OmniPage® Pro
User’s Manual
Caere Corporation
100 Cooper Court
Los Gatos, California
95032-7603 USA
Caere GmbH
Innere Wiener Strasse 5
81667 München, Germany
Caere UK Information Centre
Abbey House
4 Abbey Orchard Street
Westminster, London SW1P 2JJ
Centre d’informations Caere
72, rue Baratte-Cholet
94100 Saint-Maur, France
Please Note
To use this program, you should know how to work in the Microsoft Windows environment. Please
refer to Windows documentation if you have questions about how to use menu commands, dialog
boxes, scroll bars, edit boxes, and so on.
OmniPage Pro for Windows
Ve r si o n 1 0
Registration Number:
Copyright© 1999 by Caere Corporation. All rights reserved. The Caere logo, Caere, OmniPage,
OmniPage Pro, PageKeeper, PageKeeper Pro, AutoOCR Toolbar, True Page, and OCR Proofreader
are registered trademarks of Caere Corporation.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies.
ii
800-1319-030A
Welcome
Using This Manual..............................................................................................................vi
Getting Online Help ..........................................................................................................vii
Help Menu ...................................................................................................................vii
Context-Sensitive Help...............................................................................................vii
Product Support ................................................................................................................viii
Chapter 1 Installation and Setup
Minimum System Requirements.........................................................................................2
Installing OmniPage Pro .....................................................................................................2
Setting Up Your Scanner With OmniPage Pro .................................................................3
Starting OmniPage Pro.........................................................................................................4
Registering Your Software...................................................................................................5
Chapter 2 Introduction to OmniPage Pro
What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)?................................................................8
OmniPage Pro’s OCR Capabilities ..............................................................................8
Basic Steps of OmniPage Pro OCR .............................................................................9
The OmniPage Pro Desktop .............................................................................................10
OmniPage Toolbox.......................................................................................................11
Standard Toolbar..........................................................................................................13
Image Toolbar...............................................................................................................13
Table of Contents
Chapter 3 Processing Documents
Different Ways to Process Documents.............................................................................16
Converting Images to Text.................................................................................................17
Processing Documents Using the OCR Wizard.......................................................19
Automatic Processing
Manual Processing
Processing Documents In Other Applications.........................................................22
Improving OCR Results .....................................................................................................23
Adjusting Page Images Before OCR..........................................................................23
Changing Zone Properties..........................................................................................24
Matching Original Document Fonts..........................................................................25
..................................................................................................20
.......................................................................................................21
iii
Proofreading OCR Results .........................................................................................25
Checking Recognized Text Against Original Text ..................................................27
Working with OmniPage Documents .............................................................................28
Resizing a Page View .................................................................................................29
Changing Pages ...........................................................................................................29
Reordering Pages ........................................................................................................30
Deleting Pages .............................................................................................................30
Printing a Document ..................................................................................................31
Closing a Document ...................................................................................................31
Chapter 4 Settings and Commands
The OmniPage Toolbox......................................................................................................34
AutoOCR Toolbar ........................................................................................................34
Manual OCR Toolbar ..................................................................................................34
OCR Wizard..................................................................................................................34
Setting Toolbar Commands........................................................................................35
Activating Toolbar Commands..................................................................................38
Selecting OmniPage Pro Settings......................................................................................39
OCR Settings........................................................................................................................40
Scanner Settings...................................................................................................................40
Tables Settings .....................................................................................................................41
Direct OCR Settings ............................................................................................................42
Process Settings ...................................................................................................................43
Chapter 5 Saving and Exporting
Saving a Document .............................................................................................................45
Copying a Document to the Clipboard ...........................................................................48
Sending a Document as a Mail Attachment ...................................................................48
Converting Text to Speech.................................................................................................49
Chapter 6 Technical Information
General Troubleshooting Solutions .................................................................................52
Solutions to Try First ...................................................................................................52
Testing OmniPage Pro ................................................................................................53
Low Memory Problems...............................................................................................54
Low Disk Space Problems ..........................................................................................54
Supported File Types..........................................................................................................55
OCR Problems .....................................................................................................................57
System Crash During OCR.........................................................................................57
Text Does Not Get Recognized Properly..................................................................58
Problems With Fax Recognition ................................................................................59
Uninstalling the Software ..................................................................................................60
iv
Welcome
Welcome to OmniPage Pro, and thank you for using our software!
The following documentation has been provided to help you learn
about OmniPage Pro.
This User’s Manual
This manual introduces you to the basics of using OmniPage Pro. It
includes installation and setup instructions, an introduction to
OmniPage Pro, task-oriented instructions, ways to customize
processing, and technical information.
Online Help
OmniPage Pro’s online Help contains basic and advanced information
on features, settings, and procedures. The online Help is provided in
HTML format, and has been designed for quick and easy information
retrieval. Please see “Getting Online Help” on page ix for more
information.
Readme File
The
Readme
Please read it before using OmniPage Pro. To open this HTML file,
choose
Scanner Setup Notes
The
Scanner Setup Notes
scanners and related issues. To open this HTML file, choose
Setup Notes
file contains last-minute information about the software.
Readme
in the Help menu after OmniPage Pro has been installed.
contains detailed information about supported
in the Help menu after OmniPage Pro has been installed.
Scanner
v
Using This Manual
Using This Manual
This manual is written with the assumption that you know how to work
in the Microsoft Windows environment. Please refer to your Windows
documentation if you have questions about how to use dialog boxes,
menu commands, scroll bars, drag and drop functionality, shortcut
menus, and so on.
The following conventions are used in this manual.
Convention Purpose
Italicized text
Note symbol
Warning symbol
• Emphasizes menu commands,
dialog box options, labeled
buttons, and file names
For example:
“Choose
menu.”
• Emphasizes new terms the
first time they are used
• Emphasizes important words
in a sentence
Introduces a tip or an item of
note
Introduces important
information
Open...
in the File
vi
Getting Online Help
In addition to using this manual, you can use OmniPage Pro’s online
Help to learn about features, settings, and procedures. Online Help is
available after you install OmniPage Pro.
Help Menu
One way to open OmniPage Pro’s online Help is to choose commands in
the Help menu.
Context-Sensitive Help
You can get on-the-spot information about a particular OmniPage Pro
command, toolbar button, or dialog box option in the following ways:
Getting Online Help
• Click the Help button in the Standard toolbar and then click any
toolbar button, menu command, or area of the OmniPage Pro
desktop to display a Help topic explaining that item.
• Click the question-mark button in the upper-right corner of a
dialog box and then click an item in the dialog box to get a popup explanation for that item.
• Some dialog boxes have a
information about that dialog box.
button. Click
Help
Help
to get
vii
Product Support
Product Support
For the fastest and easiest way to get help, please look for solutions in
this manual or in the online Help. See “General Troubleshooting
Solutions” on page 52 for troubleshooting tips.
If you need additional help, please use the following resources:
• Caere on the World Wide Web
Go to Caere’s World Wide Web site for common questions and
answers, updates, patches, troubleshooting procedures, and
product information. Caere’s Web site address is
www.caere.com. You can also connect to Caere’s Web site by
choosing
• OmniPage Pro Readme File
Read the
about the software. You can view a text version of the
from the first installation screen during installation of OmniPage
Pro. To open an HTML version of the file after OmniPage Pro has
been installed, choose
• Caere Scan Troubleshooter
Use the
listed in Caere Scan Manager or to resolve problems using your
scanner with OmniPage Pro. The
been provided to you in HTML format. Start
Troubleshooter
Scan Manager or OmniPage Pro.
• Caere Product Support document
Read the
telephone numbers, including ones for international product
support. This document has been provided to you as an
electronic document in HTML format. To open this document,
choose
Caere on the Web
OmniPage Pro Readme
Caere Scan Troubleshooter
by choosing it from the Help menu of either Caere
Caere Product Support
Product Support
in the Help menu.
file for last-minute information
Readme
in the Help menu.
in the Help menu.
to set up a scanner that is not
Caere Scan Troubleshooter
document to get a list of support
Readme
has
Caere Scan
file
viii
Chapter 1
Installation and Setup
This chapter provides information on installing and starting OmniPage
Pro.
