CAERE WORDSCAN User Manual

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WordScan

User's Guide

802-0538-030A

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Page 1 Serial # Registration # WordScan User’s Guide 802-0538-030A...
Page 2 Caere Products Caere is a registered trademark of Caere Corporation. The products manufactured and distributed by WordScan, WordScan Plus, HoverHelp, Caere Corporation permit reading into your OCR Aware, Processed Document Architecture, computer and electronically storing almost any PDA, and “Complete document or drawing available in printed form.
Page 3 With WordScan, you will not have to spend hours retyping pages just so you can use them in your word processing, desktop publishing, spreadsheet, or database...
Page 4 You will find the information in this guide organized How to Use as follows: This Manual Chapter 1 WordScan Overview and Installation, gives you a brief overview of WordScan and lists the system requirements, and then provides step-by-step instructions for installing WordScan. Chapter 2 WordScan Tutorial, provides step-by-step exercises that will help you learn WordScan quickly and easily.
Page 5 About This Manual Manual Conventions There are a few conventions throughout this manual Manual designed to help you use and identify WordScan features Conventions and functions. The WordScan Plus icon is used throughout the manual to call attention to those features that apply only to WordScan Plus.
Page 6 [Ctrl] and [Tab] simultaneously. The right mouse button offers additional functionality Mouse Button Options when used with specific WordScan components. The right mouse button allows you to assign zone attributes when you click over the Text Zone button or click on a selected text zone in the Preview area.
Page 7 Installation Notes for Scanners and Fax Cards or the Installation Notes for your specific scanner provide important information about configuring scanners and fax cards to work with WordScan. The availability of this manual is determined by your scanner purchase. Microsoft Windows User’s Guide explains all of the operations you can do with Windows.
Page 8 ‹ Related Manuals About This Manual...
Page 9 WordScan works with your desktop scanner or fax card to quickly and accurately convert printed or faxed documents into text that you can edit with the most popular word processing and desktop publishing packages.
Page 10 Highlights One-button OCR allows users to perform the entire OCR process in a single operation through WordScan or as a menu option integrated into a word processing application. Preview mode where you can view and define an area on a page that you want to process, rather than processing the entire page.
Page 11 OLE 2.0-compatible application, automatically starting text conversion. The copy/paste feature uses the Clipboard so you can select and copy a zoned image in WordScan and paste it directly into another application. OCR Aware, a universal macro, adds WordScan to any application so you can run WordScan from within that application.
Page 12 WordScan Plus In addition to WordScan features, WordScan Plus offers additional capabilities: Highlights Preview mode allows you to view a scanned image and define up to 100 areas in the Preview area that you want to OCR.
Page 13 HoverHelp information field at the bottom of the window describing the function. Context-sensitive Help provides information on any WordScan button. Click on the WordScan Help button and then click on any other button. A Help window containing information on the button you selected appears.
Page 14 Windows to be installed first. Follow these steps to install WordScan WordScan. 1. Insert the WordScan Disk #1 into the floppy drive (typically Drive A). 2. Type a:setup into the Command Line field of the Run dialog box, which is located in the Program Manager’s File menu.
Page 15 Product Registration window. Important: Keep your registration number readily available by writing it on the inside cover of this manual; you will need it if you re-install WordScan. Important: The registration number allows WordScan to function indefinitely. If you do not register WordScan, the program will launch only 20 times after installation.
Page 16 Available or installed list box. 5. You must then specify the Scanner Options for WordScan, and additionally, Fax and E-Mail Options for WordScan Plus. Only one option is available within each category.
Page 17 Chapter 1: WordScan Overview and Installation Installing WordScan 6. Finally, specify the word processing program you are using so WordScan is set to use the correct default format for text output. The selection you make here also automatically incorporates WordScan into that...
Page 18 Getting the procedure between the time this manual was printed and Latest the time the WordScan program was finished. If there are Information any such changes, they are explained in a file called README.TXT located in the directory where you installed WordScan.
Page 19 Overview to show common uses and provide guidelines for your own work. WordScan has many capabilities not fully explained in this chapter. However, you will learn enough from these exercises to satisfy basic recognition needs. When you come across a capability or feature you do not know how to use, consult the on-line Help system.
