Nuance OMNIPAGE PRO FOR WINDOWS 95 User Manual

OmniPage Pro

for Windows 95

CAERE CORPORATION

100 Cooper Court Los Gatos, California 95030

European Offices: Caere GmbH Innere Wiener Strasse 5 81667 Munich Germany

Please Note

In order 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 95 Version 7.0

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)

Welcome

Help Menu Commands....................................................................................................................vi

Context-Sensitive Help.....................................................................................................................vi

Chapter 1 Introduction to OmniPage Pro

What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)?..........................................................................1-2

What OmniPage Pro OCR Can Do ...............................................................................................1-2

Chapter 2 Installation and Setup

System Requirements .....................................................................................................................2-2

Installing OmniPage Pro ................................................................................................................2-2

Setting Up Your Scanner With OmniPage Pro ...........................................................................2-3

Starting OmniPage Pro...................................................................................................................2-5

Registering OmniPage Pro.............................................................................................................2-5

The OmniPage Pro Desktop ..........................................................................................................2-6

Chapter 3 Basic Procedures

The Basic Steps of OmniPage Pro OCR........................................................................................3-2

The AutoOCR Toolbar....................................................................................................................3-3

Setting Process Commands.....................................................................................................3-3

AUTO Button Commands ......................................................................................................3-3

Image Button Commands .......................................................................................................3-4

Zone Button Commands .........................................................................................................3-4

OCR Button Commands .........................................................................................................3-5

Export Button Commands ......................................................................................................3-6

Automatic Processing.....................................................................................................................3-6

Bringing Document Images into OmniPage Pro ........................................................................3-7

Scanning Pages.........................................................................................................................3-7

Loading Image Files.................................................................................................................3-8

Loading Exchange Faxes.........................................................................................................3-9

Creating Zones for OCR...............................................................................................................3-10

Creating Zones Automatically.............................................................................................3-10

Creating Zones Manually .....................................................................................................3-11

Table of Contents

iii

Creating Zones Using a Template.......................................................................................3-12

Deleting Zones........................................................................................................................ 3-13

Reidentifying Zone Types..................................................................................................... 3-13

Performing OCR on a Document................................................................................................ 3-14

Checking OCR Results ..........................................................................................................3-14

Verifying Text.........................................................................................................................3-16

Exporting Documents...................................................................................................................3-16

Saving a Document................................................................................................................ 3-16

Copying a Document to the Clipboard...............................................................................3-18

Sending a Document With Microsoft Exchange................................................................3-18

Chapter 4 Settings Guide

Selecting OmniPage Pro Settings..................................................................................................4-2

What Is the Quality of the Original Document?.........................................................................4-3

What Type of Document Are You Processing? .......................................................................... 4-4

How Much Original Formatting Do You Want to Keep? .........................................................4-6

Do You Want to Retain Graphics in Your Document?.............................................................. 4-7

How Many Languages Are in Your Document?........................................................................ 4-8

Are You Processing a Multiple-Page Document? ....................................................................4-10

Chapter 5 Technical Information

Troubleshooting Solutions.............................................................................................................5-2

General Troubleshooting Solutions.......................................................................................5-2

Setup Program Requests the Same Disk............................................................................... 5-3

Uninstalling the Software.......................................................................................................5-3

Testing OmniPage Pro in Safe Mode ....................................................................................5-4

Low Memory Problems...........................................................................................................5-4

Low Disk Space Problems ......................................................................................................5-5

Scanning Problems...................................................................................................................5-5

OCR Problems ..........................................................................................................................5-6

Scanner Setup Issues.......................................................................................................................5-8

Scanner Drivers Supplied by the Manufacturer..................................................................5-8

Scanner Drivers Supplied by Caere ......................................................................................5-8

Scanner Message on Launch ..................................................................................................5-8

Using Visioneer PaperPort with OmniPage Pro .................................................................5-9

Using TWAIN-Compliant Scanners......................................................................................5-9

Product Support ............................................................................................................................5-10

Product Support Services......................................................................................................5-10

International Product Support Numbers ........................................................................... 5-10

Information Product Support Needs From You................................................................ 5-10

Welcome

Welcome to OmniPage Pro for Windows 95. This manual introduces you to the basics of using OmniPage Pro. It includes installation instructions, basic procedures, settings guidelines, and troubleshooting information.

Please look in OmniPage Pro’s online help for detailed information on features and procedures. OmniPage Pro’s online help conforms to Windows 95 online help conventions and has been designed for quick and easy information retrieval.