This chapter contains the following topics:
• Minimum System Requirements
• Installing OmniPage Pro
• Setting Up Your Scanner with OmniPage Pro
• Starting OmniPage Pro
•Registering Your Software
1
Minimum System Requirements
Minimum System Requirements
You need the following setup, at minimum, to install and run OmniPage
Pro:
• Computer with a Pentium or higher processor
• Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, or Windows
NT 4.0
•32MB of memory (RAM)
• 50MB of free hard disk space to install application files and Caere
Scan Manager
• SVGA monitor with 256 colors
• Windows-compatible pointing device
• CD-ROM drive for installation
• A compatible scanner if you plan to scan documents
Please see the
Performance and speed will be enhanced if your computer’s processor,
memory, and available disk space exceed the minimum requirements.
Scanner Setup Notes
for a list of tested scanners.
Installing OmniPage Pro
OmniPage Pro’s Setup program takes you through installation with
instructions on every screen.
Before installing OmniPage Pro:
• Make sure your scanner is connected, turned on, and compatible
with your system.
• Close all other applications, especially anti-virus programs.
• Log into your computer with administrator privileges if you are
installing on Windows 2000 or Windows NT.
If you own a previous version of OmniPage Pro, or if you are upgrading
from OmniPage Limited Edition, it is strongly recommended that you
uninstall that product first and then restart your computer.
2 Chapter 1
Setting Up Your Scanner With OmniPage Pro
To install OmniPage Pro:
1 Insert OmniPage Pro’s CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive.
The Setup program should start automatically. If it does not
start, locate your CD-ROM drive in Windows Explorer and
double-click the Setup.exe program at the top-level of the
CD-ROM.
2 Follow the instructions on each screen to install the software.
During installation, you may be prompted to enter a serial
number. You can find your serial number on the label of the
CD-ROM envelope.
Setting Up Your Scanner With OmniPage Pro
Caere Scan Manager is installed during OmniPage Pro installation. This
sets up your scanner so you can use it with OmniPage Pro. During
installation, Caere Scan Manager prompts you to select your scanner
manufacturer and model.
Read the
Manager and supported scanners. Choose
Help menu after OmniPage Pro has been installed.
After installation, you can use Caere Scan Manager to set up additional
scanners with OmniPage Pro and change various scanner settings.
Caere Scan Manager is located in the Windows Control Panel.
To open Caere Scan Manager:
Scanner Setup Notes
1 Click
Control Panel
2 Double-click the Caere Scan Manager icon.
in the Windows taskbar and choose
Start
.
for more information on Caere Scan
Settings
in the
!
Scanner Setup Notes
Installation and Setup 3
Starting OmniPage Pro
Starting OmniPage Pro
Standard
toolbar
OmniPage
Toolbox
The
thumbnail
view
displays the
pages in an
open
document.
To start Omnipage Pro, click
Programs
Caere OmniPage Pro 10.0
!
in the Windows taskbar and choose
Start
. Or, double-click the OmniPage Pro
icon located in the folder where you installed OmniPage Pro.
OmniPage Pro’s desktop appears when you open OmniPage Pro. See
“The OmniPage Pro Desktop” on page 10 for an introduction to
OmniPage Pro’s user interface.
Image
toolbar
4 Chapter 1
The image view
displays the current
page’s original image.
The text view displays the
current page’s recognized
text and retained graphics.
Registering Your Software
Register your copy of OmniPage Pro with Caere Corporation to receive
notification of special offers and the best prices on product upgrades.
If you purchased your product directly from Caere, you may not need
to register again. Your version of OmniPage Pro will not display a
Register
To register OmniPage Pro:
menu if you do not need to register it.
Registering Your Software
1 Click the
2 Click
3 Fill out the information requested on the screen and then click
Next
4 Follow the instructions on the screen.
You can use your modem, FTP, or HTTP connections to
transmit your registration information directly. Or, you can call
Caere’s registration phone number or print out and mail in
your registration information.
After registration is complete, you will be given a registration number.
Be sure to write that number down and keep it handy in case you need
to use it for reinstallation. If you reinstall OmniPage Pro using your
registration number on the same computer, you will not have to go
through the entire registration process again to reregister it.
To reregister OmniPage Pro after reinstallation:
1 Click the
2 Click
3 Type in your registration number and click OK.
Register
Register Now
.
Register
Reregister
menu to open the Register dialog box.
.
menu to open the Register dialog box.
.
Installation and Setup 5
6 Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Introduction to
OmniPage Pro
You probably use your computer for most business correspondence and
other written projects. The challenge is that certain sources of
information cannot be used immediately on a computer.
For example, if you want to incorporate information from a magazine
article into a document in your word processor, you somehow have to
get the text from the article into your computer. Painstakingly retyping
the article is not an appealing solution.
OmniPage Pro offers a smart solution to increase your work
productivity. OmniPage Pro’s
technology accurately and easily converts scanned paper documents
and image files into editable text for use in your favorite computer
applications. OmniPage Pro eliminates the need for manual retyping.
optical character recognition (OCR)
Please continue reading this chapter for information on these topics:
• What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)?
• The OmniPage Pro Desktop
7
What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)?
What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)?
Optical character recognition (OCR
computer-editable text. An image is an electronic picture of text such as
a scanned paper document or an electronic fax file. Images do not have
editable text characters; they have many tiny dots (
form a picture of text.
During OCR, OmniPage Pro analyzes an image and defines characters
to produce editable text. After OCR, you can save the resulting text to a
variety of word-processing, page layout, and spreadsheet applications.
) is the process of turning an
OmniPage Pro’s OCR Capabilities
In addition to text recognition, OmniPage Pro can retain the following
elements of a document during OCR.
Graphics
Photos, logos, and drawings are examples of graphics.
Text formatting
Font types, font sizes, and font styles (such as bold or
of text formatting.
Page formatting
Column structure, paragraph spacing, table formats, and placement of
graphics are examples of page formatting.
) that together
pixels
) are examples
italic
image
into
The graphics, text formatting, and page formatting elements that
OmniPage Pro retains are determined by the settings you select. Refer to
the Settings Guidelines in the online Help for more information about
selecting settings.
OmniPage Pro only recognizes machine-printed characters such as
laser-printed or typewritten text. However, it can retain handwritten
text, such as a signature, as a graphic.
8 Chapter 2
What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)?
Basic Steps of OmniPage Pro OCR
These are the basic steps of OmniPage Pro’s OCR process.
1 Bring a document image into OmniPage Pro.
You can scan a paper document or load an image file. The
resulting image appears in OmniPage Pro’s image view.
2 Perform OCR to convert text information into editable
text characters.
During OCR, OmniPage Pro creates
processed, and then interprets text characters or graphics in each
zone. After OCR, you can check and correct errors in the
document using the OCR Proofreader.
3 Export the document to the desired location.
You can save your document to a specified file format, place it on
the Clipboard, or send it as a mail attachment. You can also listen
to your document before saving it by having OmniPage Pro read
the text out loud.
There are different ways to start the OCR process. See “Different Ways
to Process Documents” on page 16 for more information.
around areas that will be
zones
Introduction to OmniPage Pro 9
The OmniPage Pro Desktop
The OmniPage Pro Desktop
OmniPage Pro’s desktop displays the pages of an open document in its
thumbnail view, image view, and text view. You can use the Standard,
AutoOCR, Manual OCR, and Image toolbars to perform various tasks
on the document, or the OCR Wizard to walk you through the entire
process.
Standard
toolbar
OmniPage
toolbox
The thumbnail view
displays a picture
of each page in the
document.
The current page
is highlighted
with a light
border around it.
Image
toolbar
The image view
displays the current
page’s original image.
Drag this splitter to the
left or right to resize a
view.
The text view displays the
current page’s recognized
text and retained graphics.
10 Chapter 2
AutoOCR
tab
OmniPage Toolbox
The OmniPage Toolbox contains the AutoOCR® toolbar, the Manual
OCR toolbar, and the OCR Wizard.
AutoOCR Toolbar
The AutoOCR toolbar contains drop-down lists where you can select
process commands, and buttons to start, stop, finish, and continue
automatic processing.
Document
Source
You can set different commands in the AutoOCR toolbar drop-down
lists for the operations you want to perform. Click the Start button to
process your document from start to finish according to the selected
settings and commands.
