LEGAL NOTICES

Copyright 2002 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 ScanSoft, Inc., 9 Centennial Drive, Peabody, Massachusetts 01960. 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

CREDITS

ScanSoft, OmniPage, OmniPage Pro, PaperPort, Pagis, True Page and Direct OCR are registered trademarks or trademarks of ScanSoft, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. All other company names or product names referenced herein may be the trademarks of their respective holders.

ScanSoft, Inc.

9 Centennial Drive Peabody, MA 01960 U.S.A.

ScanSoft Belgium BVBA

Guldensporenpark 32 BE-9820 Merelbeke Belgium
Part Number 50-281201-00A

O N T E N T S

WELCOME
Using this Guide Getting online Help Online HTML Help Context-Sensitive Help Tech Notes Glossary

INSTALLATION AND SETUP

System requirements Installing OmniPage Pro Setting up your scanner with OmniPage Pro How to start the program Registering your software New features in OmniPage Pro 12

INTRODUCTION

What is optical character recognition OmniPage Pros OCR capabilities Documents in OmniPage Pro Basic processing steps The OmniPage Desktop The Menu bar The Toolbars The Image Panel

OmniPage Pro Users Guide

The Text Editor The OmniPage Toolbox Managing documents Thumbnails Document Manager Customizing Document Manager columns Deleting pages from a document Printing a document Closing a document OmniPage Documents Why save to OPD How to save to OPD Settings

PROCESSING DOCUMENTS

Quick Start Guide Loading and recognizing sample image files Scanning and recognizing a single page Processing overview Automatic processing Stopping and restarting automatic processing Manual processing Combined processing Processing with the OCR Wizard Processing from other applications How to set up Direct OCR How to use Direct OCR How to use OmniPage Pro with PaperPort Processing with Schedule OCR Defining the source of page images Input from image files

Contents

Input from scanner Scanning with an ADF Scanning without an ADF Describing the layout of the document Zones and backgrounds Automatic zoning Manual zoning Zone types and properties Working with zones Table grids in the image Using zone templates

Sometimes uninstalling and then reinstalling OmniPage Pro will solve a problem. See Uninstalling the software on page 96. It is planned to provide Text-to-Speech for English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish. This may vary depending on region or version. The Readme file provides latest information. A speech system for only one language can be installed with OmniPage Pro. See Reading text aloud on page 75.
Setting up your scanner with OmniPage Pro
All files needed for scanner setup and support are copied automatically during the programs installation. Before using OmniPage Pro 12 for scanning, your scanner should be installed with its own scanner driver software and tested for correct functionality. Scanner driver software is not included with OmniPage Pro. 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 attempt to perform scanning. Please follow these steps to use the Scanner Wizard to setup your scanner with OmniPage Pro 12:
X Choose StartProgramsScanSoft OmniPage Pro 12.0
Scanner Wizard or click the Setup button in the Scanner panel of the Options dialog box. or choose a scan setting in the Get Page drop-down list in the OmniPage Toolbox and click the Get Page button. The Scanner Setup Wizard starts. The first panel appears only on first setup when called from inside OmniPage Pro. Choose Select scanner or digital camera, then click Next. You see a list of all detected TWAIN scanner drivers, with the system default scanner selected. Click once to select the driver of the scanner you want to use. Click Other drivers. if you need to browse for a driver. Select Configure Advanced Settings for an extra panel if you want your scanners own interface to be hidden during scanning or to modify the image transfer method. Click on Next. Choose Yes to test your scanner configuration, then click Next. The wizard will now test the connection from the computer to your scanner. When completed, click on Next. Insert a test page into your scanner. The wizard is now prepared to do a basic scan using your scanner manufacturers software. Click on Next. Your scanners native user-interface will appear.

X Click on Scan to begin the sample scan. X If necessary, click on Inverse Image or Missing Image and X X X X

X X X X

make the appropriate selections. Once the image appears correctly in the window, click on Next. Select the item that most appropriately describes your scanner, then click on Next. Click on Next to proceed to page size. The page sizes that the Scanner Wizard believes your scanner to support are listed in the window. To make any changes to the page sizes, click on Advanced, make the changes and then click on Next. Insert a page with text but no pictures into your scanner. Click on Next to begin a scan in black-and-white 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 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. 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. You have successfully configured your scanner to work with OmniPage Pro 12! Click on Finish.
To change the scanner settings at a later time, or to set up a different scanner, reopen the Scanner Setup Wizard from the Windows Start menu or from the Scanner panel of the Options dialog box. To test and repair an improperly functioning scanner, open the Scanner Setup Wizard from the Windows Start menu and select Test scanner or digital camera in the first panel, then work through the procedure described above.

How to start the program

To start OmniPage Pro 12 do one of the following:
X Click Start in the Windows taskbar and choose Programs
ScanSoft OmniPage Pro 12.0OmniPage Pro 12.0.

X New zoning concepts

On-the-fly zoning allows zone changes to be processed immediately without having to re-recognize the whole page. See page 74. Page backgrounds are defined as process (auto-zone) or ignore, so all zoning instructions appear on the page and can be
Registering your software 17
saved to zone templates. See page 53. Irregular zones can be drawn and zones split and joined more simply, without the need for separate tools. See page 57.
X Better proofing and verifying
The Proofing dialog box now shows suspect words in a wider context. A dynamic verifier can stay open as text is being checked, with the image display and window tracking the editing position. See page 65.
X Formatting levels for display and saving
There are three formatting levels for Text Editor display. See page 64. The output formatting level is now chosen at export time; the choices depend on the specified file type. An export choice Flowing Page is an improved version of the previous Retain Flowing Columns view. It preserves page layout without boxes and frames whenever possible, so text can flow between columns. See page 81.

X Superior page analysis

The transfer of table formatting has improved, in particular the detection of tables without gridlines in original pages. Web and e-mail addresses can be detected and transferred to the Text Editor; hyperlinks can be inserted. Reading order can now be viewed and changed after recognition in the Text Editors True Page view. See from page 72.

X Improved PDF handling

OmniPage Pro 12 searches background text in PDFs it opens, to deliver higher recognition accuracy. A new file type PDF Edited allows good format retention on pages that were modified in the Text Editor after recognition.
X Advanced saving options
A wider range of saving options is offered for each output file type. User-defined output file types can be created with customized settings. See page 82. If your edition of OmniPage Pro 12 includes the new saving formats XML and eBook, see page 95.

