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ScanSoft TEXTBRIDGE PRO 9.0 User Manual

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  • Page 1 User’s Guide...
  • Page 2 Animated character designed by Dreamlight Incorporated. www.dreamlight.com Portions of this product copyright © 1994–1999, Inso Corporation. Authors: Lois West and Beth Paddock © S 9 Centennial Drive Peabody, Massachusetts 01960 TextBridge Pro 9.0 User’s Guide Part Number 00-09510-00 March 1999...
  • Page 3 ONTENTS REFACE About This User’s Guide ......vii Organization of this user’s guide ....viii Documentation conventions......ix Related Documentation ....... x Technical Support ........xi NTRODUCTION TO RIDGE Basic OCR Concepts ....... 1–1 Features and Benefits ......1–3 New Features ......... 1–4 Enhanced Features ......
  • Page 4 NSTALLING AND ETTING RIDGE What Comes with TextBridge ......2–2 Supported Scanners........ 2–2 Installing and Testing Your Scanner ....2–4 System Requirements ......2–5 Before Installing TextBridge ......2–6 Using TextBridge with Pagis ...... 2–6 Uninstalling a Previous Version of TextBridge ..2–6 Learning about TextBridge .......

  • Page 5: Table Of Contents

    EARNING TO RIDGE Before You Begin........4–2 Ways You Can Use TextBridge ....... 4–2 Starting TextBridge........ 4–3 Using Automatic Processing ......4–5 Using Manual Processing ......4–8 Performing Basic Operations......4–9 Selecting the Page Source ....... 4–10 Selecting the Page Type ......4–11 Previewing the Page ......
  • Page 6 DVANCED AMPLE ESSIONS Session 1: Processing a Document to Use in a Database..6–1 Session 2: Using Zone Templates and Page Types ..6–7 Session 3: Training TextBridge OCR ....6–14 Where to Go From Here......6–20 NDEX TextBridge Pro User’s Guide...
  • Page 7 REFACE ScanSoft, Inc. welcomes you to TextBridge Pro 9.0 for ® Windows 95, 98, 2000, and Windows NT 4.0. (Subsequently referred to as “TextBridge.”) The documentation that comes with TextBridge should provide all the information you need to operate TextBridge. The documentation includes this user’s guide, a Help system, and...
  • Page 8 To view the user’s guide you need Adobe Acrobat Reader which is installed with TextBridge unless you already have it on your PC. You can access the user’s guide from the installation menu and the TextBridge Program menu from the Start menu, or you can open it from Adobe Acrobat Reader.
  • Page 9 Documentation conventions TextBridge documentation uses certain graphical elements and formatting to emphasize information and give more meaning to text. Table 1: Documentation Conventions bold Introduces a new term or the first use of an important term in a chapter. Sometimes used to denote strong emphasis.
  • Page 10 ELATED OCUMENTATION TextBridge provides a comprehensive set of printed and digital documentation designed to assist you in learning and operating the product. The documentation provided with TextBridge covers all aspects of installation and operation. Information provided in these documents is not duplicated in Note other documents except for basic information about TextBridge.
  • Page 11 ECHNICAL UPPORT If you should experience problems with TextBridge that you cannot resolve on your own using the documentation and software, contact TextBridge Technical Support at the following Web site: www.scansoft.com. The ScanSoft Web site provides a link to TextBridge pages, including Technical Support with Frequently Asked Questions, technical information bulletins, and a problem report form.
  • Page 12 NTRODUCTION TO RIDGE Welcome to ScanSoft’s TextBridge ™ Pro 9.0, optical character ™ recognition (OCR) software for Microsoft Windows 95, 98, 2000 and Windows NT 4.0. This chapter provides an introduction to TextBridge including: Basic OCR concepts Features and benefits Characteristics of documents TextBridge can recognize Input image file formats Output text file formats...
  • Page 13 You can use TextBridge to scan and convert printed pages to text documents for your word processor, spreadsheet program, web browser, database program, or other text application. Pages may be from most sources, including computer printers, fax machines, photocopiers, magazines, and newspapers. Pages can be black and white or color.
  • Page 14 In most cases, TextBridge understands your original document’s format and maintains the layout, including columns, headers, footers, pictures, and picture captions. Pictures can be black and white, grayscale, or color. Recomposition is possible only if your text program supports pictures and layout. For example, recomposition is supported in Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect but not in Notepad.
  • Page 15 New Features TextBridge offers these major new features to increase your productivity: Improved OCR accuracy. Dramatically save time and eliminate retyping. Color and grayscale pictures and text. Recognition and output of color and grayscale pictures. Recognition of color text and text on a color or shaded background and output of black on white or white on black.
  • Page 16 TextBridge Assistant. An easy-to-use assistant, guides you through each step of the most common TextBridge activities, such as how to scan a page and send it to Word, recognize an image file, and recognize just part of a page. Improved batch processing. The ability to select multiple files and process each file separately plus the ability to schedule processing for a specific time in the future.
  • Page 17 Enhanced Features In addition to the new features, TextBridge offers enhanced features that were available in previous versions. These features are described in the following list: ™ Instant Access . Start TextBridge within most Windows text programs such as Word or Excel. After recognizing and converting the page, TextBridge then automatically pastes recognition data (text and pictures) directly into the program’s open document.
  • Page 18 Retaining pictures is independent of retaining layout. Some text programs retain pictures even though they do not retain layout. Page Types. TextBridge provides many predesigned Page Types to make processing more efficient. You do not have to go through a complicated process of determining and specifying settings for common types of pages.
  • Page 19 Other Features In addition to the features listed in the previous sections TextBridge provides these other features. Windows 98 and 2000 compatibility. Broad scanner support. TextBridge supports most popular desktop scanners with TWAIN device interface standard. Image processing. TextBridge accepts a wide range of images from a variety of sources for processing.
  • Page 20 Preview of page images. TextBridge provides a set of tools for previewing page images before processing them. You can manually define areas of page images as zones to be processed and capture only the text, tables, or pictures you want. You can also edit the automatic zoning by adjusting the text, table, and picture zones.
  • Page 21 OCUMENTS RIDGE ECOGNIZE TextBridge includes a number of advances developed by ScanSoft, Inc. and at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC). Consequently, TextBridge provides highly accurate OCR and format retention on the widest range of documents. TextBridge can recognize documents with the characteristics in the following list: Documents printed on typewriters, phototypesetters, and impact, ink-jet, dot-matrix, and laser printers...
  • Page 22 NPUT MAGE ORMATS The source of page images for TextBridge can be your scanner or it can be image files. TextBridge can recognize the following types of image file formats: Image File Format File Name Extension Windows bitmap .bmp .pcx Multi-page PCX used in some fax .dcx programs...
  • Page 23 UTPUT ORMATS TextBridge can convert its recognized text and pictures to files for the following programs and formats: Programs and Formats File Name Extension Ami Pro 2.0 and 3.0 .sam dBase IV .dbf DisplayWrite 5 .rft Excel 97 and 2000 .xls Excel 3.0, 4.0, and 5.0 .xls...
  • Page 24 Programs and Formats File Name Extension Word 6.0 and 7.0 (RTF) .doc Word 97 and 2000 (RTF) .doc WordPerfect 4.2 and 5.1 .wpf Word Perfect 6.0, 6.1, 7.0, and 8.0 .wpd WordStar .wsd Works .rtf Microsoft Word (RTF) format is also accepted by a number of other applications, including ClarisWorks ®...
