Readiris Pro 12 Getting Started Guide
The purpose of this guide is to get you up to speed with how the program works and how to make it work better for your purposes. We will show you step by step how to get up and running at fast as possible

Program setup

3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
To begin go to File > Select Source and select the entry marked twain for your scanner. If this box is empty then you will be unable to scan from Readiris. To fix, install the latest version of the scanner software. Click on the Scanner button and find the closest match to your scanner. This step selects the scanner profile. If there is no match choose Twain other models. Note that you can use the Open button to process already scanned images or PDF files. Set the paper size and color. Grayscale or Color produces better results for documents that your want to edit or change and makes available the image adjustment option to improve results that will be discussed later. ADF = Automatic Document Feeder. This is the on/off switch. Checked is on, unchecked is off. Scan another page after is for flat bed scanners to set a time interval to place new pages on the glass and have the program continue automatically. Invert is for situations where the scanner returns a black page with white text Digital Cameras can be used to process images from that source Process as 300 DPI is for existing image files that may have scanned at a lower resolution. 300 is the optimal balance between good scan speed and accuracy. Increased resolutions may actually degrade results. Smoothen color images improves the appearance of grayscale and color images that may be on your document. Auto Exposure Automatically sets brightness and contrast for the scan. When unchecked adjustment sliders will appear on the left, if available for your scanner model. Invert Corrects white text on black background problem. Process as 300 DPI - Overrides scan settings to force 300 DPI Smoothen color images Improves appearance of images that are scanned with the text on the document.
Prior to clicking on Scan or Open you can set the options button to have the program perform automatic operations on the scanned image. If the pages are crooked use Page Deskewing. If they need to be rotated then select the appropriate option there. Page Analysis is set by default and is necessary for the OCR. Leave it checked unless you intend to manually zone the document.
New to version 12 are smart tasks located in the main screen. These allow you to quickly access the most commonly use formats. The output formats are restricted to those appropriate to the option selected. To configure right click on the desired smart task. You can use your scanner or open a pre-scanned image or PDF file. Then click configure to select other options. Also new to this version is iHQC or intelligent high quality compression for PDF and XPS formats. Level one is standard in the Pro version with higher levels reserved for the Corporate Edition. It allow the scanning and archiving of full color document that are no bigger than comparable black and white scans. The flexibility to select other formats can be found by clicking on the Format button at the bottom of the left toolbar. This will display the window on the next page where you can select between send to or External file.
Recognize + Save. Process the images to the selected output format.
Send to - When you process the document by clicking on Recognize + Save it will prompt you to save the file and then open it in the selected Program. External File - Allows you save the file without opening, sending by email or opening the file as with Sent to. Email works only with Outlook or Outlook Express The Layout tab has selections for the degree of formatting accuracy that you will to apply. Pictured is the maximum.
Note when only the Recreate sour ce is selected that each paragraph is contained within a text box.

Zoning

When you scan or open your first image will notice the numbered and color coded boxes that appear on screen when you scan a document. These are called zones and correspond to the 2nd through 6th buttons on the right toolbar. The numbers are the order in which they are processed. It is crucial to know that Readiris is an Image and PDF processing software. There is no editing of the document from within Readiris. Any needed editing will be done in the output document. Instead it examines the picture that comes from the scanner and decides what it can do with each section of the document. The way it lets you know how it will process these sections is with these color codes. These zones are necessary because they direct how the processing occurs. If there are no zones then there will be no output. This can be a way of excluding unneeded information by simply deleting the zone over that area.

