ABBYY FineReader 6.0 OCR User guide

Award-winning OCR:
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Optical Character Recognition Program
ABBYY FineReader
Version 6.0
User’s Guide
© 2002 ABBYY Software House
Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not bear any commitment
on the part of ABBYY Software House.
The software described in this document is supplied under a license agreement. The software may only
be used or copied in strict accordance with the terms of the agreement. It is a breach of the "On legal
protection of software and databases" law of the Russian Federation and of international law to copy
the software onto any medium unless specifically allowed in the license agreement or nondisclosure
agreements.
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any from or by any means, electronic or
other, for any purpose, without the express written permission of ABBYY Software House.
© ABBYY Software House, 2002. All rights reserved.
© ParaType, Inc., 2001. Type 1 fonts are licensed from ParaType, Inc.
ABBYY, BIT Software, FineReader, «fontain image transformation», Lingvo, Scan&Read, Scan&Translate,
«one-button principle», «Your computer reads by itself» are registered trademarks of ABBYY; Try&Buy,
DOCFLOW are trademarks of ABBYY Software House.
Adobe
®
, Adobe Logo, Adobe PDF (Portable Document Format) and Adobe Acrobat
®
are the registered
trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
All other trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their legal owners. P.O. Box 72,
Moscow, 125015, Russia. ABBYY..
Contents
Contents
Chapter 1
Installing and Starting ABBYY FineReader
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Software and Hardware Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Installing ABBYY FineReader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Installation on a Network Server and on a Network Workstation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Starting ABBYY FineReader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Chapter 2
Quickstart
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
How to input a Document in less than a Minute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
The ABBYY FineReader Main Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
ABBYY FineReader Toolbars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Chapter 3
General Features of ABBYY FineReader
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
What is an OCR System? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
New Features of ABBYY FineReader 6.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Supported Document Saving Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Supported Image Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Chapter 4
Acquiring the Image
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Scanning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Setting Scanning Parameters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
Tips on Brightness Tuning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Scanning Multi-page Documents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Opening Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Scanning Dual Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Adding images of business cards to a batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Working with The Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Page Numbering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Batch Image Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Chapter 5
Page Layout Analysis
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
General Information on Page Layout Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Block Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Automatic Page Layout Analysis Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Drawing and Editing Blocks Manually . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Manual Table Layout Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Using Block Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
ABBYY FineReader 6.0 User’s Guide
Chapter 6
Recognition
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
General Information on Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Recognition Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Source Text Print Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Other Recognition Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Background Recognition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Recognition with Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
How to Train a User Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
How to Edit a User Pattern . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
User Languages and Language Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
How to Create a New Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
How to Create a New Language Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Chapter 7
Checking and Editing Text
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Checking Text in ABBYY FineReader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Options for Checking and Editing Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
Adding and Deleting Words To/from the User Dictionary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Editing Text in ABBYY FineReader . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Editing Tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Chapter 8
Saving into External Applications and Formats
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
General Information on Saving Recognized Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Text Saving Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Saving the Recognized Text in RTF and DOC Formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Saving Recognized Text in PDF Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Saving Recognized Text in HTML Format . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Saving the Page Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Chapter 9
Working with Batches
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
General Information on Working with Batches . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Creating a New Batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Opening a Batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Adding Images to A Batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Batch Page Number . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Closing a batch page or the whole batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Deleting a Batch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Full-text Search in Recognized Batch Pages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Chapter 10
Network Document Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Work with the Same Batch over A Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Group Work with the Same User Languages and Dictionaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Group Work with Customized Dictionaries (Languages with Dictionary Support ONLY) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Hot Keys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
1
WELCOME!
Thank you for choosing ABBYY FineReader!
We all need to input text into our computers from time to time, whether it be
newspaper/magazine articles, contracts, business letters, faxes, price lists, or questionnaires. For
years there was only one way to input printed documents – you had to type them in from the
keyboard. Remember the long hours you spent typing in text from one document or another?
What a great thing it would have been had the computer been able to read the text by itself,
straight from the sheet of paper.
Sometimes dreams do come true! FineReader Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software
enables your computer and scanner to do just this - to read printed text by themselves.
But can’t the scanner do the job on its own?
No. The scanner only takes a photograph of the text and converts it into a set of black and
white dots (an image file), which cannot be edited using word processing applications such as
MS Word, WordPerfect, Word Pro, etc. What is needed instead is an OCR system that looks for
symbols in each set of black and white dots, “recognizes” the letters in each symbol, and, final-
ly, converts the image into text that text editors and desktop systems are able to deal with.
So now I can input documents into my computer automatically?
Yes, now you can input documents into your computer automatically, without having to retype
them all out on your keyboard.