  • Page 25 HERE TO To learn how to install and set up TextBridge on your system, go to Chapter 2. To learn how TextBridge recognizes a document and how you prepare TextBridge to do this, read Chapter 3. This chapter explains the basic concepts and functions of the software. To learn how you use TextBridge to process simple and complex documents, refer to Chapter 4.
  • Page 26 NSTALLING AND ETTING RIDGE This chapter describes the TextBridge software installation and setup procedures. Specifically, it covers these topics: What comes with TextBridge Supported scanners Installing and testing your scanner System requirements Before Installing TextBridge Installing TextBridge Setting up TextBridge with your Scanner Setting up TextBridge Instant Access Uninstalling TextBridge To get started quickly, proceed to the installation procedure on...
  • Page 27 OMES WITH RIDGE TextBridge comes with the following items: One installation CD-ROM. The CD-ROM includes software programs, language packs, sample document image files, release notes, Help files, online user’s guide in Adobe PDF format, and Adobe Acrobat Reader. A printed user’s guide to get you started. Check to be sure that you have all the items listed above.
  • Page 28 Paperport software and drag and drop an image onto TextBridge or your word processor. An ISIS driver will be installed by TextBridge Pro 9.0 to support the Hewlett-Packard Scanjet 5100C model scanners. Other ISIS drivers previously installed on your system will be accessible through TextBridge Pro 9.0 and may work, however only the HP...
  • Page 29 NSTALLING AND ESTING CANNER Refer the to manufacture's detailed instructions for installing your scanner. They provide the most precise information for setting up your scanner. The basic steps for installing a scanner are: 1. Install the correct scanner interface card (if one is necessary) in the PC bus.
  • Page 30 YSTEM EQUIREMENTS To install and run TextBridge, your Windows-compatible PC must be equipped with the following: ™ An Intel (or compatible) 80486 or Pentium microprocessor. We recommend Pentium for the best performance. A VGA, SVGA, or multi-sync color monitor. A minimum of 24 megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM).
  • Page 31 If you have an earlier version of Pagis (e.g., Pagis SE or Pagis Pro 97), continue to use the previous version of TextBridge with Pagis. TextBridge Pro 9.0 will be installed separately from your version of Pagis. Uninstalling a Previous Version of TextBridge...
  • Page 32 TextBridge. Just move it to C:\Program Files\TextBridge Pro 9.0\Bin\User Dictionaries Training data and zone templates created with earlier versions of TextBridge (including TextBridge Pro 98) cannot be used with this version of TextBridge.
  • Page 33 After setup starts, select one of the options in the following list: Install TextBridge Pro 9.0. The setup program begins for you to install the components of TextBridge. View Release Notes. The Release Notes appear for you to read and review before you install TextBridge.
  • Page 34 NSTALLING RIDGE This section provides procedures to install TextBridge. If you want TextBridge to run on more than one version of Note Windows with a dual boot system, install TextBridge separately under each operating system. Before you begin installation, quit any open applications so that only Windows is running.
  • Page 35 3. If you have Pagis 2.0 or later installed, a message asks if you want Pagis to use TextBridge Pr 9.0. Click Yes to use TextBridge Pro 9.0 or No to use your current version of TextBridge with Pagis. 4. Read the information in the Welcome dialog box, then click Next.
  • Page 36 When you select Typical, TextBridge uses the language of your PC’s user interface as the default language to OCR your documents. It also installs English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish recognition language support. When you select Custom, you can install additional recognition languages.
  • Page 37 If your PC is not set up for electronic registration, please fill in the registration information and use the print or fax option to send it to ScanSoft. Registration helps you if you need to contact Technical Support and keeps you up-to-date about TextBridge and the ScanSoft family of programs.
  • Page 38 1. On the Windows task bar, click Start. 2. Point to Programs, then point to the TextBridgePro 9.0 folder, and then point to the Setup folder. 3. Click Scanner Setup. Scanner Setup is also available from the TextBridge Tools menu. Follow the instruction in the Scanner Setup wizard to install or test your scanner setup.
  • Page 39 To provide Instant Access to TextBridge from an application, use the following procedure: 1. On the Windows task bar, click Start. 2. Point to Programs, then point to the TextBridgePro 9.0 folder, and then point to the Setup folder. 3. Click Instant Access Control Panel. The TextBridge Instant Access Control Panel dialog box appears.
  • Page 40 NINSTALLING RIDGE To restore your PC to the state it was in before you installed TextBridge, use the following procedure: 1. Close all active applications, including TextBridge. 2. On the Windows task bar, click Start. 3. Point to Programs, then point to the TextBridgePro 9.0 folder, and then point to the Setup folder.
  • Page 41 HERE TO To learn how TextBridge recognizes a document and how you prepare TextBridge to do this, read Chapter 3. This chapter explains the basic concepts and functions of the software. To learn how you use TextBridge to process simple and complex documents, refer to Chapter 4.
  • Page 42 NSTALLING AND ETTING RIDGE This chapter describes the TextBridge software installation and setup procedures. Specifically, it covers these topics: What comes with TextBridge Supported scanners Installing and testing your scanner System requirements Before Installing TextBridge Installing TextBridge Setting up TextBridge with your Scanner Setting up TextBridge Instant Access Uninstalling TextBridge To get started quickly, proceed to the installation procedure on...
  • Page 43 OMES WITH RIDGE TextBridge comes with the following items: One installation CD-ROM. The CD-ROM includes software programs, language packs, sample document image files, release notes, Help files, online user’s guide in Adobe PDF format, and Adobe Acrobat Reader. A printed user’s guide to get you started. Check to be sure that you have all the items listed above.
  • Page 44 Paperport software and drag and drop an image onto TextBridge or your word processor. An ISIS driver will be installed by TextBridge Pro 9.0 to support the Hewlett-Packard Scanjet 5100C model scanners. Other ISIS drivers previously installed on your system will be accessible through TextBridge Pro 9.0 and may work, however only the HP...
  • Page 45 NSTALLING AND ESTING CANNER Refer the to manufacture's detailed instructions for installing your scanner. They provide the most precise information for setting up your scanner. The basic steps for installing a scanner are: 1. Install the correct scanner interface card (if one is necessary) in the PC bus.
  • Page 46 YSTEM EQUIREMENTS To install and run TextBridge, your Windows-compatible PC must be equipped with the following: ™ An Intel (or compatible) 80486 or Pentium microprocessor. We recommend Pentium for the best performance. A VGA, SVGA, or multi-sync color monitor. A minimum of 24 megabytes (MB) of random access memory (RAM).
  • Page 47 If you have an earlier version of Pagis (e.g., Pagis SE or Pagis Pro 97), continue to use the previous version of TextBridge with Pagis. TextBridge Pro 9.0 will be installed separately from your version of Pagis. Uninstalling a Previous Version of TextBridge...
  • Page 48 TextBridge. Just move it to C:\Program Files\TextBridge Pro 9.0\Bin\User Dictionaries Training data and zone templates created with earlier versions of TextBridge (including TextBridge Pro 98) cannot be used with this version of TextBridge.
  • Page 49 After setup starts, select one of the options in the following list: Install TextBridge Pro 9.0. The setup program begins for you to install the components of TextBridge. View Release Notes. The Release Notes appear for you to read and review before you install TextBridge.
  • Page 50 NSTALLING RIDGE This section provides procedures to install TextBridge. If you want TextBridge to run on more than one version of Note Windows with a dual boot system, install TextBridge separately under each operating system. Before you begin installation, quit any open applications so that only Windows is running.