Please continue reading this section to find out how to use OmniPage Pro’s online help. Topics include:

• Help Menu Commands

• Context-Sensitive Help

Help Menu Commands

After installing OmniPage Pro, you can open its online help by choosing commands in the Help menu.

• Choose listings of online help topics available for OmniPage Pro.

• Choose Pro.

• Choose features in OmniPage Pro that are similar to features used in OmniPage Limited Edition.

• Choose services for OmniPage Pro.

Context-Sensitive Help

You can get specific information about a particular OmniPage Pro command, toolbar button, or dialog box option in the following ways.

• 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 information about 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 an explanation of that item.

• Some dialog boxes have a information about that dialog box.

OmniPage Pro Help Topics

Getting Started

OmniPage Limited Edition Help

Product Support

to get introductory topics to OmniPage

to find out how to get product support

Help

to get contents and index

button. Click

to find out how to use

to get

Help

To learn more about using Windows 95 online help systems, please refer to Windows 95 documentation.

Chapter 1

Introduction to

OmniPage Pro

You probably do most of your business correspondence and other projects on your computer. Sometimes, however, information that you need 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. You do not have to retype anything — OmniPage Pro automatically does it for you.

optical character recognition (OCR)

Please continue reading this chapter for information on these topics:

• What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)?

• What OmniPage Pro OCR Can Do

Introduction to OmniPage Pro 1-1

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 export the resulting text to a variety of word-processing, page layout, and spreadsheet applications. See “The Basic Steps of OmniPage Pro OCR” on page 3-2 for an overview of the OCR process.

Please look in OmniPage Pro’s online help for detailed information on OmniPage Pro features, settings, and procedures.

) is the process of turning an

What OmniPage Pro OCR Can Do

In addition to text, OmniPage Pro can retain these other 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 italic) are

examples of text formatting.

• Page formatting Column structure, paragraph spacing, and placement of graphics

are examples of page formatting.

) that together

pixels

image

into

1-2 Introduction to OmniPage Pro

The graphics, text formatting, and page formatting elements that OmniPage Pro retains depend on the settings you select for your document. See Chapter 4, Settings Guide, for more information.

OmniPage Pro recognizes printed text characters only. However, it can retain handwritten text, such as a signature, as a graphic element.

Chapter 2

Installation and Setup

This chapter provides installation and setup information for OmniPage Pro and the Scan Manager. If you have any trouble during installation, look in Chapter 5, Technical Information, for troubleshooting solutions.

After installing OmniPage Pro, please look in the online help for detailed information on features, settings, and procedures.

Please continue reading this chapter for information on these topics:

• System Requirements

• Installing OmniPage Pro

• Setting Up Your Scanner With OmniPage Pro

• Starting OmniPage Pro

• Registering OmniPage Pro

• The OmniPage Pro Desktop

Installation and Setup 2-1

System Requirements

You need the following setup to install and run OmniPage Pro:

• Computer with an 80386 or higher processor

• Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows NT 3.51 Please see the

on features supported by Windows NT 3.51 and later versions.

• Windows-compatible mouse

• Total system memory of at least 8MB RAM for Windows 95 and 12MB RAM for Windows NT

• 15MB free hard-disk space

• SVGA or VGA monitor

• A compatible scanner if you plan to scan documents Be sure your scanner is connected, compatible with your system,

and runs with the software provided by the manufacturer you install OmniPage Pro.

To use OmniPage Pro, you should know how to work in the Microsoft Windows environment. Please refer to Windows 95 documentation or online help if you have any questions about working in Windows 95.

Release Notes

for the most up-to-date information

before

Installing OmniPage Pro

OmniPage Pro’s Setup program takes you through installation with onscreen instructions at every step. For best results, do not run any other programs — especially anti-virus programs — during installation.

To install OmniPage Pro on Windows 95:

1 Click

2 Double-click 3 Click the 4 Insert OmniPage Pro disk #1 in your computer’s floppy disk

5 Click

2-2 Installation and Setup

Start

Settings

drive and click The Setup program starts.

in the Windows 95 taskbar and choose

Control Panel



Add/Remove Programs

Install/Uninstall

to continue with installation

tab and click

Install...

Setting Up Your Scanner With OmniPage Pro

6 Follow the onscreen instructions and insert the other

installation disks as prompted.

To install OmniPage Pro on Windows NT 3.51:

1 Start Windows NT and open the Program Manager. 2 Insert OmniPage Pro disk #1 in your computer’s floppy disk

drive.

3 Choose 4Type a:\setup (or b:\setup) in the

and click OK.

5 Follow the onscreen instructions and insert the other

installation disks as prompted.

in the Program Manager’s File menu.