Chapter 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 OmniPage Pro 12 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:

The Text Editor

This displays recognition results in any of three formatting levels: X No Formatting view (NF) X Retain Fonts and Paragraphs view (RFP) X True Page (TP) True Page retains page layout using text, table and picture boxes, and frames. It can display multicolumn areas, to show text blocks that can be treated as flowing columns at export time. True Page is also an export formatting level, along with Flowing Page that retains page layout without boxes and frames. See The editor display and views on page 64.

24 Introduction

The OmniPage Toolbox
This Toolbox lets you drive the processing. By default it is located along the top of the OmniPage Desktop, just above the working areas. It can be floated and also be docked along the bottom of the desktop.
Start button Get Page button Perform OCR button Export Results button

Get Pages drop-down list

Layout Description drop-down list
Export Results drop-down list
Automatic processing is started, and can be stopped and re-started with the Start (1-2-3) button. See Automatic processing on page 38. Manual processing allows you to process documents page-by-page and step-by-step. Start each step with the three large buttons: the Get Page button (1), the Perform OCR button (2) and the Export Results button (3). See Manual processing on page 40. You can switch between automatic and manual processing any time the program is not busy with processing. That means you can switch between them while you are working within a document. You can automatically process some pages, then add more pages with manual processing. After processing a stack of pages automatically, you can inspect the results and then go back to reprocess certain pages manually. This procedure is described in chapter 3. See Combined processing on page 41. The OCR Wizard is designed for new users. See Processing with the OCR Wizard on page 43. If you have a document open when you start the OCR Wizard, the document will be closed after a prompting to save it. When you have used the OCR Wizard to process and save a document, it remains in the program and can be further processed (adding more pages, re-recognizing pages etc.) with either manual or automatic processing.

The OmniPage Desktop 25

Managing documents
Document management can be done by thumbnails in the Image Panel or by the Document Manager, situated along the bottom of the OmniPage Desktop. Both summarize the pages in the document and are synchronized. Our pictures show these with the same seven-page document. Pages 1 and 2 are selected and page 4 is the current page, that is, the one shown in the Image Panel. Page status is shown as follows:

Managing documents 27

When multiple pages are being selected, the page set as current does not change. All selected pages are highlighted.
Customizing Document Manager columns
You can specify which columns of information you want to see in the Document Manager. Click Customize Columns. in the View menu for the following dialog box:
This item is highlighted. Click a checkbox to select the item. Image sizes are expressed in pixels.
Highlight an item and use these arrows to change the order of columns.
Define a width for the highlighted item.
Define which columns should appear, their widths, and column order. The topic Customizing Document Manager columns in online Help clarifies what is presented in each column. You can change column widths easily in the Document Manager; just drag the column dividers in the title bar.
Deleting pages from a document
Page deletions must be confirmed and can be undone. Delete the current page only with the item Delete Current Page in the Edit menu. Delete all selected pages in the Document Manager or from the thumbnails by pressing the Delete key or using the shortcut menu command Clear.

Printing a document

You can print the document with the Print item in the File menu. Choose whether to print images or text (that is, recognition results as they appear in the Text Editor). You can print all pages or a range of pages. The Print tool in the Standard toolbar prints images or text, depending whether the Image Panel or the Text Editor is active.

Closing a document

Choose Close in the File menu to close a document. You are prompted to save your document if you have not saved it or you have modified it since the last save. See the next section on saving the document as an OmniPage Document (*.opd). You will also be prompted to save unsaved training data if you selected Prompt to save training data when closing document in the Proofing panel of the Options dialog box.

OmniPage Documents

The OmniPage Document is the programs proprietary file type; it has the extension.opd. It is one of the file types offered when saving a document to file. You save the document to the OPD file type if you want to work with it again in OmniPage Pro during a future session. You can then process unfinished pages, add more pages and proof or edit recognition results. An OmniPage Document contains the original page images (deskewed and pre-processed) with any zones placed on them. After recognition, the OPD also contains the recognition results. Recognized characters are stored along with their coordinate and confidence data. This preserves the links between image and text, so that verification and proofing remain available when the OPD is reopened in future sessions. When you save an OmniPage Document, the current settings (and unsaved training) are also saved. When you open an OmniPage Document, its settings are applied, replacing those existing in the program.

Proofing Use this to define whether proofreading should begin automatically after recognition. Define also whether IntelliTrain should run, and use it to load or work with a training file. See Proofreading OCR results on page 65. Custom Layout Use this to describe the layout of your input document pages very precisely. This gives you maximum control over the auto-zoning process, instructing it to search or ignore columns, graphics and tables. See Describing the layout of the document on page 51. Text Editor Use this to show or hide some features in the Text Editor, to define the unit of measurement to be used and to turn word wrapping on or off. See Text and image editing on page 72.
If you have access to a Document Management System (DMS) from your computer and your edition of OmniPage Pro 12 includes ODMA support, an ODMA panel may also appear. See ODMA support on page 93.
Some settings have an effect only on future recognition. Examples are the recognition languages, a training file or scanner brightness. These settings should be correctly adjusted before you start processing. To have changes in these settings applied to already recognized pages, you will have to re-recognize them. Other settings are implemented immediately in all existing pages. Examples are Text Editor settings like word wrap or measurement units.

Chapter 3

Processing documents
This tutorial chapter describes different ways you can process a document and also provides information on key parts of this processing.
X Quick Start Guide X Processing overview X Automatic processing X Manual processing X Combined processing X Processing with the OCR Wizard X Processing from other applications (Direct OCR, PaperPort) X Processing with Schedule OCR

The detailed topics are:

X Defining the source of page images X Describing the layout of the document X Zones and backgrounds
Automatic zoning Manual zoning Zone types and properties Working with zones X Table grids in the image X Using zone templates

Quick Start Guide

This topic takes you step-by-step through the basic OCR process.
Loading and recognizing sample image files

