User manual NUANCE OMNIPAGE PRO 9

OmniPage Pro ® User's Manual CAERE CORPORATION 100 Cooper Court Los Gatos, California 95032-7603 USA Caere GmbH Innere Wiener Strasse 5 81667 München, Germany Caere UK Information Centre Abbey House 4 Abbey Orchard Street Westminster, London SW1P 2JJ Centre d'informations Caere 72, rue Baratte-Cholet 94100 Saint-Maur, France Please Note To use this program, you should know how to work in the Microsoft Windows environment. Please refer to Windows documentation if you have questions about how to use menu commands, dialog boxes, scroll bars, edit boxes, and so on. OmniPage Pro for Windows Version 9 Copyright© 1998 Caere Corporation. All rights reserved. The Caere logo, Caere®, OmniPage®, OmniPage Pro®, PageKeeper®, Language Analyst®, 3D OCR®, AutoOCR ToolbarTM, True Page®, and OCR Proofreader 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 capitals. ii 800-1288-030A Table of Contents Welcome Using This Manual ............................................................................................................viii Chapter 1 Installation and Setup Minimum System Requirements.........................................................................................2 Installing OmniPage Pro .....................................................................................................2 Starting and Closing OmniPage Pro...................................................................................3 Registering OmniPage Pro ..................................................................................................5 Chapter 2 Introduction to OmniPage Pro What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)?................................................................8 OmniPage Pro's OCR Capabilities ..............................................................................8 Basic Steps of OmniPage Pro OCR .............................................................................9 The OmniPage Pro Desktop .............................................................................................10 AutoOCR Toolbar .......................................................................................................11 Standard Toolbar..........................................................................................................12 Zone Toolbar.................................................................................................................12 Options Dialog Box ......................................................................................................13 Getting Online Help ...........................................................................................................14 Help Menu ....................................................................................................................14 Context-Sensitive Help................................................................................................15 Product Support ..................................................................................................................16 Chapter 3 Processing Documents Ways to Process Documents ..............................................................................................18 Using the OCR Wizard................................................................................................18 Automatic Processing .................................................................................................19 Performing Multiple Tasks at Once...........................................................................19 Starting the OCR Process Outside OmniPage Pro ..................................................19 Bringing Document Images into OmniPage Pro ...........................................................20 Scanning Pages .............................................................................................................20 Loading Image Files ....................................................................................................20 Creating Zones for OCR ....................................................................................................22 Creating Zones Automatically ...................................................................................22 iii Performing OCR on a Document .....................................................................................23 Proofreading OCR Results ................................................................................................24 Verifying Text ..............................................................................................................25 Proofreading OCR Results in Microsoft Word .......................................................25 Using OCR in Other Applications ...................................................................................29 Working with Documents .................................................................................................30 Resizing a Page View .................................................................................................31 Changing Pages ...........................................................................................................31 Reordering Pages ........................................................................................................32 Deleting Pages .............................................................................................................32 Printing a Document ..................................................................................................33 Closing a Document ...................................................................................................33 Exporting Documents ........................................................................................................34 Saving a Document......................................................................................................34 Copying a Document to the Clipboard ....................................................................36 Sending a Document as a Mail Attachment ............................................................37 Chapter 4 OmniPage Pro Settings Setting AutoOCR Toolbar Commands ............................................................................40 AUTO Button Commands ..........................................................................................41 Image Button Commands ...........................................................................................41 Zone Button Commands .............................................................................................42 OCR Button Commands .............................................................................................43 