Original
Layout
Click the down arrow to
display the commands in the
Output
Format
drop-down list.
The OmniPage Pro Desktop
Export
Destination
Additional
Start,
Finish,
Stop
• The Document Source drop-down list allows you to set how you
want OmniPage Pro to retrieve your document. You can bring in
images by scanning or loading pages.
• The Original Layout drop-down list allows you to select the
setting that describes the appearance of your original document.
• The Output Format drop-down list allows you to select how
much of your document’s original formatting you want to keep.
• The Export Destination drop-down list allows you to select
whether you want to save, copy, send your recognized document
as a mail attachment, or have recognized text read out loud.
Introduction to OmniPage Pro 11
The OmniPage Pro Desktop
Manual
OCR tab
Manual OCR Toolbar
The Manual OCR toolbar contains buttons that can activate each step of
the OCR process individually.
Document
Source
Original Layout
& Output Format
Click the down arrow to
display the commands in a
button’s drop-down list.
Export
Destination
You can set commands in the Manual OCR toolbar buttons’ drop-down
lists for the operations you want to perform. Click each button to process
your document step-by-step.
OCR Wizard
The OCR Wizard guides you through the entire OCR process by asking
you questions about your document and selecting the appropriate
settings for you. Click the OCR Wizard tab in the OmniPage Toolbox to
display the Wizard button. Click the button to open the first Wizard
screen.
Click the Wizard button to
Wizard
tab
12 Chapter 2
display the first Wizard
screen.
Standard Toolbar
The Standard toolbar contains buttons and a drop-down list for
performing standard tasks.
The OmniPage Pro Desktop
New
Save
Open
Image Toolbar
Draw
Rectangular
Zones
Add to
Proofread
OCR
Print
Cut
Copy
Paste
Undo
Options
Zoom
Help
The Image toolbar contains buttons that allow you to work with zones
in an image, rotate or straighten an image, or zoom in and zoom out on
an image. The Image toolbar can be moved anywhere on the desktop,
and docked anywhere within the image view.
Remove/
Zone
Reorder
Zones
Move Row
or Column
Dividers
Insert
Row
Dividers
Replace All
Row and
Column
Dividers
Straighten
Zoom
Out
Image
Draw
Irregular
Zones
Introduction to OmniPage Pro 13
Subtract
from
Zone
Zone
Properties
Insert
Column
Dividers
Remove
Row or
Column
Dividers
Rotate
Image
Zoom
In
14 Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Processing Documents
This chapter describes how to work with documents in OmniPage Pro,
including each step of the OCR process.
There are different ways to accomplish the same tasks in OmniPage Pro.
You can use toolbar buttons or menu commands to start procedures.
OmniPage Pro can perform all OCR steps automatically, you can start
each step individually, or you can use the OCR Wizard to guide you
through the OCR process.
Please continue reading this chapter for information on these topics:
• Different Ways to Process Documents
• Converting Images to Text
• Improving OCR Results
• Working With Documents in OmniPage Pro
For complete information on all OmniPage Pro commands, settings, and
procedures, please use OmniPage Pro’s online Help. See Chapter 4,
OmniPage Pro Settings, for more information on selecting appropriate
settings for your document.
15
Different Ways to Process Documents
Different Ways to Process Documents
There are different ways to process your documents with OmniPage
Pro:
• Using the OCR Wizard
The OCR Wizard guides you through each step of the process by
asking you questions, selecting settings and commands, and
performing each step for you. This is a good way to get started if
you are new to OmniPage Pro.
• Automatically
The fastest and easiest way to process your document is to let
OmniPage Pro do it automatically for you. Select settings in the
Options dialog box and commands in the AutoOCR toolbar and
then click
• Manually
You may want to process your document manually if you want to
customize the way your page is handled. You control each step
by selecting settings in the Options dialog box and commands in
the Manual OCR toolbar and clicking the process buttons
separately.
• In other applications
You can use OmniPage Pro’s
document without ever leaving your word-processing or other
application.
OmniPage Pro will perform each step for you.
Start.
Direct OCR
feature to process your
16 Chapter 3
Converting Images to Text
Optical character recognition (OCR) is the process of turning an image
into computer-editable text so you do not have to retype the text
manually. The basic steps of OmniPage Pro’s OCR process are explained
on page 9. The following is a summary of those steps.
1 Bring a document image into OmniPage Pro.
2 Select settings in the Options dialog box and processing
commands in the toolbar drop-down lists. These selections will
affect OCR results.
3 Perform OCR automatically, manually, using the OCR Wizard,
or in another application to create zones on the image and
convert text information into editable text characters.
4 Save the document to the desired location.
During OCR, OmniPage Pro uses the selected settings and commands in
the Options dialog box and the OmniPage Toolbox to determine the text
flow on a page, and creates ordered
to identify what will be recognized as text or retained as a graphic.
Converting Images to Text
around areas of a page image
zones
OmniPage Pro only recognizes machine-printed characters such as
laser-printed or typewritten text. However, it can retain handwritten
text, such as a signature, as a graphic.
Processing Documents 17
Converting Images to Text
These are text
zones. They
will be
converted to
text during
OCR.
After OCR, the document with zones drawn is displayed in the image
view, and the recognized text is displayed in the text view where you
can proofread results.
18 Chapter 3
Converting Images to Text
Processing Documents Using the OCR Wizard
The OCR Wizard guides you through the entire OCR process by asking
you questions about your document and selecting the appropriate
settings and commands for you.
To process your document using the OCR Wizard:
1 Click the
the Wizard button.
Or, choose
The first wizard screen appears.
2 Answer the question in the first screen and click
3 Continue answering questions in the screens that follow.
OCR Wizard
OCR Wizard
tab in the OmniPage Toolbox and click
in the Process menu.
.
Next
OmniPage will remember your selections until you change them. The
next time you perform OCR on a similar document, click
AutoOCR Toolbar to process your document.
Processing Documents 19
Start
on the
Converting Images to Text
Automatic Processing
Use the AutoOCR toolbar in the OmniPage Toolbox to process a new
document from start to finish or to finish processing an open document.
To process your document automatically:
1 Click the AutoOCR tab in the OmniPage Toolbox to display the
AutoOCR toolbar.
2 Select processing commands in the AutoOCR toolbar:
• Set the desired Document Source command in the drop-down
list.
You can get an image into OmniPage Pro by scanning or by
loading a file.
• Set the desired Original Layout command in the drop-down
list.
Choose the option that best describes your original document
layout.
• Set the desired Output Format command in the drop-down
list.
Choose how much of your document’s original formatting
you want to keep.
• Set the desired Export Destination command in the dropdown list.
You can save your document, send it as a mail attachment,
copy it to the clipboard for use in other applications, or have
OmniPage Pro read recognized text out loud.
3 Choose
appropriate for your document. See Chapter 4, “Settings and
Commands,” for more information on Options settings.
4 Click
Each page of the document is processed and finished in order
according to the selected settings and commands.
The Manual OCR toolbar and the OCR Wizard are unavailable during
automatic processing. However, you can stop automatic processing by
clicking
toolbar to finish processing your document manually, or click
the AutoOCR toolbar to finish processing your document automatically.
20 Chapter 3
Stop
Options
Start
in the AutoOCR toolbar, and switch to the Manual OCR
in the Tools menu and check that settings are
or choose
in the Process menu.
Start
Finish
in
Manual Processing
Use the Manual OCR toolbar to process a document step-by-step.
You can use the Manual OCR toolbar functions on a new document or a
document that has been partially or completely processed automatically
or using the OCR Wizard.
Refer to the online Help for information on drawing zones manually.
To process your document manually:
1 Click the Manual OCR tab in the OmniPage Toolbox.
2 Select processing commands in the AutoOCR toolbar:
• Set the desired Document Source command in the drop-down
list.
You can get an image into OmniPage Pro by scanning or by
loading a file.
• Set the desired Original Layout and Output Format
commands in the drop-down list.
Choose the original layout option that best describes your
original document appearance, and the output format option
that describes how you want your processed document to
look.
• Set the desired Export Destination command in the dropdown list.
You can save your document, send it as a mail attachment,
copy it to the clipboard for use in other applications, or have
OmniPage Pro read recognized text out loud.
