Abbyy Software FINEREADER 7 User Manual
Optical Character Recognition Program
ABBYY FineReader
®
Version 7.0
User’s Guide
© 2003 ABBYY Software Ltd. All rights reserved.
Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not bear any commitment on the part of
ABBYY.
The software described in this document is supplied under a license agreement. The software may only be used or copied
in strict accordance with the terms of the agreement. It is a breach of the “On legal protection of software and databases”
law of the Russian Federation and of international law to copy the software onto any medium unless specifically allowed
in the license agreement or nondisclosure agreements.
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, electronic or other, for any
purpose, without the express written permission of ABBYY.
© 2003 ABBYY Software Ltd. All rights reserved.
© 2001 ParaType, Inc. Type 1 fonts are licensed from ParaType, Inc.
ABBYY, FINEREADER, ABBYY FineReader and Scan&Read are either registered trademarks or trademarks
of ABBYY Software Ltd.
Adobe, the Adobe logo, Adobe PDF and Adobe Acrobat are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated. Microsoft,
Outlook, PowerPoint, Windows, Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation
in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
ABBYY: P.O. Box 72, 127015, Moscow, Russia office@abbyy.com; www.abbyy.com; www.finereader.com.
Contents
Welcome. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Chapter 1
Installing and Starting ABBYY FineReader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Software and hardware requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Installing ABBYY FineReader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Network server/workstation installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Starting ABBYY FineReader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
About ABBYY FineReader activation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Chapter 2
Quick Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
How to input a document in less than a minute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
The ABBYY FineReader main window. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
ABBYY FineReader toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 3
General Features of ABBYY FineReader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
What is an OCR system? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
New features of ABBYY FineReader 7.0. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Supported document saving formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Supported image formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Chapter 4
Acquiring the Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Setting scanning parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Tips on brightness tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Scanning multipage documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Opening images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Acquiring images from the Hot Folder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Scanning dual pages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Adding business cards images to a batch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Page numbering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Working with an image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Batch image options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3
Contents
Chapter 5
Page Layout Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
General information on page layout analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Block types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Automatic page layout analysis options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Drawing and editing blocks manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Manual table layout analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Using block templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Chapter 6
Recognition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
General information on recognition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Recognition languages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Source text print type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Other recognition options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Background recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Recognition with training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
How to train a user pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
How to edit a user pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
User languages and language groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
How to create a new language. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
How to create a new language group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Chapter 7
Checking and Editing Text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Checking text in ABBYY FineReader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Check and edit text options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Adding and deleting words to/from the user dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Editing text in ABBYY FineReader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Editing tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Chapter 8
Saving into External Applications and Formats. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
General information on saving recognized text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Text saving options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Saving the recognized text in RTF, DOC and Word XML formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Saving the recognized text in PDF format. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Saving the recognized text in HTML format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Saving the recognized text in PPT format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Saving the page image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
Chapter 9
Working with Batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
General information on working with batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Creating a new batch. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Opening a batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Adding images to a batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Batch page number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
Saving a batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Closing a batch page or the whole batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
Deleting a batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Batch settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Full–text search in recognized batch pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
Chapter 10
Network Document Processing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
Working with the same batch over a network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Group work with the same user languages and dictionaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
Group work with customized dictionaries
(languages with dictionary support only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
Appendix
Hot Keys and Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
Hot Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5
Contents
ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
Welcome!
Thank you for choosing ABBYY FineReader!
ABBYY FineReader is an Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system
that helps convert printed and PDF documents into editable formats
while retaining the original layout of the document. The program allows
users to create a digital copy of any document in minutes without man
ually retyping it. Although incredibly easy to use, ABBYY FineReader also
provides more sophisticated settings and options to meet the needs of
professional users who want finetune the application to suit their
needs.
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
User’s Guide
The User’s Guide introduces you to the basics of using ABBYY FineReader. Each chapter starts
with a short summary description and a list of the chapter’s contents.
Online Help
FineReader’s online Help contains basic and advanced information on program features, set
tings and dialogs. Online Help is provided in HTML format and has been designed for quick
and easy information retrieval.
Readme File
The Readme file contains the latest information on the software.
