have been using Remark Web Survey for over 25 years! Though we cannot calculate a total, we know that Remark Web Survey has been used to collect data from hundreds of millions of forms over the years. We hope it has served you well!

Thank you!
The Remark Team

Learn More About Our Remark Products

The post Goodbye to an Old Friend appeared first on Remark Software.

The Remark Team at Gravic, Inc., is excited to announce the release of Remark Office OMR 12 Spanish! This latest version brings all the powerful features of Remark Office OMR 12, like the AI Assistant, anchor mark support, customizable review colors, change tracking, and more, together with a fully localized Spanish user interface. Whether you’re a long-time Remark user or new to OMR technology, this release makes it easier than ever to collect and analyze data from tests, surveys, and assessments quickly and accurately.

Customers using previous versions of Remark Office OMR Spanish having valid maintenance are able to upgrade to the new version at no cost. Upgrades are available for those customers having version 11 or 10 of Remark Office OMR Spanish.

The Remark Team works with a network of partners around the world who can provide the Spanish language version to their customers. We thank all our partners who assisted with the new version, and we want to especially thank Sr. Alfredo Pineda and the team from SCD – Sistemas de Computación y Captura de Datos, S. A. (scd.com.gt) in Guatemala for his assistance with the translation. SCD covers several countries in Central and South America for us.

Click here to find the partner in your country.

For over 35 years, Remark Office OMR has been the world’s leading OMR software package for collecting data from tests, surveys, evaluations, assessments, and many other types of forms. Click here to see more about the Remark 12 upgrade.

¡Remark Office OMR 12 en español ya está aquí!

El equipo de Remark en Gravic, Inc. se complace en anunciar el lanzamiento de Remark Office OMR 12 en español. Esta última versión incorpora todas las potentes funciones de Remark Office OMR 12, como el Asistente de IA, la compatibilidad con marcas de anclaje, colores de revisión personalizables, seguimiento de cambios y mucho más, junto con una interfaz de usuario completamente localizada al español. Tanto si es un usuario habitual de Remark como si es nuevo en la tecnología OMR, esta versión facilita más que nunca la recopilación y el análisis de datos de exámenes, encuestas y evaluaciones de forma rápida y precisa.

Los clientes que utilizan versiones anteriores de Remark Office OMR en español con mantenimiento vigente pueden actualizar a la nueva versión sin costo adicional. Las actualizaciones están disponibles para los clientes que tengan la versión 11 o 10 de Remark Office OMR en español.

El equipo de Remark trabaja con una red de socios en todo el mundo que pueden proporcionar la versión en español a sus clientes. Agradecemos a todos nuestros socios que colaboraron con la nueva versión, y queremos agradecer especialmente al Sr. Alfredo Pineda y al equipo de SCD – Sistemas de Computación y Captura de Datos, S. A. (scd.com.gt) en Guatemala por su ayuda con la traducción. SCD cubre varios países de Centroamérica y Sudamérica para nosotros.

Haz clic aquí para encontrar al socio en tu país.

Durante más de 35 años, Remark Office OMR ha sido el paquete de software OMR líder en el mundo para la recopilación de datos de exámenes, encuestas, evaluaciones y muchos otros tipos de formularios. Haga clic aquí para obtener más información sobre la actualización a Remark 12.

The post Remark Office OMR 12 Spanish is Here! appeared first on Remark Software.

Format the partial credit answer key as follows:

Question number       Correct response      Points awarded

In the example below, question one has five possible answers (A-E) and four correct answers (A, B, C, D). Students get one point for each correct answer, but only need to select one of the correct answers to earn credit (an OR scenario). Your file would look like this:

1            A            1
1            B            1
1            C            1
1            D            1

Using the same example above but requiring students select all four correct answers (an AND scenario), it would look like this:

1         A,B,C,D         1 

Note: In the answer key, Question Properties select the box Only correct if all chosen to received credit otherwise the answers will be treated as an OR statement. This would be for any question setup this way.

