User manual NUANCE OMNIFORM 3

OmniForm User's Manual For Windows 95 and NT CAERE CORPORATION 100 Cooper Court Los Gatos, California 95032-3321 USA Caere GmbH Innere Wiener Strasse 5 81667 München, Germany Caere UK Information Centre Abbey House 4 Abbey Orchard Street Westminster, London SW1P 2JJ Centre d'informations Caere 50 rue des Archives 75004 Paris, France Please Note To use this program, you should know how to work in the Microsoft Windows environment. Please refer to Windows documentation if you have questions about how to use menu commands, dialog boxes, scroll bars, edit boxes, and so on. OmniForm User's Manual for Windows 95 and NT (Version 3.0) 800-1281-030, A Copyright© 1998 Caere Corporation. All rights reserved. CAERE®, Logical Form Recognition, and OmniForm are trademarks of Caere Corporation. Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Such designations appearing in this manual have been printed in initial caps. 2 Chapter 1 Introduction OmniForm is the easy way to convert your paper forms to electronic forms. Use OmniForm to edit, design, and fill forms, manage information databases, and print and mail forms among other functions. This chapter gives an overview of the form creation and information management capabilities OmniForm provides, as well as an explanation of how to use the documentation. This chapter contains the following sections: · · OmniForm Features Using the Documentation Introduction 3 OmniForm Features OmniForm Features OmniForm, an easy-to-use environment for working with forms, is more than just form-recognition software. OmniForm includes the following features: Form Input OmniForm uses Logical Form RecognitionTM to convert your scanned paper forms or imported image files into electronic, editable forms. Design View Use OmniForm's design view to design your own forms or edit existing forms. A variety of toolbars make formatting easy and convenient. Use the scrapbook to store or copy form objects. Fill View Use OmniForm's fill view to fill a form with the information you need. Information entered can easily be searched and sorted. In this view, you can take advantage of OmniForm's validation and calculation features. Save as a Mailable Filler You can save your form as a mailable filler. This option is useful if you want your form to be filled out by a user who does not have OmniForm installed. OmniForm Database All information you enter into a form is stored as a part of an OmniForm database. You can create, duplicate, sort, and search records, and import and export database information. Field Validation You can set up OmniForm to validate a fillable field automatically. OmniForm displays a prompt if you enter incorrect information. Field Calculations OmniForm's built-in operators and functions let you define calculations that display the correct value as you fill the appropriate field(s) in a form. This automates data entry and reduces the possibility of errors. Save to Microsoft Word You can save your form to Microsoft Word format: either Word 95 or Word 97. 4 Introduction Using the Documentation Form Printing and Mailing You can print forms from OmniForm. You have a choice of printing just the form, or just the data entered in a form (useful when you have a preprinted form in your printer), or both the form and its information. Use electronic mail to send forms to other users if you have Microsoft Outlook/Exchange or Lotus cc:Mail/Notes installed. Microsoft Outlook/ Exchange users can also add routing slips to mailed forms. Using the Documentation This section explains the various instructional and formatting conventions used in this manual. Online Help OmniForm has both online help and context-sensitive help. There are also four online tutorials to step you through the basics, especially if you have never used OmniForm before (the tutorials are located in the Help menu under Contents). Use the commands in the Help menu to find information on OmniForm topics. Click the Help button in the OmniForm standard toolbar to turn your cursor into a question mark icon. Click any command, button, or portion of the window to open context-sensitive help for that topic. Formatting Two formatting conventions are used throughout the manual. Italicized Text · Labeled buttons, menu commands, dialog box text, and any text in an onscreen form are italicized; for example, "Choose Open in the File menu." Menu titles, icon names, dialog box names, and unlabeled buttons are not italicized. · A new term may be italicized the first time it is used; for example, "This is a fill text field." These terms and others are defined in the Glossary section of the manual. Variable entries are italicized; for example, "The entry n must be between 4 and 18." · Introduction 5 Using the Documentation Courier font · The Courier font indicates text that you are supposed to enter; for example, "Type Sample1 in the File Name text box and click OK." · The Courier font is also used to distinguish file paths and file and folder names from the rest of the text; for example, "Locate the Sample form in the OmniForm folder." Symbols Two symbols are used in this manual to highlight text. This symbol means Note. It introduces a tip or an item of note. This symbol means Warning. It introduces cautionary text. 6 Introduction Chapter 2 Installation and Setup This chapter describes how to install OmniForm and begin using it. It contains the following sections: · · · · System Requirements Installing OmniForm and OmniForm Filler Registering OmniForm Starting OmniForm Installation and Setup 1 System Requirements System Requirements To install and run OmniForm, you need the following setup: · · · · · · · Computer with an 80486 or higher processor VGA or SVGA monitor Windows-compatible mouse CD-ROM drive A minimum of 10MB hard disk space for OmniForm and up to a maximum of 36MB A minimum of 4MB hard disk space for OmniForm Filler and up to a maximum of 16MB A compatible scanner if you plan to scan documents Please see Scanner Setup Notes, which are included in the OmniForm package, for a list of tested scanners Total system memory of at least 8MB RAM for Windows 95 (16MB recommended) and 12MB for Windows NT 4.0 (32MB recommended). · OmniForm 3.0 for Windows 95 and Windows NT 4.0 is a 32-bit application and will not run on earlier versions of Windows. A 16-Bit version of OmniForm 2.01C is on your CD. Installing OmniForm and OmniForm Filler