  • Page 51 3. If you have Pagis 2.0 or later installed, a message asks if you want Pagis to use TextBridge Pr 9.0. Click Yes to use TextBridge Pro 9.0 or No to use your current version of TextBridge with Pagis. 4. Read the information in the Welcome dialog box, then click Next.
  • Page 52 When you select Typical, TextBridge uses the language of your PC’s user interface as the default language to OCR your documents. It also installs English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish recognition language support. When you select Custom, you can install additional recognition languages.
  • Page 53 If your PC is not set up for electronic registration, please fill in the registration information and use the print or fax option to send it to ScanSoft. Registration helps you if you need to contact Technical Support and keeps you up-to-date about TextBridge and the ScanSoft family of programs.
  • Page 54 1. On the Windows task bar, click Start. 2. Point to Programs, then point to the TextBridgePro 9.0 folder, and then point to the Setup folder. 3. Click Scanner Setup. Scanner Setup is also available from the TextBridge Tools menu. Follow the instruction in the Scanner Setup wizard to install or test your scanner setup.
  • Page 55 To provide Instant Access to TextBridge from an application, use the following procedure: 1. On the Windows task bar, click Start. 2. Point to Programs, then point to the TextBridgePro 9.0 folder, and then point to the Setup folder. 3. Click Instant Access Control Panel. The TextBridge Instant Access Control Panel dialog box appears.
  • Page 56 NINSTALLING RIDGE To restore your PC to the state it was in before you installed TextBridge, use the following procedure: 1. Close all active applications, including TextBridge. 2. On the Windows task bar, click Start. 3. Point to Programs, then point to the TextBridgePro 9.0 folder, and then point to the Setup folder.
  • Page 57 HERE TO To learn how TextBridge recognizes a document and how you prepare TextBridge to do this, read Chapter 3. This chapter explains the basic concepts and functions of the software. To learn how you use TextBridge to process simple and complex documents, refer to Chapter 4.
  • Page 58 ASIC RIDGE PERATIONS This chapter provides information about the process of page recognition. Use this chapter to learn about optical character recognition (OCR), page recognition, recomposition, and operations that will help you use TextBridge effectively including automatic and manual processing and page types and settings for recognition.
  • Page 59 OCR? HAT IS RIDGE TextBridge is OCR software that turns paper documents or page image files into text documents on your PC. Page image data is electronic information about the pages of a document that comes from a source such as your scanner or fax software. This data becomes an image document and is stored in an image file.
  • Page 60 Page Type Scan Print Page Picture Size Type Layout Output Letter Fax Gray Legal Legal Good Single column B & W Letter Letter Good Single column B & W Magazine Letter Good Multi-column Gray (b & w) Magazine (color) Letter Good Multi-column Color Newspaper...
  • Page 61 Scanning grayscale (or color) rather than black and white can improve text recognition on pages with difficult-to-recognize text. However, grayscale scanning is slower than black and white scanning. Page sources You can get pages to process from your scanner or from page images.
  • Page 62 In addition, some complex, free-form layouts defeat TextBridge’s recomposition capabilities. For these types of documents, it is often best to preview pages and manually zone text and image zones that you want to capture. Retain pictures keeps pictures in the saved document if the document format supports pictures.
  • Page 63 UNNING RIDGE TANDALONE AND NSTANT CCESS You can run TextBridge as a standalone program or invoke it from within another program with Instant Access. You can also invoke TextBridge through image file context menus and drag- and-drop. Instant Access is also available from the Start menu. Note Standalone Program The TextBridge standalone program is a conventional,...
  • Page 64 Instant Access Instant Access runs more automatically than TextBridge standalone with a minimal, dialog box-based user interface. The entire document is processed with little intervention by you. Instant Access gives you direct access to TextBridge from programs such as Word and WordPerfect. Programs with Instant Access have a TextBridge command in the File menu.
  • Page 65 The programs in the following list do not have Instant Access capability: Acrobat Exchange Acrobat Reader Clipboard Viewer Corel Quattro Pro File Manager HotMetal Light Netscape Netscape Editor MPROVING ECOGNITION WITH ETTINGS There are a number of settings that you select in TextBridge at the beginning of the recognition process to help it recognize a document with more accuracy.
  • Page 66 Figure 3–2. Original Page tab in Page Type Settings dialog box This dialog box has three tabs: Original Page, Scanner, and Processing. Each lets you view or change Page Type settings. Original Page Settings On the Original Page tab, you can choose the following settings: Set the page orientation for the way text and images are printed on the original page: Any orientation...
  • Page 67 Select the page layout of the original page: Any layout Single column Multi-column Table As zoned by template When you select Any layout, TextBridge automatically determines the page layout. Use Any layout when pages in your document have different layouts or when your pages have complex layouts that do not fit the above layouts.
  • Page 68 Scanner Settings You can view and change the settings for your scanner in the Scanner tab of the Page Type Settings dialog box (Figure 3–3, next page). On the Scanner tab you can set: Original Page quality: Good print Difficult or degraded Picture Output: Black and White Gray...
  • Page 69 TextBridge determines the best scan resolution and color for the Original Page and Picture Output settings. Click Custom if you want to override this default scan resolution setting. Set the scan page size to reflect the actual size of the original page.
  • Page 70 On the Processing tab: Select the primary language of the document. If you select more than one language, they all must be in the same language group. You cannot change the language group after you begin processing a document. Select the user dictionary you want used when processing pages. You can add technical terms and proper names to a user dictionary during proofreading and training.
  • Page 71 For Auto Save and Send To, use the Auto Save Settings dialog box available from the Process menu to make these settings. You can view and change the settings for the output document in the Save As dialog box, each time you save a document. Except for the File name, these settings are “sticky”...
  • Page 72 Specify where you want to save the results of document processing. Specify the type of format in which to save the results from the list of options. Specify the default name of the scanned document to save. The default name is from text at the top of the first page recognized, or type in another name, if desired.
  • Page 73 Language Installation When you install TextBridge, you select one or more languages to use. If a language you want is not available at that time, check the TextBridge Web site to see if additional languages are available. TextBridge assumes your PC has the fonts needed to display text in the recognized language.
  • Page 74 The following items describe methods for recognizing multiple languages in the same document: Document Language Group Before you begin to process any pages, you can change the Language Group using the Document Language Group drop down list in the Processing tab of the Page Type Settings dialog box. However, once you have a page in your document, the language group control is disabled and you cannot change the language group.
  • Page 75 TextBridge assumes that all text and table zones are in the languages that you have specified for the document. You can change the language of the selected zone, table, or table cells from the document language to any other language in the same language group.