3. Manually zone pages where you want to process only part of the page or if you want to give precise zoning instructions. Use ignore backgrounds or zones to exclude areas from processing. Use process backgrounds or zones to specify areas to be auto-zoned. 4. Click the Start button, then choose Finish Processing Existing Pages in the Automatic Processing dialog box. 5. After proofing (if requested) you can save or export the document.
Processing with the OCR Wizard
The OCR Wizard can be used to start processing a new document. If you select it with a document open, it will be closed. The Wizard takes you through five settings panels, guiding you to make settings for your document and then launching automatic processing. Context-sensitive help is available for all Wizard panels. Click the OCR Wizard button in the OmniPage Toolbox to see the first wizard screen: 1. The first panel lets you define your document source: scanner or image file. See Defining the source of page images on page 48. Answer the question in the first screen and click Next. 2. The second panel asks you to describe the layout of the input document, to assist the auto-zoning. See Describing the layout of the document on page 51. 3. The third panel lets you define recognition languages. Languages with dictionary support have an open book icon. Recent choices are at the top of the list. 4. The fourth panel asks if you want to proofread the text before export. If you choose Yes you can also edit the text before saving. You also decide whether to create and use IntelliTrain data during proofing. See IntelliTrain on page 70.
5. The last panel asks you to define the export choice: saving to file or copying to Clipboard. After setting the choice, click Finish to close the Wizard and start the automatic processing. 6. If you requested proofing and the text contains suspect words, the OCR Proofreader dialog box will appear. When proofing is finished or closed, the Copy to Clipboard or Save As dialog box let you specify file export settings, including a page range and a formatting level. 7. The document remains in OmniPage Pro. You can edit recognition results and save them again to other formats. You can change zones manually or change other settings and then use manual processing to re-recognize single pages from the document. You can add pages with automatic or manual processing.

The Schedule OCR dialog box lists all jobs, with status Waiting, Running, Paused, Error or Complete. Use Modify Job. to change settings for a waiting job. You can view, modify and reuse finished jobs to process new jobs needing similar settings. You can delete completed jobs when they are no longer needed.
For more information, please see Scheduling OCR in the online Help. If your edition of OmniPage Pro supports file input from folders, including watched folders, see Advanced features in Schedule OCR on page 93.
Defining the source of page images
There are two possible image sources: from image files and from a scanner. There are two main types of scanners: flatbed or sheetfed. A scanner may have a built-in or added Automatic Document Feeder (ADF), which makes it easier to scan multi-page documents. The images from scanned documents can be input directly into OmniPage Pro or may be saved with the scanners own software to an image file, which OmniPage Pro can later open.

Input from image files

You can create image files from your own scanner, or receive them by e-mail or as fax files. OmniPage Pro can open a wide range of image file types. See File types for opening and saving images on page 94. Select Load Image File in the Get Pages drop-down list. Files are specified in the Load Image File dialog box. This appears when you start automatic processing. In manual processing, click the Get Page button or use the Process menu. The lower part of the dialog box provides advanced settings, and can be shown or hidden. Here, it is displayed.
This is the current folder. Use Shift+ clicks or Ctrl+clicks to place more than one file in the File name text box. Specify the file type(s) you want listed. This can be used for multipage TIFF, DCX, MAX and PDF files. This is a blank image file for the saving option: "New file for each blank page". Select this to see a thumbnail of the selected file. Not available when multiple files are selected.
Click Advanced to open the lower panel and Basic to close it. Use this to add files from different folders and to control file order precisely.

Table grids in the image

After automatic processing you may see table zones placed on a page. They are denoted with a table zone icon in the top left corner of the zone. To change a rectangular zone to or from a table zone, use its shortcut menu. You can also draw table type zones, but they must remain rectangular. You draw or move table dividers to determine where gridlines will appear when the table is placed in the Text Editor. You can draw or resize a table zone (provided it stays rectangular) to discard unneeded columns or rows from the outer edges of a table. The five grouped table handling tools on the Imaging toolbar can be used if the current page contains a table type zone. If the tool you need is not visible, click the triangle on the bottom right of the visible tool to display all the tools, then click the desired one.
Use the table tools and their cursors as follows: Insert row dividers Click the tool then click at the location in a table zone where you want to place a row divider. Avoid placing a divider so it cuts through text. Insert column dividers Click the tool then click at the location in a table zone where you want to place a column divider. Move dividers Click the tool and move the cursor to the row or column divider to be moved. It displays a double-headed arrow. Drag the divider as desired. You cannot drag it beyond its neighbor. Avoid placing dividers so they cut through text. Remove dividers Click the tool then click on a single row or column divider you want to delete. Do this if a divider is wrongly located, or if you want to change the appearance of the table in the final document. For example, you can place two columns of data in a single column by deleting the divider between the columns. Place/Remove all dividers Click this tool and click its cursor icon inside a table zone without dividers. Dividers will be auto-detected and placed. Click it in a table with dividers to make them all disappear. Press the Ctrl key as you click if you want to place, move or delete a divider in the current cell only. You can specify line formatting for table borders and grids from a shortcut menu. You will have greater choice for editing borders and shading in the Text Editor after recognition.

Using zone templates

Chapter 5

Saving and exporting
Once you have acquired at least one image for a document, you can export the image(s) to file. Once you have recognized at least one page, you can export recognition results a single page, selected pages or the whole document to a target application by saving to file, copying to Clipboard or sending to a mailing application. Saving as an OmniPage Document is always possible. This chapter presents the following topics:
X Saving original images X Saving recognition results
Saving a document as you work Selecting a formatting level Selecting advanced saving options Saving to PDF X Copying pages to Clipboard X Sending pages by mail
A document remains in OmniPage Pro after export. This allows you to save, copy or send its pages repeatedly, for example with different formatting levels, using different file types, names or locations. You can also add or re-recognize pages or modify the recognized text. With automatic processing and using the OCR Wizard, you specify the first saving destination before processing starts. When the last available
page is recognized (or proofread, if that was requested), an exporting dialog box appears. You can specify export any time the program is not busy. If you ask to export a document with unrecognized pages, you will be asked whether they should be recognized first. If you answer No, only results from recognized pages will be exported. If zones have been modified on recognized pages, you will be invited to re-recognize those pages before exporting.

Saving original images

You can save original images to disk in a wide variety of file types. See File types for opening and saving images on page 94. 1. Choose Save Image. in the File menu. In the dialog box that appears, select a folder location and a file type for your images. Type in a file name. 2. Select to save the current zone image only, the current page image, selected page images or all images in the document. In the last two cases you can have all images in a single multi-page image file, providing you set TIFF, MAX or DCX as file type. Otherwise each image is placed in a separate file. OmniPage Pro adds numerical suffixes to the file name you provide, to generate unique file names. 3. Click OK to save the image(s) as specified. Zones and recognized text are not saved with the file. If possible, the file is saved as displayed: that is black-and-white, grayscale or color. Black-and-white images are saved at their original resolutions. Grayscale and color images are reduced to approximately 150 dpi.