Run

Command Line

Setting Up Your Scanner With OmniPage Pro

You must install the Scan Manager and select your default scanner if you plan to scan with OmniPage Pro. You are prompted to install the Scan Manager during OmniPage Pro installation, but you can also install it at a later time.

Be sure your scanner is connected, compatible with your system, and runs with the software provided by the manufacturer with OmniPage Pro. See “Scanner Setup Issues” on page 5-8.

To install the Scan Manager at a later time:

1 Click

Settings

2 Double-click

in the Windows 95 taskbar and choose

Start

Control Panel



Add/Remove Programs

before

text box

you use it

3 Click the 4 Insert the Scan Manager disk in your computer’s floppy disk

drive and click The Setup program starts.

5 Click

select your default scanner. Once the Scan Manager is installed, you can change the default

scanner anytime.

Install/Uninstall

and follow the onscreen directions to install and

tab and click

Install...

Installation and Setup 2-3

Setting Up Your Scanner With OmniPage Pro

The default scanner will be used with OmniPage Pro.

Scanners that have installed drivers appear here.

To change your default scanner in OmniPage Pro:

1 Exit OmniPage Pro if it is running. 2 Click

Programs

in the Windows 95 taskbar and choose

Start

Caere ApplicationsScan Manager 2.0



The Scanner Setup dialog box appears.

3 Click

and insert the Scan Manager disk when prompted.

Add>>

The dialog box expands to show a list of available scanners. Some scanners are listed more than once because they have different driver options. If you are unsure about which scanner driver to use, see the

Scanner Setup Notes

4 Select your scanner in the

List of Scanners

booklet.

list box and click

Install.

The driver for that scanner is installed and the name of the scanner appears in the

Installed Scanners

5 Select your scanner in the

As Default Scanner

Installed Scanners

list box.

list box and click

Set

2-4 Installation and Setup

6 Click

If you use a Visioneer scanner or if your scanner is set up to work with Visioneer’s PaperPort software, see “Using Visioneer PaperPort with OmniPage Pro” on page 5-9.

Starting OmniPage Pro

Make sure your scanner is attached to your computer, turned on, and working before you start OmniPage Pro if you plan to scan.

To start OmniPage Pro:

• Windows 95 users: click

Programs

The OmniPage Pro launcher is located in the program folder you selected during installation;

• Windows NT 3.51 users: double-click the OmniPage Pro icon in the Caere Applications program group.

Caere ApplicationsOmniPage Pro for Windows 95



Registering OmniPage Pro

You are prompted to call in and register your copy of OmniPage Pro during installation if you are an unregistered user. Unregistered users can only use OmniPage Pro for 25 sessions without registering it. After 25 sessions, the Registration dialog box appears when OmniPage Pro is launched and the program exits if you do not register at that time.

You will not be prompted to register if you are already a registered user.

in the taskbar and choose

Start

Caere Applications

Starting OmniPage Pro

is the default.

To register OmniPage Pro:

1 Click the Register menu to open the OmniPage Pro Product

Registration dialog box. This dialog box also appears during installation and the first

time you start OmniPage Pro.

Installation and Setup 2-5

The OmniPage Pro Desktop

2 Click the

drop-down list and locate the phone number for

Call

your country.

3 Call the phone number and ask for a registration number.

You will be asked to provide the serial and key numbers listed in the dialog box.

4 Enter the registration number that is given to you in the

Registration Number

The Registration menu disappears from the menu bar after you register.

The OmniPage Pro Desktop

OmniPage Pro can display the pages of a document in its thumbnail viewer, image viewer, and text viewer. You can activate operations using toolbar buttons or menu commands. See Chapter 3, Basic Procedures, for more information.

Standard toolbar AutoOCR toolbar

text box and click

OK.

Zone toolbar

The thumbnail viewer displays miniature pictures of pages and puts a box around the current page.

2-6 Installation and Setup

The image viewer

displays the current

page’s original image.

The text viewer displays the

current page’s recognized

text and retained graphics.

Use the OCR Wizard if you want to be guided through the entire OCR process. Select

OCR Wizard

in the

button’s drop-down list and

AUTO

then click the button to activate the wizard. The OCR Wizard will ask you questions about your page and set the appropriate settings for you.

Chapter 3

Basic Procedures

This chapter gives an overview of processing documents in OmniPage Pro from start to finish. It describes the basic steps of OCR and provides instructions for each step.

There are different ways to accomplish the same tasks in OmniPage Pro. For example, you can use toolbar buttons or menu commands to start procedures. You can have OmniPage Pro perform all OCR steps automatically, or you can start each step individually.

For detailed information on all OmniPage Pro settings and procedures, please look in OmniPage Pro’s online help.

