User manual NUANCE TEXTBRIDGE PRO 11

LEGAL NOTICES Copyright © 2002 by ScanSoft, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be transmitted, transcribed, reproduced, stored in any retrieval system or translated into any language or computer language in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, magnetic, optical, chemical, manual, or otherwise, without prior written consent from the Legal Department at ScanSoft, Inc., 9 Centennial Drive, Peabody, Massachusetts 01960, USA. Printed in the United States of America and in the Netherlands. The software described in this book is furnished under license and may be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license. IMPORTANT NOTICE ScanSoft, Inc. provides this publication "as is" without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Some states or jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of express or implied warranties in certain transactions; therefore, this statement may not apply to you. ScanSoft reserves the right to revise this publication and to make changes from time to time in the content hereof without obligation of ScanSoft to notify any person of such revision or changes. TR A D E M A R K S AND CREDITS ScanSoft, TextBridge, TextBridge Pro, PaperPort, Pagis, True Page, Direct OCR, and AutoOCR are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks and tradenames are hereby recognized and may be registered to their respective holders. ScanSoft, Inc. 9 Centennial Drive Peabody, MA 01960 U.S.A. Part Number 50-631101-00A C ONTENTS WELCOME Using this Guide Getting online help Online HTML Help Context-Sensitive Help Tech Notes Glossary VII viii ix ix ix x x 1 INSTALLATION AND SETUP System requirements Installing TextBridge Pro Setting up your scanner with TextBridge Pro How to start the program Registering your software New features in TextBridge Pro 11 11 12 13 14 16 17 18 2 INTRODUCTION What is optical character recognition TextBridge Pro's OCR capabilities Documents in TextBridge Pro Basic processing steps The TextBridge desktop The Standard toolbar The Menu bar The Image toolbar 19 20 20 21 21 22 23 23 24 T E X T B R I D G E PR O US E R 'S GUI D E iii The Formatting toolbar The TextBridge Toolbox Managing documents Thumbnail view Detail view Customizing columns in Detail view Deleting pages from a document Printing a document Closing a document TextBridge Documents Why save to TXD How to save to TXD Settings 24 25 26 26 27 28 28 28 29 29 29 30 30 3 TU T O R I A L : P R O C E S S I N G D O C U M E N T S Quick Start Guide Loading and recognizing sample image files Scanning and recognizing a single page Processing documents using the OCR Wizard Processing documents automatically Command buttons Processing documents manually Processing a document automatically and finishing it manually Processing from other applications How to set up Direct OCR How to use Direct OCR How to use TextBridge Pro 11 with your PaperPort software Processing documents with Schedule OCR Defining the source of page images 33 34 34 34 37 40 41 42 44 45 45 45 46 47 48 iv CONT E N T S Input from image files Input from scanner Scanning with an ADF Scanning long documents without an ADF Describing the layout of the document Manual zoning Working with zones Zone properties Table grids in the image Using zone templates 48 49 50 51 51 53 53 54 56 57 4 PROOFING AND EDITING Proofreading OCR results Checking recognized text against original User dictionaries The editor display and views Text and image editing Page outline 59 60 62 63 63 64 66 5 SAVING AND EXPORTING Preparing recognition results for export Saving to file Saving original images Saving recognition results Saving a document as you work Copying a document to the Clipboard Sending a document as a mail attachment 67 68 69 69 70 71 72 73 6 TE C H N I C A L I N F O R M A T I O N Troubleshooting Solutions to try first 75 76 76 T E X T B R I D G E PR O US E R 'S GUI D E v Testing TextBridge Pro Low memory problems Low disk space problems Supported file types File types for opening and saving images File types for saving recognition results OCR problems Text does not get recognized properly Problems with fax recognition Uninstalling the software 77 78 78 79 79 80 81 81 82 83 System or performance problems during OCR 82 vi CONT E N T S Welcome Welcome to TextBridge Pro 11TM, and thank you for using our software! The following documentation has been provided to help you get started and give you an overview of the program. This User's Guide This guide introduces you to using TextBridge Pro 11. It includes installation and setup instructions, a description of the program's commands and working areas, task-oriented instructions, ways to customize and control processing, and technical information. The guide is presented in PDF format, allowing you to use hyperlink jumps on cross-references and other navigation tools in your PDF viewer. Online Help TextBridge Pro's online Help contains information on features, settings, and procedures. The online Help is provided as HTML help, and has been designed for quick and easy information retrieval. Comprehensive context-sensitive help aims to provide just enough assistance to let you keep working without delay. Please see the section Getting online help. Readme File The Readme file contains last-minute information about the software. Please read it before using TextBridge Pro. To open this HTML file, choose Readme in the TextBridge Pro Installer or afterwards in the Help menu. Scanning and other information ScanSoft's web site at www.scansoft.com provides timely information on the program. The Scanner Guide contains