Below is an example for several questions. Can you determine the grading based on the information above before looking at the information below the example?

1          A          1
1          B          1
2          A          1
3          A          0.25
3          B          0.25
3          C          0.25
3          D          0.25
4          B&D       1
5          A&B        2

Did you figure it out? Let’s break it down:

Question 1 allows A OR B and is worth 1 point.
Question 2 allows A and is worth 1 point.
Question 3 allows A OR B OR C OR D and is worth 1 point.
Question 4 allows B AND D and is worth 1 point.
Question 5 allows A AND B and is worth 2 points.

Note that you need to include all questions, answers, and point values in your import file and not just those for the partial credit questions.

You can also use the following delimiters where all answers must be selected for the question to be correct: “+”, “&”, or “and”. For example: A+B+C or A&B&C or A and B and C.

Once you have your tab-delimited file created to import, with your test data showing in the data center, select Advance Grade.

The Advanced Grade window will appear.

Select Answer Key in the task pane to the left.

Select the drop-down to the right of Import answer key from and select Partial Credit Key.

Click Import Key.

Browse to the location of your partial credit answer key file and click the Open button.

You will receive a pop-up indicating your answer key was imported successfully.

Click the OK button.

Questions that have partial credit will show the word Partial. To view the partial credit for a question, click the ellipse (…).

You can also select Try Out Your Scoring to view what combinations will provide for the points assigned.

Click OK to return to the Advanced Grade screen.

You can either select to Save your answer key or begin to Grade your test.  If you did not save your answer key and select Grade, you will be given an opportunity to save your answer key or not to save your answer key.

After responding to the prompt, select Grade to grade your tests.

Remark Product Support can be reached Monday – Friday (except for major holidays) from 9AM – 6PM Eastern time at 610-647-8595 or by email at support@gravic.com

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The post How Do I Import a Partial Credit Key in Remark Office OMR? appeared first on Remark Software.

We’re pleased to announce a new update to Remark Office OMR, designed to enhance your experience with subtle but meaningful improvements. This release focuses on refining performance, fixing known issues, and making your workflow even smoother. Whether you’re scanning forms for education, research, business or anything else, these updates help ensure Remark continues to deliver reliable, efficient results. Let’s take a quick look at what’s new in Remark Office OMR.

What’s New in Remark Office OMR 12.1?

Remark Quick Stats

Student Test Report with Boolean Regions: The Student Test Report now includes support for regions set to the Boolean type.

Partial Credit Update: You can now set up an “and” situation with partial credit when more than one response is correct (meaning all answers have to be selected to receive credit). The import file requires that the correct answers be delimited by “+”, “&”, or “and”. 

Recognition Updates: We are always looking for ways to improve our already great recognition of your real world forms. In this update we sped things up and made some tweaks to erased marks.

Template Editor:

Anchor Mark Utility: Remark Office OMR now includes an Anchor Mark Utility that allows you to upload a PDF of your form and add anchor marks to the corners. Anchor marks help Remark properly recognize data on forms, particularly those that are tightly packed or have lines or other elements near the bubbles.

Many of these features were inspired by feedback from our amazing user community—thank you for helping us make Remark even better!

Ready to Upgrade?

Current customers with an active software maintenance agreement can download and install Remark Office OMR 12.1 at no additional cost.

 Curious to learn more? Click here for the full list of new features, enhancements, and fixes.

The post Remark Office OMR 12.1 is Here! appeared first on Remark Software.

How Teachers Can Make Test Grading Faster and Easier

In a nutshell, the following will keep your test grading effort reasonable:

• Minimize the Scale for Minor Assignments
• Try a Pass/Fail Mechanism
• Stop Writing Corrections
• Cover Correct Answers or Common Mistakes in Class
• Try Specifications Grading
• Create a Very Specific Rubric
• Use OMR Applications to Grade Your Tests

We will discuss each in more detail below.