Technical Support
If you have any questions on how to use FineReader, please consult all the documentation you
have available (the User’s Guide and the Help file) before contacting our technical support
service. Also, take a look at the technical support section on our website at www.abbyy.com.
You may find the information you need there.
If, after having consulted both your documentation and the ABBYY website, you still require
assistance, email us at support@abbyy.com. Note that our technical support experts will need
the following information from you to be able to deal with your enquiries:
● The serial number of your copy of FineReader
● Your scanner make and model
● A general description of the problem and the full error message text
(if you have encountered an error message)
● Your Windows operating system version
● Any other information you consider important.
Note: Some system information can be obtained by clicking on System Info in the
About... dialog (menu Help/About).
Chapter 1
Installing and Starting
ABBYY FineReader
This chapter provides detailed instructions on installing ABBYY
FineReader, outlines the system requirements of the program and
offers instructions for installing the program on workstations and
networks. ABBYY FineReader 7.0 includes a specialized installation
program that automates the setup process.To insure proper instal
lation, always use the ABBYY FineReader CDROM for installation.
Chapter Contents:
● Software and hardware requirements
● Installing ABBYY FineReader
● Network server/workstation installation
● Starting ABBYY FineReader
● About ABBYY FineReader activation
Software and Hardware Requirements
ABBYY FineReader 7.0 requires the following:
1. PC with Intel®Pentium®/Celeron®/Xeon™, AMD K6/ Athlon™/Duron™ or
compatible processor. Processor must be 200MHz or higher
2. Microsoft
®
Windows®XP, Microsoft®Windows®2000, Windows®NT®4.0 with
Service Pack 6 or greater, Windows
®
ME/98 (for working with localized inter
faces, corresponding language support is required)
3. 64 MB (Windows XP/2000/NT 4.0), 32 MB (Windows ME/98), plus 16 MB of
RAM for each additional processor (in the case of a multiprocessor system)
4. 150 MB of free harddisk space for typical program installation
5. 70 MB of free harddisk space for program operation
6. TWAINcompatible scanner, digital camera or fax–modem
7. Video card and monitor (min. resolution 800×600)
8. Keyboard, mouse or other pointing device
Note: Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or later is required to search in recognized pages and
to read news on the ABBYY Community news channel (only for ABBYY FineReader
7.0 Professional Edition).
Installing ABBYY FineReader
The installation program will guide you through installation of ABBYY FineReader . Please
close all applications prior to installing ABBYY FineReader.
To install ABBYY FineReader:
1. Insert the ABBYY FineReader 7.0 CDROM into the CDROM drive.
The installation program will launch automatically.
2. Follow the installation instructions.
If the installation program does not automatically launched:
1. Click the Start button on the Taskbar and select the Settings/Control
Panel.
2. Double–click on the Add/Remove Programs icon.
3. Select the Install/Uninstall tab and click the Install button.
4. Follow the installation program instructions.
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
Installation options
During the installation, you will be asked to select one of the two installation options:
● Typical (recommended) – This option installs all components of the pro
gram, including all recognition languages. You will be prompted to choose a
single interface language during installation.
● Custom installation – This option allows you to choose to install only specific
components of the program, including all available recognition languages.
Consult the readme.htm file on the ABBYY FineReader CDROM if you encounter an error
message.
Note: If you wish to retain your user dictionaries and patterns from a previously installed
version of ABBYY FineReader, do not uninstall the older version of the program prior
to installing the new version. All existing user dictionaries and patterns will then
be available for use in the latest version.
Network Server/Workstation Installation
Only the system administrator may install ABBYY FineReader 7.0 Corporate Edition on a net
work server. There are two stages to the installation. First, the program is installed on the serv
er. From the server, the program can be installed on workstations using one of the four
methods:
● using Active Directory
● using Microsoft System Management Service (SMS)
● form the command line
● manually in interactive mode
To install ABBYY FineReader 7.0 Corporate Edition on the server:
1. Insert the ABBYY FineReader CDROM into the CDROM drive.
2. Run setup.exe from the FineReader CDROM with the /a commandline
option.