Export Button Commands ..........................................................................................44 Selecting OmniPage Pro Settings ......................................................................................45 Accuracy Settings ................................................................................................................46 Scanner Settings...................................................................................................................46 Page Format Settings ..........................................................................................................47 Tables Settings .....................................................................................................................47 Language Settings ...............................................................................................................48 OCR Aware Settings ...........................................................................................................48 Process Settings ...................................................................................................................49 Microsoft Word Settings ....................................................................................................50 Settings Guidelines .............................................................................................................51 Chapter 5 Customizing OCR Adjusting Page Images Before OCR.................................................................................62 Customizing Zones .............................................................................................................63 Zone toolbar..................................................................................................................63 Drawing Zones Manually ..........................................................................................64 Modifying Text and Graphic Zones ..........................................................................65 Modifying Table Zones ...............................................................................................69 Deleting Zones..............................................................................................................71 Changing Zone Properties..........................................................................................71 Creating Zone Templates............................................................................................73 iv Specifying Fonts...................................................................................................................74 Training OCR for Special Characters ...............................................................................75 Creating User Dictionaries .................................................................................................77 Saving Settings Files............................................................................................................78 Scheduling OCR ..................................................................................................................80 Scheduling Individual Documents............................................................................80 Scheduling Documents from an Input Folder ........................................................81 Modifying Output Options for Documents .............................................................83 Chapter 6 Technical Information General Troubleshooting Solutions .................................................................................86 Solutions to Try First ...................................................................................................86 Testing OmniPage Pro.................................................................................................87 Low Memory Problems...............................................................................................88 Low Disk Space Problems...........................................................................................88 Supported File-Format Types............................................................................................89 Scanner Setup Issues ...........................................................................................................91 Scanner Drivers Supplied by the Manufacturer ......................................................91 Scanner Drivers Supplied by Caere...........................................................................92 Scan Manager is Needed with OmniPage Pro ........................................................92 Problems Connecting OmniPage Pro to Your Scanner ..........................................93 Missing Scan Image Command ...................................................................................94 Scanner Message on Launch.......................................................................................94 System Crash Occurs While Scanning ......................................................................94 Scanner Not Listed in Supported Scanners List Box...............................................95 Scanning Tips................................................................................................................95 OCR Problems......................................................................................................................96 System Crash During OCR .........................................................................................96 Text Does Not Get Recognized Properly ..................................................................97 Problems With Fax Recognition.................................................................................98 Uninstalling the Software...................................................................................................99 v vi Welcome Welcome to OmniPage Pro, and thank you for using our software! The following documentation has been provided to help you learn about OmniPage Pro. This User's Manual This manual introduces you to the basics of using OmniPage Pro. It includes installation and setup instructions, an introduction to OmniPage Pro, task-oriented instructions, ways to customize processing, settings guidelines, and technical information. This manual is also available as an electronic PDF file. To open the file, click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications Caere Documents OmniPage Pro Manual after OmniPage Pro has been installed. Online Help OmniPage Pro's online Help contains detailed information on features, settings, and procedures. The online Help conforms to Windows 95 Help conventions and has been designed for