Converting Images to Text
3 Choose
appropriate for your document.
See Chapter 4, “Settings and Commands,” for more
information on Options settings.
4 Click each button in the Manual OCR toolbar to perform each
task individually.
Processing Documents 21
Options
in the Tools menu and check that settings are
Converting Images to Text
Processing Documents In Other Applications
You can use OmniPage Pro's
documents in other applications. For example, you can scan, recognize,
and paste text directly into a document without ever leaving your wordprocessing application.
You can use Direct OCR with applications that have been registered
with OmniPage Pro. An application must be installed on your computer
and registered in the OmniPage Pro Options dialog box in order to use
it with Direct OCR. See the online Help for more information about
Direct OCR.
To start the OCR process outside OmniPage Pro:
1 Align your document in your scanner if you plan to scan.
2 Open the application in which you want to insert recognized
text.
The application must already be registered in OmniPage Pro to
work with Direct OCR. Once the application is registered, you
do not need to open OmniPage Pro to use Direct OCR.
3 Place the cursor at the location in your document where you
want to insert recognized text.
Direct OCR
feature to process your
4 Choose
you want to check the current settings.
5 Choose
are ready to start the OCR process.
OCR processing occurs according to the selected settings.
Recognized text appears at the cursor location in your
application. If no document is open, text is copied to the
Clipboard.
Text formatting, such as bold and
application supports RTF information. Otherwise, only plain text
will be pasted. Graphics are retained if the application supports
bitmap images.
Acquire Text Settings...
Acquire Text...
in the application's File menu when you
in the application's File menu if
, is retained if the
italics
22 Chapter 3
Improving OCR Results
OmniPage Pro has many features that allow you to customize
processing and improve OCR results. Please refer to the online Help for
more information on these and other ways to improve OCR results.
Adjusting Page Images Before OCR
You can rotate and straighten page images in OmniPage Pro’s image
view before zoning and OCR take place. This is recommended to
improve OCR accuracy on pages that are not oriented correctly.
Improving OCR Results
If you need to rotate or straighten a page, be sure to do so
performing OCR because all zones are deleted during these operations.
To rotate a page image:
1 Click on the page image to make the image view active.
2 Click the Rotate Image button to rotate the image 90-degrees
(clockwise) at a time.
Or, choose
degrees.
To straighten a page image:
1 Click on the page image to make the image view active.
2 Click the Straighten Image button.
Or, choose
OmniPage Pro straightens the page image up to a maximum of
10 degrees. OmniPage Pro will not straighten a page if it
determines that it is unnecessary.
It is recommended that you have OmniPage Pro automatically
rotate or straighten pages if needed during OCR by simply selecting
the
Automatically straighten page image
orientation
options in the
Rotate
Straighten Image
in the View menu and select 90, 180, or 270
!
Process
in the View menu.
and
Automatically correct page
tab of the Options dialog box.
before
Processing Documents 23
Improving OCR Results
Changing Zone Properties
The settings in this dialog
box will be blank if multiple
zones with different settings
are selected.
Zones play a big part in determining OCR results.
Once zones have been created, you can change the shape, size, location,
order, and properties of each zone. Please refer to the online Help for
more information on customizing zones.
To change the properties of a zone:
1 Select the zone you want to modify by clicking it.
You can Shift-click to select multiple zones. Selected zones are
shaded.
2 Click the Zone Properties button to open the Zone Properties
dialog box.
Close button
3 Select a zone type for the selected zones.
4 Select a zone content for the selected zones.
You can select a zone-content setting for any zone type except
Graphic.
5 Click the Close button when you are done.
You can also change a zone’s type and content settings individually
by clicking your right mouse button over the zone and choosing a
setting in the shortcut menu that appears.
24 Chapter 3
Matching Original Document Fonts
You can retain the font characteristics in your document during OCR if
you select an Output Format option other than
“Output Format” on page 36 for more information.
OmniPage Pro automatically matches detected font types to specified
fonts. To match fonts, OmniPage Pro analyzes text and compares it to
the fonts you have selected.
To customize the font matching for recognized text:
Improving OCR Results
Remove Formatting
. See
1 Choose
Options...
box.
2 Click the
3 Click
All the fonts found on
your computer
system.
OCR
Font Matching...
All the fonts on your computer system will be listed on the left.
4 Select fonts that you believe to be in your document and add
them to the list on the right.
For best results, please limit the selected fonts to the ones that
are in your document.
5 Click OK when you are done.
Proofreading OCR Results
After performing OCR, recognized text appears in the text view where
you can proofread the results.
in the Tools menu to open the Options dialog
tab.
to open the Font Matching dialog box.
Fonts that will
be used during
OCR.
OmniPage Pro marks suspected errors in green and inserts a red “reject”
character for any character it cannot recognize. To turn off these color
markers, choose
Processing Documents 25
Show Markers
in the View menu so that it is deselected.
Improving OCR Results
This is what OmniPage Pro
thought the word was.
This window shows a picture of
the original image. Click inside it
to enlarge or reduce the picture.
You can also drag a corner of the
dialog box to see more areas of
the image.
To proofread OCR results and correct errors:
1 Click the Proofread OCR button in the Standard toolbar, or
choose
Proofread OCR...
in the Tools menu.
If a suspected error is detected, the OCR Proofreader dialog
box displays the error and a picture of how it originally looked
in the image.
2 Select how you want OmniPage Pro to treat the word.
After you choose an option for the word, the OCR Proofreader
looks for the next possible error.
3 Click
to stop proofreading OCR.
Close
Color markers are removed from words that have been
proofread.
You can also select
Read Text Aloud
in the Export Destination dropdown list to proofread your document by listening to OmniPage Pro
read the recognized text out loud.
26 Chapter 3
Checking Recognized Text Against Original Text
After performing OCR, you can compare recognized text against the
original image to verify that the text was recognized correctly.
To verify text against its original image:
1 Double-click any word in the text view or select a word and
This window shows a
picture of the original
image. Click inside it to
enlarge or reduce the
picture. You can also
drag a corner of the
window to resize it.
2 Click inside the window to enlarge or reduce the picture.
choose
Verify Text
The Verify Text window opens and shows a picture of the
original word and its surrounding area.
The picture is enlarged on the first two clicks and reduced on
the next two clicks.
in the Tools menu.
Improving OCR Results
Close
button
3 Continue double-clicking words that you want to verify.
The display changes as you select new words.
4 Click the Close button to close the window.
Processing Documents 27
Working with OmniPage Documents
Working with OmniPage Documents
OmniPage Pro’s thumbnail, image, and text views allow you to look at
and work with pages in the current document.
Thumbnail view
Image view Text v i ew
This section describes the following procedures:
• Resizing a Page View
• Changing Pages
• Reordering Pages
• Deleting Pages
• Printing a Document
•Closing a Document
28 Chapter 3
Drag this splitter to the left
or right to resize a view.
Resizing a Page View
You can resize a page displayed in the image view or text view to
enlarge or reduce the view.
To resize a page view:
1 Click in the view you want to enlarge or reduce to make it
active.
2 Choose a size options in the Zoom drop-down list in the
Standard toolbar.
Or, choose
the drop-down list.
The page resizes as specified.
You can also click your right mouse button in the view you want to
resize and select a size option in the shortcut menu. (If you are resizing
the image view, click outside of a zone.)
Changing Pages
The thumbnail view, image view, and text view all display the same
page of a document.
Working with OmniPage Documents
in the View menu and select a size option in
Zoom
You can change pages in a document in the following ways:
• Click the thumbnail of the page you want to display.
The thumbnail of the currently
displayed page is highlighted
with a light border around it.
Processing Documents 29
Working with OmniPage Documents
• Click the Next Page or Previous Page buttons at the lower-right
corner of the OmniPage Pro desktop.
•Choose
Reordering Pages
You can reorder pages in a document by dragging their thumbnails to
different positions in the thumbnail view.
Next Page, Previous Page
Click the thumbnail of the page
you want to move and drag it
above the desired page number.
, or
Go to Page...
in the Edit menu.
Hold down the Ctrl key while you click thumbnails if you want to select
multiple thumbnails to move as a group.
