Nuance OMNIPAGE DIRECT 2 FOR WINDOWS User Manual

OmniPage Direct

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

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

Be sure your scanner is working with the manufacturer’s scanning software before you install Direct.

After running the SETUP software installation program within Windows, creating a Windows swap file, and opening Direct, the Scan text... command will appear in the File or Control menu of your Windows application.

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

Scanning text is as easy as pulling down the File or Control menu and

choosing Scan text.... 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. 13

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

Chapter 4 How to Improve Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 31

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 text-

recognition accuracy.

Chapter 5 Technical Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .p. 39

This chapter lists supported scanners and provides information that may help you solve any installation or operation problems. Error messages are listed as well as instructions on how to contact product support. Product support and information for all Caere products is also available in the Caere sections of both America Online and CompuServe (Keyword CAERE).

CAERE CORPORATION 100 Cooper Court Los Gatos, California 95030

European offices: CAERE GmbH. Ismaninger Straße 17-19 81675 Munich, Germany

OmniPage Direct Windows Version 2

Copyright© 1988-95 Caere Corporation. All rights reserved. CAERE®, OmniPage®, and OmniPage Professional 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.

Product Serial Number:

_______________________________________________ (from Disk #1 label)

0 OmniPage Direct

Chapter 1

Installation

This chapter describes how to install Direct and set it up to work with your applications. The chapter has six sections:

• System Requirements

• Software Installation

• How to Create a Windows Swap File (Virtual Memory)

• Using WordPerfect

• Upgrading to Other Caere Products

• Special Topics

You must have at least an 8MB Windows swap file (virtual memory) to run Direct.

Installation 1

System Requirements

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

’

386 or higher computer.

•

• A Caere-supported scanner installed and working with your system. See Chapter 5, Technical Information.

• 14MB available hard-disk space.

•

RAM Minimum:

Windows swap file (virtual memory).

•

RAM Recommended:

Windows swap file (virtual memory).

• Microsoft Windows-compatible mouse.

• Windows Version 3.1 or higher.

Be sure your scanner is installed according to the manufacturer’s instructions and is working on your system. Use the scanning software supplied by the manufacturer before you install Direct.

4MB RAM total system memory and an 8MB

8MB RAM total system memory and a 12MB

2 Installation

Software Installation

Please install Direct from the program disks. Do not install from copies. To install Direct software:

1 Start Windows and open the Program Manager window. 2 Insert Direct disk #1 in your computer.

Software Installation

3 Choose

The Run dialog box appears.

4Type A:SETUP (or B:SETUP) in the edit box and click OK.

The installation program will prompt you for information as it installs Direct.

5 Fill out the warranty registration card while the program copies

files to your computer. 6 Exit Windows after the installation program is complete. 7 Create a Windows swap file.

See the next section for instructions. 8 Mail in your warranty registration card.

To learn how to run Direct, see Chapter 2, How to Scan Text. To set up Direct to load automatically whenever you start Windows, see Load OCR when Direct is launched in Chapter 3.

in the Program Manager

Run

File

menu.

Installation 3

How to Create a Windows Swap File (Virtual Memory)

To run Direct, you need at least 8MB of free disk space set up as a Windows swap file (virtual memory). For best performance, use a

Permanent

possible. The swap file acts as virtual memory disk space that is used as if it were

volatile memory (RAM). Information is stored temporarily on disk rather than using up RAM. This allows you to run more programs than you could with RAM alone. However, using virtual memory is slower than using RAM.

For more information about virtual memory, see the Windows User’s Guide. For more information about the Windows Swap file, or if you have any difficulty creating a swap file, see the chapter “Optimizing Windows” in the Windows User’s Guide.

To create an 8MB Windows swap file:

rather than a

1 Close any open applications. 2 Double-click the Control Panel icon in the Main window of the

Program Manager.

Temporary

swap file and make it as large as

4 Installation

3 Double-click the 386 Enhanced icon to display the 386 Enhanced

dialog box.

4 Click 5 Check the entry after

6 Click 7 Select a new drive in the

8 Type at least 8192 in the 9 Click OK and exit the Control Panels.

Virtual Memory...

• A swap file equal to or larger than 8192 is sufficient. Click

to return to the 386 Enhanced dialog box and click

cel

again. Close the Control Panels.

• A swap file that is smaller than 8192KB must be changed. Pro-

ceed to step 6.