1. Minimize the Scale for Minor Assignments

Not every assignment needs a detailed point breakdown. For smaller tasks, consider simplifying your grading scale. A 1–3 scale (e.g., 1 = needs improvement, 2 = satisfactory, 3 = excellent) can provide enough feedback while saving you time. A simple scale promotes clear expectations and motivates students because it provides a lower stake environment. In addition, the simplified scale is easy to apply across assignments and helps standardize grading.

2. Try a Pass/Fail Mechanism

For formative assessments or participation-based tasks, a pass/fail system can be highly effective. It encourages completion and engagement without requiring detailed evaluation.

For example, Suppose each week, students take a short online quiz based on a clinical case discussed in a medical class. The quiz includes 5–7 multiple-choice questions focused on diagnostic reasoning and clinical decision-making. The pass/fail mechanism encourages consistent practice by motivating students to engage with the material weekly without the pressure of a high-stakes grade. It also supports learning over performance by making the goal to reinforce clinical thinking, not to rank students. In addition, it reduces anxiety by helping students focus on learning rather than perfection. And of course, it is efficient for instructors because they can automate grading and focus on identifying common misconceptions rather than detailed scoring.

3. Stop Writing Corrections

Instead of writing out corrections on every paper, simply mark what’s wrong. Use symbols, checkmarks, or highlights to indicate errors. Then, go over the correct answers or common mistakes in class. Benefits of this approach include having students actively review their work to understand what the symbols mean and encouraging self-correction and deeper learning rather than passive receipt of feedback.

4. Cover Correct Answers or Common Mistakes in Class

Rather than individual feedback, use class time to review common errors and correct answers. This reinforces learning and reduces the need for personalized comments on each test. This approach not only saves time but also promotes collective learning. It also helps the instructor identify common gaps in learning and promotes active student engagement.

5. Try Specifications Grading

Specifications grading is a method where students are assessed based on whether they meet clearly defined criteria. It’s binary—either the work meets the specs, or it doesn’t. This approach reduces ambiguity and speeds up grading. In this type of grading the instructor provides a rubric with clearly defined specifications. To earn credit, students must meet all the criteria listed. There’s no partial credit—each item is either met or not met. Benefits include:

• Motivation: Students focus on mastering the required skills rather than chasing points.
• Clarity: Students know exactly what’s expected, without any guessing about how points will be distributed.
• Efficiency: Prof. Chen can quickly check each item without subjective scoring.
• Fairness: All students are held to the same transparent standards.

6. Create a Very Specific Rubric

Continuing from above, invest time upfront to build a detailed rubric. While it may take longer initially, it will save you time every semester thereafter. For example, suppose the instructor provides a four point rubric that includes:

• Clarity and organization
• Depth of knowledge
• Grammar
• Content

Each rubric would provide specific details about what the students need to succeed. For example, Clarity and Organization might say:

• 4 points: Well-organized, logical flow, easy to follow
• 3 points: Generally organized, minor issues with flow
• 2 points: Some organization, but ideas may be jumbled
• 0-1 point: Disorganized or hard to follow

A clear rubric helps students understand expectations and allows for faster, more consistent grading.

7. Use OMR Applications to Grade Your Tests

Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) applications like Remark Test Grading can dramatically reduce grading Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) applications like Remark Test Grading can dramatically reduce grading time. With Remark, you can:

• Create tests using bubble sheet formatting
• Scan answer sheets quickly
• Instantly view results

This is especially useful for multiple-choice assessments and large classes.

8. Ask Your Institution to Use Remark

If your school or university isn’t already using Remark Test Grading, consider advocating for it. The application is easy to implement and can be a game-changer for departments looking to improve grading efficiency. It easily integrates with other platforms, and provides the insights you need for effective teaching.

Final Thoughts

Grading doesn’t have to be a bottleneck. By combining smart analog strategies with powerful digital tools like Remark Test Grading, you can reclaim your time and focus more on teaching and student engagement. Whether you’re simplifying your rubrics or scanning bubble sheets, these strategies will help you grade faster—and smarter.

Learn more about how Remark Test Grading can streamline your testing process.