Text Picture Table Bar Code Hand printing
= Orange = Blue = Purple = Green = Light blue
These can be altered in several ways if they dont suit your purpose. They can be deleted by selecting with the top arrow button then tapping the delete key on your keyboard. The appropriate zone then can be redrawn using one of those tools. Alternatively you can right click on the zone and choose Window > Type and select the desired treatment.
3/10 Ignore exterior zone is useful to exclude everything out side of the area

Image Quality

Another aspect to consider is Readiris can only convert images that are correctly oriented. It will not work if they are sideways or upside down. If you find this is happening use the rotate tool to turn the image or click the Options button and select Detect page orientation prior to the scan and the program will do it for you. Readiris works by comparing images of letters to known letter shapes and making the conversion. It depends on crisp clean letter shapes to do this. If the image is to light or dark then the results suffer. Below are actual results from the program and the images it was working with. Images are on the left and the resultant text on the right This is the ideal image to work with as seen from the perfect results. Image "Autoformatting" recreates a facsimile copy of the original document: the text blocks, graphics and tables are recreated in the same place and the word and paragraph formatting are maintained across the recognition.
This image is too light. The letter shapes begin to have gaps and incomplete Text shapes. Since this is not too extreme there is about 75% accuracy. There would be a lot of needless clean up to deal with in the output document. Text Image "Autoformatting" recreates a f(ICsimile cop." of the original document: the te:\t blocks. graphics and tables arc Text recreated in the same place and the word and paragraph formatting are maintained across the recognition. This is too dark. Here the letter shapes begin to fill in and become fuzzy. Letters like a, e, and os are almost completely obscured. Text Accuracy is reduced to about 20% which is not usable. Text Image II Autoformtlftina" recreates a ltalmo. copy of the arigiDal docummt: the tat b1ocb, pIphics and tables Il'e recnatecl in the IIIIIle pl8ce 8Dd the word Text 8Dd paraanph farmtlfti"l Il'e maintJtinM ICI'OIIthe recopition.
Text The way to cope with the situation is to scan or rescan the document in grayscale. This will allow you to adjust the image within Readiris to either lighten or darken as needed. See the next page for an explanation of this Text process.

Adjust Image

After scanning the document in Grayscale, go to View menu and uncheck display documents in color. Go to view again and click on Actual Size. This will magnify the image so you can see the letter shapes to gauge how light or dark they are. Next go to Process on the file menu and choose Adjust Image. This brings up the window below. Move the brightness slider and click apply. Repeat until satisfied with the appearance and then click OK. Click Recognize + Save and the results should be improved for the problem image.
For documents that have stray marks scattered across the page you can use the Despeckle (remove specks) tool to remove them from the image. The procedure is the same as above.

Output Formats

Readiris Pro 12 is about providing choices to help you accomplish your goals. Many times though it may confusing to know what format to use in what situation. Below are listed every file format available in the program. On the next page we will discuss these in more detail. However these are most used formats. Microsoft Word 2007/2010 (DOCX) This is used when you want to edit, change or capture the text from the scanned image. Microsoft Word 97/2000/2003(RTF) - This is used when you want to edit, change or capture the text from the scanned image. Cross platform and fully featured for a large number of programs Adobe Acrobat / Reader - Image-Text - This is used when you just want a copy of the scanned image and have no interest in changing the document. This creates a dual layer file with the picture of the scan on top of and hiding the converted text. Using the iHQC you can achieve very small file sizes while making the document searchable. Microsoft Excel (HTML) - This is used to work with spreadsheets to convert and manipulate the numbers and text.