The System Administrator's Guide (which can be found in the Administrator’s Guide folder
on the server where ABBYY FineReader is installed) provides additional information about
installing ABBYY FineReader on workstations, working with the License Manager and working
with the program in a local area network.
11
Chapter 1. Installing and Starting ABBYY FineReader
Starting ABBYY FineReader
To start ABBYY FineReader:
● Select the ABBYY FineReader 7.0 Professional Edition (Corporate Edition)
item in the Start/Programs menu.
Note: Make sure your scanner is connected to your computer, pluggedin, and turned on
before you start FineReader. To install a scanner after installing the program, please
consult the user guide supplied with the scanner for installation instructions. If you do
not have a scanner, you can still recognize image files using ABBYY FineReader 7.0.
You will find sample image files in the ABBYY FineReader/Demo folder on the
program CDROM.
About ABBYY FineReader Activation
Software piracy hurts software manufacturers and end users alikeusing an illegal product is
never safe.Legal software ensures that third party companies cannot introduce detrimental
code changes. ABBYY makes every effort to protect its intellectual property rights and the
security of its customer through a variety of antipiracy measures.
ABBYY FineReader 7.0 incorporates a specialized activation technology that prohibits illegal
copying and distribution of the software. This technology effectively stops the unauthorized
use of ABBYY products by those who have not signed a License Agreement with ABBYY.
A singleuser License Agreement allows for installation on a single PC. Installation of the soft
ware on additional PCs breaches the License Agreement, as well as international copyright
laws. The activation technology controls copying of the software and prevents the installation
of a licensed copy on multiple workstations. At the same time, the technology allows the soft
ware to be reinstalled on the licensed PC as often as necessary.
Depending on the product version and territory of distribution, the functionality of the soft
ware may be limited in the following ways:
● the program cannot save or print recognized Cyrillic texts
(ABBYY FineReader 7.0 Professional Edition);
●
the program cannot save or print recognized text in any language
(ABBYY FineReader 7.0 Professional Edition);
●
the program will not function prior to activation
(ABBYY FineReader 7.0 Corporate Edition).
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
StepbyStep Activation Instructions
The builtin Activation Wizard will quickly and efficiently activate the program. A friendly
user interface collects and sends all necessary activation information directly to ABBYY. You
will also use the Activation Wizard to enter the Activation Code (Professional Edition) or
Activation File (Corporate Edition) that you receive from ABBYY during activation.
The Wizard will generate a code (called an Installation ID), which contains all of the neces
sary activation information including system parameters and program information. The
Installation ID does not include personal information about the computer user or the system,
and the code cannot be used to identify the user.
You may choose one of three activation methods:
● Via Internet (recommended)
Over the Internet If you have an Internet connection, you can activate the
software automatically within a few seconds. Using this method allows for
activation to be carried out automatically.
● By email
By email You may send an email message (which is generated by the pro
gram and contains all of the necessary activation information) to ABBYY.
To ensure a quick reply from the automated registration system, do not alter
the information in the message body or subject field. When you have received
your Activation Code or Activation File, enter it into the corresponding field of
the Activation Wizard.
● By fax or phone(Professional Edition only)
You may phone the nearest ABBYY office or partner and provide your
Installation ID and serial number to the operator. In most countries, you may
also fax the information. To use this method, simply print and fax the activa
tion message that is automatically generated by the Wizard to the nearest
ABBYY office or partner. An Activation Code will be provided in a reply fax.
Enter it into the corresponding field of the Activation Wizard.
After activation, FineReader 7.0 will be fully functional on the registered system. The program
can be reinstalled on that computer as often as desired without reactivation. The FineReader
Activation Wizard detects and tolerates changes to your PC configuration. Minor upgrades will
not require reactivation. If major upgrades are made to the system (i.e. reformatting the hard
drive, reinstallation of the operating system, etc.), an additional activation may be required.
13
Chapter 1. Installing and Starting ABBYY FineReader
14
ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
ABBYY’s Activation Privacy Policy
Activation may be required to access the full functionality of FineReader 7.0. This process veri
fies that you are installing a genuine ABBYY product. ABBYY guarantees that activation of the
product does not entail the communication of personal information to ABBYY. In fact, activa
tion may be completely anonymous, if desired.