Please continue reading this chapter for information on these topics:

• The Basic Steps of OmniPage Pro OCR

• The AutoOCR Toolbar

• Automatic Processing

• Bringing Document Images into OmniPage Pro

• Creating Zones for OCR

• Performing OCR on a Document

• Exporting Documents

Basic Procedures 3-1

The Basic Steps of OmniPage Pro OCR

Optical character recognition

computer-editable text so you do not have to retype the text manually.

These are the basic steps of OmniPage Pro OCR:

1 Bring a document image into OmniPage Pro.

You can scan a paper document, load an image file, or load an Exchange fax. The resulting image appears in OmniPage Pro’s image viewer.

See “Bringing Document Images into OmniPage Pro” on page 3-7 for more information.

2 Create zones to identify the parts of the document you want to

recognize as text or retain as graphics. Zones are boxes that identify which areas of the document

image get processed. You can create zones on the image manually, automatically, or with a template. Any areas not enclosed by zones are ignored during OCR.

See “Creating Zones for OCR” on page 3-10 for more information.

3 Perform OCR to convert text information into editable text

characters. During OCR, OmniPage Pro defines text characters in an

image. After OCR, you can check for and edit unrecognizable characters, suspect characters, and misspelled words.

See “Performing OCR on a Document” on page 3-14 for more information.

(OCR) is the process of turning an image into

3-2 Basic Procedures

4 Export the document to the desired location.

You can save your document to a specified file format, send it as a mail attachment, or copy it to the Clipboard.

See “Exporting Documents” on page 3-16 for more information.

You can also initiate OCR outside OmniPage Pro in a variety of ways. For example, you can use the another application — recognized text will be pasted directly into your open document. Please see OmniPage Pro’s online help for more information on OCR Aware and other ways of initiating OCR.

OCR Aware

feature to initiate OCR from

The AutoOCR Toolbar

The AutoOCR toolbar buttons allow you to take a document through each step of the OCR process. Every toolbar button has different process commands that can be set for the operations you want to perform. OmniPage Pro can go through all steps automatically, or you can start each step individually.

The AutoOCR Toolbar

AUTO button

Image button

Setting Process Commands

You can set process commands in two locations:

• Click the down arrow next to each AutoOCR toolbar button and select a process command in the drop-down list.

• Choose

Process Settings...

commands in the Options dialog box.

The pictures in the AutoOCR toolbar buttons change as you set different process commands. The commands can be activated by clicking the AutoOCR toolbar buttons or choosing commands in the Process menu.

AUTO Button Commands

Use the AUTO button to process a document from start to finish. The AUTO button’s drop-down list contains the commands.

AutoOCR

Select

AutoOCR

to the selected process commands. See “Automatic Processing” on page 3-6.

to finish processing a new or open document according

Zone

button

OCR

button

Export button

in the Process menu and select process

AutoOCR

and

OCR Wizard

Select

OCR Wizard

OCR process.

to have the OCR Wizard guide you through the entire

Basic Procedures 3-3

The AutoOCR Toolbar

Image Button Commands

Use the Image button to bring a document image into OmniPage Pro’s image viewer. The Image button’s drop-down list contains the

Image, Load Image,

Scan Image

and

Load Exchange Fax

commands.

Scan

Select

Scan Image

command only appears in the drop-down list if you have installed the Scan Manager and have selected your default scanner. See “Scanning Pages” on page 3-7.

If you use a Visioneer scanner or if your scanner is set up to work with Visioneer’s PaperPort software (such as the HP ScanJet 4s scanner), see “Using Visioneer PaperPort with OmniPage Pro” on page 5-9.

Load Image

Select

Load Image

See “Loading Image Files” on page 3-8.

Load Exchange Fax

Select

Load Exchange Fax

command only appears in the drop-down list if you have Microsoft Exchange installed. See “Loading Exchange Faxes” on page 3-9.

to scan paper documents in your scanner. This

to load existing image files such as TIFF or PCX files.

Zone Button Commands

Use the Zone button to create zones on document images. Zones are boxes that specify what will be recognized as text or retained as graphics on an image. The Zone button’s drop-down list contains the and

Manual Zones

have created.

commands and the names of any zone templates you

to load faxes from Microsoft Exchange. This

Auto Zones

3-4 Basic Procedures

Auto Zones

Select

Auto Zones

zones on document images. If you use a scanner that supports HP AccuPage, you can select scanned pages. See “Creating Zones Automatically” on page 3-10.

to have OmniPage Pro automatically draw and order

HP AccuPage

as the auto zoning option for

+ 40 hidden pages