up-dated information about supported scanners and related issues. Access ScanSoft's web site from the TextBridge Pro Installer or afterwards from the Help menu. T E X T B R I D G E PR O US E R 'S GUI D E vii USING THIS GUIDE This guide 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. We also assume you are familiar with your scanner and its supporting software, and that the scanner is installed and working correctly before it is setup with TextBridge Pro 11. Please refer to the scanner's own documentation as necessary. The following conventions are used in this guide: Bold Italic Introduces new terms and presents sub-headings. Names sections in this guide (unless otherwise stated, the section is located in the same chapter as the reference). Names the main buttons used in automatic processing: Start, Stop, Finish, Additional. Presents file names: sample.tif Non-serif Note Tip Presents an item of additional information. Presents ideas for using program features to accomplish specific tasks. viii WE L C O M E GETTING ONLINE HELP In addition to using this guide, you can use TextBridge Pro's online Help to learn about features, settings, and procedures. Online Help is available after you install TextBridge Pro. Online HTML Help Open TextBridge Pro's online Help at its top level by choosing TextBridge Pro Help Topics at the top of the Help menu. This allows you to see topics arranged in a Table of Contents, search an alphabetical list of keywords or make full-text searches through the topics. Other items in the Help menu provide access to useful topics or web pages. Press F1 as you are working with the program to see an online help topic relating to the current screen area, dialog box or warning message. Context-Sensitive Help You can get concise on-the-spot information in a popup window about a particular TextBridge Pro menu item, toolbar button, screen area or dialog box, in the following ways: Click the Help tool in the Standard toolbar to get the help icon. Click this on any item on the desktop outside a dialog box or warning message. Press Shift + F1 to get the same help icon. Click the question mark button in the upper right corner of a dialog box and then click an item in the dialog box to see the popup window. Some dialog boxes or warning messages have their own Help button, or a help text. Click the button or the text to get information on the dialog or message box. Click anywhere to remove a context-sensitive popup Help window. T E X T B R I D G E PR O US E R 'S GUI D E ix Tech Notes ScanSoft's web site at www.scansoft.com contains Tech Notes on commonly reported issues using TextBridge Pro 11. Web pages may also offer assistance on the installation process and troubleshooting. Glossary This guide does not include a glossary. The online Help has a comprehensive glossary, with its own alphabetical index and a table of contents. Please consult it if you want to find the meaning of a term used in this guide or in the program. x WE L C O M E 1 Installation and setup This chapter provides information on installing and starting TextBridge Pro 11. It presents the following topics: u System requirements u Installing TextBridge Pro u Setting up your scanner with TextBridge Pro u How to start the program u Registering your software u New features in TextBridge Pro 11 T E X T B R I D G E PR O US E R 'S GUI D E 11 SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS You need the following minimum system requirements to install and run TextBridge Pro 11: u A computer with a Pentium or higher processor u Microsoft Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows MeMe, Windows 2000, or Windows NT 4.0 u 32MB of memory (RAM), 64MB recommended u 75MB of free hard disk space for the application files plus 10MB working space during installation u 9MB for Microsoft Installer (MSI) if not present and 44MB for Internet Explorer if not present. (These are present as part of the operating system in Windows 98, Windows Me and Windows 2000.) u SVGA monitor with 256 colors and 800 x 600 pixel resolution u Windows-compatible pointing device u CD-ROM drive for installation u A compatible scanner if you plan to scan documents. Please see the Scanner Guide at ScanSoft's web site (www.scansoft.com) for a list of supported scanners. Note Performance and speed will be enhanced if your computer's processor, memory, and available disk space exceed minimum requirements. 12 INSTALLATION AND SETUP INSTALLING TEXTBRIDGE PRO TextBridge Pro 11's installation program takes you through installation with instructions on every screen. Before installing TextBridge Pro: u Make sure your scanner is connected, turned on, and compatible with your system. u Close all other applications, especially anti-virus programs. u Log into your computer with administrator privileges if you are installing on Windows 2000 or Windows NT. t To install TextBridge Pro: 1. Insert TextBridge Pro's CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive. The installation program should start automatically. If it does not start, locate your CD-ROM drive in Windows Explorer and double-click the Autorun.exe program at the top-level of the CD-ROM. 2. Choose a language to use during installation. The program interface language is used for displays such as menu items, dialog boxes, warning messages and so on. You can change the interface language later from within TextBridge Pro 11. 