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1993-09-06
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WinOCR
User's Guide
Optical Character Recognition Software
version 2.0a
copyright (c) 1993 SoftTech
First published 1993
SoftTech
London
All Trademarks acknowledged
0. CONTENTS
1. USING THE MANUAL
2. GETTING STARTED
3. BASIC PRINCIPLES
4. TUTORIAL
5. PROGRAM FEATURES
6. MENUS
Main menu
Action menu
Bitmap menu
Text menu
View menu
Options menu
Help menu
7. BOXES
Tool Box
Template Box
Font Box
Memory Box
Error Box
8. RIBBON
9. STATUS LINE
1. USING THE MANUAL
It seems to be agreed that manuals are boring and that
people don't read them. If you have read this far I will
quickly tell you how to get the best out of this one and
therefore become familiar with your software more quickly
and save yourself some time and effort.
Remember that getting to grips with new software is a
learning process, so get to grips with the basics first,
and work on small sections at a time. The recommended
order for working through the manual and also for
mastering the software is:
Get started
Print and Read the file README.DOC.
Install the software.
Get it running.
Use the sample bitmap
Load the bitmap.
OCR it.
Move the text output to your text editor.
Explore the options
Hide the Edit Box.
Shrink/Enlarge the Bitmap.
Hide/Show the Ribbon and Status bar.
Your first image
Scan your own image.
Load it into the program.
Adjust the options as necessary.
OCR it.
Move the text to your text editor.
Explore the program
Select part of the bitmap for processing.
Modify a font.
Flip/Rotate bitmaps.
2. GETTING STARTED
This section introduces you to WinOCR and gets you
started. I hope you find the program a useful and
indispensable time-saver.
Introduction
The WinOCR program is an optical character
recognition program. It has been produced to save
your time and effort in copying code from books and
magazines into your computer.
WinOCR can recognise all the printable characters
from the ASCII character set (from ! to ~). This
means that you can concentrate on your programming
and let your scanner do the typing.
WinOCR is designed for Microsoft Windows 3.1. For
best results it is best to run Windows in 386
enhanced mode - for details see your Microsoft
Windows User's Guide.
The program has been specially designed to work with
the low-cost hand held scanners that are becoming
increasingly common.
Installing WinOCR
To install WinOCR see the file README.DOC. This file
also contains other information about the program
that you should be read.
Starting WinOCR
WinOCR works in Windows. Therefore before attempting
to start it you should start Windows. If you do not
know how to it is recommended that you read the
Windows User's Guide and familiarise yourself with
the Windows environment. Once windows has started
you can start WinOCR in a number of ways, e.g. by
1. double-clicking the icon.
2. using FILE-RUN option in program manager.
3. double-clicking winocr.exe in file manager.
The WinOCR program now appears. You should see a
window like that of other Windows programs.
First Glance.
If the program has been set up correctly you should
now see the main window of the program.
This has the usual Windows appearance. If you are
not familiar with its components - menu, scroll bar,
maximise box, etc. - you should refer to the Windows
User's Guide.
Note the presence of the ToolBox. This is a special
feature of WinOCR and is used for frequently
performed actions and tools such as the selection
tool used for selecting parts of the bitmap for
processing.
3. BASIC PRINCIPLES
This section explains the basic principles behind Optical
Character recognition. It explains what you should be
trying to achieve and what you should do to reach your
goal.
WinOCR is used in the following way. (1) Identify the
book or magazine you want to scan code from. (2) Scan the
image using your scanner. (3) Transfer the bitmap to
WinOCR. (4) Process the bitmap using WinOCR. (5) Transfer
the text to its destination, i.e. from WinOCR into your
source file.
These steps are gone through below in more detail. The
next section is a tutorial that uses the sample bitmap to
go through the process step by step.
Identify your text
Obviously the first thing you have to do is to
identify the text you want to OCR. It may for
example be a section of program code. The text
should be able to be scanned, with experience you
will probably learn what scans well and what
doesn't.
Scanning
WinOCR works with many scanners. You should have
installed and tested your scanner before reaching
this point. You will know how to prepare bitmaps.
Once you have done so you should either save the
bitmap to disk or copy it to the clipboard. Note the
following:
1. File Format
WinOCR works with files in Windows Bitmap
format. Also it only reads monochrome files.
This means you should set your scanner to line
art mode.