  • Page 76: Learning To Use Text Bridge

    EARNING TO RIDGE The previous chapters have introduced you to TextBridge and document recognition. This chapter describes what you can do with the most basic capabilities of TextBridge. The topics presented in this chapter are in the following list: Before you Begin Ways You Can Use TextBridge Starting TextBridge Using Automatic Processing...

  • Page 77: Before You Begin

    EFORE EGIN The following checklist will take you through the most important questions to ask before you start to process a document. 1. Is this document a good candidate for OCR? If you have difficulty reading a page, TextBridge may also have trouble recognizing it. 2.

  • Page 78: Starting Textbridge

    TextBridge provides flexibility in performing the steps of the OCR process. You can: Process your pages automatically or interact with processing in manual mode Specify the type of page to optimize processing settings View and mark parts (zones) of pages to be recognized View and manipulate the pages of a document with page thumbnails A thumbnail is a small image representation of your document.
  • Page 79 To start TextBridge: 1. On the Windows task bar, click Start. 2. Point to Programs, then point to the TextBridge Pro 9.0 folder. 3. Click the TextBridge Pro 9.0 icon. The TextBridge main window appears (Figure 4–1). Menu Bar Main toolbar...

  • Page 80: Using Automatic Processing

    SING UTOMATIC ROCESSING When you use TextBridge’s automatic processing feature, TextBridge processes pages with very little of your interaction. In automatic mode, after you select the page type and page source, TextBridge automatically recognizes your page(s). TextBridge only stops for you to add more pages and to save the results of recognition.
  • Page 81 Click Auto button Figure 4–2. Click the Auto button in the TextBridge window 2. If scanning, you may do the following: Click the More Pages button in the Add More Pages to Scanner dialog box (Figure 4–3) to scan another page. Click the Other Side button to scan the other side of two-sided pages.
  • Page 82 Click Done to proceed when all pages are scanned Click to scan more pages Click to scan second side(s) of a two-sided document Figure 4–3. Add Pages to Scanner dialog box 3. Save the text with any picture(s) in a file format of your choice.

  • Page 83: Using Manual Processing

    SING ANUAL ROCESSING TextBridge enables you to get remarkably accurate results from page recognition. Page recognition is a complex process, and with some documents it can require your interaction with TextBridge to get the best output. Using manual processing, you will find a number of opportunities during page recognition that allow you to enhance the results for the particular document.

  • Page 84: Performing Basic Operations

    3. View and zone the page images. Click Find Zones to have TextBridge automatically find text, tables and pictures on the page or use the zoning tools to mark the zones yourself. 4. Click the Recognize button. TextBridge recognizes the page, including text, picture, and format.

  • Page 85: Selecting The Page Source

    Selecting the Page Source Before you start processing a new document, you can indicate whether pages are from your scanner or an image file. To do so, click the drop down arrow on the Get Pages button to select the source of the page image: your scanner, scanner feeder, or image file (Figure 4–5).

  • Page 86: Selecting The Page Type

    Selecting the Page Type For best OCR results and performance, you can select the Page Type that best matches your original page(s). Page types make it easy for you to select the best settings for processing your pages. A page type encapsulates all the processing settings. Most documents can be processed using the default setting, Any Page (b&w).