At activation, the FineReader Activation Wizard creates a unique Installation ID that indicates
only the configuration of your PC at the time of activation. The Installation ID does not
include: personal information about the user; information about other software or data that
may reside on the PC; or information about the specific make or model of the PC. The code is
used solely for the purpose of activation. The Installation Wizard sends only limited informa
tion to the ABBYY activation server, including: your specific Installation ID and the name, seri
al number, version number, and interface language of your copy of the FineReader software.
This information is used only to select the correct language for the program and to generate
the contents of a reply message that is sent to you to confirm the results of activation. None of
this data will be used for any other purpose.
Chapter 2
Quick Start
This chapter will teach you how to input a document in a few
easy steps, even if you know nothing about how ABBYY
FineReader works!
If you already know how to use ABBYY FineReader, you may
wish to skip this chapter and go to the chapter called “New fea
tures of ABBYY FineReader 7.0”.
Chapter Contents:
● How to input a document in less than a minute
● The ABBYY FineReader main window
● ABBYY FineReader toolbars
How to Input a Document in Less than a Minute
1. Turn on your scanner prior to starting ABBYY FineReader.
(Many scanner models require the unit to be turned on before you start your PC.)
Next, turn on the computer and start ABBYY FineReader
(Start/Programs/ABBYY FineReader 7.0 Professional Edition or
Corporate Edition). The main window of ABBYY FineReader will appear on
your screen.
2. Place the document on the scanner.
3. Click the arrow to the right of the Scan&Read button in the main window.
Select the Scan&Read Wizard item in the local menu.
The Scan&Read Wizard has Scan&Read and Open&Read
modes to guide you through each step of the scanning
process. You can use a sample image file contained in the
Demo folder of FineReader.
4. Follow the Scan&Read Wizard instructions.
There are four steps to input a document: scanning, reading, spellchecking and saving
recognized text. Once scanning is complete, the scanned document will appear in the Image
window. The application then asks you to set up the recognition parameters (i.e. resolution,
scan mode and brightness). Once you have identified your preferred parameters, FineReader
will start reading the image and analyzing its layout. Recognized text will be shown highlight
ed in blue within the document. The recognized data will also be displayed as editable text in
the Text window. Once you have finished correcting your text, the Scan&Read Wizard will
prompt you to send the final text to an application, save it to a file, or start processing another
document.
The ABBYY FineReader Main Window
ABBYY FineReader uses a batch mode for all document processing. Simply, a batch is a folder
that contains images, recognized text files and other FineReader information files. Each
scanned image is converted into a separate batch file. If there are several images in a single
image file (for example, if you are dealing with a multipage TIFF), each image file will be con
tained in a separate batch file.
As a default, FineReader opens a new batch at startup. You may choose to work with the newly
opened batch or to open a previously created batch. Please see “General Information on
Working with Batches” for more information.
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
Find the FineReader main menu at the top of the FineReader Main window. Four toolbars are
displayed on the main menu: Standard, Formatting, Image Tools, and WizardBar. You
may display or hide any toolbar by clicking on the View menu and selecting the Toolbar. You
can also rightclick on any toolbar to open the local menu and then click on the name of the
toolbar that you want to display or hide (currently selected toolbars are highlighted).
To select the page view in the Batch window:
● Click either or on the Standard toolbar, or
● Rightclick the Batch window and select the View item in the local menu.
A status bar, located at the bottom of the ABBYY FineReader main window, displays informa
tion on the application’s status and operations currently being performed, as well as a brief
description of menu items and selected buttons.
Other windows in the main window include the Batch, Image, Zoom, and Text windows.
The Image, Zoom and Text windows are interconnected: doubleclicking on an image area
in the Image window causes that area to be displayed in the Zoom window, and moves the
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Chapter 2. Quick Start
pointer in the Text window to the position you clicked on (if text has already been recog
nized on the page). You can customize the onscreen windows arrangement To alter the on
screen windows arrangement:
● In the View menu, select one of the following items: Batch Window; Image
and Text Windows; Zoom Window.
Useful keyboard commands:
● Press CTRL+TAB, to switch between windows.
● Press ALT+1 to activate the Batch window.