2. Resolution
Images - in most cases - should be scanned at
the highest resolution possible - usually
400dpi. This will tend to produce large
bitmaps. However, WinOCR contains commands that
allow large bitmaps to be viewed easily on a
small screen.
3. Brightness
Bear in mind that how the brightness is set can
affect the quality of the bitmap produced by a
scan and hence the accuracy of the recognition.
Too dark and neighbouring characters will touch
or merge into one another reducing accuracy;
too light and the characters will break up. A
little testing will show the best setting for
your scanner.
Transferring Bitmaps to WinOCR
There are two ways to transfer bitmaps to WinOCR.
Either via the file-system or by using the
clipboard. The choice is yours.
Processing the Bitmap
Once the bitmap is in WinOCR you can now OCR it.
First of all you should see it in the main window
and shrink it until you can see the entire bitmap.
You can now select part of the bitmap and OCR it.
For example, if the image you have scanned consists
of both a picture and text, you can select the text
area and apply the OCR program to it alone.
Retrieving processed text
Once the recognition is complete WinOCR enables you
to transfer the text into other programs or onto
disk.
This is done through the Windows clipboard or by
dividing the main WinOCR window. The lower part of
the window is an editor where the text produced by
the program can be edited before being saved to disk
or sent to the clipboard.
4. TUTORIAL
This section contains a tutorial that takes you step by
step through the process of using WinOCR to transform a
scanned image from a bitmap into text. The bitmap you
will be using is a sample that should have been placed
onto your disk during installation.
Performing Actions in Windows
Most of the actions you will be asked to perform
during this tutorial involve selecting an item from
the menu. This manual doesn't explain how to do
this (see your Windows User's Guide for help).
Actions in Windows can usually be performed in more
than one way. (1) By using the mouse. (2) By using
the keyboard to select options from the menu. (3) By
using the keyboard and pressing a combination of
accelerator keys. (4) By pressing a button with the
mouse.
How to open a bitmap
The first thing to do is to load a bitmap into the
program. The bitmap is on disk and is called
SHARE.BMP. Use one of the following alternative to
open it:
1. Select OPEN from the BITMAP menu.
2. Use the key sequence ALT-B-O.
3. Use the key combination CTRL+O.
A dialog box will appear. Find the file SHARE.BMP
and open it.
You should now see the bitmap you have chosen
displayed in the main program window.
How to OCR a bitmap
Once you have opened a bitmap you can process it.
Use one of the following alternatives to do so:
1. Select RECOGNISE from the ACTION menu.
2. Use the key sequence ALT-A-R.
3. Use the key combination CTRL+R.
4. Press the button labelled GO in the
ribbon.
You should see the program begin to process the
bitmap.
How to save the text
Once you have processed the bitmap you can place the
text in the EDIT BOX; that is the lower half of the
program window. You can read the text, compare it to
the bitmap and make changes to the text itself or
its format. If there are any errors you can also
correct them at this stage.
Once the text is to your satisfaction you can save
it to disk.
1. Select SAVE from the TEXT menu.
2. Use the key sequence ALT-T-S.
3. Use the key combination CTRL+S.
A dialog box will appear. Type in the filename, e.g.
MYTEXT.TXT and save the file.
5. PROGRAM FEATURES
So you have got the sample bitmap loaded and have
processed it. Perhaps you have also scanned a bitmap of
your own and processed that - or perhaps you had
difficulties at that stage. This section explains briefly
and in one place what the system can do - so that you can
get an overview of its abilities. See the reference
section for how to carry out the procedures mentioned
here.
Input
As well as being able to load bitmaps from file, the
system can also accept bitmaps pasted in from the
clipboard. A bitmap that has been loaded into the
system can be saved to disk if necessary.
Layout
The main program window can be rearranged. The main
components of the window are (1) the ribbon bar, (2)
the bitmap area, (3) the edit area and (4) the
status line. Each of these can be displayed or
hidden by the user, e.g. to make a larger area of
the bitmap visible. The program has scroll bars that
allow different parts of the bitmap to be viewed;
they can be turned on or off as required.
View
Bitmaps that have been loaded into the system may be
very large. The size at which they are displayed can
be adjusted using the shrink option. They can be
reduced up to 1/16 of the original size. There is an
enlarge option to reverse the process.
Modifying the Bitmap
Sometimes the scan will have produced an image that
needs to be rotated, flipped or have colours
reversed. The program can do this.