Send ToFormats

External FileFormats
There are two separate ways to output from Readiris. Either in the Send to, which uses a script to send the results to the output application or in the External File which saves the file and opens it in the associated application. PDF Portable Document Format is a file format created by Adobe Systems Inc to enhance document exchange. Documents in PDF are independent from device and display resolution and can be read on any operating system (Windows, Macintosh, Linux). These files are a combination of vector graphics, text, and raster graphics. They support links (internal and external), forms, JavaScript and 3D objects. PDF documents may have different levels of security (view, print, select) and even DRM. Since the 90s, Adobes PDF has become the standard file format for document exchange. Readiris supports four different configurations. This format is used for documents for storage or transmittal where editing the text is not needed. Image only - No text layer. Image over Text - Used for most purposes. Image of document covers converted text. Text over Image - Rarely used but maintains unified background for easy capture by desktop publishing programs. Text only - No image layer so OCR mistakes will be evident. RTF Rich Text Format is a free document file format developed by Microsoft in 1987 for cross-platform document interchange. Most word processors are able to read and write RTF documents. Most word processing software supports RTF format import and export, often making it a "common" format between otherwise incompatible word processing software. RTF is capable of the same formatting precision as Microsoft.doc format without the threat of macro viruses. RTF is used for documents sent to Microsoft Word and is appropriate when the goal of the conversion is to edit the final document or repurpose the text. Readiris provide options to choose what level of formatting accuracy is desired. Create body text. Use this option if you don't want Readiris to format your document. You get continuous, running text with no differences in fonts or font sizes. All formatting, if any, is done afterwards by the user. Retain word and paragraph formatting. This option keeps the general format structure of the scanned document. However, no graphics are captured, the text blocks and columns aren't recreated - the paragraphs just follow each other. The tables are recaptured correctly. Recreate source document. This option will make a true copy of the document you just scanned. The text blocks, tables and graphics are recreated in the same place, and the word and paragraph formatting are maintained across the document. These sub options are available depending on what degree of final editing is required. - Use columns instead of frames Uses columns instead of text boxes (frames) to position the information on the page - Insert column breaks Confines text to the column where located instead of flowing to the next column

Word (DOCX) for Word 2007 & 2010 Word Markup Language was introduced in Word 2003 and is the standard format in Word 2007 and is based on XML (extensible markup language) replacing the binary format used in previous versions of Word. The same options that work for RTF apply here as well. DOC A binary format containing text formatting information (as well as scripts and undo information) used by Microsoft Word versions prior to Word 2007. Available only using the external file option. ODT Open Document Textfile are created by programs using the OASIS Open Document XML-based standard. Open Document text files can be opened and edited with any Open Office-compatible program, including NeoOffice (Mac), AbiWord (Mac & Windows), and KWord (Unix). HTM Hypertext markup language is the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means to describe the structure and formatting of text-based information in a document. This format can be used my Microsoft Excel or a Web browser such as Internet Explorer. Additionally it can be used to send the result to a web page editor like Adobe Dreamweaver. When used for Excel there are two relevant formatting options. Create body text Straight text using the same font and font sizes. There will be no text wrapping or merging of cells. Retain Word and Paragraph Formatting Maintains fonts and font sizes. Text wrapping and merging of cells will be used to position elements on the page. Excel Spreadsheet ML SpreadsheetML is an XML dialect developed by Microsoft to represent information in an Excel workbook. It was introduced in Excel 2003 and is the default format in Excel 2007. The same formatting options for html also apply here. In this format there are these additional options. Ignore all text outside of tables Will include only the spreadsheet itself, no information outside the grid will be included. Convert Figures into numbers Numbers as text will be converted to numbers. Create one worksheet per page One worksheet is created per scanned page. If a page contains tables and text, all will be placed on the same worksheet. Create one worksheet per table One worksheet is created per table in scanned page(s). Useful for tables of different sizes or headings

CSV Comma Separated Value is a text format for storing tabular data which uses a comma to separate values. It is usually associated with Excel on Windows machines. Since it can only display a single table it is sometimes referred to as a flat file. TXT ANSI or ISO-8859 A single byte format for display and editing of plain text using Latin characters. Traditional format used for Window now being replaced by Unicode. Unicode or UTF-8 A double byte format capable of displaying Asian, Arabic or Cyrillic characters along with the traditional Latin character set. XPS A Microsoft format similar to a PDF file, but is based on XML instead of the PostScript language. XPS files can be opened with Microsoft's XPS Viewer, included with Windows Vista; it is also included with the XPS Essentials Pack, which can be downloaded from Microsoft and used with Windows XP.

About Forms.