Enjoy!
2
ABBYY FineReader 6.0 User’s Guide
User’s Guide
The User’s Guide introduces you to the basics of using ABBYY FineReader. Each chapter starts
with a short summary description and a list of the chapter’s contents.
Online Help
FineReader's online Help contains basic and advanced information on program features, set-
tings and dialogs. Online Help is provided in HTML format and has been designed for quick
and easy information retrieval.
Readme file
The Readme file contains the latest information on the software.
Technical Support
If, after having consulted both your documentation and the ABBYY website, you still require
assistance, e-mail us at support@abbyy.com. Note that our technical support experts will need
the following information from you to be able to deal with your enquiries:
The serial number of your copy of FineReader
Your scanner make and model
A general description of the problem and the full error message text
(if you have encountered an error message)
Your Windows operating system version
Any other information you consider important.
Note: Some system information can be obtained by clicking on System Info in the About
ABBYY FineReader dialog (menu Help/About).
All licensed users of the current and previous versions of the application are entitled to free
technical support.
3
This chapter deals with ABBYY FineReader installation procedures and related
subjects, such as system requirements and workstation/network installation.
A special installation program carries out the set up of FineReader. Always use the
diskette/CD-ROM supplied as part of your software package. Installation is not
possible using copied files.
Chapter Contents:
Software and hardware requirements
Installing ABBYY FineReader
Network server/workstation installation
Starting ABBYY FineReader
Chapter 1
Installing and Starting
ABBYY FineReader
4
ABBYY FineReader 6.0 User’s Guide
Software and Hardware Requirements
For ABBYY FineReader to function correctly your computer must meet the following system
requirements:
1. PC with an Intel
®
Pentium
®
200 MHz processor or higher
2. Microsoft
®
Windows
®
XP, Microsoft
®
Windows
®
2000, Windows
®
NT
®
Workstation
4.0 with Service Pack 6 or greater, Windows
®
95/98/Me
3. 64 Mb (Windows XP/2000), 32 Mb (Windows Me/98/NT 4.0), 16 Mb (Windows 95) of
RAM, plus 16 Mb of RAM of memory for each additional processor (in case of a multi-
processor system)
4. Microsoft
®
Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher (Microsoft
®
Internet Explorer 5.5 included on
the FineReader CD-ROM)
5. 90 Mbytes of free hard-disk space for minimal program installation
6. 70 Mbytes of free hard-disk space for the program operation
7. 100% Twain-compatible scanner, digital camera or fax-modem
8. CD-ROM drive
9. Mouse or other pointing device
10. VGA or other high-resolution monitor
Installing ABBYY FineReader
Installation options
Once the set-up program has run a system check, type in your name and select the folder you wish to
install ABBYY FineReader in. The setup program will then display several installation options. Select the
option of your choice.
Typical (recommended) - all components are installed including all recognition languages,
a single interface language selected during installation.
Custom installation - any number of program components may be installed (including all
available recognition languages).
Note: If you wish to use user dictionaries and patterns from a previously installed version of
FineReader, do not uninstall it prior to installing the new version. All existing user patterns and diction-
aries will then be available for use in the latest version.
Installing ABBYY FineReader
If your software package contains both a CD-ROM and a diskette, proceed as follows:
1. Insert the Installation diskette into the floppy disk drive.
2. Insert the CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.
3. Click the
Start button on the Taskbar and select the Settings/Control Panel item.
4. Double-click the
Add/Remove Programs icon.
5. Select the
Install/Uninstall tab and click the Install button.
6. Follow the installation instructions.
If your software package contains only a CD-ROM, proceed as follows:
1. Insert the CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.
2. Click the
Start button on the Taskbar and select the Settings/Control Panel item.
3. Double-click the
Add/Remove Programs icon.
4. Select the
Install/Uninstall tab and click the Install button.
5. Follow the installation instructions.
5
Chapter 1 - Installing and Starting ABBYY FineReader
Note: An Installation Code is required to complete installation if one of following applies to your
computer: there is no 3.5" floppy disk drive present; installation is being carried out using non-original
or corrupted media; applications have been installed that are in conflict with ABBYY FineReader. The
Installation Code can be obtained from ABBYY or one of its resellers, and is created from the Product
ID (issued automatically by the installation program) and the serial number (printed on the registration
card). To obtain your
Installation Code, simply fill out the relevant form at www.abbyy.com. Alterna-
tively you can scan the completed registration card and e-mail it to us, or call the technical support
number.
If you come across an error message, see the Readme.htm file for assistance (located on the ABBYY
FineReader CD-ROM).