  • Page 87: Previewing The Page

    Figure 4–7. Change settings for this page type TextBridge provides page types for the most common types of pages. You can also define your own page types with settings optimized for other specialized types of documents. Previewing the Page When manually processing, TextBridge displays the image of each page in the Image view (Figure 4–8).
  • Page 88 Delete the page from the document. Add more pages to the document. Cancel the process by creating a new file or opening another file. Look at the properties of the page. Continue processing the page. You can use the Image Tab toolbar or View and Page menu commands to examine and orient the acquired page.

  • Page 89: Zoning The Page

    Zoning the Page Before recognizing text on a page, TextBridge finds the text, table, and picture areas (or zones) on the page (Figure 4–9). TextBridge does this automatically when processing in Automatic mode. In Manual mode, you can mark the zone yourself or click Find Zones to have TextBridge automatically zone the page.
  • Page 90 You can use Find Zones to generate zones automatically. Then, you can adjust these zones before continuing the zoning process and recognizing the page. You can also manually zone the page. Use the text marker, table marker, picture marker, and erase marker zoning tools in the Image toolbar like highlighting markers to create and adjust zones.
  • Page 91 You can perform these activities related to zones: Mark text, table, and picture zones. Draw irregularly shaped zones. Have TextBridge automatically Find Zones. Edit automatic zoning. Erase a zone or part of a zone. Drag a selected zone to adjust its position. Display and edit the properties of a zone (such as language).

  • Page 92: Proofreading The Document

    Proofreading the Document In manual mode, after TextBridge recognizes each page, it stops for you to proofread the recognition results (Figure 4–10). TextBridge displays recognized pages in the Text view. The page is laid out like the original page. Pictures found by OCR are displayed in the same location as in the original page.

  • Page 93: Saving The Document

    You can add corrected words to the user dictionary, which can improve recognition in subsequent pages of the same document and subsequent documents. The user dictionary is most useful for non-standard words that you frequently need to recognize, such as proper nouns and technical words. While you are still in proofreading mode, you can add pages to the final document by getting a page using either the automatic or manual process.
  • Page 94 Figure 4–11. Saving the page using the Save As dialog box After you save the document, your document remains in TextBridge. You can then do any of the following: Save the document in another format Add or delete pages Change zoning Recognize the document again “Send To”...

  • Page 95: Getting Help While Using Textbridge

    ETTING HILE SING RIDGE TextBridge is designed to be easy to learn and use and also contains many user assistance options to guide you. The goal of user assistance is to provide you with information at the time you need it and to provide it primarily from within the program. TextBridge offers you a variety of types of user assistance including context-sensitive tips, information screens, Help, an interactive assistant, online user’s guide, Release Notes, and Web...

  • Page 96: Using The Show Me How Window

    Using the Show Me How Window In the Welcome window, click Show Me How to display the Show Me How window (Figure 4–12). The Show Me How Window guides you through a specific task. It explains how to: Using the TextBridge tools Scan a document into your word processor OCR an existing image file such as a fax file or a TIF file OCR part of a page rather than the entire page...

  • Page 97: Using Tips

    If you want to end the Assistant’s explanation early, right-click Note on him and select Hide. Using Tips Context-sensitive tips provide explanations, alternative activities, and related suggestions. They are embedded throughout the application and appear at the bottom of the screen or current dialog based upon the context within which you are working.
  • Page 98 Select a topic from the Index tab. Search for information about a specific word or phrase using the Find tab. Jump from one topic to a related topic. Figure 4–13. Help Topics: TextBridge Pro 9.0 Help window 4–23 Learning to Use TextBridge...

  • Page 99: Using The Textbridge Web Site

    Using the TextBridge Web Site The TextBridge Web site provides the latest product information, an up-to-date scanner list, tips, and links to related Web sites. Select Visit TextBridge Web Site from the Help menu to see this information. HERE TO Proceed to Chapter 5 of this booklet for step-by-step sample sessions showing how to using TextBridge.

  • Page 100: Sample Sessions With Text Bridge

    AMPLE ESSIONS WITH RIDGE The previous chapters have introduced you to TextBridge and document recognition. This chapter provides step-by-step instructions to teach you how to use the most important capabilities of TextBridge. The learning sessions build on each other and assume that you understand the procedures explained in the previous sessions.

  • Page 101: Using The Sample Documents

    You can find the seven sample documents in the following location: C:\Program Files\TextBridge Pro 9.0\Image Files\Samples This is the default location for these files; however, you may have installed TextBridge in another location. The sample documents are: complex.xif...
  • Page 102 In this session, you will learn to open a sample document. For this session, use letter.tif (Figure 5–1). Figure 5–1. Letter sample document To find and open a sample document: 1. Select the page source. Click the drop down arrow on the Get Pages button to select Image File.
  • Page 103 Click the page type button Select a page type Figure 5–2. Select Page Type 3. Click the Get Pages button. The Get Pages dialog box appears. The default folder Samples is open. The sample files are listed in the Get Pages dialog box (Figure 5–3).
  • Page 104 If Samples is not the open folder, access the sample documents folder in the following location from the Look In: box in the Get Pages dialog box: C:\Program Files\TextBridge Pro 9.0\Image Files\Samples This is the default location unless you installed TextBridge in another directory.
  • Page 105 Figure 5–4. TextBridge - Image view For this lesson, you just want to go back to where you started without recognizing the document. 5. Click the New command in the File menu to discard the current page. A dialog box appears and tells you that the current page has not been saved.