Selecting part of the bitmap
Sometimes the bitmap that has actually been scanned
may contain areas that you don't want to OCR. The
program has tools to allow you to mark out an area
for processing. Once an area has been selected it
can be adjusted or reset. The program can also turn
off the option to select areas.
Processing the bitmap
The optical character recognition can be stopped and
restarted and aborted if necessary. After it has
been halted it can be restarted from the same point.
This gives you the option to restart the process if
some of the options were not correctly set.
Templates
The program uses templates. This is done to achieve
high accuracy and speed in the situations in which
the program is designed to be used. A template
specifies the characteristics, including the size,
of the font that the image consists of. The program
has the ability to generate new templates based on
the built-in set of fonts and you can save them for
future use after giving them a name.
Fonts
Templates have two components: the font and the
size. The program has the ability to modify the
properties of the font. This can be used to correct
persistent errors in recognising certain characters.
Feedback
As the program executes an OCR it provides feedback.
In the ribbon the current character is displayed and
next to it the program's assessment of the quality
of the recognition: (1) perfect, (2) best guess, (3)
too small, etc. Also the system displays the whole
line as it is being read giving immediate feedback
as to how well it is performing. Text is also
provided on the status line to keep the user
informed of actions as they take place.
Options
The program provides access to a set of options that
change the way it processes bitmaps or displays the
results. One of these allows an increase in speed by
performing fewer tests, this may result in a slight
loss in accuracy. Another matches the character as
defined in the edit area against the results of the
recognition. Another turns the trace on or off.
Debug
Things can go wrong with the process of attempting
to OCR bitmaps. Firstly the program may fail to
break the bitmap into lines correctly, second it may
fail to identify each individual character correctly
- perhaps some touch or are broken. Thirdly the
program may fail to recognise a character correctly.
Fourthly the program may fail to format the output
correctly. Tools are provided to help deal with each
of these situations.
Utilities
This type of program is memory intensive. A dialog
box is provided to help manage memory usage. A
dialog box is also provided to display the last
error that occurred so that it can still be examined
if required, after the original Error message may
have been removed from the screen.
Printing
A quick and easy method has been provided to print
the contents of the Edit Box.
Editing
Facilities are provided to allow the editing of text
produced by the recognition process. Cutting,
pasting and copying are allowed. The results of
recognition can also be transferred directly to the
clipboard as well as to the edit box. Files can be
opened and read from disk into the Edit Box, the
contents of which can also be saved to disk.
Exiting
The program can be left by a number of methods. When
the program is next started some of the options are
saved so that they do not need to be set again. The
program always uses the last set of options saved.
The options are set during installation to default
values.
6. MENUS
This section tells you what each option in the menu does.
Refer to it whenever you have any difficulties with any
menu action. If you do not understand how menus work
refer to the Windows User's Guide.
Main menu
This menu is always visible and gives the following
options:
ACTION BITMAP TEXT VIEW OPTIONS HELP
The ACTION menu contains the commands that trigger
particular processes: recognise, halt, exit, etc.
The BITMAP menu contains commands that allow you to
manipulate bitmaps: open, paste, rotate, etc.
The TEXT menu contains commands that allow you to
manipulate the text: cut, paste, save, etc.
The VIEW menu contains commands that allow you to
change how the program presents information to you.
To reduce the size of the bitmap, to display the
editor, to hide the status line, etc.
The OPTIONS menu allows you to configure the
program. You can turn the trace off, match the edit
text with that produced by processing the bitmap,
etc.
The HELP menu is similar to that in other Windows
programs: it enables you to find help quickly.
Action menu
The commands available under this option allow you
to control the program, that is to stop and start
actions.
1. Recognise
Use: Starts the OCR process.
Precondition: Loaded bitmap, valid template.
Action: This command starts the OCR
process going and depending on
the options chosen displays
various intermediate results and
statistics.
Keystroke: ALT-A-R.
Accelerator: CTRL+R.
Comments: Once an OCR has been started it
can be halted by using the HALT
command.
2. Scale
Use: Create scale information for a
template.
Precondition: Loaded bitmap, template has no
scale.
Action: This command analyses a bitmap
to generate template
information.
Keystroke: ALT-A-S.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: When a template has no scale
information a cross appears in
the ribbon instead of a tick.
3. Clear Scale
Use: Clear the scale information in a
template.
Precondition: Loaded bitmap, valid template.
