Chip 2000 April/chip-cd_2000_04.zip/04/software/ocr/readiris/DATA/README.TXT

Text File | 1999-08-09 | 16KB | 495 lines

Readiris 5.01

= = = = = = =


Contents

- Software distribution

- Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance

- New features version 5.01

- When to use the 32 bit and 16 bit software

- