Nuance OMNIPAGE DIRECT 2 FOR MACINTOSH User Manual

OmniPage Direct

OmniPage Direct adds the power of OCR directly to any Macintosh wordprocessing, spreadsheet, or communications program. Working within your application, you simply choose OmniPage Direct in the Apple menu. Scanned text then appears in your document just as if you had typed it yourself. Direct is the world's easiest OCR. It is virtually automatic: just point and click to recognize a single paragraph or multiple pages.

Chapter 1 Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 1

After running the Installer program on Disk 1, Direct will appear in the Macintosh Apple menu.

Chapter 2 How to Scan Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 7

Scanning text is as easy as pulling down the Apple menu and choosing Direct. The Scan text dialog box lets you scan immediately or set options for special features such as recognizing parts of a page or different languages.

This tutorial guides you through the simplest scan and also explains how to use the Partial Page features.

Chapter 3 Commands and Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 15

This chapter explains every command and setting within Direct. Topics are listed alphabetically.

Chapter 4 How to Improve Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 25

This chapter tells you the tricks for speeding up Direct and for improving text-recognition accuracy. It explains how to recognize text from poorquality documents such as multiple-generation copies and newspaper pages. Adjusting the Brightness setting is the easiest way to improve textrecognition accuracy.

Chapter 5 Technical Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . p. 31

This chapter includes a list of supported scanners, a list of error messages and solutions and data about AppleEvents commands. A section of special topics explains how Direct works and other technical aspects. Caere Product Support information is also included.

Caere Corporation 100 Cooper Court Los Gatos, California 95030

Caere GmbH Ismaninger Strasse 17-19 81675 Munich, Germany Fax: 49 89 41 30 06 23

OmniPage Direct 2.0 Macintosh Version

Copyright© 1992-1995 Caere Corporation. All rights reserved. CAERE®, OmniPage®, OmniPage Direct, and Transitional Editor are trademarks of Caere Corporation. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Such designations appearing in this manual have been printed in initial caps.

Printed in the USA

0 OmniPage Direct

Chapter 1

Installation

This chapter describes how to install Direct. The chapter has five sections:

• System Requirements

• What’s in the Package

• Installing the Software

• Selecting Your Scanner

• Upgrading to OmniPage Professional

Installation 1

System Requirements

To run Direct, you’ll need the following system:

Computer

• Macintosh II (68020) or higher that reads 1.44MB floppies

• Hard disk with at least 4MB available space

• Total System memory of 8MB RAM

• System 7 or higher

Scanner

Direct supports most full-page scanners. For a complete list, see Chapter 5. Be sure your scanner is installed according to the manufacturer’s

instructions and is working on your system. Use the scanning software supplied by your scanner manufacturer to be sure the scanner is working on your system before you install Direct.

What’s in the Package

Check the Direct package to be sure it contains the following items:

• Direct Release Notes

• Warranty Registration Card

• One or more 1.44MB 3.5” program disks

2 Installation

If any of the above items are missing, contact your dealer for replacement.

For convenience, jot down your warranty registration number (printed on the diskette labels) on the first page of this manual.

Please fill out the warranty registration card and send it to Caere Corporation. Once registered, you’ll have access to product support — support is

available to registered users.

only

Installing the Software

Direct is installed in your Apple Menu Items folder. Several Direct files are also installed in the System Folder. Direct must be installed on the startup disk and that startup disk must contain a valid System Folder. The Installer program automatically selects the startup disk when you install from the installation disks.

Installing Chooser Extension(s) for Your Scanner(s)

During installation, you must install the Chooser extension(s) for the scanner(s) you plan to use with Direct. These Chooser extensions, supplied by Caere, are drivers that allow supported scanners to work with Direct. Easy Installation lets you install Chooser extensions to support one type of scanner. For example, if you select required by supported Ricoh scanners will be installed. Custom Installation lets you install Chooser extensions to support as many scanners as you want.