Pages acquired, 26 copying to Clipboard, 43, 84 deleting, 26, 28 Get Page button, 38, 40 location in document, 31 modified, 26 moving between, 26 multi-page image files, 48, 78, 94 multiple column, 52 navigation, 22, 76 new file on blank page, 48 pending, 26 proofed, 26 recognized, 26 reordering, 26
re-recognizing all, 39 saved, 26 selecting multiple, 26 sending as mail, 85 single column, 52, 55 single column pages with tables, 52 spreadsheet pages, 52 status, 26 zoned, 26 PaperPort, 46 Paragraph editing attributes, 73 retaining paragraph styles, 80 styles, 73, 79 PDF file input, 48, 94 PDF file output, 94 Pending pages, 26, 75 Perform OCR button, 38, 41 Performance problems during OCR, 92 Printing documents, 29 recognized pages, 29 Problems with fax recognition, 92 Process backgrounds, 53 Process options, 31 Process zones, 56 Processing automatic, 25, 38 basic steps of, 21 combined, 25, 41 documents in future sessions, 29 from other applications, 44 incomplete auto-processing, 39 interrupting auto-processing, 39 manual, 25, 40 restarting auto-processing, 39 step-by-step, 40 steps, overview, 21, 36 stopping automatic processing, 39 switching between manual and automatic processing, 25, 41 with OCR Wizard, 43 Professional dictionaries, 66 Prompt to save training data, 29 Proofed pages, 26 Proofing in later sessions, 29 options, 32, 65 Proofreader dialog box, 65 Proofreading OCR results, 65 Properties of zones, 55 Purpose of OPD files, 30 Purpose of training, 69
Reading order of image files, 48 text aloud, 75 Reading order, 74 Recognition accuracy, 50, 69, 91 languages, 31, 43, 91 performing, 40 problems with fax recognition, 92 saving results, 79 speeding up, 92 Recognized pages, 26 Rectangular zones, 57 Registering applications for Direct OCR, 45 OmniPage Pro, 17 Reinstalling OmniPage Pro, 96 Remote proofing, 29 Removing table dividers, 60 Reordering pages, 26 Repeated exporting, 77, 80 Replacing zone templates, 61 Re-recognizing pages, 41 Resizing zones, 57 Resolution, 27, 78, 91, 94 Restarting automatic processing, 39 Retain Fonts and Paragraphs view, 64, 81 Retaining paragraph styles, 79 Re-training, 69 Rows in tables, 60

Safe mode, 89 Sample image files, 34 Sample images files, 89 Saved pages, 26 Saving as OmniPage Document, 30, 80 documents, 77 documents as you work, 80 options, 82 original images, 78, 94 recognition results, 79 Save and Launch, 80 text, 79 to file, 44, 78 to OPD format, 30, 79 training files, 71 user dictionaries, 68 zone templates, 61 Scanners, 49, 91 drivers, 14 duplex, 51 setting up, 14
Quality of images, 50 Quick Start Guide, 34
Scanning black-and-white, 49 books, 31 brightness, 31, 50 color, 49 contrast, 31 grayscale, 49 input from, 49 pictures, 49 Wizard, 14 Schedule OCR, 47 input from folders, 93 watched folders, 93 Searching PDF output, 84 Selecting multiple pages, 26 Send Mail dialog box, 85 Sending pages by mail, 85 Setting up a scanner, 14 Setting up Direct OCR, 45 Settings Acquire Text, 45 effect of settings, 32 for Direct OCR, 45 in OCR Wizard, 44 in Options dialog box, 31 zone types, 59 Shortcut menus, 56 Single-column pages, 52, 55 pages with tables, 52 Slow recognition, 92 Solutions for poor performance, 88 Splitting zones, 55 Spreadsheet pages, 52 Standard toolbar, 22, 23 Starting a user dictionary, 68 Starting the program, 14 Step-by-step processing, 21, 40 Stopping automatic processing, 39 Storing zoning changes, 75 Subtracting from zones, 55 Suggestions during proofing, 66 Supported file types, 94 Suspect words, 64 Switching between manual and automatic processing, 25, 41 System or performance problems during OCR, 92 System requirements, 12
in single column pages, 52 inserting dividers, 60 moving dividers, 60 removing dividers, 59 rows in, 59 table handling in Text Editor, 73 zones, 56, 59 Task Manager, 89 Technical information, 87 Template zones, 52, 61, 91 Testing OmniPage Pro, 89 Text Editor, 22, 24, 32, 64 Text Editor views, 24, 64 Text saving, 79 Text zone, 56 Text-to-Speech facility, 13, 76 Thumbnails, 22, 24, 26 TIFF image files, 94 Toolbar docking and floating, 23, 66 Training, 69 automatic, 70 creating training data, 71 editing training files, 71 IntelliTrain, 70 loading training files, 71 manual, 69 prompt to save data, 29 saving training files, 71 training files, 71 unloading training files, 71 unsaved training data, 29 Troubleshooting, 87, 88 True Page, 24 True Page editing, 73 True Page export, 82 True Page view, 65 TWAIN drivers for scanners, 14 Two-page scanning, 31 Types of zones, 55
unloading, 68 Using Direct OCR, 45
Verifying text, 66 VGA mode, 89 Views No Formatting, 64 Retain Fonts & Paragraphs, 64 True Page, 65

Non-serif

Introduces new terms and presents sub-headings. Names topics in the online Help system. Presents longer option texts in dialog boxes. Presents file names:

sample.tif

A note presents an item of additional information. A tip presents ideas for using program features to accomplish specific tasks. OmniPage Pro 14 Office is a version of the product designed for more intensive use and is tailored to office environments. Its added features are denoted through the guide by this symbol. For a concise listing, see New features in OmniPage Pro 14 on page 17.

Getting online Help

In addition to using this guide, you can use OmniPage Pros online Help to learn about features, settings, and procedures. Online Help is available after you install OmniPage Pro.

Online HTML Help

Open OmniPage Pros online Help at its top level by choosing 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 OmniPage 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. Use Shift + F1 to get contextsensitive help for shortcut menu items. 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.

Tech Notes

ScanSofts web site at www.scansoft.com contains Tech Notes on commonly reported issues using OmniPage Pro 14. Web pages may also offer assistance on the installation process and troubleshooting.