3. Follow the instructions on each screen to install the software. All files needed for scanning are copied automatically during installation. Note Sometimes uninstalling and then reinstalling TextBridge Pro will solve a problem. See Uninstalling the software at the end of chapter 6. IN S T A L L I N G TE X T BR I D G E P R O 13 SETTING UP YOUR SCANNER WITH TEXTBRIDGE PRO All files needed for scanner setup and support are copied automatically during the program's installation. Before using TextBridge Pro 11 for scanning, your scanner should be correctly installed and tested for correct functionality. Scanner installation and setup are done through the Scanner Wizard. You can start this yourself, as described below. Otherwise, the Scanner Wizard appears when you first try to perform scanning from TextBridge Pro 11. Please follow these steps to use the Scanner Wizard to setup your scanner with TextBridge Pro 11: u Choose StartÉProgramsÉScanSoft TextBridge Pro 11.0É Scanner Wizard or click the Setup button in the Scanner panel of the Options dialog box or choose a scan command in the Get Page drop-down list in the TextBridge Toolbox. u Choose Select scanning source, then click Next. u Click once on your scanner's TWAIN driver, then click Next. u Choose Yes to test your scanner configuration, then click Next. u The wizard will now test the connection from the computer to your scanner. Click on Next. u Insert a test page into your scanner. u The wizard is now prepared to do a basic scan using your scanner manufacturer's software. Click on Next. u Your scanner's native user-interface will appear. Click on Scan to begin the sample scan. u If necessary, click on Inverse Image... or Missing Image... and make the appropriate selections. u Once the image appears correctly in the window, click on Next. u Select the item that most appropriately describes your scanner, then click on Next. u Click on Next to proceed to page size. 14 INSTALLATION AND SETUP u The page sizes that the Scanner Wizard believes that your scanner supports are listed in the window. To make any changes to the page sizes, click on Advanced, make the changes and then click on Next. u Insert a page with text but no pictures into your scanner. Click on Next to begin a scan in black and white mode. u If necessary, click on Inverse Image... or Missing Image... and make the appropriate selections. u Once the image appears correctly in the window, click on Next. u If you have a color scanner, insert a color photograph or a page with a color picture into your scanner. Click on Next to begin a scan in color mode. If necessary, click on Inverse Image... or Missing Image... and make the appropriate selections. Once the image appears correctly in the window, click on Next. If your scanner cannot scan in color, skip this step. u Insert a photograph or a page containing a picture into your scanner. Click on Next to begin a scan in grayscale mode. If necessary, click on Inverse Image... or Missing Image... and make the appropriate selections. Once the image appears correctly in the window, click on Next. u You have successfully configured your scanner to work with TextBridge Pro 11! Click on Finish. To change the scanner settings at a later time, or to set up a different scanner, or to test and repair an installed scanner, please follow one of these two methods to reopen the Scanner Wizard: u StartÉProgramsÉScanSoft TextBridge Pro 11.0ÉScanner Wizard or u StartÉProgramsÉScanSoft TextBridge Pro 11.0ÉTextBridge Pro 11.0ÉTools menuÉOptionsÉScanner...ÉSetup button. Note To test and repair an improperly functioning scanner, follow the procedure above, selecting `Test and configure current scanning source' at the start of the process. SETTING UP YOUR SCANNER WITH TEXTBRIDGE PRO 15 HOW TO START THE PROGRAM To start TextBridge Pro 11 do one of the following: u Click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose ProgramsÉScanSoft TextBridge Pro 11.0ÉTextBridge Pro 11.0. u Double-click the TextBridge Pro icon in the program's installation folder or on the Windows desktop if you placed it there. u Double-click a TextBridge Document (TXD) icon or file name; the clicked document is loaded into the program. See TextBridge Documents in chapter 2. On opening, TextBridge Pro's title screen is displayed and then its desktop. See chapter 2, The TextBridge desktop for an introduction to the program's main working areas. There are several ways of running the program with a limited interface: u Use the Schedule OCR program. Click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose ProgramsÉScanSoft TextBridge Pro 11.0É Schedule OCR. See Processing documents with Schedule OCR in chapter 3. u Click Acquire Text from the File menu of an application registered with the Direct OCRTM facility. See Direct OCR in chapter 3. u Right-click an image file icon or file name for a shortcut menu. Select a sub-menu item from `Convert To...' to define a target. u Use TextBridge Pro 11 with ScanSoft's PaperPort® or Pagis® document management products, to add OCR services. See How to use TextBridge Pro 11 with your PaperPort software in chapter 3. REGISTERING YOUR SOFTWARE ScanSoft's registration Wizard runs at the end of installation. We provide an easy electronic form that can be completed in less than five minutes. 