quick and easy information retrieval. Please see "Getting Online Help" on page 14 for more information. Readme File The Readme file contains last-minute information about the software. Please read it before using OmniPage Pro. To open this text file, click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications Caere Documents OmniPage Pro Readme after OmniPage Pro has been installed. Scanner Setup Notes The Scanner Setup Notes contains information about supported scanners and related issues. To open this PDF file, click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications Caere Documents Scanner Setup Notes after OmniPage Pro has been installed. vii Using This Manual Using This Manual This manual is written with the assumption that you know how to work in the Microsoft Windows environment. Please refer to your Windows documentation if you have questions about how to use dialog boxes, menu commands, scroll bars, drag and drop functionality, shortcut menus, and so on. The following conventions are used in this manual. Convention Italicized text Purpose · Emphasizes menu commands, dialog box options, labeled buttons, and file names For example: "Choose Open... in the File menu." · Emphasizes new terms the first time they are used · Emphasizes important words in a sentence Introduces a tip or an item of note Note symbol Warning symbol Introduces important information viii Chapter 1 Installation and Setup This chapter provides installation and setup information for OmniPage Pro and the Scan Manager. For technical and troubleshooting information, please read Chapter 6, Technical Information. For information on supported scanners and scanner setup, read the Scanner Setup Notes. To open this PDF file, click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications Caere Documents Scanner Setup Notes after OmniPage Pro has been installed. This chapter contains the following topics: · Minimum System Requirements · Installing OmniPage Pro · Starting and Closing OmniPage Pro · Registering OmniPage Pro 1 Minimum System Requirements Minimum System Requirements You need the following setup, at minimum, to install and run OmniPage Pro: · Computer with a 486 or higher processor · Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 4.0 · 16MB of memory (RAM) · 45MB of free hard disk space to install application files, the Scan Manager, and one OCR language 55MB to install above files and all OCR languages · SVGA or VGA monitor with 256 colors · Windows-compatible pointing device · CD-ROM drive for installation · A compatible scanner if you plan to scan documents Please see the Scanner Setup Notes for a list of tested scanners. Performance and speed will be enhanced if your computer's processor, memory, and available disk space exceed the minimum requirements. Installing OmniPage Pro OmniPage Pro's Setup program takes you through installation with onscreen instructions at every step. Before installing OmniPage Pro: · Make sure your scanner is connected, turned on, and compatible with your system. · Close all other applications, especially anti-virus programs. · Log into your computer with administrator privileges if you are installing on Windows NT. If you own a previous version of OmniPage Pro, or if you are upgrading from OmniPage Limited Edition, it is strongly recommended that you uninstall that product first and then restart your computer. 2 Chapter 1 Starting and Closing OmniPage Pro To install OmniPage Pro: 1 Insert OmniPage Pro's CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive. The Setup program should start automatically. If it does not start, locate your CD-ROM drive in Windows Explorer and double-click the Setup.exe program at the top-level of the CD-ROM. Follow the instructions on each screen to install the software. During installation, you may be prompted to enter a serial number. You can find your serial number on the label of the CD-ROM envelope. 2 The Caere Scan Manager is installed during OmniPage Pro installation. You will be prompted to select your scanner manufacturer and model in the Scan Manager so that you can use your scanner with OmniPage Pro. Read the Scanner Setup Notes for the most detailed information about scanner support and setup. You can open the Notes after OmniPage Pro has been installed by clicking Start in the Windows taskbar and choosing Programs Caere Applications Caere Documents Scanner Setup Notes. Starting and Closing OmniPage Pro If you plan to scan, make sure your scanner is attached to your computer and turned on before you start OmniPage Pro. To start OmniPage Pro, do one of the following: · Click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs Caere Applications OmniPage Pro 9.0. (Use the program group you selected during installation if it is different than Caere Applications.) · Double-click the OmniPage Pro icon located in the folder where you installed OmniPage Pro. Installation and Setup 3 Starting and Closing OmniPage Pro OmniPage Pro's desktop appears when you open OmniPage Pro. See "The OmniPage Pro Desktop" on page 10 for an introduction to OmniPage Pro's user interface. Standard toolbar Zone toolbar AutoOCR toolbar The thumbnail viewer displays the pages in an open document. The image viewer displays the current page's original image. The text viewer displays the current page's recognized text and retained graphics. Closing OmniPage Pro Choose Exit in the file menu to close OmniPage Pro. You are prompted to save the current document if you have not saved it or have modified it since the last save. 4 Chapter 1 Registering OmniPage Pro Registering OmniPage Pro Register your copy of OmniPage Pro with Caere Corporation to receive notification of special offers and the best prices on product upgrades. Some versions of OmniPage Pro will only launch 25 times if you do not register it. If you purchased your product directly from Caere or if you were previously registered, you may not need to register again. Your version of OmniPage Pro will not display a Register menu if you do not need to register it. To register OmniPage Pro: 1 2 3 4 Click the Register menu to open the Register dialog box. Click Register Now. Fill out the information requested on the screen and then click Next. Follow the instructions on the screen. OmniPage Pro will decide on the best method of registration according to your country and computer system. It may try using modem, FTP, or HTTP connections to transmit your registration information directly. Or, it may prompt you to call a phone number or print out and mail in your registration information. After registration is complete, you will be given a registration number. Be sure to write that number down and keep it handy in case you need to use it for reinstallation. If you reinstall OmniPage