Action: This clears the scale
information in the currently
selected template.
Keystroke: ALT-A-C.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: When a template has scale
information a tick appears in
the ribbon instead of a cross.
4. Reset
Use: Resets the system after an OCR
Precondition: Loaded bitmap.
Action: It sets the program to a state
it would be in if the bitmap had
just been loaded. It clears any
texts from a previous read being
displayed in the ribbon.
Keystroke: ALT-A-E.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Used when you want to start
afresh without reloading the
bitmap.
5. Halt
Use: Stops an OCR.
Precondition: OCR in progress.
Action: Halts processing at the current
character.
Keystroke: ALT-A-H.
Accelerator: CTRL+H.
Comments: Useful to stop the processing of
a bitmap temporarily.
6. Start
Use: Restarts an OCR.
Precondition: OCR halted.
Action: Restarts processing after it has
been halted.
Keystroke: ALT-A-A.
Accelerator: CTRL+A.
Comments: Used to restart processing of a
bitmap after it has been
temporarily halted.
7. Exit
Use: Exits the program.
Precondition: None.
Action: Exits from the program
destroying the main window.
Keystroke: ALT-A-X.
Accelerator: ALT+F4.
Comments: Before the program exits the
current option are saved so that
they can be used when the
program is run again.
Bitmap menu
The commands available under this options affect the
bitmap that is loaded or being loaded into the
system.
1. Open
Use: To load a bitmap file.
Precondition: None.
Action: Opens a bitmap stored in a file
and displays it in the main
program window.
Keystroke: ALT-B-O.
Accelerator: CTRL+O.
Dialog Box: The dialog box that is displayed
is used to select a filename.
Comments: The type of bitmap that can be
opened is a DIB.
2. Save
Use: To save a bitmap file.
Precondition: Loaded bitmap.
Action: Saves a bitmap with the current
Filename.
Keystroke: ALT-B-S.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Used to save a bitmap that
already has a filename. If the
bitmap has no filename a dialog
box is displayed.
3. Save As
Use: To save a bitmap file.
Precondition: Loaded bitmap.
Action: Saves a bitmap with the filename
specified by the dialog box that
is displayed.
Keystroke: ALT-B-A.
Accelerator: None.
Dialog: When this menu item is chosen a
dialog box is displayed. This
box is used to select the
filename.
Comments: Used to save a bitmap that has
either been pasted into the
program via the clipboard or has
been modified.
4. Clear
Use: To clear the current bitmap.
Precondition: Loaded bitmap.
Action: Clear the current bitmap. The
bitmap window is cleared.
Keystroke: ALT-B-C.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Used to clear the screen of a
bitmap that is no longer
required. The text is not
cleared at the same time.
5. Paste
Use: To load a bitmap from the
clipboard into the program.
Precondition: A bitmap in the clipboard.
Action: Saves a bitmap with the current
filename.
Keystroke: ALT-B-P.
Accelerator: CTRL+P.
Comments: A simple way to transfer bitmap
from other windows programs.
6. Rotate
Use: To rotate a bitmap.
Precondition: A loaded bitmap.
Action: Rotates a bitmap right
(clockwise).
Keystroke: ALT-B-R.
Accelerator: None
Comments: Sometimes it is convenient with
some scanners to scan
horizontally instead of
vertically. This command allows
the resulting bitmap to be
rotated.
7. Flip
Use: To flip a bitmap.
Precondition: A loaded bitmap.
Action: Flips a bitmap vertically.
Keystroke: ALT-B-F.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: The commands handles the case
where a bitmap is upside down.
8. Invert
Use: To invert a bitmap.
Precondition: A loaded bitmap.
Action: Inverts the color of a bitmap.
Keystroke: ALT-B-I.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Used when there is white text on
a black background.
Text menu
The commands available under this option affect the
text that has been placed in the editor or is being
loaded into the program.
1. Open
Use: To open a text file.
Precondition: None.
Action: Opens a text file and places its
contents in the editor.
Keystroke: ALT-T-O.
Accelerator: None.
Dialog Box: The dialog box that is displayed
is used to select a filename.
Comments: The command must only be used to
open an ASCII text file.
2. Save
Use: To save a text file.
Precondition: Text present in the editor.
Action: Saves the text in the editor
with the current filename.
Keystroke: ALT-T-S.
Accelerator: CTRL+S.
Comments: Used to save text with the
current filename. If there is no
filename a dialog box is
displayed.