Page 20 Load Scanner dialog box. If you have an automatic document feeder (ADF) attached, WordScan will prompt you to process This Page or All Pages prior to OCR. When there is no ADF, WordScan automatically processes the current page with no prompting.
Page 21 For example, “Select Acquire Image in the File menu.” Acquire Image & New Job Buttons You can scan a page into WordScan by clicking on the Acquire Image or New Job button. The first time you start WordScan by clicking on Acquire Image or New Job, WordScan starts a new job.
Page 22 ‹ One-Button OCR Chapter 2: WordScan Tutorial You can setup WordScan so that all you need to do is click One-Button OCR on the New Job or Acquire Image button. WordScan will OCR the file and then prompt you where to save it.
Page 23 The name of your application will move over to Registered Applications list box. 6. Click OK. 7. Close WordScan and restore your application. Acquire Text now appears in the File menu of your application. Note: WordScan uses the Clipboard when transferring data from WordScan to your application.
Page 24 ‹ OCR Aware Chapter 2: WordScan Tutorial If you are not the first person to use WordScan, the Working with settings may have changed. Certain settings affect the WordScan outcome of this tutorial. Make sure the following settings are current in the Settings menu:...
Page 25 Drag & Drop (File Manager & OLE 2.0) If you use WordScan without a scanner attached or want to process disk or fax files, WordScan allows you to select a file or image object and drag it into WordScan for processing.
Page 26 1. Open the application containing the image (which should include text) that you want to OCR. 2. Select and copy the image to the Clipboard. 3. Open WordScan and click on the Paste from Clipboard button. The image appears in the Preview area and you can now process it.
Page 27 Directory and Drive list boxes to designate what directory to save into. You do not need to include an extension with your file name. WordScan appends the default extension if one is not specified. 8. Click OK. The OCR’d text is saved into the file you named, ready to open in your word processing or spreadsheet program.
Page 28 Selecting Text Attributes in the Templates menu. 6. Create several new zones and change the attributes. When you try to create another zone in WordScan, the first zone you created will disappear. You can create up to 100 zones in WordScan Plus.
Page 29 Directory and Drive list boxes to designate what directory to save into. You do not need to include an extension with your file name. WordScan appends the default extension if one is not specified. 12. Click OK. The OCR’d text is saved into the file you named, ready to open in your wordprocessing or spreadsheet program.
Page 30 Image button to add more images to the current job, or you can start a new job. If you click on the New Job button or try to exit from WordScan, the Close dialog box opens and shows you the job number the images will be saved under.
Page 31 Directory and Drive list boxes to designate what directory to save into. You do not need to include an extension with your file name. WordScan appends the default extension if one is not specified. 10. Click OK. To print an acquired image with WordScan:...
Page 32 WordScan Faxing WordScan and WordScan Plus allow you to send images as faxes. To acquire a fax file as an image with WordScan Plus: 1. In the settings menu, select Fax Files as the Image Source. 2. Click on the New Job or Acquire Image button.
Page 33 Chapter 2: WordScan Tutorial E-Mail Using your electronic mail software, you can send WordScan E-Mail WordScan Plus images and processed text as attachments to e-mail messages. 1. Place the page you want to send as an e-mail attachment into the scanner.
Page 34 ‹ E-Mail Chapter 2: WordScan Tutorial 7. You will return to the Send Mail dialog where you click OK. The message you processed in WordScan will be sent as an attachment to the addressee.
Page 35 WordScan and descriptions of the Main window buttons and Status bar. Chapter 4 — WordScan Settings provides information on the menus and dialog boxes. WordScan has two icons that, by default, appear in the WordScan Icons Applications folder: WordScan application (WordScan and WordScan...
Page 36 Double-click on the WordScan Setup icon when you need to change the options for the: Scanner Electronic mail When you double-click on the WordScan icon, it opens to WordScan Main the Main window. Window Note: WordScan Plus is shown in the following figure.
Page 37 “job”; job numbers are incremented by one for each new job. A WordScan image does not become a file until you enter a name in the Save As dialog box. For example, when you...