Deleting Pages
If you delete a page from a document in OmniPage Pro, the thumbnail,
original image, and recognized text for that page are all deleted.
To permanently delete pages:
•Choose
Delete Current Page
currently displayed page.
• Select one or more thumbnails of pages you want to delete and
press the Delete key.
30 Chapter 3
in the Edit menu to delete the
Undoing Changes
Working with OmniPage Documents
You can click the Undo button or choose
the very last change you made in the text view. You can also choose
to cancel zone edits in the image view. However, page deletions
Undo
cannot be undone.
Printing a Document
You can print the current document's original page images or
recognized text.
To print a document:
1 Choose
following in the submenu:
•Choose
•Choose
2 Select the desired print settings in the Print dialog box.
3 Click OK to start the print job.
As a shortcut, you can click either the text or image view to make it
active and then click the Print button to print from that view.
in the Edit menu to cancel
Undo
in the File menu and choose one of the
Print...
Image...
Text...
to print original page images.
to print recognized text.
Closing a Document
Choose
You are prompted to save your document if you have not saved it or
have modified it since the last save. Save a document as an OmniPage
Document (*.opd) if you want to reopen it in OmniPage Pro.
Processing Documents 31
in the File menu to close a document.
Close
32 Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Settings and Commands
This chapter describes OmniPage Pro toolbar commands and Options
settings. Please also look in OmniPage Pro’s online Help for more
detailed information on settings and commands.
The settings and commands you select for processing documents can
greatly affect OCR results. You may have to experiment with different
settings and commands to get the results you want.
Please continue reading this chapter for information on these topics:
•The OmniPage Toolbox
• Selecting OmniPage Pro Settings
•OCR Settings
•Scanner Settings
•Tables Settings
• Direct OCR Settings
• Process Settings
33
The OmniPage Toolbox
The OmniPage Toolbox
The OmniPage Toolbox contains the AutoOCR toolbar, the Manual
OCR toolbar, and the OCR Wizard.
AutoOCR Toolbar
The AutoOCR toolbar allows you to process a document from start to
finish automatically according to the commands you select in the dropdown lists.
Document
Source
Manual OCR Toolbar
The Manual OCR toolbar allows you to process a document step-by-step
according to the commands you select in each button's drop-down list.
Document
Source
Original Layout and
Output Format
The Original Layout and Output Format commands are combined on
one button on the Manual OCR toolbar. To set each command, select
Original Layout and Output Format in the button’s drop-down list and
choose the desired commands in the dialog box.
OCR Wizard
Click the OCR Wizard tab in the OmniPage Toolbox and then click the
OCR Wizard button to open the OCR Wizard.
Original
Layout
Output
Format
Export
Destination
Export
Destination
Start,
Finish,
Additional
Stop
OCR Wizard button
34 Chapter 4
Setting Toolbar Commands
Document Source
You can bring documents into OmniPage Pro by loading a file or
scanning an image.
The Document Source drop-down list contains the following options:
•Load File
Select
Load File
files into OmniPage Pro.
•Scan B&W
Select
Scan B&W
OmniPage Pro.
• Scan Grayscale
Select
Scan Grayscale
OmniPage Pro.
•Scan Color
Select
Scan Color
Pro.
to load existing image files such as TIFF or PCX
to scan a black and white paper document into
to scan a color paper document into OmniPage
The OmniPage Toolbox
to scan a grayscale paper document into
Scanning commands are only available if you have set up Caere Scan
Manager to work with your scanner. Caere Scan Manager is installed
during OmniPage Pro installation, and is located in the Windows
Control Panel. Choose
information
Original Layout
Select a setting that best describes how your original document looks in
the Original Layout drop-down list. This setting is used when
OmniPage Pro automatically creates zones on the page.
The Original Layout drop-down list contains the following options:
•Single Column
Select
Single Column
and order zones for pages with one column of text or graphics,
such as memos or letters.
• Multiple Column
Select
Multiple Column
and order zones for pages with more than one column of text or
graphics, such as newspaper and magazine articles.
Scanner Setup Notes
to have OmniPage Pro automatically draw
to have OmniPage Pro automatically draw
in the Help menu for more
Settings and Commands 35
The OmniPage Toolbox
• Spreadsheet
Select
Spreadsheet
to have OmniPage Pro automatically draw and
order zones for pages with tables or spreadsheets.
•Mixed Page
Select
Mixed Page
to have OmniPage Pro automatically draw and
order zones for pages with a combination of text, tables or
spreadsheets, and graphics, in one or more columns.
•Zone Templates
Select a zone template to create zones on page images using that
template. Zone templates are identified by the word Template in
front of their names. Zone templates appear in the drop-down list
only if you have created one or more zone templates. See the
online Help topic “Creating Zone Templates” for more
information.
Output Format
Select a setting that specifies how much of the original formatting you
want to retain in your recognized document.
The Output Format drop-down list contains the following items:
• Remove Formatting
Select
Remove Formatting
to strip all formatting. Recognized text
will be in one font and font size. Any graphics will be placed at
the bottom of the page.
Click
Font Matching
on the OCR tab of the Options dialog box to
select the recognized text font.
• Retain Font & Paragraph
Select
Retain Font & Paragraph
to retain font characteristics and
some paragraph formatting. This does not retain graphic
positioning or side-by-side column layouts. Any graphics will be
placed at the bottom of the page.
• Retain Flowing Columns
Select
Retain Flowing Columns
to retain font characteristics, some
paragraph formatting, graphic positioning, and side-by-side
column layouts.
•True Page
Select
Tr u e P a ge
to retain the original appearance of the page as
much as possible. This setting uses frames to preserve the look of
a page.
36 Chapter 4
The OmniPage Toolbox
Export Destination
You can export recognized text and retained graphics for use in other
applications by saving them as a file, sending them as a mail attachment,
or copying them to the clipboard. You can also listen to your document
before saving it by having OmniPage Pro read the text out loud.
The Export Destination drop-down list contains the following options:
• Save as File
Select
Save as File
to save a copy of a document to disk as a
specified file type. See “Supported File Types” on page 55 and
“Saving a Document” on page 45 for more information.
Select
Save and Launch
in the Save As dialog box to have OmniPage
Pro automatically open your word-processing or other program
when you save recognized text as a file.
• Send as Mail
Select
Send as Mail
to send a copy of a document as a file attached
to a mail message. This is supported by MAPI-compliant mail
applications such as Microsoft Outlook. See “Sending a
Document as a Mail Attachment” on page 48 for more
information.
• Copy to Clipboard
Select
Copy to Clipboard
to place a copy of a document on the
Clipboard. See “Copying a Document to the Clipboard” on page
48 for more information.
• Read Text Aloud
Select Read Text Aloud to have OmniPage Pro convert
recognized text into speech. OmniPage Pro will read your
document out loud once from beginning to end.
Converted text is not saved as an audio file. Make sure you save
your document after it has been read out loud if you want to retain
the recognized text.
Settings and Commands 37
The OmniPage Toolbox
Activating Toolbar Commands
Select a command in each toolbar drop-down list. The pictures on the
toolbars change as you set different process commands.
AutoOCR Toolbar
To activate the AutoOCR toolbar commands, do the following:
• Click the Start button or choose
begin automatic processing.
• Click the Stop button or choose
automatic processing. The
• Click the Finish button or choose
finish processing your document automatically. You can also
switch to the Manual OCR toolbar or the OCR Wizard to finish
processing your document. The
Additional
• Click the Additional button or choose
menu to load and process more pages.
Manual OCR Toolbar
To activate the Manual OCR toolbar commands, do the following:
• Click the Document Source button to load or scan your document
into OmniPage Pro.
• Click the Original Layout and Output Format button to process
your document according to the selected commands and settings.
• Click the Export Destination button to export your document
according to the selected commands and settings.
when processing is complete.
Start
in the Process menu to
Start
in the Process menu to pause
Stop
button changes to
in the Process menu to
Finish
button changes to
Finish
Additional
in the Process
Finish
.
38 Chapter 4
Selecting OmniPage Pro Settings
Selecting OmniPage Pro Settings
Click each tab to
view and select
different settings.
Click the Options button or choose
Options
!
in the Tools menu to
All...
open the Options dialog box. This is the central location for OmniPage
Pro settings.