Readiris is a very good tool for converting scanned or pre-scanned images, including Adobe Acrobat PDF files into real text documents. However, it cannot perform miracles. There are some kinds of documents it will have trouble working with. While Readiris Pro 12 is vastly improved over previous versions it will have trouble with forms. A form typically has lines, boxes, check boxes and the like and is intended to be filled out on screen. Readiris is intended to convert pictures of letters and numbers to actual text and numbers. Lines and boxes are usually graphical elements or table borders that require more advanced features of the word processor. Below is an IRS 1040 form that Readiris has no hope of replicating. In fact if you tried to create this from scratch in Microsoft Word it would be a long complex task if it is possible at all. That is the rule of thumb for these kinds of documents. If they cannot be created in the word processor without extraordinary effort then Readiris will have the same difficulty. The form on the right would be processed and outputted into the word processor in reasonable shape. There would be additional work entailed to get it into its final format. From that point it could be saved as a template for reuse.

If this is your primary purpose then a dedicated forms software may be more appropriate.
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Readiris 12 Pro

Getting Started
This guide will help you through the basics of how to use Readiris 12 Pro and utilize most of its features so that you will be able to OCR documents quickly, easily, and successfully. For first time users the program may appear complicated because of all the toolbar buttons in the program. They are there to cope with specific issues you may find with your document. At the beginning you can ignore many of them until you encounter a situation where they may be needed. As a result we will not cover every option available in the program since the user manual already does that. The program can accept images from a scanner, digital camera or pre-scanned image or PDF file. To setup your scanner go to the Readiris menu and choose Preferences and select your scanner from the list. Make sure that you have the latest update from your Scanner Manufacturer. Readiris 12 Pro supports twain based scanners. You can find the drivers in the following location on your hard drive: Hard Drive/Library/Image Capture/ Twain Data Sources Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard includes drivers for many older printer and scanner models built right into the operating system. These can be used by checking the enable image capture option. More information can be found here; http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669
In most cases you will need to run Readiris in 32 bit mode since most scanner drivers are not 64 bit compatible. Go to the Readiris application and get info to make that change. Set the everyone permissions to Read/Write Highlight the Readiris.app and click on the gear icon to access the get info option.
Readiris 12 Pro Mac Getting Started Guide I.R.I.S. Technical Support 2009

Zones and options

Readiris is a conversion tool to that transforms scans, images or PDF files into text based files. There is no editing done within the program. That will be done in the output application. When a document is scanned or opened within Readiris it places labeled overlays called zones on the picture. These will be marked with these icons which identify how those areas are going to be converted. To change these Control Click on them to choose a different treatment or use the Select Zones tool to draw your own. If those icons do not show up on your document then the Page Analysis was not turned on in the Options button prior to the scan. You can do so after the fact by going to Process > Analyze Page.
Text Graphic Table Barcode Hand Printed
- Straightens crooked or skewed pages. - Automatically rotates the page to face right side up. - Analyzes image based on content - Removes stray marks or speckles. Below is a summary of the main program window with the numbered & labeled zones shown on the input image. Realize that these zones can be changed if they are not suitable for your purpose. Beneath the language selection on the left is the output format selection. Clicking on the Format dropdown reveals numerous other choices. To open the output directly in the application of your choice click on choose and navigate to the program in Applications.

Output Format

Now it is time to set where the output is going by clicking on the bottom left button or Settings > Text Format. This brings up the Text Format dialogue. The choices are : HTML ODT DOCX XLXS PDF RTF Unicode - Used for Excel or Web pages - Open Document Format used with Open Office Word Processor - Used with Word 2008 - Used with Excel 2008 - Adobe Acrobat most often you will use the Image - Text option - Rich text format used for Word, Pages or Open Office, cross platform - Straight text
Different options will appear with these selections. Pictured below left is the RTF which is the most commonly used. The next decision to make is in Layout which deals with the formatting of the output document. For the closest replication you would select Recreate source document and the sub options; Use columns instead of frames and Insert column breaks. There are occasions where such formatting is unneeded so the Create body text or Retain word and paragraph formatting are other options. The merge lines is checked by default but may be turned off if you are dealing with sentence fragments such as found in poetry or song lyrics. Page Sizes allows you to include or exclude output page dimensions. We want Readiris to allow us to specify a file name and where to save it so the Ask file name and location option should be checked. The Send to allows you to select which application you want the results sent to. If its not in the list click on Choose to navigate to it in your Applications folder on your Mac and select the preferred application. Of course that application has to be able to work with the selected format. Click OK and these options are now set. These can be saved as the default or a reusable profile by going to the Settings menu and choosing Save as default or Save.

