TextBridge PRO User's Guide 98 COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Copyright © 1997 by Scansoft, Inc., a Xerox Company. 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 the prior written consent of Scansoft, Inc., 9 Centennial Drive, Peabody, Massachusetts 01960. Printed in the United States of America. 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 state-ment 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. TextBridge is a registered trademark, and Smart Zones, Instant Access OCR, and Custom Proof are trademarks, of Scansoft, Inc., a Xerox Company. Xerox, The Document Company, and the Stylized X are trademarks of Xerox Corp. Excel, Word, and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corp. WordPerfect is a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corp. Other terms used in this manual are the trademarks of their respective holders. Portions of this product copyright © 1990­1997, Pixel Translations, Inc. Portions of this product copyright © 1994­1997, Mastersoft Corp. Designed, written, and illustrated by Lois West and Jim Cahill TRADEMARKS AND CREDITS © SCANSOFT, INC. 9 Centennial Drive Peabody, Massachusetts 01960 TextBridge Pro 98 User's Guide Part Number 00­09066­00 August 1997 CONTENTS PREFACE About This User's Guide ..............................vi Organization of this user's guide .....................vi Documentation conventions........................ vii Related Documentation .............................. vii Technical Support ..................................viii 1 INTRODUCTION TO TEXTBRIDGE Features and Benefits .............................. 1­2 New Productivity features in TextBridge Pro 98 ....... 1­4 Other TextBridge features........................ 1­6 Characteristics of Documents TextBridge can recognize . 1­8 What Comes with TextBridge ....................... 1­10 Scanners Supported............................... 1­11 System Requirements ............................. 1­12 Installing TextBridge ............................. 1­12 Setting Up TextBridge Instant Access ................. 1­19 Uninstalling TextBridge ........................... 1­20 Input Image File Formats Supported.................. 1­21 Output Text File Formats Supported.................. 1­22 Where to Go From Here............................ 1­23 2 OCR AND TEXTBRIDGE What is TextBridge OCR? ........................... Page types.................................... Page sources .................................. Recomposition ................................. Running TextBridge ............................... Standalone Application .......................... Instant Access ................................. 2­2 2­2 2­4 2­5 2­6 2­7 2­7 TextBridge Pro 98 User's Guide iii TextBridge Functionality............................ 2­8 Before You Start to OCR ............................ 2­9 Using TextBridge to OCR .......................... 2­10 Automatic Processing ............................. 2­10 Manual Processing ............................... 2­14 Selecting Page Type and Source .................. 2­15 Previewing the Page ........................... 2­16 Zoning the Page............................... 2­18 Proofreading the Document ...................... 2­21 Saving the Document .......................... 2­22 Improving Page Recognition with Settings ............. 2­23 Page Type Settings ............................ 2­23 Scanner Settings .............................. 2­25 Processing Settings ............................ 2­27 Text Document Settings ........................ 2­28 Saving a Document in a PDF File ................. 2­31 Improving OCR with Training....................... 2­32 Where to Go From Here............................ 2­34 3 LEARNING TO USE TEXTBRIDGE Starting TextBridge................................ 3­2 Using the Help System ............................. 3­4 Using the Sample Documents ........................ 3­6 Session 1: Processing a Simple Document Using Auto Processing ........................ 3­12 Session 2: Using Instant Access OCR.................. 3­19 Session 3: Processing a Complex Document Using Manual Processing ................................. 3­25 Session 4: Processing Text, Pictures, and a Table ........ 3­35 Session 5: Training OCR and Using the Page toolbar...... 3­42 Where to Go From Here............................ 3­51 INDEX iv TextBridge Pro 98 User's Guide PREFACE ScanSoft, Inc., a Xerox Company, welcomes you to TextBridge® Pro 98 for Windows 95TM and Windows NT. (Hereinafter TextBridge Pro 98 will be referred to as "TextBridge.") Before going on to find out more about TextBridge, please read this preface because it describes these important items: x x x About this user's guide Related documentation Technical support ABOUT THIS USER'S GUIDE This user's guide includes introductory information designed primarily for non-technical users as well as information designed for more technical users. It assumes that you are familiar with the management and operation of your computer and Windows. The documentation that comes with TextBridge should provide all the information you need to operate TextBridge. TextBridge documentation includes this user's guide, a Help system, and Release Notes. ScanSoft invites your comments about the information provided in the documentation. Please make sure to register your software and provide any comments to ScanSoft. TextBridge Pro 98 User's Guide v Organization of this user's guide This user's guide is designed as a reference tool to provide basic information about TextBridge. It is organized as follows: x Chapter 1, "Introduction to TextBridge," discusses TextBridge's features. It also describes: documents TextBridge can recognize, what comes with TextBridge, supported scanners, system requirements, installation, setting up Instant Access, uninstalling TextBridge, and input and output file formats. Chapter 2, "OCR and TextBridge," provides an explanation of the concepts of document recognition and OCR and the basic functionality of