Click for a
description of
each setting.
Default settings are shown in most examples that follow. However,
documents require different settings depending on their input attributes
and your output goals. To get the best results, learn how to identify
document characteristics and make selections for them. You may have
to experiment with different settings and commands to get the results
you want. Refer to the “Settings Guidelines” in the online Help for more
information.
Settings and Commands 39
OCR Settings
OCR Settings
Click the
Move the slider to the
Most Accurate end of
the scale to increase
OCR accuracy to the
highest level.
Select the type
of characters
that are in your
document.
This is the character
used in place of
unknown characters.
You can enter your
own choice.
Scanner Settings
Click the
The
and depending on your particular scanner, your scanner might need to
be connected and turned on for the
OCR
Scanner
Scanner
tab to select settings that affect OCR accuracy.
Select the
languages that
appear in your
document.
Training files
help
recognize
special
characters
during OCR.
tab to select settings for scanning pages.
tab appears only if you have installed Caere Scan Manager,
Scanner
tab to appear.
Select this to
automatically scan
double-sided pages
if your scanner has
an automatic
document feeder.
Select this if you want to
scan a multiple page
document into OmniPage
Pro.
Enter the number of
seconds you want OmniPage Pro to wait
before scanning the next page. Be sure to
give yourself enough time to add the next
page to your scanner.
40 Chapter 4
Use the
brightness and
contrast sliders
if your scanning
results are
different than
you expect.
Tables Settings
Tables Settings
Select to automatically
detect tables that have grid
lines between rows and
columns.
These drop-down menus
determine how your table
borders will look after
export.
Click the
tab to select table settings for your document.
Tables
Changing the line styles using
the drop-down menus will
change the page icon to show
the general appearance you can
expect of the table grids and
border after export.
Once line styles are changed, the
color of the grid in the image view
also changes:
Light red shows single lines
Dark red shows double lines
Gray shows no lines
Settings and Commands 41
Direct OCR Settings
Direct OCR Settings
Direct OCR allows you to
start scanning and
perform OCR from
another application.
If your application is not
listed, click
locate the application file
*.exe
(
Registered
Browse...
) and add it to the
list box.
to
Click the
Direct OCR
tab to select settings for the Direct OCR feature.
Direct OCR allows you to initiate OCR from another application. See
“Processing Documents In Other Applications” on page 22 for more
information.
An
application
must be
registered to
work with
Direct OCR.
Some applications may be pre-registered with Direct OCR during
OmniPage Pro installation. These applications will display in the
Registered
list box. You may need to register other applications to work
with Direct OCR. Refer to the online Help for information on registering
applications with Direct OCR.
42 Chapter 4
Process Settings
Process Settings
Specifies where
newly loaded or
scanned images
are to be added to
an open document.
Usually, these settings
should be selected for
optimal accuracy.
Deselect any that cause
over-correction.
This is the language
that will be used in
dialog boxes,
windows, and menu
commands.
Click the
tab to set commands and settings for each step of OCR.
Process
Settings and Commands 43
44 Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Saving and Exporting
Once you have loaded and recognized a document in OmniPage Pro,
you can export the original image or recognized text to other
applications by:
• Saving a Document
• Copying a Document to the Clipboard
• Sending a Document as a Mail Attachment
• Converting Text to Speech
After you export a document, a copy of the document remains open in
OmniPage Pro. Save the document as an OmniPage Document (*.opd)
if you want to reopen it in OmniPage Pro again. OmniPage Documents
retain all original images, zones, and recognized text.
Saving a Document
You can save recognized text and original images to disk in a variety of
file types.
To save recognized text:
1Choose
Save As...
You can also click the Start button in the AutoOCR toolbar with
Save As File
in the File menu.
selected in the Export Destination drop-down list.
45
Saving a Document
Or, click the Export Destination button in the Manual OCR
toolbar with
Save as File
selected in the drop-down list.
The Save As dialog box appears.
The
Add to PageKeeper
appears if you have PageKeeper
installed on your computer. It puts a
link to the saved document in
PageKeeper’s default folder.
setting only
2 Select a folder location and file type for your document.
See “Supported File Types” on page 55 for a complete list of
supported file types.
3 Type in a file name and select save options.
4 Click OK.
The document is saved to disk as specified. Graphics and
formatting are saved in the document only if the selected file
type supports them.
You can select
Save and Launch
to automatically open your
document in a specified application after it is saved.
46 Chapter 5
To save original images:
Saving a Document
The
Add to PageKeeper
appears if you have PageKeeper
installed on your computer. It puts a
link to the saved document in
PageKeeper’s default folder.
setting only
1Choose
Save Image...
in the File menu.
The Save Image dialog box appears.
2 Select a folder location and file type for your document.
See “Supported File Types” on page 55 for a complete list of
supported file types.
3 Type in a file name and select
Save
and
Image
options.
4 Click OK.
The image is saved to disk as specified. (Zones and recognized
text are not saved with the file.)
Saving a Document as You Work
Click the Save button in the Standard toolbar or choose
in the File
Save
menu to save changes to the current document as you work.
The Save As dialog box appears the first time you choose
Save
if a
document has not been saved as an OmniPage Document or text-based
file.
If a document has been saved as an OmniPage Document (*.opd), all
the changes you make in the open document are saved when you choose
. If a document has been saved as a text-based file type, only the text
Save
changes are saved out to that file.
For example, suppose you save the current document as a text file called
Memo.txt
OmniPage Pro. Whenever you choose
text will be saved to the
Saving and Exporting 47
, but continue to make changes to the recognized text in
, changes in the recognized
Save
Memo.txt
file.
Copying a Document to the Clipboard
Copying a Document to the Clipboard
You can copy every page of a recognized document to the Clipboard
and then paste the text directly into another application.
To copy a document to the Clipboard:
1Select
2 For step-by-step processing, click the Export Destination
3 The document is copied to the Clipboard.
Text formatting, such as bold and
into an application that supports RTF information. Otherwise, only
plain text will be pasted. Graphics are retained if the application
supports bitmap images.
Copy to Clipboard
Destination drop-down list on the Manual OCR or AutoOCR
toolbar.
button on the Manual OCR toolbar, or choose
in the Process menu.
For automatic processing, click the Start button on the
AutoOCR toolbar, or choose
as the command in the Export
in the Process menu.
Start
, is retained when you paste
italics
Sending a Document as a Mail Attachment
You can send a recognized document as a file attached to a mail message
if you have a MAPI-compliant mail application, such as Microsoft
Outlook, installed.
To send a document as a mail attachment:
Copy to Clipboard
1Select
2 For step-by-step processing, click the Export Destination
48 Chapter 5
Send as Mail
drop-down list on the Manual OCR or AutoOCR toolbar.
button on the Manual OCR toolbar, or choose
in the Process menu.
For automatic processing, click the Start button on the
AutoOCR toolbar, or choose
as the command in the Export Destination
Copy to Clipboard
in the Process menu.
Start
Converting Text to Speech
You can also select
The Send Mail dialog box appears.
3 Specify a file type and attachment options for your document.
4Click OK.
5 Log into your mail application if you are prompted to do so.
A new message appears ready for addressing.
6 Address your mail message as desired and click the Send
button.
The document is sent as an attachment to the mail message.
Converting Text to Speech
OmniPage Pro can convert your recognized text into speech and read it
out loud, allowing you to listen to your document.
Send as Mail
in the File menu.
To convert recognized text to speech:
1Select
2 Click the Start button on the AutoOCR toolbar or choose
3 Click the Export Destination button on the Manual OCR
4 OmniPage Pro will read your document out loud once from
To save recognized text after it is read out loud, choose
the File menu. Save a document as an OmniPage Document file
*.opd
(
Saving and Exporting 49
Read Text Aloud
Destination drop-down list of the AutoOCR or Manual OCR
toolbar.
in the Process menu for automatic processing.
toolbar, or choose
manual processing.
beginning to end.
) if you want to reopen it in OmniPage Pro again.
as the command in the Export
Read Text Aloud
in the Process menu for
Start
Save As...
in
50 Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Technical Information
This chapter provides troubleshooting and other technical information
about using OmniPage Pro.