  • Page 106: Session 1: Recognizing A Simple Document Using Auto Processing

    1: R ESSION ECOGNIZING A IMPLE OCUMENT SING ROCESSING TextBridge provides a range of powerful features. However, TextBridge is also designed to be very easy to use. For many documents, you can use default settings and automatically process a document. For this learning session, use the sample document named letter.
  • Page 107 To process a simple document, use the following procedure: 1. Start TextBridge. TextBridge appears. 2. Select the page source Click the drop down arrow on the Get Pages button to select Image File. 3. Select the page type. Click the Page Type button to select Any Page (b&w), Figure 5–5).
  • Page 108 4. Click the Auto process button. The Get Pages dialog box appears (Figure 5–6). Select an image file Figure 5–6. Get Pages dialog box with letter.tif selected 5. In the Get Pages dialog box, double-click the sample document, letter.tif. TextBridge reads the image file as shown in Figure 5–7 (next page).
  • Page 109 Figure 5–7. TextBridge - Getting Page dialog box TextBridge then zones the page and identifies text, tables, and pictures as shown in the Zoning dialog box (Figure 5–8). Figure 5–8. TextBridge - Zoning dialog box 5–10 TextBridge Pro User’s Guide...
  • Page 110 TextBridge automatically recognizes the characters and page layout as shown in the Recognizing dialog box (Figure 5–9). Figure 5–9. TextBridge - Recognizing dialog box After TextBridge reads the page image and processes it, it asks you to save the document (Figure 5–10). Accept the default name, or type a new name Click Save...
  • Page 111 6. In the Save As dialog box, complete the following steps: In the Save in list, select the folder in which to save the text file. Be sure to notice where the document is saved so that you can find it easily. In the File name box, type a file name.
  • Page 112 Figure 5–11. Letter sample document With a word processor such as Word or WordPerfect in the page layout view, the recognized document should have the same or similar layout as the TIFF image or sample document. The difference is that now you have formatted, fully editable text, just as if you had typed it in yourself.

  • Page 113: Session 2: Using Instant Access To Textbridge

    2: U ESSION SING NSTANT CCESS TO RIDGE You can use TextBridge Instant Access to run TextBridge from within another application, such as a word processor. To use Instant Access to TextBridge, simply start TextBridge from within an application, such as Word or WordPerfect. During Instant Access, TextBridge processes a document then pastes it into the open document in your text application.
  • Page 114 If TextBridge is still running from the previous learning session, exit from TextBridge. You can have more than one copy of TextBridge running at the same time, but it is not recommended. Before you run Instant Access to TextBridge, you may need to use the Instant Access Control Panel (Figure 5–12) to choose which applications have Instant Access.
  • Page 115 The Enable access to TextBridge list shows the text applications from which TextBridge can be invoked. The list includes applications commonly used with TextBridge and applications that are currently running. If your application does not appear in this list, close the TextBridge Instant Access Control Panel, start your application, and reopen the TextBridge Instant Access Control Panel.
  • Page 116 Start Instant Access to TextBridge Figure 5–13. TextBridge... command in File menu The Instant Access dialog box appears (Figure 5–14). Notice that the Instant Access dialog box looks similar to the Page Type dialog box in the standalone version of TextBridge. Auto OCR and Manual buttons have been added, as well as choices for Page Source.
  • Page 117 3. In the Instant Access dialog box: In the Page Type box, click Letter. Using Letter instead of the default Any Page (b&w) is a refinement of the settings. In using Letter, you are telling TextBridge that the page is single-column and the print is good enough for black and white scanning, which is faster.
  • Page 118 4. In the Get Pages dialog box, double-click the sample document, letter.tif. TextBridge reads the image file, and automatically performs OCR on it, as indicated by the progress dialog boxes. After acquiring and recognizing the page, TextBridge pastes the recognized document into the open document in your word processor.

  • Page 119: Session 3: Recognizing A Complex Document Using Manual Processing

    3: R ESSION ECOGNIZING A OMPLEX OCUMENT SING ANUAL ROCESSING For more complex documents such as magazine articles, you often can use TextBridge in automatic mode. However, simply using a few additional steps in manual mode can sometimes produce a more accurate result in less time.
  • Page 120 When you select Magazine (color) as the page type, it automatically specifies the following settings: Multi-column page layout Good print type Portrait orientation Color picture output For scanning, Magazine (color) page type specifies: Color scan Letter page size Run the standalone version of TextBridge from the Start button for this learning session.
  • Page 121 4. Click the Get Pages button. The Get Pages dialog box appears (Figure 5–17). Select complex.xif Figure 5–17. Get Pages dialog box with complex.xif selected 5. Double click complex.xif. TextBridge gets the page, and displays it in the Image view. The page you see should be a four-column magazine article beginning with a title and piechart.
  • Page 122 6. Click the Find Zones button. TextBridge automatically zones the page. TextBridge locates areas on the page to recognize and designates each area as text, table, or picture. TextBridge then stops for you to check and change the zones if necessary (Figure 5–18). Preview and zoning tools Page thumbnail Text zones...
  • Page 123 7. Check the results of automatic zoning. There should be text zones, a locked picture zone, and a table zone. Click the Zoom In and Zoom Out buttons to enlarge and reduce the page to examine the zones, if necessary. Zoom In Zoom Out Modify automatic zoning, if necessary.
  • Page 124 Erase the area of the zone that connects the regular text to the reversed video text. Press and hold the left mouse button at the upper left corner of the area you want to erase. Drag the mouse diagonally across the area to erase. When you have defined the area, release the mouse button.
  • Page 125 Proofreading tools Word Image window Suspect word Figure 5–19. Proofreading a page 9. Change any words that were not accurately recognized using the Proofreading tools. Examine the word in the Suspect word box. If you want a closer look at the word as it appears in the original page, look in the Word Image window, or display the word image popup by moving the cursor over the highlighted word on the page.
  • Page 126 If the suspect word is not the word you want, type the word you want in the Suspect box. The Suspect box drop down contains alternative suggestions for the suspect word. Click on the suggestion to change to that word. Click the Add to Dictionary button if you want the TextBridge dictionary to store a word for recognition of subsequent documents.
  • Page 127 11. Save the page as Magazine. TextBridge provides a suggestion for the file name and uses the type of file you selected last, automatically appending the appropriate extension. Rich Text Format (RTF) supports recomposition and is compatible with most word processing applications.