3. Save As
Use: To save a text file.
Precondition: Text present in the editor.
Action: Saves a text with the filename
specified by the dialog box that
is displayed.
Keystroke: ALT-T-A.
Accelerator: None.
Dialog: When this menu item is chosen a
dialog box is displayed. This
box is used to select the
filename.
Comments: Used to save text for transfer
to another application.
4. Cut
Use: To move a selected piece from
the editor to the clipboard.
Precondition: Selected text.
Action: Moves the selected text into the
clipboard and deletes the
selected text from the editor.
Keystroke: ALT-T-T.
Accelerator: CTRL+X.
Comments: Works in exactly the same way as
the Windows notepad program. The
text placed in the clipboard can
now be easily moved to other
applications.
5. Copy
Use: To place the selected piece into
the editor without deletion.
Precondition: Selected text.
Action: Copies the selected text into
the clipboard without deleting
it.
Keystroke: ALT-T-C.
Accelerator: CTRL+C.
Comments: Works in exactly the same way as
the Windows notepad program. The
text placed in the clipboard can
now be easily moved to other
applications.
6. Paste
Use: To paste text from the clipboard
into the editor.
Precondition: Selected text.
Action: Places data in text format
currently in the clipboard into
the editor at the current cursor
position.
Keystroke: ALT-T-P.
Accelerator: CTRL+V.
Comments: Works in exactly the same way as
the Windows notepad program. It
enables the editor built into
the program to function like as
small text editor.
7. Delete
Use: To delete text in the editor.
Precondition: Selected text.
Action: Deletes the text in the editor
that has been selected.
Keystroke: ALT-T-D.
Accelerator: DEL.
Comments: Works in exactly the same way as
the Windows notepad program.
Note that the deleted text is
not placed in the clipboard.
8. Clear All
Use: To clear the contents of the
editor.
Precondition: Text present in the editor.
Action: Clear all text currently in the
á editor.
Keystroke: ALT-T-R.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Used to clear the text. The
bitmap is not cleared by this
command.
9. Paste OCR
Use: To paste the results of the last
OCR into the editor.
Precondition: OCR performed on bitmap.
Action: Places the result of the last
OCR into the editor where it can
be edited.
Keystroke: ALT-T-E.
Accelerator: CTRL+E.
Comments: Used to place the text produced
by performing an OCR into the
editor where it can be modified
or saved.
10. Copy OCR
Use: To place the results of the OCR
directly into the clipboard.
Precondition: OCR performed on bitmap.
Action: Places the result of the last
OCR directly into the clipboard.
Keystroke: ALT-T-Y.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: This is a quick way of
transferring text to the
clipboard and then to other
applications without using the
editor.
View menu
The commands available here allow you to control
various parts of the screen.
1. Ribbon Bar
Use: Hide/Show the ribbon.
Precondition: None.
Action: Hides the ribbon if it is
visible , shows the ribbon if it
has been closed.
Keystroke: ALT-V-R.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Used when you want to have as
much space as possible to
display the bitmap.
2. Bitmap
Use: Hide/Show the bitmap window.
Precondition: Edit window visible.
Action: Hides the bitmap allowing the
editor to occupy the full
screen.
Keystroke: ALT-V-B.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Used to turn off the bitmap and
therefore have a larger editor.
3. Edit
Use: Hide/Show the Edit window.
Precondition: Bitmap window visible.
Action: Hides the editor and makes the
bitmap window occupy the entire
program window; or displays the
editor if it is currently
hidden.
Keystroke: ALT-V-E.
Accelerator: F3.
Comments: Used to turn off the editor and
therefore have the bitmap use
the entire window .
4. Status Bar
Use: Hide/Show the Status line.
Precondition: None.
Action: Hides the Status line if it is
displayed and shows the Status
line if it is currently off..
Keystroke: ALT-V-S.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Used when you want to have as
much room as possible for the
bitmap or editor.
5. Shrink
Use: To display a compressed bitmap.
Precondition: Reduction factor less than 16.
Action: Doubles the factor by which
the bitmap will be reduced when
it is displayed.
Keystroke: ALT-V-H.
Accelerator: -.
Comments: Used to make the whole of a
large bitmap visible. The
maximum reduction is to 1/16 of
the original dimensions. Only
the image on the screen is
affected, the original bitmap is
still used for processing.
6. Enlarge
Use: To enlarge a reduced bitmap.