– The Remark Team

^{*Assisted by Microsoft Copilot}

The post Remark Test Grading: Strategies for Faster, Smarter Assessment appeared first on Remark Software.

1. From the Test Details Window, click on the Data button and select Export Data.

2. To export the raw test data, choose the desired file format from the Export Data As drop-down menu.

3. To export the grades to a gradebook application, choose the desired file format from the Export Gradebook As drop-down menu.

4. Click the Download Data button to download a copy of the file.

5. Click the Email button to email a copy of the file to yourself.

Remark Product Support can be reached Monday – Friday (except for major holidays) from 9AM – 6PM Eastern time at 610-647-8595 or by email at support@gravic.com.

Looking for even more integration with your LMS? Contact us today to learn about our LMS Connectors for Blackboard, Canvas, D2L Brightspace, FACTS, Moodle, ClassLink and Google Classroom!

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We’re excited to announce a powerful new update to Remark Test Grading that makes grading even faster, smarter, and more connected. This release is designed to streamline your workflow and give you more control over your data.

Seamless Integration with Google Classroom

Say goodbye to manual roster imports and grade entry! With our brand new LMS Connector for Google Classroom, you can now:

• Automatically pull in class rosters from your Google Classroom account.
• Sync grades directly back to Google Classroom with just a click.
• Eliminate data entry errors and save valuable time.

This integration ensures your grading process is aligned with your digital classroom environment, making it easier than ever to keep students and parents in the loop.

Advanced Filtering on the Test Details Page

Large class? No problem! We’ve also added advanced filtering capabilities to the Test Details page, providing you with the ability to quickly find a student by name, ID, email, or whether they have taken the test.

Why This Matters

This release is all about saving time and empowering educators with better tools. By connecting directly with Google Classroom and enhancing usability, we’re helping you focus more on teaching and less on logistics.

How to Get Started

Simply log in to see all of the new features and enhancements!

Interested in the Google Classroom Connector? Reach out to us at remark@gravic.com to get started.

Need help? Our support team is ready to assist you with setup and training.

Learn more about how Remark Test Grading can streamline your testing process.

We can’t wait to see how you use these new features to enhance your grading process. As always, we’re listening—so let us know what you think and what you’d like to see next!

– The Remark Team

The post Google Classroom Integration Now Available in Remark Test Grading appeared first on Remark Software.

Below is the 101 report with the default labels highlighted in yellow.  The Report Style tab on the right shows the current labels on the report.

Changing these labels is as simple as clicking in the label cell in the label tab and entering the desired label text.  In the image below, the labels we will change are highlighted in yellow.  The report area will gray-out with the first change made in the labels area.  When all changes are made, clicking on Apply will cause the report to regenerate and display the new labels.

The image below shows the changed items highlighted in yellow.  Note that if you don’t want a label for an item, simply leave the label field empty.  The Grade label is blank so no label appears above the Grade column on the report.

To export the updated report to Excel, in the upper left select File, Export, Excel.

The 101 – Student Statistics Report will be selected in the Available Reports list. Other reports can be selected if needed but in our example, only the 101 report will reflect the label changes.

Click Next and enter the file name for your exported file.  Confirm or change the save to location as needed then select Save.

When the file is saved, Excel will open and display the report.  Note that the label changes are also applied to our learning objective columns as well. For illustrative purposes, the modified label items are highlighted in yellow in the image.

Remark Product Support can be reached Monday – Friday (except for major holidays) from 9AM – 6PM Eastern time at 610-647-8595 or by email at support@gravic.com

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The post How Do I Create Custom Labels for My Excel Exports in Remark Office OMR? appeared first on Remark Software.

The Remark Team at Gravic, Inc., in partnership with our friends at GB Network & Print, is excited to announce the release of Remark Office OMR 12 Portuguese! This latest release brings all the powerful new capabilities of version 12, like the AI Assistant, anchor mark support, customizable review colors, change tracking, and more, together with a fully localized Portuguese user interface. Whether you’re a long-time Remark user or new to OMR technology, this version makes it easier than ever to collect and analyze data from tests, surveys, and assessments quickly and accurately.