  • Page 128: Session 4: Processing Text, Pictures, And A Table

    The page is like the original page, including the original layout. The document is a fully editable version of Complex in your word processor. If retain layout is not selected, or if your text application does not Note support retain page layout, the page will be a single column of text, also referred to as galley text, followed by pictures.
  • Page 129 For this example, use the sample document named scanning.tif. This document has a title heading, text with headings, a greyscale graphic, line art, reverse video, and a multiple-column cell table. In this session you’ll learn to: Compare page types to decide which to select. Modify a page type.
  • Page 130 To process text, pictures, and a table: 1. Select the page source. Click the drop down arrow on the Get Pages button to select Image File. 2. Select the page type. Click the Page Type button to select Table. You may need to scroll to see the icon for the Table page type. 3.
  • Page 131 Figure 5–21. Original Page tab in the Page Type Settings dialog box with Table and Multi-column selected 5. In the Page Layout area of the Original Page tab in the Page Type Settings dialog box, select Multi-column. The settings are now set to multi-column instead of table text plus the original settings of any orientation and good print type.
  • Page 132 7. Click OK to close the Page Type dialog box. 8. Click the Get Pages button. The Get Pages dialog box appears. 9. Double click scanning.tif in the Get Pages dialog box. TextBridge gets the page, and displays it in the Image view where you can preview it.
  • Page 133 Find zones Manual zoning tools Highlighted zones Figure 5–22. Page with text, picture, and table zones 11. Check the results of automatic zoning. There should be two picture zones, several text zones, and one table zone. Check that the entire table is included in one table zone.
  • Page 134 If you need to resize a zone: Draw more with the zoning tools, or erase parts of the zones with the erase tool. Use the erase tool to separate the page title from the first paragraph. 12. Click Recognize. TextBridge recognizes the page, then stops for you to proofread the text (Figure 5–23).
  • Page 135 13. Change the recognition confidence level. The default confidence level is Show Suspect Words. If you change the confidence level to Show Highly Suspect Words, TextBridge will raise its confidence level, and fewer words will appear as suspects. If you change the confidence level to Show Somewhat Suspect words, TextBridge will lower its confidence level, and more words will appear as suspects.
  • Page 136 16. Save the page as Scanning.rtf. Be sure to select Retain pictures and Retain layout. TextBridge formats and saves the document. 17. Open Scanning.rtf in your word processor. Figure 5–24. Scanning sample document The page is like the original page with the original layout including the pictures and table.

  • Page 137: Where To Go From Here

    19. Reset the Table page type in TextBridge. Click the Page Type button. Select Table. Click the Settings button. Click the Reset button. The original settings for the Table page type will be restored. HERE TO The learning sessions in this chapter were designed to give you a solid basis on which to use TextBridge for your own documents.

  • Page 138: Advanced Sample Sessions

    DVANCED AMPLE ESSIONS Previous chapters have introduced you to basic TextBridge capabilities. This chapter provides sample sessions with step-by-step instructions for using several more advanced TextBridge functions. The topics presented in this chapter are in the following list: Processing a document to use in a database Using zone templates and page types Training TextBridge OCR This chapter uses the same sample documents described in...
  • Page 139 For this learning session, use the image file named table.bmp. This image file has a heading followed by a table in cell format with gridlines containing dates, names, and telephone numbers. To process this document for use in a database: 1.
  • Page 140 3. In the Get Pages dialog box, double click table.bmp. After TextBridge reads and processes the page image, it displays the page in the image view. 4. Click the Find Zones button. TextBridge automatically finds the zones on the page. Notice that the table is zoned with lines marking the cell borders (Figure 6–2).
  • Page 141 5. Click the Select button on the toolbar and double-click on the table. The table editing tools replace the zoning tools (Figure 6–3). Draw hidden table border Merge table cells Draw visible cell table border Erase table cell border Figure 6–3. Table editing tools You can use these tools to correct any errors in the recognition of the cell borders.
  • Page 142 Figure 6–4. Table in Text view 8. Click the Save As button. The Save As dialog box appears (Figure 6–5, next page). 6–5 Advanced Sample Sessions...
  • Page 143 Accept the default name, or type a new name Click Save Select Text tab-delimited output format Deselect Open file when done Figure 6–5. Save As dialog box 9. Save the document in tab-delimited format. In the Save As dialog box, TextBridge provides a suggestion for the file name.

  • Page 144: Session 2: Using Zone Templates And

    2: U ESSION SING EMPLATES AND YPES TextBridge provides zone templates as the means to repeatedly process or ignore specific areas on the same type of pages, and save time without rezoning each page. After you create a set of zones, TextBridge lets you save the current set of zones (including their size, location, and type) as a zone template.
  • Page 145 2. Click Get Pages. The Get Pages dialog box appears. 3. Double click Scanning.tif in the Get Pages dialog box. TextBridge gets the page, and displays it in the Image view where you can create a zone template. The page you see should be titled “Scanning Industry is Booming.”...
  • Page 146 Figure 6–6. Page with text, picture, and table zones 5. Save the zone template. In the Tools menu, select Save Zone Template. The Save Zone Templates dialog box appears (Figure 6–7, next page). 6–9 Advanced Sample Sessions...
  • Page 147 Specify the default location Specify the file name Save the template Figure 6–7. Save Zone Template dialog box Select the default location to save the zone template file. To specify your zone template in Page Type settings, you must save the template in the default folder, Zone Templates. However, if you save the zone template to another location, you can still load it using the Load Zone template command available from the Tools menu.
  • Page 148 Click to create a new page type Figure 6–8. Page Type Settings–Magazine (b&w) dialog box 7. Create a new page type. In the Page Type Settings dialog box, click New to open the New Page Type dialog box (Figure 6–9). Type the new name Enter a description Figure 6–9.
  • Page 149 Type a description for your page type. Click OK to close the New Page Type dialog box and return to the Page Type Settings dialog box (Figure 6–10). Zone template selected Figure 6–10. Page Type Settings with zone template selected 8.
  • Page 150 9. Begin a new document. You are now ready to process the next month’s Scanning News with your page type and zone template. Select the New command from the File menu. TextBridge warns you that you have not saved the current pages.