Precondition: Reduced bitmap is being
displayed.
Action: Displays the bitmap enlarged to
twice its current size..
Keystroke: ALT-V-N.
Accelerator: +.
Comments: Used to restore a bitmap after
it has been reduced. The bitmap
can then be displayed at its
original size.
7. Tool Box
Use: To turn the Tool Box on or off.
Precondition: None.
Action: Turns the Tool Box on if is off
and off if it is currently on.
Keystroke: ALT-V-T.
Accelerator: F4.
Comments: The Tool Box contains tools and
buttons for commands that are
used frequently. When not in use
it should be closed to reduce
clutter. For more details about
the Tool Box see the Boxes
section of this manual.
8. Template Box
Use: To turn the Template Box on or
off.
Precondition: None.
Action: Turns the Template Box on if is
off and off if it is currently
on.
Keystroke: ALT-V-P.
Accelerator: F5.
Comments: The Template Box is used to
control the template. When not
in use it should be closed to
reduce clutter. For more details
about the Template Box see the
Boxes section of this manual.
9. Train Box
Use: To turn the Train Box on or off.
Precondition: None.
Action: Turns the Train Box on if is off
and off if it is currently on.
Keystroke: ALT-V-A.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: The Font Box is used to control
the built-in fonts. When not in
use it should be closed to
reduce clutter. For more details
about the Font Box see the Boxes
section of this manual.
10. Memory Box
Use: To turn the Memory Box on or
off.
Precondition: None.
Action: Turns the Memory Box on if is
off and off if it is currently
on.
Keystroke: ALT-V-M.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: The Memory Box is used to
monitor the usage of memory by
the system. When not in use it
should be closed to reduce
clutter. For more details about
the Memory Box see the Boxes
section of this manual.
11. Error Box
Use: To turn the Error Box on or off.
Precondition: None.
Action: Turns the Error Box on if is off
and off if it is currently on.
Keystroke: ALT-V-O.
Accelerator: F6.
Comments: The Error Box is used to view
the errors generated by the user
as the program is run. When not
in use it should be closed to
reduce clutter. For more details
about the Error Box see the
Boxes section of this manual.
12. Bitmap Scrollbars
Use: To turn the Bitmap Scroll bars
on or off.
Precondition: None.
Action: Turns the scroll bars in the
bitmap window on or off.
Keystroke: ALT-V-L.
Accelerator: F7.
Comments: The scroll bars are used to move
around a large bitmap. The
scroll bars are only displayed
if the bitmap at its current
size is larger than the bitmap
window.
12. Edit Scrollbars
Use: To turn the Edit Scroll bars on
or off.
Precondition: None.
Action: Turns the scroll bars in the
edit window on or off.
Keystroke: ALT-V-C.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: The scroll bars are used to move
around the editor.
Options menu
The commands available here allow you to control the
behaviour of the program.
1. Speed
Use: Selects for speed.
Precondition: None.
Action: Selects for speed as opposed to
accuracy.
Keystroke: ALT-O-S.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Accuracy is the default setting.
2. Accuracy
Use: Selects for accuracy.
Precondition: None.
Action: Selects for accuracy as opposed
to speed.
Keystroke: ALT-O-A.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: This is the default setting.
3. Trace
Use: Turns the trace on or off.
Precondition: None.
Action: Switches the trace on or off,
the trace highlights each
character as it is processed.
Keystroke: ALT-O-T.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Allows you to follow the
progress of an OCR.
4. Verbose
Use: To set the level of feedback.
Precondition: None.
Action: If set the level of information
displayed during an OCR is
increased.
Keystroke: ALT-O-V.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Allows you to follow the
progress of an OCR.
5. Match
Use: Turns on matching.
Precondition: None.
Action: The program will now match the
result of an OCR with the
contents of the editor.
Keystroke: ALT-O-M.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Necessary when modifying fonts.
6. Save Settings on Exit
Use: Save settings on exit.
Precondition: None.
Action: The program will now save
settings on exit.
Keystroke: ALT-O-E.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Used to save frequently used
configurations.
Help menu
The commands available here allow you to access the
on-line help system
1. Contents
Use: Displays the help contents.
Precondition: None.
Action: Displays the contents topic of
the help file of WinOCR.
Keystroke: ALT-H-C.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Used to access the help system.
2. How to Use Help
Use: Displays help about using help.