Choose Select and test scanner or digital camera, then click Next. If you have a single installed scanner, it appears, along with any scanners previously set up with OmniPage Pro. If the required scanner is not listed, click Add Scanner. You see a list of all detected scanner drivers in the checkmarked categories. This can include network devices. Select one and click OK. To install a second device, you must run the Scanner Wizard again. The wizard reports whether the chosen scanner model already has settings in the scanner database. If it does, you do not need to test it. If it does not, you should test it. Click on Next. If you chose not to test, click Finish. If you chose testing, click Next to have the scanner connection tested. If the connection is in order, you see a menu of further tests. Choose which testing steps you want to run. The Basic test scan is recommended.
By default OmniPage Pro uses its own scanning interface, located in the Scanner panel of the Options dialog box. If you want to use your scanners own interface instead, choose Advanced settings and select this. Choose Modify hints only if you are experienced in configuring scanners or have been advised by Technical Support to do so. Click Next to start the tests. For the Basic scan test, insert a test page into your scanner. The wizard will scan using your scanner manufacturers software. Click on Next. Your scanners native user-interface will appear. Click on Scan to begin the sample scan. If necessary, click on Missing Image or Improper Orientation. and make the appropriate selections. Once the image appears correctly in the window, click on Next. Move through the remaining requested tests, following the instructions on the screen. When all the requested tests have been completed successfully, the Scanner Wizard reports and invites you to click on Finish. You have successfully configured your scanner to work with OmniPage Pro 14!
To change the scanner settings at a later time, or to setup or remove a scanner, reopen the Scanner Setup Wizard from the Windows Start menu or from the Scanner panel of the Options dialog box. To test and repair an improperly functioning scanner, open the wizard and select Test the current scanner or digital camera in the second panel, then work through the procedure described above, maybe using advice received from Technical Support. To specify a different default scanner, open the wizard to reach the list of setup scanners. Move the highlight to the desired scanner and be sure to close the wizard with Finish. To get updated settings for your current scanner, open the wizard, request a fresh database download in the first screen, then choose Use current settings with current device, click Next and then Finish.

Recognition results should be saved from OPD files before installing any OmniPage Pro upgrade. These files may not be upwards compatible to newer OPD file formats, or possibly only the images will be retained when the files are upgraded. When you open an OPD created by OmniPage Pro 10, only images are loaded. When you open an OPD created by OmniPage Pro 11, images and recognized pages are loaded, but no zones are retained. All three are retained in OPD files originating from OmniPage Pro 12.

How to save to OPD

Saving to OPD is done from the File menu, or by using the Save button in the Standard toolbar. The title bar shows the OmniPage Document file name. If you intend to create an OPD, you can save it to this file type at an early stage, for protection. Then use the Save button to save it periodically as you work. Save it again at the end of your session. When you close the document or exit the program, you will be prompted to save the document as an OPD. You can include one or more saves to the OPD file type in a workflow, along with steps to save images or recognition results to other file types, see Creating workflows on page 98.
When saving, you have two file type choices: OmniPage Document or OmniPage Document (Extended). The latter allows you to embed a user dictionary, training file or zone template file in the OPD. This can increase file size considerably but makes the OPD more portable. To embed any of these items, load them before the save to the OmniPage Document (Extended) file type.

How to load an OPD

Select Open OPD. from the File menu. The file type OmniPage Document includes both normal and extended OPDs. Choose the required file. An embedded user dictionary, training file or zone template can be resaved to a named file. Opening an OmniPage Document is also available as a workflow step.

Settings

The Options dialog box is the central location for OmniPage Pro settings. Access it from the Standard toolbar or the Tools menu. Contextsensitive help provides information on each setting. In overview, the settings panels are: OCR Use this to specify recognition languages, additional characters and a user or professional dictionary. Click the checkbox before a language to select or deselect it. Multiple selection is possible; select only languages appearing in the document to be recognized. The top items are the recently selected languages. Key in the first letters of a language to jump to it. You can also choose to optimize processing for speed or accuracy, define a reject character, handle font matching and provide a custom layout description. See page 51. Scanner Use this to define page size and orientation for scanning. You can also make brightness and contrast settings and define options for scanning multi-page documents, with or without an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF). You can change scanner setup settings or install a new scanner or change the default scanner. See Input from scanner on page 49. This

Settings 31

panel is not available if you requested display of your scanners native TWAIN interface when you set up your scanner. See Setting up your scanner with OmniPage Pro on page 14. Direct OCR This feature provides OCR services directly from your favorite word processor or similar application. Use this panel to register and unregister applications for Direct OCR and to enable or disable this service. You can also specify automatic or manual zoning and whether proofreading is desired or not. See How to set up Direct OCR on page 44. Process Use this to define where new images should be placed in the document, to request prompting for more pages when scanning, to specify two-page scanning for handling books, and other settings. Proofing Use this to define whether proofreading should begin automatically after recognition. Define also whether IntelliTrain should run, and use it to load or work with a training file. See Proofreading OCR results on page 65. General Change the interface language here. Enable an OmniPage icon on your taskbar that will list your workflows for quick start processing. Enable automatic detection of online updates and other settings. Text Editor Use this to show or hide some features in the Text Editor, to define the unit of measurement to be used and to turn word wrapping on or off. See Text and image editing on page 73.
Some settings have an effect only on future recognition. Examples are the recognition languages, a training file or scanner brightness. These settings should be correctly adjusted before you start processing. To have changes in these settings applied to already recognized pages, you will have to re-recognize them. Other settings are implemented immediately in all existing pages. Examples are Text Editor settings like word wrap or measurement units.

Chapter 3

Processing documents
This tutorial chapter describes different ways you can process a document and also provides information on key parts of this processing.
Quick Start Guide Processing overview Automatic processing Manual processing Combined processing Processing with workflows Processing from other applications (Direct OCR, PaperPort) Processing with the Batch Manager Defining the source of page images Describing the layout of the document Zones and backgrounds Automatic zoning Manual zoning Zone types and properties Working with zones Speed zoning Table grids in the image Using zone templates

The detailed topics are:

Quick Start Guide

Processing from other applications
You can use the Direct OCR feature to call on the recognition services of OmniPage Pro while you work in your usual word-processor or other application. First you must establish the direct connection with the application. Then, two items in its File Menu open the door to OCR facilities.

How to set up Direct OCR

1. Start the application you want connected to OmniPage Pro. Start OmniPage Pro, open the Options dialog box at the Direct OCR panel and select Enable Direct OCR. 2. Select process options for proofing and zoning. These function for future Direct OCR work until you change them again; they are not applied when OmniPage Pro is used on its own. 3. The Unregistered panel displays running or previously registered applications. Select the desired one(s) and click Add. You can browse for an unlisted application.
This must be selected for Direct OCR to function. Use these to specify interactive steps: manual zoning or proofing.
These applications are set to support Direct OCR.