● Press ALT+2 to activate the Image window.
● Press ALT+3 to activate the Text window.
ABBYY FineReader Toolbars
There are four toolbars in FineReader: the Standard, Image Tools, Formatting and
WizardBar. These toolbars provide quick and convenient access to the functions of the
application. However, you can also access the same functions using the menus or hot keys.
Allowing the mouse pointer to hover over a toolbar button displays the function of that but
ton. The button's tooltip will be displayed, and the status bar will display additional button
details.
...editing recognized text.Batch window at the top; Batch View: Details; Text
and Zoom windows
...layout analysis and recogni
tion.
Batch window at the top; Batch View: Details; Image
and Zoom windows
...a batch that contains many
pages.
Batch window at the top: Batch View: Details; Image,
Text and Zoom windows
…a batch that contains only a
small number of pages.
Batch window on the left; Batch View: Thumbnails;
Image, Text and Zoom windows
Useful if/when:Some recommended windows arrangements:
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
The WizardBar
The buttons on the WizardBar launch the main FineReader functions: Scanning, Reading,
Checking and Saving recognition results. The numbers on the buttons indicate the order in
which the document input actions should be performed. You may perform each action sepa
rately or combine them into a single action by clicking the Scan&Read Wizard button to
perform the full document processing cycle automatically.
Each button offers several function modes. Click the small downwardpointing arrow located
at the right side of each button and select the mode of your choice in that local menu. The
button icon automatically displays the previously selected mode. Click the button itself to run
this mode again.
Scan&Read
1–Scan
Open Image – adds image(s) to the batch. Each added image
is copied to the batch folder.
Scan Image – scans an image.
Scan Multiple Images – scans images continuously. Select
the Stop Scanning item in the File menu to stop scanning.
Hot Folder (Corporate Edition only) – launches folder moni
toring (all images that are added to a specified folder will be
automatically opened in the ABBYY FineReader window). To
disable folder monitoring, select Disable Hot Folder in the
File menu.
Options – opens the Scan/Open Image tab (Options dia
log) to allow you to set scanning options.
Scan&Read – scans and read a document using the current
options.
Scan&Read Multiple Images – scans and reads several con
secutive images.
Open&Read – opens and reads the images selected in the
Open dialog.
Scan&Read Wizard – launches Scan&Read mode. ABBYY
FineReader guides you through the document processing steps
and helps you to obtain the desired results.
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Chapter 2. Quick Start
20
ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
2 – Read
3 – Check Spelling
4 – Save
The Standard toolbar
The Standard toolbar features file and image tools (e.g. undo/redo an action, scroll the batch
pages, clean and rotate the image) and a list of Recognition Languages.
Save Wizard – opens the Save Wizard to allow you
to select saving options and the destination application.
Save Text to File – saves the recognized text to a file.
Send Selected Pages To – allows you to export only
selected batch pages when you select the desired pages
and export destination application. ABBYY FineReader
will export the pages to the application of your choice
without saving the text first.
Send All Pages To – exports all recognized pages to
the application of your choice without saving the text
first.
Options – opens the Formatting tab (Options dia
logue) to allow you to set saving options.
Check Spelling – searches the text for misspelled and
uncertain words (i.e. those words where character rec
ognized was uncertain).
Options – opens the Check Spelling tab (Options
dialog) to allow you to set spelling checker options.
Read – reads the open batch page.
Read All – reads all unrecognized batch pages.
Options – opens the Recognition tab (Options dia
log) to allow you to set document recognition options.
The Formatting toolbar
The Formatting toolbar features various text formatting tools. You can edit and format text
in the Text window.
The Image toolbar
The Image toolbar features page layout
analysis (e.g. block creation and editing)
tools, as well as tools for scaling (increas
ing/decreasing the size) and editing (eras
ing portions of an image, for example)
images.
Note: Block creation and editing but
tons may be used both in the
Zoom and in the Image windows.
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Chapter 2. Quick Start
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
Setting up the toolbar
Note: Low monitor resolution may limit the number of buttons desplayed on ABBYY
FineReader's toolbars. Although all of FineReader's functionality is available through
the program menus, you must increase the monitor's resolution to display all available
buttons. FineReader allows you to customize the Standard, Image and Formatting
toolbars by removing or adding application command buttons.