Precondition: None.
Action: Displays information about how
to use the help system itself.
However, the help system works
like that of other windows
programs.
Keystroke: ALT-H-H.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Allows access to help on how to
use help.
3. About Shareware
Use: Displays information about
Shareware
Precondition: None.
Action: Displays information about
Shareware. For example how to
register WinOCR.
Keystroke: ALT-H-A.
Accelerator: None.
Comments: Can be used to print the order
form and to find out how to get
support.
7. BOXES
This section tells you what each of the boxes does. Refer
to it whenever you have any difficulties with any box.
Tool Box
You should display this box displayed when you need
commonly used tools and buttons for frequently used
commands.
1. Cross
Use: Selects the default cross
cursor.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Used to select the cross cursor
if the cursor has been modified
by selecting another cursor.
2. [] Area selection
Use: Turns on or off area selection.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Used to turn the area selection
on or off.
3. Top Left
Use: Used to change the cursor to the
top left selection cursor.
Precondition: None.
Comments: When only a part of the bitmap
is to be processed the selection
area should be turned on. Once
this has been done this tool
can be used to modify the top
left of the selected area.
4. Bottom Right
Use: Used to change the cursor to the
bottom right selection cursor.
Precondition: None.
Comments: When only a part of the bitmap
is to be processed the selection
area should be turned on. Once
this has been done this tool
can be used to modify the bottom
right of the selected area.
5. Up
Use: Used to move the line highlight
up.
Precondition: Bitmap has been analysed for
lines.
Comments: A bitmap is processed in the
following sequence. The bitmap
is broken down into lines, each
line is broken down into
characters. The command allows
the user to select the line to
process.
6. Down
Use: Used to move the line highlight
down.
Precondition: Bitmap has been analysed for
lines.
Comments: A bitmap is processed in the
following sequence. The bitmap
is broken down into lines, each
line is broken down into
characters. The command allows
the user to select the line to
process.
7. Left
Use: Used to move the character
highlight left.
Precondition: Bitmap has been processed.
Comments: Used to move around an analysed
bitmap. Useful when assessing
the quality of an OCR.
8. Right
Use: Used to move the character
highlight right.
Precondition: Bitmap has been processed.
Comments: Used to move around an analysed
bitmap. Useful when assessing
the quality of an OCR.
Template Box
This box is used to control the templates that the
program uses. A template is a description of the
characteristics of the text being analysed. It
consists of font data, size, etc. Characters are
recognised by comparing them against the template.
The current template is selected using the list box
in the ribbon not using the template box. The
purpose of the template box is to allow templates to
be created or modified.
1. Name
Use: Allows a template to be
selected.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Used to select a template for
creation or modification.
2. Font
Use: To select the template font.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Each template has a font
associated with it. Select on
from those available.
3. Properties
Use: To select template properties.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Used to select additional
properties for the template.
4. Text
Use: Displays template parameters.
Precondition: None.
Comments: This is used to display
information about the currently
selected template.
5. OK button
Use: Closes the box.
Precondition: None.
Comments: This command is used to close
the template box. The contents
of the template are not
permanently set.
6. Save button
Use: To save the current templates.
Precondition: None.
Comments: After a template has been
changed the user can save the
new configuration so that it can
be used on future occasions.
7. Select button
Use: Selects the template displayed
in the box.
Precondition: Current template not already
selected.
Comments: This command is used to set the
template to the template
currently being modified.
8. Clear button
Use: To clear the template.
Precondition: None.
Comments: This command is used to clear a
template that is no longer
required. The template fields
are reset to their default
values.
9. Scale button
Use: To create scale information for
the template.
Precondition: Bitmap loaded, and selected
template has no scale.
Comments: This command is used to create
scale information which is done
by analysing the current bitmap.
Train Box
This box is used to make modifications to fonts.
This is useful if the program fails to recognise a
particular symbol as the character that it really is
and the user wants to prevent this from happening in
the future.
1. Font button
Use: To display the current font.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Used to display the current
font. This is the font that will
be modified if the user makes
changes.
2. Locked button
Use: To set the font to the template
font.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Used to help prevent accidental
modification of fonts.
3. Pass button
Use: Sets a character.
Precondition: The scan doesn't match the
character from the editor.
Comments: If the OCR doesn't match the
character from the editor the
user should check for spelling
mistakes, then that the
character in the bitmap is
broken or touches a neighbour.