Please also read the online
Scanner Setup Notes
and support. The
to OmniPage Pro. To open these documents, choose
or
Readme
Please continue reading this chapter for information on these topics:
in the Help menu.
• General Troubleshooting Solutions
• Supported File Types
•OCR Problems
• Uninstalling the Software
contains detailed information about scanner setup
Readme
Readme
file contains last-minute information relating
file and the
Scanner Setup Notes
Scanner Setup Notes
. The
51
General Troubleshooting Solutions
General Troubleshooting Solutions
Although OmniPage Pro is designed to be easy to use, problems
sometimes occur. Many of the error messages contain self-explanatory
descriptions of what to do — check connections, close other applications
to free up memory, and so on. Sometimes that is all the troubleshooting
help you need.
Please see your Windows documentation for information on optimizing
your system and application performance.
Topics in this section include:
• Solutions to Try First
• Testing OmniPage Pro
• Low Memory Problems
•Low Disk Space Problems
Solutions to Try First
Try these possible solutions if you experience problems using
OmniPage Pro:
• Make sure that your system meets all requirements listed under
“Minimum System Requirements” on page 2.
• Make sure that your scanner is plugged in and that all cable
connections are secure.
• Turn off your computer and your scanner, turn your scanner back
on, and then restart your computer. Make sure other applications
are functioning properly.
• Use the software that came with your scanner to verify that the
scanner works properly before using it with OmniPage Pro.
• Make sure you have the correct drivers for your scanner, printer,
and video card. Choose
more information.
• Run ScanDisk for Windows 95 or 98, or Check Disk for Windows
NT and Windows 2000 to check your hard disk for errors. See
Windows online Help for more information.
• Defragment your hard disk. See Windows online Help for more
information.
• Uninstall and reinstall OmniPage Pro and Caere Scan Manager.
52 Chapter 6
Scanner Setup Notes
in the Help menu for
Testing OmniPage Pro
Restarting Windows 95, 98, or 2000 in
allows you to test OmniPage Pro on a simplified system. This is
mode
recommended when you cannot resolve crashing problems or if
OmniPage Pro has stopped running altogether. See Windows online
Help for more information.
Your scanner will not run with OmniPage Pro in safe mode or VGA
mode, so do not test scanner problems in this configuration.
To test OmniPage Pro in safe mode (Windows 95 or 98):
1 Restart your computer in safe mode by pressing F8
immediately after you see the “Starting Windows” message.
2 Launch OmniPage Pro and try performing OCR on an image.
Use an existing image file such as the Sample.tif file.
• If OmniPage Pro does not launch or run properly in safe
mode, then there may be a problem with the installation.
Uninstall and reinstall OmniPage Pro, and then run it in
Windows safe mode.
• If OmniPage Pro runs in safe mode, then a device driver on
your system may be interfering with OmniPage Pro
operation. Troubleshoot the problem by restarting Windows
in Step-by-Step Confirmation mode. See Windows online
Help for more information.
General Troubleshooting Solutions
safe mode
or Windows NT in
VGA
To test OmniPage Pro in VGA mode (Windows NT or 2000):
1 Restart your computer.
2 Select
3 Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete and select
4 In the Task Manager dialog box, select all background
5 Launch OmniPage Pro and try performing OCR on an image.
Technical Information 53
Windows NT Workstation Version 4.00 [VGA mode]
press Enter.
Ta s k M a na g e r
applications and click E
for more information.
Use an existing image file such as the Sample.tif file.
nd Process
. See Windows online Help
.
and
General Troubleshooting Solutions
Low Memory Problems
Low Disk Space Problems
OmniPage Pro may run poorly under low-memory conditions. This
may be indicated by various error messages or if OmniPage Pro works
slowly and accesses the hard drive often. Try these solutions for low
memory conditions:
• Restart your computer.
• Close other open applications to release memory.
• Close unnecessary OmniPage Pro windows.
• Defragment your hard disk to free up contiguous blocks of disk
space. See Windows online Help for instructions.
• Increase the amount of free hard disk space.
• Increase your computer’s physical memory (RAM).
More memory optimizes OCR performance. See “Minimum
System Requirements” on page 2 for more information.
Problems may occur if your system runs low on free disk space. Try
these solutions for low disk space problems:
• Empty the Windows Recycle Bin.
• Close all open applications and delete the *.tmp files in the
Temp folder. This folder is usually located in your Windows
folder.
• Run ScanDisk for Windows 95 or 98, or Check Disk for Windows
NT or Windows 2000 to check for errors that may be using disk
space. See Windows online Help for instructions.
• Back up unneeded files onto floppy disks or other media and
delete them from your hard disk.
• Remove Windows applications that you do not use.
• Defragment your hard disk. See Windows online Help for
instructions.
• Clear the cache for your web browser and limit its size.
54 Chapter 6
Supported File Types
OmniPage Pro can open these file types:
Supported File Types
BMP, Bitmap
DCX
JPEG
OmniPage Document
(*.bmp)
(*.dcx)
(*.jpg)
(*.opd)
(*.pcx)
PCX
TIFF Packbits
TIFF uncompressed
TIFF Group 3 or 4 compressed
(*.tif)
(*.tif)
(*.tif)
TIFF files can be single- or multiple-page; color, line art, or grayscale;
compressed or uncompressed. They can be up to 600 dpi, but 300 dpi is
recommended for optimal OCR accuracy.
OmniPage Pro stores line-art image at 300 dpi and grayscale and color
images at a 150 dpi.
OmniPage Pro can save original images to these file types:
(*.bmp)
Bitmap
OmniPage document
(*.pcx)
PCX
(*.opd)
TIFF uncompressed
TIFF Packbits
TIFF Group 4 compressed
(*.tif)
(*.tif)
(*.tif)
OmniPage Pro can save recognized text to these file formats:
dBase III, III+, IV, 5.5 Microsoft PowerPoint 97 Text only with line breaks
Excel 3.0, 4.0, 5.0, 6.0,
7.0, 97, 2000
FrameMaker 5.5.3 OmniPage Document Word for Windows 2.0,
Freelance Graphics PageMaker 6.5.2 (MS
Harvard Graphics Quattro Pro for Windows
HTML Rich Text Format Word Pro 96, 97
Lotus 1-2-3, 97
Microsoft Publisher 98 Ventura Publisher
Word)
4.0, 8 (Excel 4.0)
Text only
(MS Word)
6.0, 7.0, 95, 97, 2000
Wordpad
WordPerfect for
Windows 5.1, 5.2, 6.0,
6.1, 95, 8.0
When saving to HTML, all graphics are saved as separate image files
using JPEG format.
Technical Information 55
OCR Problems
OCR Problems
System Crash During OCR
This section contains information and solutions for possible OCR
problems.
Topics in this section include:
•System Crash During OCR
• Text Does Not Get Recognized Properly
• Problems With Fax Recognition
Try these solutions if a crash occurs during OCR or if processing takes a
very long time:
• Resolve low memory problems. See “Low Memory Problems” on
page 54 for more information.
• Resolve low disk space problems. See “Low Disk Space
Problems” on page 54 for more information.
• Minimize all applications or click Alt+Tab to check for Windows
error messages.
• Check the quality of the image you are recognizing.
Choose
improve the quality of scanned images.
• Break complex page images (lots of text and graphics or elaborate
formatting) into smaller jobs. Draw zones manually or modify
automatically created zones and perform OCR on one page area
at a time. See the online Help for information on creating and
modifying zones.
• Restart Windows 95 and 98 in safe mode, or Windows NT and
Windows 2000 in VGA mode and test OmniPage Pro by
performing OCR on the included Sample.tif. See “Testing
OmniPage Pro” on page 53.
• If you are performing multiple tasks at once, such as recognizing
and printing, OCR may take longer.
Scanner Setup Notes
in the Help menu for ways to
56 Chapter 6
Text Does Not Get Recognized Properly
Try these solutions if any part of the original document is not converted
to text properly during OCR:
• Look at the original page image and make sure that all text areas
are enclosed by text zones. If an area is not enclosed by a zone, it
is ignored during OCR. See the online Help for information on
creating and modifying zones.
• Make sure text zones are identified correctly. Reidentify zone
types and contents, if necessary, and perform OCR on the
document again. See “Changing Zone Properties” on page 24 for
more information.