Page 38 You can acquire an image file into WordScan by clicking on the Acquire Image or New Job button. The first time you start WordScan during a session and click on Acquire Image or New Job, WordScan starts a new job.
Page 39 Using WordScan Basics There are two methods for processing files — Preview Using WordScan mode and Auto OCR mode. WordScan is in Preview mode Basics by default, and it is the preferred method for most processing. Start Auto OCR mode by enabling Auto OCR...
Page 40 ‹ Using WordScan Basics Chapter 3: Using WordScan & Window Descriptions Preview mode Automatic mode Enable Auto OCR in the Click on the New Job Settings menu. or Acquire Image button. Click on the New Job or Acquire Image button.
Page 41 1. Select Associate in the File Manager’s File menu. 2. Choose to associate the extension you want with WordScan, either from the scroll box or click on Browse, or you can type the application’s path and name in the field.
Page 42 To add WordScan into your favorite application, you must have both WordScan and the other application open. 1. In WordScan, click on OCR Aware in the Tools menu to open the OCR Aware dialog box. 2. Click on the application name in the Unregistered...
Page 43 1. Open the application. 2. Select the image you want to bring into WordScan and copy it to the Windows Clipboard. 3. Open WordScan and click on the Paste button.
Page 44 ‹ Using WordScan Basics Chapter 3: Using WordScan & Window Descriptions Scanner Use your scanner as the image source. If no scanner is installed, the scanner button is disabled and the disk file Open dialog box appears. Disk Files Obtain images from disk files.
Page 45 When you select Fax Files, the Fax Files dialog box opens, from which you choose your source files. WordScan will request that you load paper into the scanner or select an image to acquire. It then acquires and displays the first page of your job in the Preview area.
Page 46 Acquired images appear in the Preview area after they Preview Area have been scanned, opened, pasted, or dropped into WordScan. The Preview area lets you look at each image prior to performing recognition so you can easily decide whether to: Include or exclude images in the Preview area.
Page 47 Preview area. WordScan re-acquires the image and displays it in the Preview area. Any zones you created will remain in the Preview area and be superimposed over the re-acquired image.
Page 48 Click on the Cancel button when you want to cancel the job, resize zones, or reset zone attributes, and then continue processing without re-acquiring the image. When you select All Pages, WordScan processes all the images in the job using the same zones that you created in the Preview area.
Page 49 ‹ Chapter 3: Using WordScan & Window Descriptions Using WordScan Basics At this point, you can either click Stop Scanning if your job is complete, Add Pages if you need to process additional pages, or Turn Pages Over to scan the other side of a double-sided document.
Page 50 Multiple Saves in the Save As dialog box. See “Allow Multiple Saves” in Chapter 4 — WordScan Settings and Appendix A for text and image formats. To save your document, click on the Save button or choose Save As Document from the File menu.
Page 51 Chapter 3: Using WordScan & Window Descriptions Using WordScan Basics File Naming Conventions WordScan names documents according to the name you specify in the Save As dialog box. But it does not always use the entire eight-character document name. Here are...
Page 52 (file names are shortened accordingly). For example, if a document named ARTICLE had three sections separated by blank pages as well as two graphics on the fifth page of the stack, WordScan would create the following files: ARTICL01.DOC ARTICL02.DOC ARTICL03.DOC...
Page 53 ‹ Chapter 3: Using WordScan & Window Descriptions Opening an Existing Job If you want to open an existing job, click on the Open Opening an button or choose Open Job in the File menu. Existing Job There are three types of jobs that can appear in the Open...
Page 54 ‹ Closing the Current Job Chapter 3: Using WordScan & Window Descriptions If you want to close the current job, choose Close Job Closing the from the File menu. Generally, choose this to close a job Current Job that has not been processed or proofed. Each job type appears with a different icon next to it in the Close window.
Page 55 Buttons New Job The New Job button allows you start a new job and provides access to images you can acquire into WordScan. The New Job button provides much of the same functionality as the Acquire Image button; however, the New Job button starts a new job, while Acquire Image button adds acquired images to the existing job.