This section describes how to install OmniForm and OmniForm Filler on Windows 95 and on Windows NT 4.0. Close all applications -- including screen savers, virus checkers, and mail applications -- to free up memory before installing OmniForm. Installing on a Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 System 1 2 Start Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0. Insert OmniForm's CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive. The Setup program should start automatically. If it does not, click Start in the Taskbar and choose Settings Control Panel. The Control Panel appears. · 2 Installation and Setup Double-click Add/Remove Programs. Registering OmniForm The Add/Remove Programs Properties dialog box appears. · · 3 4 Click Install... in the Install/Uninstall tab. Click Next> and then Finish. The OmniForm install screen appears. Select OmniForm. Follow all the instructions in the dialog boxes that appear. During installation, you will be prompted to enter a serial number. You can find the serial number on the label of the CD-ROM. OmniForm installs by default to the location c:\Program Files. You can select another location if you wish. To install the OmniForm Filler repeat the preceding instructions, but select OmniForm Filler when the install screen appears instead of OmniForm. 5 Registering OmniForm Registering your copy of OmniForm entitles you to technical support, notification of special offers and upgrades, and the lowest price offered on the next OmniForm upgrade. You can use OmniForm for 25 sessions without registering it. The Register dialog box appears the 26th time you launch OmniForm, and the program exits if you do not register at that time. If you purchased your product directly from Caere or if you are already a registered user, you should not be prompted to register again. Installation and Setup 3 Registering OmniForm To register OmniForm by telephone: 1 Click the Register menu to open the Register dialog box. This dialog box appears automatically the first time you start OmniForm. You will be asked to provide your serial and key numbers. When you get your registration number, enter it here. Closes the Register dialog box without registering. Prints out your registration information. 2 3 Locate the phone number for your country in the drop-down list. Call the phone number and ask for a registration number. You will be asked to provide your serial and key numbers that are listed in the Register dialog box. Enter the registration number in the Register Number text box and click OK. The Registration menu disappears from the menu bar after you register. 4 See "Caere Product Support" on page 9-14 for information on technical support. 4 Installation and Setup Starting OmniForm To register OmniForm at Caere's Web site: 1 2 3 Click the Register menu to open the Register dialog box. Open your Web browser and go to the following address: http://www.caere.com/registration Enter the requested information in the fields provided. You will need to enter your serial number and key numbers that are listed in the Register dialog box. Click Submit Information when you are finished entering the information. You will be given a registration number. Enter the registration number in the Registration Number text box and click OK. The Register menu disappears from the menu bar after you register. 4 5 Starting OmniForm This section describes how to launch OmniForm after it is installed. Install your scanner and test it in Windows before using it with OmniForm. Consult your scanner documentation or the scanner manufacturer to resolve any scanner problems that may occur. To start OmniForm: 1 Click Start in the taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications OmniForm 3.0. Installation and Setup 5 Starting OmniForm The Form Assistant dialog box appears. It contains six options. Each is a basic OmniForm procedure. 2 Select an option and click Next>. Proceed to Chapter 4, OmniForm Procedures, for detailed information on the basic OmniForm procedures. Or, if you are new to OmniForm try the online tutorial. Click Cancel to close Form Assistant if you do not want to choose a particular option. 6 Installation and Setup Chapter 3 Form Usage This chapter describes basic OmniForm concepts you should know before scanning, importing or designing a new form, including the following sections: · Using Form Assistant · Form Usage Options · International Settings Form Usage 1 Using Form Assistant Using Form Assistant This section describes Form Assistant and its basic OmniForm functions. Form Assistant is a dialog box that appears when launching OmniForm. If you are new to OmniForm, you might prefer to use the Form Assistant, which makes decision-making easy when processing a form. Later, you might choose to use the commands in the standard toolbar or menu. See Chapter 4, "OmniForm Procedures" for more information about using the commands. This section contains the following topics: · Opening Form Assistant · The Form Assistant Options · Setting the Form Assistant Startup Option Opening Form Assistant There are several ways to open Form Assistant. · Form Assistant opens automatically the first time you open OmniForm. Click Start in the Taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications OmniForm. · If Form Assistant is not open, you can either click the Form Assistant button in the standard toolbar at the top of the window, or choose Form Assistant... in the File menu. The Form Assistant dialog box contains six options for basic OmniForm procedures as described in the next section. You can also select or deselect the option Show on StartUp, which determines whether the Form Assistant dialog box appears on startup. 