Image Quality

Another aspect to consider is Readiris can only convert images that are correctly oriented. It will not work if they are sideways or upside down. If you find this happens use the rotate tool to turn the image or click the Settings and select Detect page orientation prior to the scan and the program will do it for you. Since Readiris works by comparing images of letters to known letter shapes and making the conversion. It depends on crisp clean letter shapes to do this. If the image is to light or dark then the results suffer. Below are actual results from the program and the images it was working with. This is the ideal image to work with as seen from the perfect results.
"Autoformatting" recreates a facsimile copy of the original document: the text blocks, graphics and tables are recreated in the same place and the word and paragraph formatting are maintained across the recognition. This image is too light. The letter shapes begin to have gaps and incomplete shapes. Since this is not to extreme there is about 75% accuracy. There would be a lot of needless clean up to deal with in the output document.
"Autoformatting" recreates a f(ICsimile cop." of the original document: the te:\t blocks. graphics and tables arc recreated in the same place and the word and paragraph formatting are maintained across the recognition. This is too dark. Here the letter shapes begin to fill in and become fuzzy. Letters like a, e, and os are almost completely obscured. Accuracy is reduced to about 20% which is not usable.
II Autoformtlftina" recreates a ltalmo. copy of the arigiDal docummt: the tat b1ocb, pIphics and tables Il'e recnatecl in the IIIIIle pl8ce 8Dd the word 8Dd paraanph farmtlfti"l Il'e maintJtinM ICI'OIIthe recopition. The way to cope with the situation is to scan or rescan the document in grayscale. This will allow you to adjust the image within Readiris to either lighten or darken as needed. See the next page for an explanation of this process.

Image Adjustment

After scanning you can adjust the brightness and contrast to compensate for quality problems on the original scan. Go to the View menu and uncheck Image in Color. Return to View > Image Size and select Actual Size. This will zoom in on the document so that you can see the character shapes clearly.

Go to the Process Menu > Adjust Image to bring up the adjustment dialog pictured below.
The three controls let you brighten, adjust contrast and remove stray marks or specks. The idea is to adjust the slider and click on Apply to see the affect that is has on the quality of the text. When satisfied click on OK to save the changes. These changes apply only to the selected page. If this needs to be done across a range of pages you may want to consider pre-processing them in an image editor.

Processing

Once the document is scanned in or opened in the software the Recognize + Save button becomes available. The software can handle multiple pages to output to a single file. As more documents are added you will see thumbnails begin to line up on the fly out panel on the right. The term recognize is both the action to process the document and a description of what is taking place. The software looks at each character (letter, number or barcode) that appears in the image and compares it to a known character shape and makes the conversion based on that. The program will process the image and prompt you to select a file name and file save location. It will then open the document in the program that was selected on the previous page. At this point the document has been converted to text so that the desired edits can be made.

Limitations

Readiris is a very good tool for converting scanned or pre-scanned images, including Adobe Acrobat PDF files into real text documents. However it cannot perform miracles. There are some kinds of documents it will have trouble working with. While Readiris Pro 12 is greatly improved over previous versions it will have trouble with forms. A form typically has lines, boxes, check boxes and the like and is intended to be filled out on screen. Readiris is intended to convert pictures of letters and numbers to actual text and numbers. Lines and boxes are usually graphical elements or table borders that require more advanced features of the word processor. Below is a IRS 1040 form that Readiris has no hope of replicating. In fact if you tried to create this from scratch in Microsoft Word it would be a long complex task. That is the rule of thumb for these kinds of documents. If they cannot be created in the word processor without extraordinary effort then Readiris will have the same difficulty. The form on the right would be processed and outputted into the word processor in reasonable shape. There would be additional work entailed to get it into its final form. From that point it could be saved as a template for reuse. If this is your primary purpose then a dedicated forms software may be more appropriate. On the Mac, the full version of Adobe Acrobat is usually the best option.