Page 56 See Chapter 2 for additional information. Proofing Editor The Proofing Editor button puts an OCR’d file into WordScan’s text editor so that you can correct any OCR inaccuracies. Copy The Copy button allows you to copy an entire page or selected zones into the Clipboard and then paste them into other applications.
Page 57 Help Context-sensitive Help provides information on any WordScan button. Click on the WordScan Help button and then click on any other button. A Help window containing information on the button you selected appears.
Page 58 Click on the OCR button and select whether to process the current image or all images in the job. If you process all images, WordScan uses any zones you have defined on all successive images in that job. You can cancel processing at any time to reset zones or zone attributes, and then continue scanning without re-acquiring the image.
Page 59 It functions before and after an image appears in the Preview area. Auto Orientation The Auto Orientation button allows WordScan to take care of re-orienting the image page for readability. It functions only when enabled before an image is processed.
Page 60 DEF — WordScan is in deferred processing mode. PROOF — WordScan goes directly into the Proofing Editor after recognition (Auto Start Proofing). SAV — WordScan opens the Save As dialog when processing has completed (Auto Save). LOAD — WordScan loads the next image without prompting (Auto Load Next Page).
Page 61 Chapter 4: WordScan Settings Overview Chapter 4 WordScan Settings It is important to setup WordScan before you start Overview processing to ensure recognition quality and output. This chapter identifies and explains each setting. The Settings menu contains many of the options for...
Page 62 WordScan that are related to its appearance (the user interface). The settings you make in WordScan remain from session to session, until you change them. You can save settings that you want to use over and over with other images by selecting Save Settings in the Settings menu.
Page 63 ‹ Chapter 4: WordScan Settings The Settings Menu WordScan allows you to save components of the file settings so that you can apply the same settings to other files without redefining them. In addition to the default settings that you can save, you can also save:...
Page 64 ‹ The Settings Menu Chapter 4: WordScan Settings You will want to use Retrieve Settings to: Retrieving Settings Easily change all your settings to those previously saved Delete unwanted Settings files Choose Retrieve Settings from the Settings menu. The following dialog box appears.
Page 65 ‹ Chapter 4: WordScan Settings The Settings Menu Text settings affect how text is processed in WordScan. To Text Settings see or change text settings, choose Text Settings from the Settings menu. The Text Settings dialog box appears. Proof with Image Pop-Ups...
Page 66 ‹ The Settings Menu Chapter 4: WordScan Settings Note: WordScan will mark words that are not found in the dictionary, although each character in a word is recognized correctly. Add these words to your custom dictionary and WordScan will not mark them the next time you process a file with your custom dictionary open.
Page 67 300 dots-per-inch. Because recognition requires a high contrast, sharp definition, black-and-white image, WordScan will not let you process text when Dithered is selected.
Page 68 ‹ The Settings Menu Chapter 4: WordScan Settings Important: Use grey-scale and dithering on graphics-only images. Do not dither images intended for OCR processing. The dithering option in the pull-down list box depends on your scanner. Consult the documentation that came with your scanner to determine the best choice for your images.
Page 69 If your scanner supports HP AccuPage, you can select Small Text in the Scanner Settings dialog box and have WordScan perform OCR at a higher resolution than available from specifying the Small Text attribute in a text zone. If you choose the Small Text...
Page 70 You can acquire images from scanner, disk files, and fax Image Source files. WordScan Plus allows direct access to disk and fax files. With WordScan, you can directly access files only from a scanner; however, you can use WordScan’s copy/ paste and drag-and-drop capabilities to acquire disk and fax images.
Page 71 ‹ Chapter 4: WordScan Settings The Settings Menu WordScan can be set to automatically start OCR after an Auto OCR image file is acquired by enabling Auto OCR in the Settings menu. Auto OCR uses the current settings and zones. You can also enable Auto OCR on a case-by-case basis by clicking on the New Job or Acquire Image button with the right mouse button.
Page 72 Text appears in the same relative position as it did in the original document or it appears in the order specified by any zones. WordScan reformats the text when it saves the finished document in the chosen...