Each menu item has its own icon. You can access the full list of commands and their respec
tive buttons in the Customize (Tools>Customize menu) dialog in the Commands list.
To add a button to a toolbar:
1. Select a category in the Categories field.
Note: The list of commands is grouped according to menu item, and the
choice of category will affect the list of commands displayed in the
Commands list.
2. Select the toolbar in the Toolbars field where you want to add a button.
3. Select a command in the Commands list and click the () button.
The selected command will be added to the list of toolbar commands and displayed on the
chosen toolbar in the main window.
To remove a button from a toolbar:
● Select the button you wish removed in the Toolbar buttons list and click the
() button.
Note:
1. The Toolbar buttons list determines the order of the buttons on the toolbar. To
change the order, select the command you wish to move and click the Up
(Down) button to move the command.
2. Commands may be distributed between a set of groups: select the Separator
item in the Commands list and click the Add button. A separator will be
added to the list of toolbar buttons. The separator may be moved.
3. To restore the default set of buttons on a given toolbar, select the toolbar in
the Toolbars list and click the Reset button. To restore the default set of but
tons on all toolbars, click the Reset All option.
Chapter 3
General Features
of ABBYY FineReader
ABBYY FineReader is designed to help you easily convert docu
ments into editable files. A single click of the Scan&Read button
initiates the automated process so that you can start working
without spending hours studying the User’s Guide. FineReader
supports a wide range of formats and you can send recognized
text to the application of your choice or save it into any support
ed format.
Chapter Contents:
● What is an OCR system?
● New features of ABBYY FineReader 7.0
● Supported document saving formats
● Supported image formats
What is an OCR System?
Optical character recognition (OCR) is the translation of optically scanned bitmaps of printed
text characters into character codes, such as ASCII. An OCR system is an efficient way to help
you turn printed/scanned documents, image or PDF files into files that can be edited, searched
and otherwise manipulated on a computer.
ABBYY FineReader is an easytouse program that recognizes texts in practically any font with
out any prior training. The program features high recognition accuracy and low sensitivity to
print defects due to its incorporation of special recognition technology based on the princi
ples of Integrity, Purposeful and Adaptable (IPA) perception.
ABBYY’s IPA Technology:
ABBYY FineReader’s recognition process is based on the principles of ABBYY’s IPA
perception. Three principles determine the behavior of the system:
● Integrity – the identification of recognition objects based on a set of basic
elements and their interrelations.
● Purposefulness – the generation and purposeful verification of recognition
hypotheses.
● Adaptability – the system’s ability to learn and be trained.
There are two stages in the process of inputting a document for
OCR:
1. Scanning. During the scanning stage, a scanner reads the image and transfers
it into a computer. The acquired image is nothing more than a picture (a set
of black, white and color dots that is not editable with a word processor).
2. Recognition. During the recognition stage, FineReader analyzes the image
file transmitted by the scanner (layout analysis) and recognizes each character.
The layout analysis (selecting the recognition areas, tables, pictures, lines, and
individual characters) and image reading processes are closely related. Page
layout analysis is more accurate when the nature of the text is known to the
application.
The system generates a hypothesis about a recognition object (a character, part of a character,
or several glued characters) and then accepts or rejects the hypothesis according to whether
the structural elements are present. These structural elements are computer equivalents of
character parts crucial for human perception (arcs, circles, dots, etc.). The application then
adapts itself to the text according to the degree of accuracy attained. Purposeful searching and
context information enable the system to recognize even torn and distorted characters mak
ing the system oblivious to print defects. Recognized text, which can be edited or saved in a
convenient format, is displayed in FineReader Text window. The final result is the recognized
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
text that you see in the FineReader Text window, a text you can edit and save in any conven
ient format.
New Features of ABBYY FineReader 7.0
Recognition Accuracy
● Recognition accuracy has been improved up to 25% over the previous version.
Analysis and recognition of documents with complex layouts has been
improved, particularly, on documents with text on a color or raster back
ground and documents with complex tables (including tables with white grid
lines and tables with color cells).