• Adjust the Brightness and Contrast sliders in the
of the Options dialog box. You may need to experiment with
different settings combinations to get the desired results.
• Make sure the correct document languages are selected in the
settings. Only languages included in the document should
OCR
be selected.
• Train OmniPage Pro to recognize special characters that might
normally be difficult to recognize, such as the copyright symbol
© or the registered trademark symbol ®. Do not train OmniPage
Pro for regular characters because it may interfere with
recognition. See “Training OCR for Special Characters” in the
online Help for more information.
•If you use
gets put into frames (formatting boxes) in the text view. Some text
may be hidden from view if a frame is too small. To view the text,
place the cursor in the text frame and use the arrow keys on your
keyboard to scroll to the top, bottom, left, or right of the frame.
• Check the glass, mirrors, and lenses on your scanner for dust,
smudges, or scratches. Clean if necessary.
Tr u e P a ge
as the
Output Format
OCR Problems
Scanner
setting, recognized text
settings
OmniPage Pro only recognizes machine printed-text characters such as
typewritten or laser-printed text. However, it can retain handwritten
text, such as a signature, as a graphic.
Technical Information 57
OCR Problems
Problems With Fax Recognition
Try these solutions to improve OCR accuracy on fax images:
• Ask senders to select
This produces a resolution of 200x200 dpi.
• Ask senders to transmit files directly to your computer via fax
modem if you both have one. You can save fax images as image
files and then load them into OmniPage Pro. See “Supported File
Types” on page 55 for more information.
• Ask senders to use clean, original documents if possible. Sans
serif fonts (such as the one used for headings in this manual) are
easier to recognize than serif fonts (such as the one used for body
text in this manual).
Fine
or
mode when they send you a fax.
Best
58 Chapter 6
Uninstalling the Software
Sometimes uninstalling and then reinstalling OmniPage Pro and Caere
Scan Manager will solve a problem.
Uninstalling the Software
OmniPage Pro’s Uninstall program will
files:
• Zone templates (*.zon)
• Training files (*.trn)
• User dictionaries (*.ud)
• Temp files (*.tmp)
To uninstall from Windows NT or Windows 2000, you must be logged
into your computer with administrator privileges.
To uninstall OmniPage Pro:
1 Close OmniPage Pro.
2 Click
Panel
3 Select OmniPage Pro and click
4 Click OK to confirm that you want to remove OmniPage Pro.
5 Restart your computer.
Some icons and program files may remain on your system if
they have been renamed, modified, or moved.
in the Windows taskbar and choose
Start
Add/Remove Programs
!
not remove
.
Add/Remove
any of the following
Settings
.
Control
!
Technical Information 59
Uninstalling the Software
To uninstall Caere Scan Manager:
1 Close OmniPage Pro.
2 Click
Settings
3 Select
in the Windows taskbar and choose
Start
Control Panel !Add/Remove Programs
!
Caere Scan Manager
and click
Add/Remove
.
.
4 Click OK to confirm that you want to remove Caere Scan
Manager.
5 Restart your computer.
Some icons and program files may remain on your system if
they have been renamed, modified, or moved to different
locations.
60 Chapter 6
Index
A
Adjusting
page images before OCR 23
view of pages 29
Automatic processing 20, 21
AutoOCR toolbar 11, 12
location of 10
overview 34
B
Basic steps of OCR 9
C
Caere Documents
see
OmniPage Documents
Caere Product Support x
Changing pages in a document 29
Checking OCR results 25
Clipboard, copying an entire
document to 48
Closing documents 31
Colored text
turning off color markers 25
Comparing text with images 27
Conventions, in this manual viii
Converting 49
Converting text to speech 49
Copying and pasting text 48
see also OmniPage Pro’s online
help
Current document, finishing 20, 21
D
Deinstalling the software 60
Deleting pages 30
Desktop 10
Direct OCR
settings 42
using in other applications 22
Disk space
increasing 54
minimum required 2
Document
finishing 20, 21
processing automatically 20, 21
Drag and Drop
see OmniPage Pro’s online help
E
Enlarging
a page view 29
Errors
checking in the text view 25
possible reasons for 58
Exchange
sending a recognized
document with 48
Exporting documents
copying an entire document to
the Clipboard 48
saving original images 47
saving recognized text 45
sending a document as a mail
attachment 48
F
Faxes
improving recognition
accuracy of 59
Finishing the current document 20,
21
Frames
text hidden by 58
G
Getting online Help ix
Going to a particular page 29
Green text 25
H
Handwritten text 8
Hard disk space
minimum required 2
Help, online ix
Hidden text 58
Home page for Caere x
I
Image files
saving 47
supported types 55
Image toolbar
location of 10
Image view 4, 10
Images
defined 8
reordering pages 30
saving original 47
Initiating OCR outside OmniPage
Pro 22
Installing
OmniPage Pro 2
Introduction to OmniPage Pro 7
L
Low disk space problems 54
Low memory problems 54
61
M
Manual OCR toolbar 12
MAPI-compliant mail 48
Memory
minimum required 2
problems 54
Microsoft Exchange or Outlook
sending a recognized
document with 48
Minimum requirements 2
Modifying text
see OmniPage Pro’s online help
N
New documents, automatically
processing 20, 21
O
OCR
automatic processing 20, 21
AutoOCR toolbar 34
basic steps of 9
defined 8
problems with 57
OCR settings 40
OCR Wizard 12
using 19
OLE
see OmniPage Pro’s online help
OmniPage Documents
recommendation for saving 45
saving as you work 47
OmniPage Pro
basic steps of OCR 9
desktop 10
installing 2
overview of OCR 8
starting 4
system requirements 2
Onscreen error messages 52
Optical character recognition
see
OCR
Options dialog box 39
see also OmniPage Pro’s online
help
Original image
comparing to text 27
saving 47
Outlook
sending a recognized
document with 48
P
PageKeeper setting 46, 47
Pages
changing 29
deleting 30
reordering 30
resizing view of 29
Pasting text
see OmniPage Pro’s online help
Printing text and images 31
Process settings, Options dialog box
43
Product support services x
Proofreading OCR results
checking for errors in the text
view 25
R
RAM requirements 54
Red text 25
Registering applications with Direct
OCR 42
Registering OmniPage Pro 5
Reject characters 25
Reordering
pages 30
Reregistering OmniPage Pro 5
Resizing
a page view 29
Rich Text Format 56
Rotating page images 23
S
Saving
OmniPage Documents 45
original images 47
recognized text 45
Scan Manager
uninstalling 60
Scanner settings 40
Sending a document as a mail
attachment 48
Settings, Options 39
Setup
installing OmniPage Pro 2
Specifying zone properties 24
Speech
converting text to 49
Standard toolbar 13
location of 10
Starting OCR outside OmniPage Pro
22
Starting OmniPage Pro 4
Steps of OCR 9
Straightening page images 23
Support services x
Supported file formats 55
Supported scanners
see the Scanner Setup Notes
Suspected errors 25
Switching
pages 29
System requirements 2
T
Tables settings 41
Technical support services x
Testing OmniPage Pro
on Windows 2000 53
on Windows 95 53
on Windows 98 53
on Windows NT 53
Text characters
checking for errors 26
hidden from view 58
verifying against image 27
Text frames 58
text hidden in 58
Text recognition
problems with 57
Text to speech 49
Text view 10
Text, green or red 25
The basic steps of OCR 9
Thumbnail view 10
changing pages in 29
reordering pages in 30
62 Index
Toolbars
AutoOCR 11, 12, 34
Manual OCR 12
OCR Wizard 12
Standard 13
Troubleshooting 52–59
general solutions 52
low disk space problems 54
low memory problems 54
OCR problems 57
product support services x
text does not get recognized 58
uninstalling the software 60
True Page
frames in the text view 58
U
Undoing changes 31
Uninstalling the software 60
Using OCR in other applications 22
Using online help ix
V
Viewing and resizing pages 29
Viewing original images 27
W
Web
Caere site x
Wizard, for OCR 19
Working with documents 28
Z
Zone properties
changing 24
Zone types
selecting 24
Zones
alphanumeric 24
graphic 24
selecting properties for 24
Zooming in or out 29
63
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