How to use Direct OCR

1. Open your registered application and work in a document. To acquire recognition results from scanned pages, place them correctly in the scanner. 2. Use the target applications File Menu item Acquire Text Settings. to specify settings to be used during recognition. Any settings not offered take their values from those last used in OmniPage Pro. Settings changed for Direct OCR are also changed in OmniPage Pro.
3. Use the File Menu item Acquire Text to acquire images from scanner or file. 4. If you selected Draw zones automatically in the Direct OCR panel of the Options dialog box, or under Acquire Text Settings., recognition proceeds immediately. 5. If Draw zones automatically is not selected, each page image will be presented to you, allowing you to draw zones manually. Click the Perform OCR button to continue with recognition. 6. If proofing was specified, this follows recognition. Then the recognized text is placed at the cursor position in your application, with the formatting level specified by Acquire Text Settings.
If OmniPage Pro is running when Direct OCR is called from a target application, a second instance of OmniPage Pro is launched. See the Direct OCR topics in online Help for more information. These include a topic Direct OCR Questions and Answers. The Readme file and the ScanSoft web site may present more recent information relating to specific target applications.
How to use OmniPage Pro with PaperPort
The PaperPort program is a paper management software product from ScanSoft. It lets you link pages with suitable applications. Pages can contain pictures, text or both. If PaperPort exists on a computer with OmniPage Pro, its OCR services become available and amplify the power of PaperPort. You can choose an OCR program by right clicking on a text applications PaperPort link, selecting Preferences and then selecting OmniPage Pro 14 as the OCR package. OCR settings can be specified, as with Direct OCR.

Input from image files

You can create image files from your own scanner, or receive them by e-mail or as fax files. OmniPage Pro can open a wide range of image file types. See File types for opening and saving images on page 115. Select Load Image File in the Get Pages drop-down list. Files are specified in the Load Image File dialog box. This appears when you start automatic processing. In manual processing, click the Get Page button or use the Process menu. The lower part of the dialog box provides advanced settings, and can be shown or hidden. Here, it is displayed.
This is the current folder. Use Shift+ clicks or Ctrl+clicks to place more than one file in the File name text box. Specify the file type(s) you want listed. This can be used for multipage TIFF, DCX, MAX and PDF files. This is a blank image file for the saving option: "New file for each blank page". Select this to see a thumbnail of the selected file. Not available when multiple files are selected.
Click Advanced to open the lower panel and Basic to close it. Use this to add files from different folders and to control file order precisely.
Use these arrows to change the file order.
Normally the Add button places each file at the bottom of the file list. To place a file at a different location, highlight a file in the list. The new file will be added immediately below the lowest highlighted file. In OmniPage Pro Office, files can also be imported from FTP locations, Microsoft SharePoint or ODMA sources. The minimum width or height for an image file is 50 pixels; the maximum is 71cm. (28 inches). See online Help for pixel limits.

Input from scanner

You must have a functioning, supported scanner correctly installed with OmniPage Pro. See Setting up your scanner with OmniPage Pro on page 14. You have a choice of scanning modes. In making your choice, there are two main considerations: Which type of output do you want in your export document? Which mode will yield best OCR accuracy?
Scan black and white Select this to scan in black-and-white. This is not suitable if you want color in your output document, nor if you want pictures to look like so-called black-and-white photographs: they need grayscale scanning. For best OCR accuracy, use this for crisp black texts on a white or light background. Black-and-white images can be scanned and handled quicker than others and occupy less disk space. Scan grayscale Select this to use grayscale scanning. Choose this to keep black-andwhite photographs in the output document. For best OCR accuracy, use this for pages with varying or low contrast (not much difference between light and dark) and with text on colored or shaded backgrounds. Scan color Select this to scan in color. This will function only with color scanners. Choose this if you want colored graphics, texts or backgrounds in the output document. For OCR accuracy, it offers no more benefit than grayscale scanning (for a given resolution), but will require much more time, memory resources and disk space.

Templates are available in Direct OCR, in the Workflow Assistant and also for use in Batch Manager jobs.

Chapter 4

Proofing and editing
Recognition results are placed in the Text Editor. These can be recognized texts, tables and embedded graphics. This WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor offers the following features, detailed in this chapter:
The editor display and views Proofreading OCR results Verifying text User dictionaries Languages Training Text and image editing On-the-fly editing Reading text aloud
The editor display and views
The Text Editor displays recognized texts and can mark words that were suspected during recognition with wavy underlines:
Green Non-dictionary words: These were recognized confidently, but are not found in any active dictionary: standard, user or professional. Blue Words with suspect characters: These contain unrecognized characters or are dictionary-approved words containing characters recognized with lower confidence. Red Suspect words: These are likely to be non-dictionary words with one or more suspect characters, but may also be suspect for other reasons.
Choose to have non-dictionary words marked or not in the Proofing panel of the Options dialog box. All markers can be shown or hidden as selected in the Text Editor panel of the Options dialog box. You can also show or hide non-printing characters and header/footer indicators. The Text Editor panel also lets you define a unit of measurement for the program and a word wrap setting for use in all Text Editor views except No Formatting view. OmniPage Pro 14 can display pages with three levels of formatting. You can switch freely between them with the three buttons at the bottom left of the Text Editor or from the View menu. Graphics and tables can appear in all views. Here are the main differences between the views: No Formatting view This displays plain decolumnized left-aligned text in a single font and font size, with the same line breaks as in the original document. Most formatting buttons and dialog boxes are disabled. Rulers are not displayed. You may find this view convenient for verifying and editing the text. Retain Fonts and Paragraphs view This displays decolumnized text with font and paragraph styling. The horizontal ruler is displayed. You may find this view convenient for verifying, editing and modifying the text together with its styling.
True Page view True Page view tries to conserve as much of the formatting of the original document as possible. Character and paragraph styling is retained. All page elements, including columns, are placed in boxes and frames. Reading order can be displayed by arrows. See from page 73. The formatting level for export is chosen separately at export time.