● Specialized English and German dictionaries have been added that include the
most frequently used legal and medical terminology, providing unmatched
recognition accuracy of specialized legal and medical texts.
● Recognition of barcodes has been improved and support for PDF417 2D
barcodes has been added.
XML Support and Integration with Microsoft Office
● ABBYY FineReader now supports the Microsoft Word XML format.
● The program is fully integrated with Microsoft Word 2003, to allow you to
check and edit recognition results by using Microsoft Word tools. At the same
time, users can compare the exported results that have been saved in
Microsoft Word with the original image from ABBYY FineReader’s Zoom win
dow from within Microsoft Word.
● ABBYY FineReader can insert recognized documents directly within Microsoft
Word. This provides flexibility to allow you to collect and transform informa
tion from papers or PDF documents into a single electronic document.
Improved PDF Conversions
● The quality of recognition of PDF documents has been drastically improved in
version 7.0. ABBYY FineReader can extract and recognize texts that are placed
on a background from PDF file.
● The recognized PDF documents can be edited in the ABBYY FineReader edi
tor. The results can be saved in any of the supported saving formats including
PDF.
● PDF documents created by ABBYY FineReader are optimized for publishing
on the World Wide Web. The first page of the document is viewable before the
entire document has been downloaded.
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Chapter 3. General Features of ABBYY FineReader
New Saving Options
● A new saving format, Microsoft PowerPoint, supports the quick creation of
new presentations or the editing of existing documents from PowerPoint
slides or handouts.
● Results saved in Microsoft Word are smaller files than in previous versions.
The program more accurately retains the formatting of documents with vari
ous separators. In addition, new saving options for images have been added.
● The program more accurately retains complex formatting elements in HTML
(e.g. text flowing around nonrectangular images) documents. The output files
are now smaller in size for more efficient document publishing on the
Internet.
Interface
● The program interface has been improved to be more user friendly. Users
can customize toolbars. New customization tools allow for the finetuning and
personalization of the ABBYY FineReader windows. For example, individual
Zoom settings can be created for each window.
● A new Tutorial provides beginners with easytofollow instructions for quick
ly getting started with ABBYY FineReader. Savvy users will find advanced tips
to maximize the recognition quality and productivity.
Additional Features
New capabilities in FineReader 7.0 Professional Edition include:
● The image splitting tool lets you split an image into multiple areas and save
them as separate pages. This mode is particularly useful for recognizing a page
of business cards, books, and PowerPoint printouts.
● Search with morphology support. Any batch created in ABBYY
FineReader can be used as a fully searchable small database. You can search for
words in any grammatical form. (This feature is available for the 34 languages
that have dictionary support.)
● Intel HyperThreading Technology support. This technology greatly
increases the productivity in recognizing large or numerous documents.
● Duplex scanning. The program creates two separate images if you scan a
twosided document using a duplex scanner. This option can be turned off if
you do not need duplex scanning.
● JPEG 2000 image files can be opened and saved.
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
Network Capabilities of ABBYY FineReader Corporate Edition
● Network installation. FineReader Corporate Edition supports installation
from servers to workstations using Active Directory, Microsoft Systems
Management Server, and the command line.
● Support for multi–functional devices, including network MFPs. MFPs
that combine the functionality of a scanner, printer, copier and fax are
becoming increasingly popular.
ABBYY FineReader works with such devices when they are connected to a
workstation or a network. Special program settings allow users to open and
recognize scanned images automatically from anywhere in the network or
from an FTP server.
● Multiple corporate licensing program. In addition to the concurrent
licensing program, ABBYY offers multiple corporate licensing. Choose the
licensing policy that best suits your needs.
● License Manager. This utility manages licenses in a network environment.
This feature allows administrators to monitor the usage of ABBYY FineReader
Corporate Edition on workstations, assign licenses to particular workstations,
and add new licenses.
Refer to the “System Administrator’s Guide” in the Administrator’s Guide folder (located on the
server where ABBYY FineReader is installed) for more information about installing ABBYY
FineReader on workstations, working with the License Manager, and working with the pro
gram in a local area network.