Installation on a Network Server
(System Administrators Only)
Installation of the ABBYY FineReader 6.0 Corporate Edition on a network server can only be carried
out by the system administrator. Proceed as follows:
If your software package contains both a CD-ROM and floppy disk, insert the installation
floppy disk and run setup.exe from the FineReader CD-ROM with the /a command-line
option.
If your software package contains only a CD-ROM, run setup.exe from the FineReader
CD-ROM with the /a command-line option.
Additional licenses
Following installation on a network server, you will need to add serial numbers if FineReader is to be
used by more than one user:
1. Run LicSetup.exe from the folder\program files\ABBYY FineReader 6.0 where ABBYY
FineReader 6.0 Corporate Edition was installed. The
Add License dialog will be displayed.
2. Enter a new serial number and click the
Add button.
Note:
1. You cannot use logical drives created by the SUBST command.
2. If you choose "installation to a network", SP 6 and IE 5.5 will NOT be automatically installed
on the server. If you choose any other installation method, SP 6 and IE 5.5 will be auto-
matically installed on your system. To avoid any difficulties related to the absence of these
components, the system administrator should check if both of these components are
installed on the network station prior to installation. If they are not installed, the system
should be updated before installing ABBYY FineReader.
3. Check before installation that all users have read-write access to the network folder named
Users (this folder is automatically created during application installation and stores
temporary files).
Installation on a Network Server and on a
Network Workstation
6
ABBYY FineReader 6.0 User’s Guide
Installation on a Network Workstation
If ABBYY FineReader 6.0 Corporate Edition has been installed on a network server, the setup program
can be run directly from the server.
To install ABBYY FineReader 6.0 Corporate Edition on a workstation:
Run Setup.exe from the network folder containing ABBYY FineReader Corporate Edition 6.0.
Follow the installation instructions.
Note:
1. You should have administrative rights to the workstation on which ABBYY FineReader is
being installed.
2. If the message "Can't load FineReader. There is no free license." is displayed, check the
number of additional licenses added in the Add License dialog, as well as the number of
users currently working with FineReader.
3. For ABBYY FineReader 6.0 to function correctly, the user must have read-write access to
the folder in which the batch is stored.
To start ABBYY FineReader:
Select the ABBYY FineReader Professional 6.0 (Corporate Edition 6.0) item in the
Start/Programs menu.
Note: Make sure your scanner is connected to your computer, plugged-in, and turned on before you
start FineReader. If your scanner has yet to be installed, please consult the user guide supplied with the
scanner for instructions on how to install it.
If you do not have a scanner, you can still recognize image files using FineReader (see the sample files
located in the ABBYY FineReader/Demo folder).
Starting ABBYY FineReader
7
In this chapter you will learn how to input a document without having to know
anything about the way in which ABBYY FineReader works! You will also learn
which windows and toolbars are contained within FineReader.
If you already have experience of working with FineReader, you may wish to skip
this chapter altogether and go directly to New features of ABBYY FineReader 6.0
in chapter 3.
Chapter Contents:
How to input a document in less than a minute
The ABBYY FineReader main window
ABBYY FineReader toolbars
Chapter 2
Quick Start
8
ABBYY FineReader 6.0 User’s Guide
How to Input a Document in Less than a Minute
1. Turn on the scanner if it has a separate power source to your PC.
Note: Many scanner models have to be turned on before you turn on the computer.
2. Turn on the computer and start FineReader (
Start/Programs/ABBYY FineReader
Professional 6.0 or Corporate Edition 6.0). The FineReader main window will appear on
your screen.
3. Place the page you want read onto the scanner.
4. Click the arrow to the right of the Scan&Read button. Select the
Scan&Read Wizard item
in the local menu.
The
Scan&Read Wizard is a special scan&read/open&read mode
during which you are guided through each step of the scanning
process. A sample image file is contained in the
Demo folder, which,
in turn, is located in the folder containing FineReader.
5. Follow the
Scan&Read Wizard instructions.
The document input process is made up of four steps: scanning, reading, spellcheck and saving the rec-
ognized text.
Once scanning is complete, a "photograph" of the source page will appear in the
Image window. The
application then asks you to set the recognition parameters. Once this has been done, it starts recogniz-
ing the image, analyzing its layout at the same time. Image areas already recognized are highlighted in
blue.
Recognized text is displayed in the
Text window, where it can be checked and edited. Once you have
checked the document, the
Scan&Read Wizard will prompt you to either send the recognized text to
the application of your choice, save it to file, or go on processing more images.