Proofreading OCR results

After a page is recognized, the recognition results appear in the Text Editor. Proofreading starts automatically if that was requested in the Proofing panel of the Options dialog box. You can start proofing manually any time. Work as follows: 1. Click the Proofread OCR tool in the Standard toolbar, or choose Proofread OCR. in the Tools menu. 2. Proofing starts from the current page, but skips text already proofed. If a suspected error is detected, the OCR Proofreader dialog box colors the suspect word in its context, and provides a picture of how it originally looked in the image.
This tells why the word is marked. Edit panel: The marked word is shown in its marker color: red, blue or green.
The image of the suspect word is highlighted. Both parts of a word split by hyphenation will be shown.
This window shows the relevant part of the original image. Click inside it to enlarge or reduce the display.
Drag a corner or the bottom of the dialog box to resize it.
3. If the recognized word is correct, click Ignore or Ignore All to move to the next suspect word. Click Add to add it to the current user dictionary and move to the next suspect word. 4. If the recognized word is not correct, modify the word in the Edit panel or select a dictionary suggestion. Click Change or Change All to implement the change and move to the next suspect word. Click Add to add the changed word to the current user dictionary and move to the next suspect word. 5. Color markers are removed from words in the Text Editor as they are proofread. You can switch to the Text Editor during proofing to make corrections there. Use the Resume button to restart proofing. Click Page Ready to skip to the next page and Document Ready or Close to stop proofreading before the end of the document is reached. Voice-driven proofing is available in OmniPage Pro 14 Office. See Voice recognition on page 107. The proofreaders suggestions are numbered. Speak the number of the suggestion you want to accept.
A page is marked with the proofed icon on its thumbnail and in the Document Manager if proofing ran to the end of the page. If markers were hidden in the Text Editor when proofing is started or Find Next Suspect is chosen, the markers become shown and remain shown after proofing. If Mark non-dictionary words is turned off in the Proofing panel of the Options dialog box, proofing will stop only on words marked red or blue, and not on nondictionary words. This is useful when checking pages with many non-dictionary words, such as product catalogues containing codes and bibliographies containing many proper names. Use Recheck Current Page in the Tools menu to run a new spelling check on a page that has already been proofed. Do this to check words typed or pasted in the Text Editor after proofing was done. This works even if Mark non-dictionary words is turned off in the Proofing panel.

On-the-fly editing

This allows you to modify a recognized page through re-zoning, without having to re-process the whole page. When on-the-fly editing is enabled, zone changes (deleting, drawing, resizing, changing type) immediately make changes in the recognized page. Conversely, when you modify elements in the Text Editors True Page view, this changes the zones on that page. On-the-fly zoning can also be used with unrecognized pages. Two linked tools on the Image toolbar control on-the-fly zoning. One of these tools is always active whenever no recognition is in progress. Click this to activate on-the-fly editing. The red signal shows there are no stored zoning changes. Click this to turn on-the-fly editing off. Your zoning changes are stored; the on-the-fly tool displays a green signal to show there are stored changes. To activate these changes, do one of the following: Click the on-the-fly tool with a green signal. The zoning changes will cause changes in the Text Editor. Click the Perform OCR button to have the whole page (re)recognized, including your zone changes. For details on how changes are handled in on-the-fly zoning and their effects in the Text Editor views, see On-the-fly processing in online Help.

On-the-fly editing 75

Reading text aloud
The ScanSoft RealSpeakTM speech facility is provided for the visually impaired, but it can also be useful to anyone during text checking and verification. The speaking is controlled by movements of the insertion point in the Text Editor which can be mouse or keyboard driven.

To hear text:

One character at a time, forward or back Current word One word to the right One word to the left A single line Next line Previous line Current sentence From insertion point to end of sentence From start of sentence to insertion point Current page From top of current page to insertion point From insertion point to end of current page Previous, next or any page Typed characters

Use these keys:

Right or left arrow. Letter, number or punctuation names are spoken. Ctrl + Numpad 1 Ctrl + right arrow Ctrl + left arrow Place the insertion point in the line Down arrow Up arrow Ctrl + Numpad 2 Ctrl + Numpad 6 Ctrl + Numpad 4 Ctrl + Numpad 3 Ctrl + Home Ctrl + End Ctrl + PgUp, PgDown or navigation buttons Each typed character is pronounced, one by one, including punctuation.
The Text-to-Speech facility is enabled or disabled with the Tools menu item Speech Mode or with the F5 key. A second menu item Speech Settings. allows you to select a voice (for example, male or female for a given language), a reading speed and the volume. You must ensure the language selection is appropriate for the text you want to hear.
The three basic speech keys are grouped together on the numeric keypad.

Speak current word

Select this first. It determines which other options are available. Select this to automatically open the saved file in its target application. Click this to view and change output options for the current file type.
Possible choices: All pages Current page Selected pages Select pages with the thumbnails or in the Document Manager. Possible choices: Create Create Create Create one file for all pages one file per page a new file at each blank page a new file for each image file.
3. Select a folder location and a file type for your document. Select a page range, file options and a formatting level for the document. See Selecting a formatting level on page 83. 4. Type in a file name. Click Converter Options. if you want to specify precise settings for the export. See Selecting converter options on page 85.
5. Click OK. The document is saved to disk as specified. If Save and Launch is selected, the exported file will appear in its target application; that is the one associated with the selected file type in your Windows system or in the advanced saving options for your selected file type converter.
Graphics, table grids and other properties are saved in the document only if the selected file type supports them, and if these are specified for retention in the converter options for the current file type. If more than one export file is created, OmniPage Pro will append numerical suffixes to your file name to create unique file names. If you select Create a new file at each blank page with input from image files, you can place blank image files in the document. See Input from image files on page 48. If you select Create a new file for each image file, no file name is required. Each output file will take its name from the input file that generated it, with just the extension changed.
Selecting a formatting level
The formatting level for export is defined at export time, in the saving dialog box (Save to File, Copy to Clipboard, Send in Mail or other dialog box). Three of the levels correspond to the format views of the same name in the Text Editor. However, the level to be applied for saving is independent of the formatting view displayed in the Text Editor. When exporting to file or mail, first specify a file type. This determines which formatting levels are available. A table in chapter 7 summarizes this. See File types for saving recognition results on page 116. The formatting levels are: No Formatting (NF) This exports plain decolumnized left-aligned text in a single font and font size. When exporting to Text or Unicode file types, graphics and tables are not supported. You can export plain text to nearly all file types and target applications; in these cases graphics, tables and bullets can be retained.

Workflow Assistant

This allows you to create and modify workflows. It is also used to create and modify Batch Manager jobs; see the next section. The Assistant offers a selection of steps, each represented by an icon. When you choose a step with settings, clicking Next brings up a dialog box allowing you to check and change them. You click Next again to receive a new set of step icons. At any moment in the process, the Assistant offers icons for all steps that are logically possible at that point.

