Using Direct OCR

You can use OmniPage Pro's Direct OCR feature to perform OCR in other applications. For example, you can scan, recognize, and paste text directly into a word-processing document without ever leaving the application.

You can use Direct OCR with most word-processing and spreadsheet applications that have been registered with OmniPage Pro. An application must be installed on your computer in order to use it with Direct OCR. See Registering Software Applications with Direct OCR for more information.

TIP: To make sure Direct OCR is turned on, open the Options dialog box and check that Enable Direct OCR is selected on the Direct OCR settings tab. See Direct OCR Settings for more information.

To use Direct OCR in an application:

  1. Align your document in your scanner if you plan to scan.

  2. Open the application in which you want to insert recognized text.

    The application must be registered to work with Direct OCR. You do not need to open OmniPage Pro itself.

  3. Place the cursor at the location in your document where you want to insert recognized text.

    If no document is open, recognized text will be pasted to the Clipboard.

  4. Choose Acquire Text Settings... in the application's File menu if you want to check the current settings. Otherwise, skip to step 7.

  5. In the Acquire Text Settings dialog box:

    1. Select whether you will scan or load an image in the Image Source drop-down list.

    2. Select Auto Zones if you want OmniPage Pro to automatically create zones on the image for you. Otherwise, the image will be displayed with tools for creating zones manually.

    3. Select Proofread OCR if you want to automatically check for errors after OCR.

  6. Click OK when you are done selecting settings.

  1. Choose Acquire Text... in the application's File menu when you are ready to start the OCR process.

    OCR processing occurs according to the selected settings. Recognized text appears at the cursor location in your application. If no document is open, text is pasted to the Clipboard.

NOTE: Text formatting, such as bold and italics, is retained if the application supports RTF information. Otherwise, only plain text will be pasted. Graphics are retained if the application supports bitmap images.