This command can then be used to
set the character to its correct
value.
4. Save button
Use: Saves the font.
Precondition: None.
Comments: After a font has been modified
this button can be used to save
it so that the new font will be
available in the future.
5. Skip button
Use: To bypass a mismatch.
Precondition: The scan doesn't match the
character from the editor.
Comments: Used when the user decides not
to press the pass button to
correct a mismatch. The system
skips the current character and
moves on to the next one.
6. Reset button
Use: To reset the box.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Used if it is necessary to reset
the box.
7. Split button
Use: To indicate that two characters
touch.
Precondition: The scan doesn't match the
character from the editor.
Comments: Used to indicate that the
character being examined
actually consists of two or more
actual characters.
Memory Box
This box is used to monitor how the system is using
memory. It helps the user especially when the system
only has a small amount of memory or is working with
very large bitmaps.
1. Text
Use: To display information.
Precondition: None.
Comments: This field displays the amount
of memory free in the system and
text explaining which value is
being displayed.
2. Switch button
Use: To select the information to
display.
Precondition: None.
Comments: This button is used to select
the property to display. This
can be the amount of global
memory free or the size of the
largest block that is free.
Error Box
This box is used to display error messages. It
displays the last error that occurred.
1. Text
Use: To display error messages.
Precondition: None.
Comments: This field displays the last
error that occurred. This is
available even after the
original error dialog box has
been removed from the screen.
8. RIBBON
This section describes the contents of the ribbon. It
should be referred to when information is required about
the contents of any particular field in the ribbon or
what the buttons in the ribbon do.
Buttons
The ribbon contains a number of buttons. They are
for frequently used commands.
1. Go (Start) button
Use: To start an OCR.
Precondition: Bitmap present.
Comments: Used to start the OCR process.
After this button has been
pressed the program begins to
process the bitmap displaying
the results as each character is
read. If the program is
currently halted this button
will say: Start, pressing the
button will restart the program.
2. Abort (Stop) button
Use: To abort an OCR.
Precondition: OCR in progress.
Comments: Sometimes it is necessary to
stop an OCR before it finishes.
This button can be used to
achieve this. If the program is
currently halted this button
will say: Abort, pressing the
button will reset the program.
3. Print button
Use: Prints the contents of the
editor.
Precondition: Text in the editor.
Comments: This button can be used to print
the contents of the editor. Text
can be transferred to the editor
after an OCR has finished.
4. Exit button
Use: To stop WinOCR.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Used to quit the program.
List box
The ribbon contains an important list box. This box
also displays the template that is currently
selected.
1. Template box
Use: To select templates.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Used to select the template that
the program should use to
recognise characters.
Fields
The ribbon contains an fields that display
information. This information is mainly used to
monitor the progress of an OCR.
1. Result field
Use: Display the result code To
select templates.
Precondition: OCR in progress.
Comments: Displays the code for the OCR of
a particular character can be
used to monitor the progress of
an OCR.
2. Bitmap character field
Use: Display the character.
Precondition: OCR in progress.
Comments: Displays the character produced
by analysing the bitmap.
3. Edit character field
Use: Display the character from the
editor.
Precondition: OCR in progress match option
selected.
Comments: Displays the character from the
editor that has the same
position as that in the bitmap.
Comparing this character with
that produced by analysing the
bitmap can be used to find
problems.
4. Line field
Use: To display an entire lead as it
is being read.
Precondition: OCR in progress.
Comments: Displays the characters as they
are produced by analysing the
bitmap.
5. Scale field
Use: Displays the status of the
current template.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Show either a cross or a tick
depending on whether the current
template has valid scale
parameters.
9. STATUS LINE
This section describes the contents of the status line.
It should be referred to when information is required
about the contents of any particular field in the status
line.
Fields
The status line contains fields that display
information. This information is used by WinOCR to
inform the user about what the program is doing and
the progress of various operations.
1. Left status field
Use: Displays help information.
Precondition: None.
Comments: Shows how the user can access
the help system.
2. Middle status field
Use: Shows the progress of the
current action.
Precondition: None.
Comments: When a user starts a lengthy
operation information is
displayed here showing the
progress. For example, when an
OCR has started and the trace
option is on, the current line
number and character number is
shown here.
3. Right status field
Use: Shows the program's response to
user commands.
Precondition: None.
Comments: When a user begins a command
information is shown here
indicating that the system is
responding.