Change>>

swap file to be located somewhere other than on the default drive.

If you cannot find a drive with 8192KB of free space, you need to delete files to free up space.

to expand the dialog box.

to display the Virtual Memory dialog box.

Size

Can-

Cancel

drop-down list if you want the

Drive

New Size

edit box.

Using WordPerfect

10 Click

11 Click

Using WordPerfect

If you are using pre-6.0 versions of WordPerfect, you must modify the Direct setting.ini file. This file tells Direct how to paste text into these applications.

1 Open Windows’ Notepad or other text editor. 2 Open the setting.ini text file located in the directory where you

;classname=(1:doc,2:spread), (1:paste, 2:no), (0:file, 1:system), (wparam-paste) ;OpusApp=1,1,1,2229 ;use this for word 2.0 (RTF) ;OpusApp=1,1,1,2266 ;use this for word 2.0b (RTF) OpusApp=1,1,1,108 ;use this for word 6.0 (RTF) ;WordPerfect=1,1,0,265 ;WordPerfect (RTF) WordPerfect=1,1,0,0 ;WordPerfect 6.0 (RTF)

3 If you’re using a pre-6.0 version of WordPerfect, delete the first

;WordPerfect=1,1,0,265 ;WordPerfect (RTF)

WordPerfect=1,1,0,0 ;WordPerfect 6.0 (RTF)

4 Choose

in the dialog box that asks if you are sure you want to

Ye s

make changes.

Restart Windows

to restart immediately.

Do not press Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart.

installed Direct. The default installation directory is c:\direct. The first six lines look like this:

A semicolon in front of a line deselects that line.

semicolon from the line that reads:

and add a semicolon in front of the line that reads:

in the File menu to save your changes.

Save

Reverse the process if you later upgrade software versions.

Installation 5

Upgrading to Other Caere Products

If you upgrade to another Caere product such as OmniPage Professional and your scanner is not listed in the Select Scanner dialog box, follow these procedures:

1 Install your new Caere application. 2 Copy the following files from your OmniPage Direct directory to

the new Caere product directory: *.chw (any file with the extension .chw)

*.pxw (any file with the extension .pxw) pixdflt.dll, pixperm.dll, pixpnr.dll, and pixpcx.dll mphase.dll scnmgrtw.exe scanmgr.ini scanmgr.lst

3 Start your new Caere application and select your scanner in the

Select Scanner dialog box.

Special Topics

Dashboard Incompatible with OmniPage Direct 2.0

6 Installation

Dashboard, the desktop manager from HP, is incompatible with this version of OmniPage Direct.

Graphics Applications

Direct does not work with graphics applications such as Paintbrush, CorelDraw, etc.

Using OmniPage Direct and a Visioneer Scanner Version 1.0

Before running Direct, please copy the following files from your OmniPage Direct directory to your Visioneer (MaxMate) scanner directory:

maxcaere.ocr caerenew.dll caereold.dll caeredir.dll

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 Microsoft Windows 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:

• Open the Direct program.

• Open your word-processing, spreadsheet, or other application.

• Choose

•The

tions. Open the Control menu by clicking the bar in the upper-left

corner of your application’s window.

• Adjust settings and click

• Select parts of a page (optional).

Scan Text...

in your application’s File or Control menu.

command is in the Control menu of some applica-

in the Scan Text dialog box.

Scan

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

How to Scan Text 7

Step 1 Open Direct

1 Open the Direct program to add the

your application’s File or Control menu.

2 Double-click the Direct icon in the Windows Program Manager.

Unless you have changed your Windows setup, the icon should be in the Caere Applications program group box.

The minimized icon will appear in your Windows desktop window.

Step 2 Open Your Application

1 Open your word-processing, spreadsheet, or other application.

Direct only works within an open 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 3 Choose

Scan Text...

Choose The

Open the Control menu by clicking the bar in the upper-left corner of your application’s window.

Scan Text...

in your application's File or Control menu.

command is in the Control menu of some applications.

Scan Text...

menu item to

8 How to Scan Text

Step 4 Adjust Settings and Click Scan

Step 4 Adjust Settings and Click

A dialog box appears after you choose

Direct is designed to automatically determine the best way to scan a page. You can simply click 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 recognition. Other settings are described in Chapter 3.