The ABBYY FineReader Main Window
FineReader performs all document processing in batch mode. A batch is a folder containing images,
recognized text files and other FineReader information files. Each scanned image is converted into a
separate batch page. If there are several images in a single image file (for example, if you are dealing
with a multipage TIFF), each file image will be converted into a separate batch page.
When you start FineReader for the first time, the default batch is opened. You can choose to work with
the default batch or create a new batch of your own. See General Information on Working with Batches
for more information.
9
Chapter 2 - Quickstart
You will see the FineReader main menu at the top of the FineReader Main window. The following four
toolbars are displayed under the main menu: the
Standard, Formatting, Image Tools, and WizardBar
toolbars. You may show/hide any toolbar.
To show/hide a toolbar, click the
Toolbar item in the View menu or the local menu. Right-click any
toolbar to open the local menu. You will see the toolbar list, with the currently selected toolbars high-
lighted. Click the name of the toolbar you want shown/hidden.
At the bottom of the FineReader Main window you will find the status bar, which displays information
on application status and the operations currently being performed, as well as brief information on
menu items and buttons selected.
The Batch window is always displayed in the
Main window. Three more windows may also be dis-
played: the
Image, Zoom and Text windows.
The
Image, Zoom and Text windows are interconnected: when you double-click a certain image area
in the
Image window, the respective area is displayed in the Zoom window, and the pointer in the Text
window moved to the position clicked on (if text has already been recognized on the page).
To alter the on-screen windows arrangement:
Select one of the following items: Batch Window >...; Image and Text Windows >...;
Zoom Window >.... in the View menu.
Main window
Standard toolbar
Formatting toolbar
Wizard Bar
provides tools for full text
processing: Scanning,
Recognition, Spellcheck
and Saving
Text window
displays the recognized text for
checking and editing
Image window
displays the scanned
image for viewing
and drawing blocks
Zoom window
displays the zoomed-in image of
the text line you edit or part of
an image you are working on
Image Tools toolbar Batch window
provides tools for drawing and displays the pages of the open
editing blocks, zoom tools batch in one of two modes:
and tool for editing images thumbnail (as now) or details
10
ABBYY FineReader 6.0 User’s Guide
To switch between windows:
Press CTRL+TAB.
Press ALT+1 to activate the Batch window.
Press ALT+2 to activate the Image window.
Press ALT+3 to activate the Text window.
Some recommended windows arrangements: Useful if/when:
Batch window on the left; Batch View: Thumbnails; …a batch contains only a small number of
Image, Text and Zoom windows pages
Batch window at the top: Batch View: Details; …a batch contains a large number of pages
Image, Text and Zoom windows
Batch window at the top; Batch View: Details; …you perform layout analysis
Image and Zoom windows and recognition
Batch window at the top; Batch View: Details;…you edit the recognized text
Text and Zoom windows
There are four toolbars in FineReader: the Standard, Image Tools, Formatting and WizardBar tool-
bars. Using the toolbars is without doubt the most convenient way of accessing the application’s func-
tions. However, the same functions can also be accessed via menus or hot keys. To find out what func-
tion a particular toolbar button has, just move the mouse pointer to it. The button's tooltip will then be
displayed, and the status bar will also display additional button details.
The WizardBar toolbar
ABBYY FineReader Toolbars
The WizardBar toolbar buttons launch the main FineReader functions: Scanning, Reading, Checking
and Saving the recognition results. The numbers on the buttons indicate the order in which the respec-
tive document input actions should be performed. You may perform each action separately or combine
them into one by clicking the
Scan&Read Wizard button. In the latter case, the Scan&Read Wizard
will then perform the full document processing cycle automatically.
Each button features several function modes. Click the arrow to the right of the button and select the
mode of your choice in the local menu. The button icon always displays the mode that was last select-
ed. Click the button itself to run this mode again.
11
Chapter 2 - Quickstart
Scan&Read
Scan&Read Wizard - launchesScan&Read mode. FineReader guides you
through the document processing process and advises you on how best to
obtain the desired result.
Scan&Read - starts scanning and reading a document using the current
options.
Scan&Read Multiple Images - scans and reads several consecutive images.
Open&Read - opens and reads the images selected in the Open dialog.
1-Scan
Open Image - adds image(s) to the batch. Each added image is copied to
the batch folder.
Scan Image - scans an image.
Scan Multiple Images - scans images continuously. Select the Stop Scan-
ning item in the File menu to bring scanning to a stop.
Options - opens the Scan/Open Image tab (Options dialog), to allow
scanning options to be set etc.
2-Read
Read - reads the open batch page.
Read All - reads all unrecognized batch pages.