Page 73 Save is enabled (a check mark appears next to it), the Save As dialog box appears automatically after processing or proofing. Deskew Image Deskew Image automatically checks the alignment of the image while WordScan is acquiring it. You can also deskew images already appearing in the Preview area.
Page 74 ‹ The Settings Menu Chapter 4: WordScan Settings Auto Orientation Enable Auto Orientation in the WordScan Plus Settings menu so WordScan can automatically determine the direction of the acquired image for readability and change it accordingly. Important: Choosing the correct orientation is critical to successful recognition.
Page 75 WordScan has a large built-in dictionary that it uses Dictionary during recognition as one of many steps in determining the certainty of words it OCRs.
Page 76 ‹ Tools Menu Chapter 4: WordScan Settings Each dictionary name should not exceed 13 characters because of the Dictionary list box width. Words listed in a dictionary must use unbroken character strings. Click New to create a new dictionary. The following dialog box appears.
Page 77 Once you have opened a dictionary, you can add words to it. Type the word in the Word box at the bottom of the dialog box, then click Add or press [Enter]. WordScan then adds the word if it is not already in the dictionary.
Page 78 Import WordScan lets you import a list of words into a dictionary. This lets you use, for example, an existing dictionary from your word processor. The word list you import must be a plain text (ASCII) file with each word separated from other words by a space, a return, or a tab.
Page 79 ‹ Chapter 4: WordScan Settings View Menu You can turn grid marks on and off in the Preview area by Grid Marks placing the cursor anywhere in the Preview area that is not on a zone and pressing the right mouse button.
Page 80 ‹ View Menu Chapter 4: WordScan Settings The Rotate menu item lets you rotate the image in Rotate the Preview area clockwise 90, 180, or 270 degrees. As discussed in Chapter 3, the Rotate button allows you to rotate an image clockwise or counter-clockwise in 90-degree increments.
Page 81 ‹ Chapter 4: WordScan Settings Page Setup Page Setup Select Page Setup in the File menu to change the style of your original document and make it conform to a different set of style options. The Page Setup lets you specify how you want your finished document formatted, regardless of how the original was formatted.
Page 82 Disable any or all of these to ignore any bold, italic, or underlining in your document. Hard Page Breaks Enable this option (X in the box) if you want WordScan to insert a page break code for each page scanned. With this option disabled, your word processing, spreadsheet, or...
Page 83 91.41 97.09 Max Blank Lines When WordScan scans an area for text, it replaces any pictures it finds with blank lines in your finished document. This can often result in 20 to 50 blank lines which you will likely want to delete. To reduce the number of lines to a specific limit, set Max Blank Lines to a small number.
Page 84 Click Advanced to see another dialog box of Page Setup Advanced Page options. Setup Centered Text Choose Like Original if you want WordScan to insert codes that will automatically center text in your finished document. Choose Left if you want centered text aligned with the left margin.
Page 85 ‹ Chapter 4: WordScan Settings Page Setup Right Justification Choose Like Original to preserve the justification of the original document. Choose Ragged Right to produce a left-justified document with a ragged-right edge, regardless of the justification of the original. Choose Justified to create a left-and-right justified document, regardless of the justification of the original.
Page 86 Note that WordScan automatically converts the measurement you entered to the equivalent value in the new units. It is a good idea to set most WordScan setting before you Changing Settings acquire and process images, especially if you are using Auto OCR mode.
Page 87 Then, when you save your document, enable Split on Blank (X in the box). WordScan will create a separate file for each set of pages between blank sheets.
Page 88 ‹ Page Setup Chapter 4: WordScan Settings...
Page 89 Use this chapter for any of the following reasons: Overview You could not complete installation because the installation program had problems with your system configuration. You just finished installing WordScan and it does not work. WordScan was working correctly but suddenly stopped working. System performance is not acceptable.
Page 90 PC DOS or MS DOS version 5.0 or higher. Windows Microsoft Windows version 3.1 or higher in Enhanced mode. Scanner WordScan-compatible image scanner and interface card. Use this checklist to find and remedy the most common Basic installation problems. Installation...
Page 91 If you have another software package that uses this scanner (such as the software supplied with the scanner), use it to see whether the problem is specific to WordScan or common to other programs. Make sure your fax and electronic mail send capabilities work correctly before you install WordScan.