TextBridge. Chapter 3, "Learning to Use TextBridge," walks you through several practice sessions designed to provide a firm basis on which to learn and use the important features of TextBridge. This user's guide also provides a comprehensive index for you to quickly locate the information you need. x x vi TextBridge Pro 98 User's Guide Documentation conventions As described in Table P­1, TextBridge documentation uses certain graphical elements and formatting to emphasize information and give more meaning to text. Table P­1. Documentation Conventions bold Introduces a new term or the first use of an important term in a chapter. Sometimes used to denote strong in-line emphasis. Denotes titles of other user's guides or books and generic representations of file name entries in examples; for example, filename Denotes text that appears on the computer screen such as examples, menu text, and messages plus actual file names. Denotes titles of chapters and sections in this user's guide. Introduces tips that provide useful information about a procedural step or system function. Introduces information of note about the current subject. italic monospace " " (quotes) Note RELATED DOCUMENTATION TextBridge provides a comprehensive set of printed and online documentation designed to assist you in learning and operating the product. The documentation provided with TextBridge covers all aspects of installation and operation. In addition to this TextBridge Pro 98 User's Guide, refer to the following documentation for more information: Preface vii x Online Release Notes--After you install TextBridge, read the online Release Notes first. These provide the most up-to-date information about TextBridge. Release Notes automatically appears in the TextBridge 98 folder. Simply point to Release Notes in the TextBridge 98 folder to open the Release Notes so that you can read them. Help--An extensive online Help system comes with TextBridge. The Help provides you with information about the software in general; the menus, commands, and tools; step-by-step procedures; and a glossary. TextBridge online electronic documentation--This includes an electronic version of this TextBridge Pro 98 User's Guide in Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf). The documentation resides on the compact disk in the directory TextBridgePro Documents. Please refer to the Release Notes in that directory for information about using the online documentation. Multimedia Guided Tour--The Guided Tour provides you with an introduction to TextBridge. You may need to refer to additional publications, such as the manufacturer's documentation for your scanner. x x x Note TECHNICAL SUPPORT If you should experience problems with TextBridge that you cannot resolve with the documentation and software, contact TextBridge Technical Support. You can contact TextBridge Technical Support by the Internet, telephone, or fax. This information will assist Technical Support in solving the problem: viii TextBridge Pro 98 User's Guide x Your software version number (This is on the back of the CD-ROM case and in the Help menu under About TextBridge.) Your software serial number (This is the serial number on the back of the TextBridge CD-ROM case and in the Help menu under About TextBridge.) Your scanner make and model A description of the steps that led up to the problem If TextBridge generated an error message, a verbatim description of the error message or its number x x x x Internet and electronic mail addresses You can also contact Technical Support and get information about TextBridge on the Internet at the addresses in the following list: x TextBridge site: www.textbridge.com The TextBridge Web site provides a link to Technical Support with Frequently Asked Questions, technical information bulletins, and a problem report form. E-mail in the United States, Canada, or the Pacific Rim: x x Technical Support: textbridge_support@xis.xerox.com Upgrade information: textbridge_sales@xis.xerox.com E-mail from European countries and the Middle East: x x Technical Support: uk_support@xis.xerox.com Upgrade information: xisuk@xis.xerox.com Preface ix Telephone and fax numbers Call one of the following telephone numbers or send a fax describing the problem to one of the fax numbers. In the United States, Canada, or the Pacific Rim: ¤ Telephone: 978­977­0764 Fax: 978­977­2434 From European countries and the Middle East: Xerox Scansoft Ltd. in England: ¤ Telephone: +44 (0) 1923 209140 Fax: +44 (0) 1923 208446 x TextBridge Pro 98 User's Guide 1 INTRODUCTION TO TEXTBRIDGE Welcome to ScanSoft's TextBridge TM Pro 98, optical character recognition (OCR) software for Microsoft WindowsTM 95 and Windows NT. (Hereinafter TextBridge Pro 98 will be referred to as "TextBridge.") This chapter provides an introduction to TextBridge including: x x x x x x x x x Features and benefits What comes with TextBridge Scanners supported System requirements Installing TextBridge Setting up TextBridge Instant Access Uninstalling TextBridge Input image file formats supported Output text file formats supported OCR is a technology that enables you to reproduce the paper documents you use every day into fully editable text on your computer. TextBridge even retains the layout of the original document when possible. TextBridge Pro 98 User's Guide 1­1 You can use TextBridge to convert printed documents from fax machines, photocopiers, and dot matrix and laser printers to electronic documents for your word processor or text application as well as documents for some database, desktop publishing, and spreadsheet software. TextBridge OCR can also recognize page image files from scanners as well as fax machines and other sources. FEATURES AND BENEFITS Using Xerox's latest document recognition technology, DocuRTTM, TextBridge OCR produces a fully-editable electronic document that retains the original document layout, complete with text and pictures (Figure 1­1). TextBridge understands your original document format, and the keeps the layout the same, including column ...