16 INSTALLATION AND SETUP When the form is filled, and you click Send the program will search an Internet connection to immediately perform the registration online. If you did not register the software during installation, you will be periodically invited to register later. You can go to www.scansoft.com to register online. Click on Support and from the main support screen choose Register on the left-hand column. For a statement on the use of your registration data, please see ScanSoft's Privacy Policy. NEW FEATURES IN TEXTBRIDGE PRO 11 The family of TextBridge® products moves to a new level with the introduction of TextBridge Pro 11. Here are the main areas of innovation and difference compared to the TextBridge Pro Millennium release: u Increased accuracy ­ multiple recognition engines working in tandem offer significant gains in accuracy, especially on degraded documents. u More file formats ­ New image files formats for input are JPEG and PNG and for export BMP, DCX, JPEG, PCX and PNG. See page 79. Image saving is now done from the File menu instead of from the Tools menu. See page 69. u Working areas ­ Choose to display the Image and Text areas as alternatives (as in previous TextBridge versions), or to have both visible at once, separated by a movable splitter. See page 22. u Fully-featured Text Editor ­ A WYSIWYG Editor lets you modify recognized text and tables in-place instead of just single words in an edit box. Change character and paragraph attributes, tabs, borders and shading, and edit embedded graphics. Switch freely between four formatting levels, including True Page® for both display and saving. See page 63 and page 64. u Document Manager ­ Have a better overview of all pages in a document and manage them more efficiently, not only with page thumbnails, but also with a table. Each table row summarizes a page and you can define which columns of information to view. See page 27. NEW FEATURES IN T E X T B R I D G E P R O 11 17 u OCR Proofreader ­ Jump through the suspect words in a document and handle them one after the other in a dialog box. Previously, suspect words were only marked. See page 60. u OCR verifier ­ This lets you compare any recognized word with its appearance in the original image as you edit and reformat the document. See page 62. u TextBridge Documents ­ These TXDs open the way to deferred or distributed processing. They store all images along with recognition results. This allows proofing, verifying, editing, additional processing and saving to be done in a later session or at any location where TextBridge Pro is installed. See page 29. t Improved User Experience: Some facilities are replaced with others, providing superior functionality. u Instant AccessTM is replaced by Direct OCRTM. This provides OCR services from the File menu of word processors and other applications. See page 45. Register applications for Direct OCR with the Options panel, accessed from the Tools menu. u TextBridge Scheduler becomes Schedule OCR. See page 47. u TextBridge Assistant (Show me how) is replaced by ToolTips, Tips of the Day, context-sensitive help, a Quick Start Guide and the OCR Wizard. See page ix, page 34 and page 37. u Page Type is replaced by Layout Description (including Custom Layout). See page 51. Scanning mode (black-and-white, grayscale, color) is defined with the Get Page button. See page 49. u Open file when done becomes Save and Launch. See page 69. Training is no longer provided, since the extra accuracy deriving from multi-engine recognition more than compensates for it. 18 INSTALLATION AND SETUP 2 Introduction You probably use your computer for business correspondence, preparing reports, handling data and an ever-increasing number of other uses. The challenge is that, in spite of the digital revolution, certain sources of information still circulate in printed, paper form and cannot be used immediately in a computer. For example, if you want to incorporate information from a magazine article in a report you are preparing, you somehow have to get the text from the article into your computer. Painstakingly retyping the article is not an appealing solution. This chapter introduces you to the solution: optical character recognition (OCR). It describes how TextBridge Pro 11 uses OCR technology to transform text from scanned pages or image files into editable text for use in your favorite computer applications. We present the following topics: u What is optical character recognition u Documents in TextBridge Pro u Basic processing steps u The TextBridge desktop u Managing documents u TextBridge Documents u Settings T E X T B R I D G E PR O US E R 'S GUI D E 19 WHAT IS OPTICAL CHARACTER RECOGNITION Optical character recognition is the process of extracting text from an image. This image can result from scanning a paper document or opening an electronic image file. Images do not have editable text characters; they have many tiny dots (pixels) that together form character shapes. These present a picture of the text on a page. During OCR, TextBridge Pro 11 analyzes the character shapes in an image and defines solutions to produce editable text. After OCR, you can save the resulting text to a variety of word-processing, desktop publishing or spreadsheet applications. TextBridge Pro's OCR capabilities In addition to text recognition, TextBridge Pro can retain the following elements of a document through the OCR process. Graphics Photos, logos, and drawings are examples of graphics. Text formatting Font types, sizes and styles (such as bold, italic and underlines) are examples of character formatting. Indents, tabs, margins and line spacing are examples of paragraph formatting. Page formatting Column structure, table formats, and placement of graphics and headings are examples of page formatting. The graphics, text and page formatting elements that TextBridge Pro retains are determined by the settings you select. Refer to the Settings Guidelines in the online Help for more information about selecting settings. Note TextBridge Pro only recognizes machine-generated characters such as offset or laser-printed or typewritten text. However, it can retain handwritten text, such as a signature, as a graphic. 20 INTRODUCTION