Your scanner and the driver supplied by its manufacturer, if any, must be installed on your system according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Chooser extensions

Ricoh,

Installing the Software

After installation, you must select the required extension for your scanner in the Chooser.

Easy Installation

1 Disable any virus protection software.

This is often a Control Panel device; refer to your virus protection

software manual for more information. 2 Insert the OmniPage Direct disk #1 in the disk drive. 3 Double-click the Installer icon and click OK to continue.

The Easy Install dialog box appears and displays the name of the

disk where Direct will be installed. 4 Click

to begin installation.

Install

Installation 3

Installing the Software

An installation screen displays the progress and you may be asked to insert other disks. A dialog box will ask you to select a scanner.

5 Select the type of scanner you plan to use with Direct in the pop-

up menu. Chooser extension(s) for the selected scanner type will be

installed.

6 Insert the other installation disks when you are requested to do

so. Direct notifies you when installation is complete.

7 After installation,

menu.

Custom Installation

It is recommended that you install all files using the Easy Installation method. However, if you are an advanced user, you can click the

Customize

install.

Use the Custom Installation method if you need to install Chooser extensions for additional scanners.

button in the Easy Install window and select which items to

OmniPage Direct

will appear in the Apple

4 Installation

Selecting Your Scanner

Your scanner and the driver supplied by its manufacturer, if any, must be installed on your system according to the manufacturer's instructions. Before using your scanner with Direct, make sure it’s working on your system by using the scanning software supplied by the manufacturer.

During installation, Chooser extension(s) must be installed for the scanner(s) you plan to use with Direct. For information on Chooser extension installation, see page 3.

Before using your scanner with Direct, you must select its required extension in the Chooser. An error message appears if you try to scan a page before selecting it in the Chooser.

To select a scanner for Direct:

Selecting Your Scanner

1 Choose

The Chooser appears; icons for each installed scanner extension

are displayed. 2 Click the icon of the extension that your scanner requires.

Some extensions, such as Apple Scan, support multiple scanners;

select your scanner model in the list that appears. Depending on

the make of your scanner, you may have to select other scanner

driver parameters such as the SCSI ID number.

The

display additional information and/or options for your scanner. 3 Close the Chooser.

You must close the Chooser in order to complete the scanner

selection.

Chooser

More...

in the Apple menu.

button may appear for some scanners. Click

More...

Installation 5

Upgrading to OmniPage Professional

Chooser extensions for a few scanners supported by this version of Direct are not yet included with OmniPage Professional. Your Chooser Extension is already installed on your system. When you subsequently install OmniPage Professional, a scanner installation dialog will appear: if your scanner is not listed, select

and then click

None

Install

6 Installation

Chapter 2

How to Scan Text

This chapter guides you through the basic steps of using Direct to scan and recognize text.

We assume you have installed Direct according to the instructions in Chapter 1 and that you know how to work in the Macintosh environment. Not all Direct features are described here; for a complete description of any command or setting, see Chapter 3, Commands and Settings.

To use Direct, follow these steps:

1 Open your word-processing, spreadsheet, or other application. 2 Choose OmniPage Direct in the Apple menu. 3 Adjust settings and click 4 Select parts of a page (optional). 5 Check the brightness setting.

After recognition, the scanned text appears in your application. Unrecognized characters are represented in your text file with a tilde (~).

in the Scan Text dialog box.

Scan

How to Scan Text 7

Step 1 Open Your Application and Prepare to Scan

To start the scanning process, open your application and prepare to scan a page.

1 Open your word-processing, spreadsheet, or other application. 2 Place a page in your scanner.

If you don’t know how to orient the page correctly, check your scanner’s manual. Be sure your scanner is turned on.

Step 2 Choose

OmniPage Direct

If Direct is properly installed, OmniPage Direct appears in your Macintosh Apple menu.