  • Page 151: Session 3: Training Textbridge Ocr

    3: T ESSION RAINING RIDGE To assure the highest possible accuracy, TextBridge provides an interactive training capability. This feature enables you to participate in the OCR process and train TextBridge by verifying correctly recognized words and correcting recognition errors. With training, TextBridge achieves higher accuracy for this specific page and any other pages like it.
  • Page 152 2. Enable training. Click the drop down arrow on the Recognize button and select Enable Training (Figure 6–11). Click the Recognize drop down arrow Select Enable Training Figure 6–11. Enable training This “sticky” setting remains in place for all subsequent documents until you disable training.
  • Page 153 4. In the Get Pages dialog box, double click fax.pcx. TextBridge opens the page and begins recognition. When TextBridge is unsure of a word, it stops to enable you to train OCR. The Training dialog box appears (Figure 6–13). Click when the word is correct Click when you are done training Suspect word...
  • Page 154 Sometimes TextBridge recognizes stray marks, handwritten notes, or dirt on the original page as characters. If the word image is not a word, click Not a Word. TextBridge continues on to the next word. To undo your last action, click the Undo button. For purposes of this session, repeat this process until you have trained OCR on at least a few words.
  • Page 155 7. In the Save Training Data dialog box: • Save training data in the Training Data folder. • Enter a file name. • Check Open file when done. Save the file with a .trn extension. • Click the Save button. The Save Training Data dialog box closes, and the Save As dialog box opens (Figure 6–15).
  • Page 156 9. View the file in your word processor. Figure 6–16. Fax sample document Notice that, even though the input document was a low-quality fax image, TextBridge recognized it with a high degree of character recognition and formatting accuracy. You can use the saved training data to improve the recognition of documents of similar quality and with the same fonts.

  • Page 157: Where To Go From Here

    HERE TO The learning sessions in this chapter were designed to give you a solid basis on which to use TextBridge for your own documents. For more information about TextBridge, please refer to the Help. 6–20 TextBridge Pro User’s Guide...
  • Page 158 NDEX Accept button, 6–16 Accepting a suspect word, 5–26 Adding a word to the dictionary, 5–27 Adobe Acrobat Reader, viii Any Page page types, 3–2, 5–8 Application formats supported, 1–6 Applications supporting recomposition, 1–6 Assistant, 1–5, 4–21 Automatic processing, 4–5, 5–8 Automatic zoning, 5–33, 6–8 Autorun program, 2–9 Basic operations, 4–9...
  • Page 159 Database documents, 5–1 Deferred processing, 1–8 De-installing TextBridge, 2–7, 2–15 Dialog boxes Get Pages, 5–4 Getting Page, 5–6 Instant Access control panel, 5–15 Instant Access to TextBridge, 5–17 New Page Type, 6–11 Page Type Settings, 5–31, 6–11 Page Type, 5–4 Recognizing, 5–11 Save As, 5–12 Save Training Data, 6–17...
  • Page 160 Fax documents, 1–10 Fax page type, 3–2 Find Zones button, 5–33 Formats supported, 1–6 Formatting with paragraph styles, 3–5 Forms, 4–14 Get Pages button, 5–4 Get Pages dialog box, 5–4 Getting Page dialog box, 5–6 Grayscale images, 1–4, 1–11, 3–4 Grid lines, 5–29, 6–3 Help system, x, 4–20 HTML output, 1–8...
  • Page 161 Language and Zones, Tables, and Cells, 3–17 Language installation, 1–2, 2–5, 3–15 Language recognition, 1–4, 1–10, , 3–15 Learning sessions, 5–1, 6–1 Legal page type, 3–2 Letter page type settings, 3–2, 5–14 Magazine (b&w) and (color) page type, 3–2, 5–21 Manual processing, 4–8, 5–20 Manual zoning, 1–9 Memory requirements, 2–5...
  • Page 162 Page image data, 1–2, 2–2 Page image file formats supported, 1–11 Page image processing, 1–8, 3–4, 5–2 Page layout, 5–32 Page recognition, 3–1, 3–8 Page thumbnails, 4–3 Page type settings, 1–7, 2–8, 3–2 dialog box, 5–4, 5–31, 6–11 original page tab, 3–9 processing tab, 3–11 scanner tab, 3–10 Page types, 1–7, 2–2, 3–2, 4–10...
  • Page 163 ReadMe, 1–13 Recognition process, 3–1 Recognize button, 5–25 Recognizing dialog box, 5–11 Recomposition, 1–6, 2–4 limits of, 3–5 text program support for, 1–3 Registration card, 1–2 Release Notes, x, 1–13 Requirements, 2–5 Resizing a zone, 5–35 Retain page layout, 1–6, 3–4, 5–12 Retain pictures, 3–5, 5–13 Reverse video, 5–24 RTF, 1–13...
  • Page 164 Selecting page source, 4–10 Serial number, xi Setup program, 2–9 Show Me How window, 4–21 Software registration card, 1–2 Software serial number, xi Software version number, xi Spreadsheet recomposition, 1–6 Starting a new document, 6–13 Starting TextBridge, 4–3 Suspect word box, 5–26 System requirements, 2–5 Tab tables, 5–29 Tab-delimited format, 6–6...
  • Page 165 TextBridge (cont.) custom dictionary, 1–9 database documents, 5–1 de-installation of a previous version, 2–7, 2–15 deferred processing, 1–8 disk space requirements, 2–5 files from older versions, 2–7 Help system, 4–20, 4–22 Image view, 5–7 installing, 1–9 Instant Access to, 1–6, 3–6, 5–14 interactive training, 6–14 language packs, 1–2, 2–5 language recognition, 3–15...
  • Page 166 TextBridge (cont.) Technical Support for, xi text view, 5–26, 6–5 tips, 4–22 tutorials for using, 5–1, 6–1 two-sided documents, 1–9, 4–6 types of documents it can OCR, 1–10 uninstalling, 2–6, 2–15 user assistance, 4–20 Web site, 1–3, 4–23 Welcome window, 4–20 zone templates, 1–9 Thumbnail, 4–3 Tips, 1–6, 4–22...
  • Page 167 Ways You Can Use TextBridge, 4–2 Web site, 4–23 Welcome window, 4–20 What’s This? Help, 1–6 Windows, 2–5 Word Image window, 5–26 Xerox PARC, 1–10 Zone order, 4–15 Zone templates, 1–9, 6–7 files from older versions of TextBridge, 2–7 saving, 6–9 Zones, 1–9, 4–14, 5–23 automatic, 1–7, 5–10, 5–23, 6–8 changing type, 5–24...

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