Creating workflows

Select New Workflow. in the Workflow drop-down list, or from the Process menu. Or click the Workflow Assistant button in the Standard toolbar when no workflow is selected. The opening Assistant panel offers three starting points. Choose Fresh Start to begin with no steps in the workflow diagram on the right. Then click Next to choose your first step. Choose OmniPage Workflows to see a list of existing workflows. These are the four sample workflows plus any you have created. Select one as source. Its steps will appear in the workflow diagram on the right. This is illustrated in the following diagram. Choose Batch Manager jobs and then select one. Its steps appear in the workflow diagram, but all its timing instructions are ignored.
The starting point for your workflow will be an existing one.
Workflow diagram: The series of steps in your chosen workflow appear here.
This lists your workflows. Select one to see its steps in the panel on the right.
When you are satisfied with your choice, click Next.
If you selected a workflow or job as source, you proceed by modifying its steps and settings. See the next section. If you save the workflow to a new name, the changed settings apply to the new workflow only and are not written back to the workflow or job used as the source. Similarly, when you make a new workflow with Fresh Start as source, its panels present settings as they were last set in OmniPage Pro. Any changed settings enter the new workflow, but do not affect the settings in the program. We now describe the creation of a workflow from a fresh start. Click Next to proceed to the panel where the input is defined:
Choose one input step: Load Image Files: Choose this and click Next to define file names or request run-time prompting and input settings. Scan Images: Choose this and click Next to define scanner settings for the workflow. Open OmniPage Document: Choose this to open a partially processed OPD file that your new workflow should handle. Click Next to name the file. Use Current Document: Choose this to use a document in OmniPage Pro as input. Be sure OmniPage Pro is running with a suitable document when you start a workflow with this step. Other input: Depending on your OmniPage Pro version and computing environment, other input sources may be available.

Troubleshooting Solutions to try first Testing OmniPage Pro Increasing memory resources Increasing disk space Text does not get recognized properly Problems with fax recognition System or performance problems during OCR Supported file types File types for opening and saving images File types for saving recognition results Uninstalling the software

Troubleshooting

Although OmniPage Pro is designed to be easy to use, problems sometimes occur. Many of the error messages contain self-explanatory descriptions of what to do check connections, close other applications to free up memory, and so on. Sometimes that is all the troubleshooting help you need. Please see your Windows documentation for information on optimizing your system and application performance.

Solutions to try first

Try these solutions if you experience problems starting or using OmniPage Pro: Make sure that your system meets all the listed requirements. See System requirements on page 12. Make sure that your scanner is plugged in and that all cable connections are secure. Visit the support section of ScanSofts web site at www.scansoft.com. It contains Tech Notes on commonly reported issues using OmniPage Pro. Our web pages may also offer assistance on the installation process and troubleshooting. Turn off your computer and your scanner, turn your scanner back on, and then restart your computer. Make sure other applications are functioning properly. Use the software that came with your scanner to verify that the scanner works properly before using it with OmniPage Pro. Make sure you have the correct drivers for your scanner, printer, and video card. Visit ScanSofts web page through the Help menu and consult its scanner section for more information. Run ScanDisk for Windows 98 or Me, or Check Disk for other operating systems to check your hard disk for errors. See Windows online Help for more information. Defragment your hard disk. See Windows online Help for more information. Uninstall and reinstall OmniPage Pro, as described in the last section, Uninstalling the software on page 118.
110 Technical information

Testing OmniPage Pro

Restarting Windows 98, Me, 2000, XP or 2003 Server in its safe mode or Windows NT in VGA mode allows you to test OmniPage Pro on a simplified system. This is recommended when you cannot resolve crashing problems or if OmniPage Pro has stopped running altogether. See Windows online Help for more information.
Your scanner will not run with OmniPage Pro in safe mode or VGA mode, so do not test scanner problems in this configuration.

Supported file types 115

If you try to save a black-and-white image to JPEG format, the program will offer conversion to grayscale. With TIFF G3 and G4 it will offer conversion to blackand-white. Saving to PDF format is supported, with five options. Two of these, Image only and Image on text, export original images. To save image-only PDFs, choose Image in the saving dialog box. To save to other PDF types, choose Text. See Saving to PDF on page 88.
File types for saving recognition results
Recognized pages are saved by choosing Text in the saving dialog box. This table shows which formatting levels are available for each file type.
File type eBook (1) HTML 4.0 (2) HTML 3.2 (2) Microsoft Excel 97, 2000 Microsoft PowerPoint 97 Microsoft Publisher 98 Microsoft Reader (1) Microsoft Word 2003 (WordML) Microsoft Word 97, 2000, XP PDF (Normal) PDF Edited PDF with image on text PDF with image substitutes RTF Word 2000, 97, 95/6.0 (3) WordPad WordPerfect 8, 9, 10 XML (1) Text and Text with line breaks (4) Text Comma Separated (4) Text Formatted (4) Wave Audio Converter OmniPage Document (5) Extension opf htm htm xls rtf rtf lit xml doc pdf pdf pdf pdf rtf rtf wpd xml txt csv txt wav opd n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a No ForRFP matting Flowing Page True Page Spread sheet Graphics Tables ()

Saved as displayed

Graphics
File type supports graphics. File type supports graphics, with export choice to retain or drop graphics. Tables File type supports tables in grids, no table handling choices at export time. File type supports tables, choose to use grids or tab separated columns. File type does not support table grids, choose to convert to tab or space separated columns.
These saving file types are available only in OmniPage Pro 14 Office. When saving to HTML, all graphics are saved as separate JPEG image files. Recognition results are sent to Clipboard in RTF 95/6.0 and will be pasted in this format if possible, and as Unicode or ASCII text if not. All text formats are available as Text or Unicode. The latter can handle the widest range of accented characters. OmniPage Documents can be reopened by OmniPage Pro. It can open OPD files created by OmniPage Pro 11 or 12. These files enter the program as unnamed documents. To keep an OPD in the old format and also save it as a new OPD, choose a different name to avoid overwriting the old file.
Uninstalling the software
Sometimes uninstalling and then reinstalling OmniPage Pro will solve a problem. OmniPage Pros Uninstall program will not remove files containing recognition results or any of the following user-created files: Zone templates (*.zon) Training files (*.otn) User dictionaries (*.ud) OmniPage Documents (*.opd) Job files (*.xjf) Workflow files (*.xwf) To uninstall from Windows NT, 2000, XP or Windows Server 2003 you must be logged into your computer with administrator privileges.