With offices in São Paulo, GB Network & Print has been our trusted partner for many years, providing sales and service of Remark products to schools, universities, and corporations throughout Brazil. New licenses and upgrades are available directly through GB Network & Print, and existing customers with active maintenance can upgrade at no cost from within the software. GB Network & Print can be reached at:

GB Network & Print

Phone: (55 11) 5535-4857
Email: vinicius@gbnet.com.br

Website: https://remarkoffice.com.br

For 35 years, Remark Office OMR has been the world’s leading OMR software package for collecting data from tests, surveys, evaluations, assessments, and many other types of forms. We are excited to launch this new version of Remark Office OMR for our many customers in Brazil!

Click here for more information on Remark Office OMR 12.

The post Remark Office OMR 12 Portuguese is Here! appeared first on Remark Software.

The Remark Team at Gravic, Inc., in partnership with our friends at Qorrect Assessment Ltd, is excited to announce the release of Remark Office OMR 12 Arabic! This latest release brings all the powerful new capabilities of version 12, like the AI Assistant, anchor mark support, customizable review colors, change tracking, and more, together with a fully localized Arabic user interface. Whether you’re a long-time Remark user or new to OMR technology, this version makes it easier than ever to collect and analyze data from tests, surveys, and assessments quickly and accurately.

With offices and authorized resellers throughout MENA, Qorrect Assessment Ltd has been our partner for many years for sales and service of our Remark products in the region. New licenses and upgrades are available directly through Qorrect Assessment, and existing customers with active maintenance can upgrade at no cost from within the software. Qorrect can be reached at:

Qorrect Assessment Ltd.

Address: 23 Amr Street
Dokki, Giza, Egypt

‪Phone: +2(010)60005005‬

Email: a.naggar@remarkomrsoftware.com

Website: https://www.remarkomrsoftware.com

For 35 years, Remark Office OMR has been the world’s leading OMR software package for collecting data from tests, surveys, evaluations, assessments, and many other types of forms.

Qorrect Assessment Ltd. is a leading digital assessment solutions provider serving K-12 schools, higher education, and corporate training programs, primarily across the MENA region. Their mission is to help institutions drive education reform through fair, reliable, and valid assessment processes powered by automative technologies.

Click here for more information on Remark Office OMR 12.

The post Remark Office OMR 12 Arabic is Here! appeared first on Remark Software.

Beginning with Remark Office OMR 12, you can now personalize your flag colors during the Review Exceptions process to improve focus and readability and make your work flow your own.

To customize the Review Exception colors, go into the software preferences under Tools|Preferences|Review.

For example, when using Review Exceptions, you can choose to flag data cells that have been reviewed by selecting After reviewing an exception: Flag as reviewed in the review preferences under Tools|Preferences|Review.

You will also need to select Reviewed under the Review Exceptions Options.

By default, as you review the flagged exceptions in your data, the reviewed data cells will be highlighted pink.

However, you are now able to change the color associated with reviewed exceptions by going to Tools|Preferences|Review and changing the color option. So, in this case, we will change the reviewed exceptions color to cyan blue.

Note: The exception colors in the grid are only retained if you save data to the Remark (.rmk/.rmx) or Remark Office Archive (.roa/.rox) data formats or to the Excel XLSX file format. Once you export your data to another format, if you reopen that format, the grid colors are not present.

The screenshot below shows the reviewed exceptions flagged in cyan blue in the Excel XLSX file export file.

You can change the other exception colors (multiple responses, blank, recognition, etc.) as well. If you contact support for assistance with data that you have changed the exception colors, please let them know.

Remark Product Support can be reached Monday – Friday (except for major holidays) from 9AM – 6PM Eastern time at 610-647-8595 or by email at support@gravic.com

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The post How Do I Customize Exception Colors in Remark Office OMR? appeared first on Remark Software.