Page 92 WordScan before calling for help. Is the problem with your scanner, your scanner interface card, or WordScan? To find out, try using WordScan to process the image file SAMPLE.TIF(localized versions are available, as listed under Multiple Languages in Chapter 2). This sample file can be found in the C:\WORDSCAN directory.
Page 93 Installing a new application program may have modified these files in such a way that they will no longer work with WordScan. (To determine the last time they were modified, you can check the date and time displayed by the DOS DIR command.)
Page 94 “Can’t create a default page directory.” Create a directory under the WORDSCAN directory called TEMP, and then restart WordScan. Are the WordScan program files or the disks that they are on corrupted? Run the DOS CHKDSK program to find out.
Page 95 Make sure there is sufficient disk space for the temporary files that Windows and WordScan must create. For best performance, your disk should have at least 25% of its space free. If it has less space than this, files may be fragmented (that is, written in small blocks in many different places on your disk).
Page 96 If you need additional assistance, please have the following information ready before contacting Caere Corporation: Caere product name (WordScan, WordScan Plus) Computer manufacturer, type, and model WordScan version number, and registration number Scanner manufacturer and model number Scanner interface type Problem description The telephone numbers for Caere’s Technical...
Page 97 The option you choose for a scanner, fax, or electronic mail system can only be changed by running WordScan Setup. Note: Not all versions of WordScan include all scanner drivers, fax compatibilites, e-mail support,...
Page 98 You can, however, use any other supported format. Use WordStar’s file import utility to convert version 4.0 files created by WordScan. WordStar 2000 can also import several other formats. Some users prefer DCA/RFT. You can use any other WordStar 2000 supported import...
Page 99 PDA Uncompressed PDA G3 PDA G4 PDA (CCITT Group 4 compressed images) TIFF Uncompressed TIFF Packits TIFF G3 TIFF G3 Modified TIFF G4 WordScan supports TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) formats that conform to the TIFF 5.0, Draft 3 specification.
Page 100 Scanner Options Appendix A: Output Formats, and Scanner, Fax, and E-Mail Settings In the event you want to change the option for the scanner, Scanner Options after installation, you must run WordScan Setup. Scanner Options (none) Apple OneScanner AVR (HP emulation)
Page 101 Scanner Options Sharp JX-300, JX-320, JX-450, JX-610 Tamarack Teco/Relisys TWAIN UMAX Scanners w/ GS11-PC Card In the event you want to change the WordScan Plus fax Fax Options option after installation, you must run WordScan Plus Setup. Fax Options (none)
Page 102 ‹ Electronic Mail Options Appendix A: Output Formats, and Scanner, Fax, and E-Mail Settings...
Page 103 Caere Corporation Recognition Software License THE SOFTWARE CONTAINED IN THIS PACKAGE IS NOT FOR SALE. The recognition product you have purchased includes intangible Software provided on tangible programmed magnetic media and/or on memory chips located on hardware components. The intangible Software is subject to the following license terms and conditions.
Page 104 Limited Warranty for CAERE Recognition Products CAERE recognition products employ complex statistical recognition algorithms to identify scanned text. Some documents may be processed with a high degree of accuracy; however, poor-quality documents, certain typefaces, complex layout, lower resolutions, and poor quality or irregular image scanners may make it difficult or impossible for the products to process pages with satisfactory accuracy.
Page 105 Index Copy conventions 18, 35, 48 extension Copy /Paste Acquire image 12, 21, 30, 33, 50 Files Creating zones Acquiring 19, 20 disk Customized an entire page settings Add pages temporary First line indent Advanced page setup Decolumnize Flush left All pages Deferred processing Font name...
Page 106 Images File manager Save acquiring One-Button OCR Save markers as 2, 14 processing Open job Saving re-acquiring Options finished document type electronic mail Scale Import Scan resolution Indentation scanners Scanner 36, 82, 92 Index Orientation Scanner options Italic auto Scanners Output page size Settings customized...
Page 107 View menu Virtual memory Windows Zones creating graphic Zoom...

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