2 Form Usage Using Form Assistant The Form Assistant Options This section gives a brief description of each option in Form Assistant. Through a series of dialog boxes, the Form Assistant easily steps you through the process of converting your form into an electronic form. Scan a Form or Image File Select Scan a form or image file to scan a paper form or import an image file and to determine how you will work with the form in OmniForm. Fill in a Form Select Fill in a form to fill the currently open form or to open a form and fill it. See Chapter 6, Filling a Form, for more information. Print a Form Select Print a form to print the currently open form or to open a form and print it. Search a Form for Information Select Search a form for information to search the currently open form for information or to open a form and search it. Work on a Form's Design Select Work on a form's design to redesign the currently open form or to open a form in design view. See Chapter 5, Designing a Form, for more information. Create a New, Blank Form Select Create a new, blank form to open a blank page in design view. Setting the Form Assistant Startup Option You can enable or disable Form Assistant at startup. You can deselect the Show on StartUp on the Form Assistant dialog box and click Close>. OmniForm will open a blank form the next time you launch it. Or, if you want the Form Assistant dialog box to show each time you launch OmniForm, then make sure that the Show on StartUp on the Form Assistant dialog box is selected. Form Usage # Form Usage Options Form Usage Options This section describes form usage: how it affects the forms you scan in or import as image files, how to select form usage, and how to change it. This section contains the following topics: · Choosing a Form Usage Option · Where to Select Form Usage Options · Changing Form Usage Choosing a Form Usage Option Form usage affects the way you can use a form once it is in OmniForm. Decide how you will use a form in OmniForm before you scan or import it: as a designed form, as an original form, or as a nondesigned form image as described below. OmniForm uses Logical Form Recognition (LFR) to identify text, rectangles, lines, fillable areas, and graphics when it designs a form during scanning or import. The following table provides the three usage options -- designed, original, and nondesigned form -- and recommendations for your choice. Choose Designed Form when you want: full control over a form's design Choose Original Form when you want: partial control over a form's design Choose Nondesigned Form when you want: to input a form of such poor quality that it would cause recognition problems to draw new fillable objects on the form in design view print or mail the form only to edit all form elements in design view to create new objects in design view to fill fields in fill view to maintain a form's original look to create new fillable objects on the form in design view to fill fields in fill view 4 Form Usage Form Usage Options See Chapter 5, Designing a Form, for information on importing graphics, creating objects, and using other design techniques. See Chapter 6, Filling a Form, for information on filling fields in fill view. Where to Select Form Usage Options Different form usage options are available depending on whether you open Form Assistant or choose Scan Form... in the File menu. If you use Form Assistant, you can choose between the designed form and original form options. If you use the Scan Form... command, you can choose between the designed form and nondesigned form options. Form Assistant You can choose to scan in or import either a designed form or an original form in Form Assistant. Designed form option Original form option This dialog box is one of several in Form Assistant; it appears during the scanning or import process. Form Usage # Form Usage Options Scan Form Dialog Box You can choose to scan in or import either a designed form or a nondesigned form in the Scan Form dialog box after choosing Scan Form... in the File menu. Select this option for a designed form. Deselect it for a nondesigned form. Changing Form Usage Choose Form Usage... in the View menu to change the way you can use a form. For example: · If you have an original form but decide to change the design, then you would change the form to a designed form. · If you have a designed form that you have edited but want to mail the original form to someone, then you would change the form to an original form. There is no original view for a form that you design yourself in OmniForm. To change form usage: 1 Choose Form Usage... in the View menu. The Form Usage dialog box appears. 6 Form Usage International Settings 2 Select a form usage option. · Select Use Designed Form to view the form as it was designed by OmniForm on import along with any changes you have made to the form's design. You can edit all text and fields, and add graphics to the form. · Select Use Original Form to view the form as it looked originally, before you scanned or imported it to OmniForm. You can create, resize, move, delete, define, or change the appearance of fillable fields with this option. Changes you make to text, graphics, and nonfillable objects are not visible until you select Use Designed Form. 3 Click OK. Your form changes to reflect the selected option. You can change the form usage from a nondesigned form to a designed form. However, the form will be blank except for any fillable objects you may have added. International Settings OmniForm supports different language and cultural conventions. You can choose from 45 different locales in the International tab in the Options dialog box. A locale -- as defined for OmniForm usage -- is a combination of a language and a region. The language you select for a particular region affects how your form displays currency, numbers, and dates. Selecting a Language for Your Form(s) 1 2 3 If you are in fill view, click the Design button in the standard toolbar or choose Design in the View menu. Choose Options... in the Tools menu. Click the International tab. There are two options: Current Form and New Forms. Form Usage # International Settings 4 Click Current Form. The Language drop-down list displays the language being used for the currently open form. If you have the International English or German version of OmniForm or multiple dictionaries, a dictionary in this language will also be used during a spell check. You cannot change the language for this option if you open the Options dialog box in fill view. 5 Select a language for the current form. Changing the language of the current form could cause OmniForm to misinterpret any data already entered in that form. OmniForm warns you of this if at least one field is filled and you change the Current Form selection. 6 Click New Forms. The Language drop-down list displays the default language that will be used for the next form you open, scan, or import. The language selected for a new form will also become the Current Form selection when that form opens in OmniForm. Select a language for new forms. Click OK. 7 8 8 Form Usage