Partial Page

1 Highlight the

Full Page is the default setting. 2 If you wish to manually adjust the

Options...

The

Manually adjusting

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, move the slide towards

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

If desired, click

and then deselect

Brightness

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

Darken

rous paper such as newsprint, or is printed on glossy paper, move the slide towards

and the default settings will accommodate most

Scan

feature, which lets you select parts of a page for

Partial Page

control will appear in the Scan Text dialog box.

Options

icon.

Brightness

to adjust other settings.

Scan

Scan Tex

Auto Intensity

can improve recognition accuracy

Lighten

t...

Brightness

control, click

3 Click

Scan

How to Scan Text 9

Step 5 Select Parts of a Page

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.

Zoom in

Zoom out

Draw zones

Order zones

Erase zones

1 Click on the

Start or stop

the

recognition

process.

Draw zones

Open the

Options

dialog box.

tool and then enclose each area you want

Stop

recognition

and reset

zones.

Rotate the

image 90°,

180°, or 270°.

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

select it by clicking on the

tool (the # symbol). To adjust a zone, first

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.

The window will look like this:

10 How to Scan Text

Step 5 Select Parts of a Page

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 selection box will be erased – not the zone itself.

4 Click

Recognize

to start recognition.

During recognition, text blocks are painted gray and then black on the screen as Direct works. The Recognize button turns into an Adjust button.

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 Select Parts of a Page

12 How to Scan Text

This chapter explains how to use Direct commands and settings. It is organized alphabetically. Settings within a Direct list box are explained under the title of the list box. For example, you can find descriptions of

Letter

About Direct

The About Direct box shows the current software version you are using, any copyrights in effect, and the program's registered user, company name, and serial number.

Adjust

Clicking recognition is complete.

and

Chapter 3

Commands

and Settings

page-size settings under the Size heading.

Legal

lets you change settings after a scan has started but before

Adjust

For example, imagine you selected several parts of a page for recognition and clicked select a particular part. You click Recognize button turns into an Adjust button); recognition stops and you can select parts correctly without having to re-scan the page.

Auto Intensity

Select this to let Direct automatically set an optimal brightness setting with grayscale scanners.

This feature is especially useful when you scan text printed on a colored background. It also works well when you scan “copies of copies” that have large gray areas.

Recognize

. During recognition, you notice that you forgot to

(during recognition, the

Adjust

Commands and Settings 13

Automatically Launch Direct

Brightness

Recognition is faster with this option turned off. If you scan high-quality documents with crisp, black letters printed on white paper, deselect

Intensity

Select this if you want Direct to automatically start up whenever you open the Windows program.

Your win.ini file will be altered to include a load=c:\opdirect\direct.exe statement.

Select different brightness settings to lighten or darken a scanned image. This control is available if Options dialog box.

and use the manual

Auto or Normal Intensity

Brightness

control.

is deselected in the

Auto

The

Brightness

accuracy of text recognition. It accounts for variations in paper quality, print quality, and scanner peculiarities. It acts like the brightness setting on a copier.

Set brightness by moving the mouse arrow to the square in the slide, holding the mouse button down, and moving the square toward the desired setting. Or, click on the arrows to the left or right of the slide. Use the numbers in the square as references for future documents. The caret (^) represents the scanner’s normal setting.

If a page has sharp, distinct characters printed on good-quality nonreflective paper, set the brightness slide to the middle, normal setting.

setting is the most important means you have to affect the

14 Commands and Settings

<CR> at End of Line

If a page has thin, broken characters, move the brightness slide toward

Darken

If a page has thick, run-together characters or if it is printed on porous paper such as newsprint, or if it is printed on glossy paper, move the brightness slide toward

Lighten

To evaluate brightness settings, watch the Character Window as Direct performs text recognition. For a description of the Character Window, see Chapter 4, How to Improve Performance.

<CR> at End of Line

Select this if you want a hard carriage return inserted at the end of each line of text.

Use this setting if you’re scanning lists, lines of code, or other text where you want each line to be an individual paragraph when it appears in your word processor. This feature will not work with lines of text shorter than a certain length; you’ll need to experiment to find the length minimums with your particular pages.

When this is deselected, Direct will look for extra space between lines of text on the scanned page and interpret space as a paragraph break. It will insert a hard carriage return at the paragraph break. If text is continuous, it will assume that the continuous text is one paragraph.

Commands and Settings 15

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