1 Be sure you have selected your scanner in the Apple Chooser.

(See <$paratext> on page 1-4)

2 Choose

OmniPage Direct

in the Apple Menu

. The Scan Text dialog box appears.

8 How to Scan Text

Step 3 Adjust Settings and Click Scan

Step 3 Adjust Settings and Click

Direct is designed to automatically determine the best way to scan a page. You can simply click Scan and the default settings will accommodate most scanning situations.

Settings in this dialog box and in the Options dialog box let you customize Direct for scanning your particular documents. This step explains how to use the Partial Page feature, which lets you select parts of a page for recognition. Other settings are described in Chapter 3.

1 Highlight the Partial Page icon. 2 If you wish to manually adjust the Brightness control, click

Options...

select

Manually adjusting Brightness can improve recognition accuracy

and speed; see Chapter 4, Improving Performance.

• If a page has sharp, distinct characters printed on good-qual-

• If a page has thin, broken characters, darken the Brightness

• If a page has thick, run-together characters, if it is printed on

. The Options dialog box will appear. If necessary, de-

Auto Intensity

ity non-reflective paper, set the brightness slide to the middle, normal setting.

setting.

porous paper such as newsprint, or if it is printed on glossy paper, lighten the Brightness setting.

to activate the brightness control.

Scan

3 If desired, adjust other settings in the Options dialog box. If you

want to save the Options settings for your next scan, click 4 Click

in the Scan Text dialog box.

Scan

How to Scan Text 9

Save

Step 4 Select Parts of a Page

Draw zones

Order zones

Erase zones

Zoom in

Zoom out

If you highlighted

Partial Page

, an image of your page and a set of tools will appear after the page is scanned. The tools let you draw zones around parts of the page, order the zones for recognition, and zoom in or out.

Start recog-

nition, or

Adjust

stop recog-

nition and

return to this

window.

Stop recogni-

tion and return to the Direct appli-

cation.

Open the

Options

dialog box.

Rotate image

90°, 180°, or

270°.

1 Click on the Draw zones tool and then enclose each area you

want recognized with a selection box by holding the mouse button down and dragging the mouse.

Zones will be recognized in the order you select them unless you use the Order zones tool (the # symbol). To adjust a zone, first select it by clicking on the Draw zones tool and then clicking on the zone. Then move the mouse pointer to a selection box handle, hold the mouse button down, and move the mouse.

10 How to Scan Text

Step 4 Select Parts of a Page

The window will look like this:

A number appears in each zone indicating the order in which the zone will be recognized. You may draw up to 99 separate zones.

2 Click on the Order zones tool (the # symbol) to change the order

in which the zones will be recognized. The numbers in the zones will disappear.

To reorder the zones, click on the zone you want recognized first. The number 1 will appear in the zone. Then click on the next zone you want recognized; the number 2 will appear. Continue until the zones are appropriately ordered.

3 Click on the Erase zones tool and then click on a zone selection

box. The contents of the zone will not be removed; only the selection box will go away.

4 Click

Recognize

to start recognition.

During recognition, text blocks are painted gray and then black on the screen as Direct works.

If, during recognition, you want to change the way you drew or ordered zones, click Adjust. The Partial Page window will reappear and you can use the tools again. After recognition the text will appear in your application just as if you had typed it yourself.

How to Scan Text 11

Step 5 Check Brightness

The Character Window appears while Direct performs recognition; it displays small samples of the scanned image. If the Character Window does not appear during recognition, maximize the size of your application’s window and the Direct image window.

The Character Window helps you adjust the correct Brightness setting if Auto Intensity is de-selected. It also shows you if you put the page in the scanner skewed or upside-down.

The Character Window

12 How to Scan Text

If text characters appear thick and run-together, re-scan the page after adjusting the Brightness control towards Lighten. If characters appear thin and broken, adjust the control towards Darken.

If characters appear at an angle, rescan the document after straightening the page in the scanner.

+ 30 hidden pages