Pro using your registration number on the same computer, you will not have to go through the entire registration process again to reregister it. To reregister OmniPage Pro after reinstallation: 1 2 3 Click the Register menu to open the Register dialog box. Click Reregister. Type in your registration number and click OK. Installation and Setup 5 6 Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Introduction to OmniPage Pro You probably use your computer for most business correspondence and other written projects. The challenge is that certain sources of information cannot be immediately used on a computer. For example, if you want to incorporate information from a magazine article into a document in your word processor, you somehow have to get the text from the article into your computer. Painstakingly retyping the article is not an appealing solution. OmniPage Pro offers a smart solution to increase your work productivity. OmniPage Pro's optical character recognition (OCR) technology accurately and easily converts scanned paper documents and image files into editable text for use in your favorite computer applications. OmniPage Pro eliminates the need for manual retyping. Please continue reading this chapter for information on these topics: · What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)? · The OmniPage Pro Desktop · Getting Online Help · Product Support 7 What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)? What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)? Optical character recognition (OCR) is the process of turning an image into computer-editable text. An image is an electronic picture of text such as a scanned paper document or an electronic fax file. Images do not have editable text characters; they have many tiny dots (pixels) that together form a picture of text. During OCR, OmniPage Pro analyzes an image and defines characters to produce editable text. After OCR, you can save the resulting text to a variety of word-processing, page layout, and spreadsheet applications. OmniPage Pro's OCR Capabilities In addition to text recognition, OmniPage Pro can retain the following elements of a document during OCR. Graphics Photos, logos, and drawings are examples of graphics. Text formatting Font types, font sizes, and font styles (such as bold or italic) are examples of text formatting. Page formatting Column structure, paragraph spacing, table formats, and placement of graphics are examples of page formatting. The graphics, text formatting, and page formatting elements that OmniPage Pro retains are determined by the settings you select. See "Settings Guidelines" on page 51 for more information. OmniPage Pro only recognizes machine-printed characters such as laser-printed or typewritten text. However, it can retain handwritten text, such as a signature, as a graphic. 8 Chapter 2 What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR)? Basic Steps of OmniPage Pro OCR These are the basic steps of OmniPage Pro's OCR process. 1 Bring a document image into OmniPage Pro. You can scan a paper document or load an image file. The resulting image appears in OmniPage Pro's image viewer. See "Bringing Document Images into OmniPage Pro" on page 20 for more information. 2 Create zones to identify areas you want to recognize as text or retain as graphics. Zones are borders that enclose the areas of a document image that will get processed. You can create zones automatically, manually, or with a template. Any areas not enclosed by zones are ignored during OCR. See "Creating Zones for OCR" on page 22 for more information. 3 Perform OCR to convert text information into editable text characters. During OCR, OmniPage Pro interprets text characters in an image. After OCR, you can check and correct errors in the text using the OCR Proofreader. See "Performing OCR on a Document" on page 23 for more information. 4 Export the document to the desired location. You can save your document to a specified file format, place it on the Clipboard, or send it as a mail attachment. See "Exporting Documents" on page 34 for more information. There are different ways to start the OCR process in OmniPage Pro. See "Ways to Process Documents" on page 18 for more information. Introduction to OmniPage Pro 9 The OmniPage Pro Desktop The OmniPage Pro Desktop OmniPage Pro's desktop displays the pages of an open document in its thumbnail viewer, image viewer, and text viewer. You can use buttons in the Standard, AutoOCR, and Zone toolbars to perform various tasks on the document. Standard toolbar Zone toolbar AutoOCR toolbar The thumbnail viewer displays a picture of each page in the document. The current page is highlighted with a light border around it. The image viewer displays the current page's original image. Drag this splitter to the left or right to resize a viewer. The text viewer displays the current page's recognized text and retained graphics. 10 Chapter 2 The OmniPage Pro Desktop AutoOCR Toolbar The AutoOCR® toolbar contains buttons that can activate each step of the OCR process. AUTO button Image button Zone button OCR button Export button Click the down arrow to display the commands in a button's drop-down list. You can set different commands in the AutoOCR toolbar buttons for the operations you want to perform. Choose a command using each buttons's drop-down list. · The AUTO button allows you to activate automatic processing or use the OCR Wizard. · The Image button allows you to bring in images by scanning or loading pages. · The Zone button allows you to automatically create zones on images based on their original page layouts or predefined templates. · The OCR button allows you to perform OCR, train characters for OCR, or schedule OCR at a later time. · The Export button allows you to save, copy, or send your recognized document as a mail attachment. Please see "Setting AutoOCR Toolbar Commands" on page 40 for more information on each toolbar button. Also see the separately enclosed OmniPage Pro 9 Reference card, which shows all available AutoOCR toolbar commands. Introduction to OmniPage Pro 11 The OmniPage Pro Desktop Standard Toolbar The Standard toolbar contains buttons and a drop-down list for performing standard tasks. New Save Proofread OCR Copy Undo Image Editor Rotate Image Zoom Open Print Cut Paste View Options Straighten Image Help Zone Toolbar The Zone toolbar contains buttons that allow you to draw and define zones on a page image. Move Row Insert Remove/Replace Draw Row All Row and Rectangular Add to Reorder or Column Zone Zones Dividers Dividers Column Dividers Zones Table tools Draw Irregular Zones Subtract Zone Insert Remove Row or from Properties Column Column Dividers Zone Dividers See "Customizing Zones" on page 63 for more information. 12 Chapter 2