Options - opens the Recognition tab (Options dialog) to allow document
recognition options to be set.
3-Check Spelling
Check Spelling - searches the text for misspelt and uncertain words (i.e.
ones containing uncertainly recognized characters).
Options - opens the Check Spelling tab (Options dialog) to allow
spellcheck options to be set.
4-Save
Save Wizard - opens the Save Wizard to allow saving options and the des-
tination application to be selected.
Save Text to File - saves the recognized text to a disk file.
Send Selected Pages To – should you only want to export only selected
batch pages, select the pages concerned and specify the application to
which they should be exported. FineReader will export the pages to the
application of your choice without saving the text beforehand.
Send All Pages To - exports all recognized pages to the application of your
choice without saving the text beforehand.
Options - opens the Formatting tab (Options dialogue) to allow saving
options to be set.
12
ABBYY FineReader 6.0 User’s Guide
The Standard toolbar
The Standard toolbar features file and image tools (undo/redo an action, scroll the batch pages, clean
and rotate the image) and the list of
Recognition languages.
The Formatting toolbar
The Formatting toolbar features various text formatting tools. You can edit the text and text format-
ting in the
Text window.
The Image Toolbar
The Image Toolbar features page layout analysis (e.g. block creation and editing) tools, as well as tools
for increasing/decreasing the image scale and image editing (e.g. image despeckle etc.)
Font
New
batch
Open
batch
Copy
Previous
page
Scale
Show Image
and text windows
Show Text
window only
Undo
Rotate
clockwise
Zoom out
Cut
Redo
Rotate
counter-
clockwise
Recognition
language
Paste
Next
page
Zoom In
Show Image
window only
Font size
Bold
Analyze layout
Draw recognition area
Draw text block
Draw table block
Draw picture block
Select objects
Add block part
Cut block part
Renumber blocks
Delete blocks
Add vertical separator
Add horizontal separator
Delete separator
Zoom Out
Zoom In
Eraser
Block
drawing tools
Block frame
and positin tools
Table block
tools
Image tools
Italic
Subscript
Center
Justify
Previous
error
Underlined
Superscript
Align left
Next error
Align right
Display nonprinted
characters
13
Chapter 2 - Quickstart
Note: Block creation and editing buttons can also be used in the Zoom and Image windows.
Setting up the toolbar
Note: The appearance of the FineReader main window, or more precisely, the number of buttons
displayed on FineReader’s toolbars, depends on your monitor’s resolution. To display all available but-
tons you need to increase your monitor’s resolution. However, note that FineReader’s functionality is
not reduced if some buttons remain invisible - the buttons represent only one way of accessing
FineReader’s functions, all of which are also accessible via menus. FineReader allows you to cus-
tomize the
Standard, Image and Formatting toolbars: application command buttons can be added
and removed at will.
Each menu item has its own icon. See the full list of commands and their respective buttons in the
Customize (Tools>Customize menu) dialog in the Commands list.
To add a button to a toolbar:
1. Select the category of your choice in the Categories field.
Note: The list of commands is grouped according to menu item, and the choice of category
will affect the list of commands displayed in the Commands list.
2. Select the toolbar to which you wish to add a button in the
Toolbars field.
3. Select a command in the
Commands list and click the (>>) button.
The selected command will be added to the list of toolbar commands and displayed on the chosen
toolbar in the main window.
To remove a button from a toolbar:
Select the button you wish removed in the Toolbar buttons list and click the (<<) button.
Note:
1. The order in which buttons are listed also determines their order on the toolbar. To change
button order, select the command in the list of current toolbar commands and click the
Up
(Down) button to move the command up (down) the list.
2. Commands may be distributed between a set of groups: select the
Separator item in the
Commands list and click the Add button. A separator will be added to the list of toolbar
buttons. The separator may be moved at will.
3. To restore the default set of buttons on a given toolbar, select the toolbar concerned in the
Toolbars list and click the Reset button. To restore the default set of buttons on all
toolbars, click the Reset All button.
15
FineReader provides you with all the tools you need for inputting documents
into your computer. Just click on the Scan&Read button once and all the rest is
done for you - so you don't have to spend hours studying the user’s guide before-
hand. You can either send the recognized text to the word processor or a spread-
sheet application of your choice; save it in RTF/DOC, PDF or HTML format (and
retain the full document layout); or export the recognized text to a database
application.
Chapter Contents:
What is an OCR-system?
New features of ABBYY FineReader 6.0
Supported document saving formats
Supported image formats
Chapter 3
General Features of
ABBYY FineReader
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ABBYY FineReader 6.0 OCR User guide

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