Supported Document Saving Formats
ABBYY FineReader saves recognition results in the following
formats:
● Microsoft Word Document (*.DOC)
● Rich Text Format (*.RTF)
● Microsoft Word XML Document (*.XML) (MS Word 2003 only)
● Adobe Acrobat Format (*.PDF)
● Hypertext Markup Language HTML
● Microsoft PowerPoint Format (*.PPT)
● Comma Separated Values (*.CSV)
● Plain Text (*.TXT). FineReader supports various code pages (Windows, DOS,
Mac, ISO) and Unicode encoding
● Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet (*.XLS)
● Database Format (*.DBF)
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Chapter 3. General Features of ABBYY FineReader
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
Supported Image Formats
ABBYY FineReader opens image files in the following formats:
PDF:
Files in PDF format (Version 1.4 or earlier)
BMP:
2–bit – black and white
4– and 8–bit – Palette
16–bit – Mask
24–bit – Palette and TrueColor
32–bit – Mask
PCX, DCX:
2–bit – black and white
4– and 8–bit – Palette
24bit – TrueColor
JPEG:
gray, color
JPEG 2000:
gray, color
TIFF:
black and white – uncompressed, CCITT3,
CCITT3FAX, CCITT4, Packbits
gray – uncompressed, Packbits, JPEG
TrueColor – uncompressed, JPEG
Palette – uncompressed, Packbits
multi–image TIFF
PNG:
black and white, gray, color
BMP:
black and white, gray, color
PCX:
black and white, gray
JPEG:
gray, color
JPEG 2000:
gray, color
TIFF:
black and white – uncompressed, CCITT3,
CCITT3FAX, CCITT4, Packbits
gray – uncompressed, Packbits, JPEG
color – uncompressed and JPEG
PNG:
black and white, gray, color
ABBYY FineReader saves image files in the following formats:
Chapter 4
Acquiring the Image
The quality of the source image greatly impacts recognition qual
ity. In this chapter, you will learn how to scan documents for
best results, how to open and read saved images (see the list of
supported image formats in “Supported Image Formats” section),
and how to process images to improve recognition quality (by
eliminating scanning “dust” etc.).
Chapter Contents
● Scanning
● Setting scanning parameters
● Tips on brightness tuning
● Scanning multipage documents
● Opening images
● Acquiring images from the Hot Folder
● Scanning dual pages
● Adding business cards images to a batch
● Page numbering
● Working with the image
● Batch image options
Scanning
ABBYY FineReader communicates with the scanner through a TWAIN interface. The TWAIN
standard, which was adopted in 1992, is a universal standard that unifies the interaction
between a computer image input device (such as a scanner) and an external application.
ABBYY FineReader communicates with a scanner through a TWAIN driver in two ways:
● through the ABBYY FineReader interface. In this case, use the Scanner
Settings dialog and select Use FineReader interface;
● using the scanner’s TWAIN interface. In this case, use the scanner’s
TWAIN dialog to set scanning options; select Use TWAIN–Source interface.
Each mode has its advantages and disadvantages.
Using the TWAIN source interface makes the “preview image” option available so that you can
set the scanning area and tune the brightness precisely, and see how these changes effect the
previewed image. Every scanner has a unique TWAIN driver dialog. Consult your scanner’s doc
umentation for precise instructions on using the TWAIN dialog. Using the ABBYY FineReader
interface provides access to a couple of additional features; a) the ability to scan multiple
pages with a scanner that does not have an automatic document feeder (ADF); and b) the
ability to access scanning options in the batch template file (*.fbt) and use them for other
batches.
Switching between modes is easy:
● Select the Scan/Open Image tab in the Options dialog (menu
Tools>Options) select the interface either Use TWAINSource interface
or Use FineReader interface.
Note:
1. The Use FineReader interface may be unavailable (or disabled) in certain
scanner models.
2. If you wish to see the Scanner Settings dialog in Use FineReader inter
face mode, select the Display options dialog before scanning item on the
Scan/Open Image tab (Tools>Options).
Important: Consult your scanner’s documentation to ensure it is set up correctly. After
connecting the scanner to the computer, install a TWAIN driver and/or the scanner software.
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ABBYY FineReader 7.0 User’s Guide
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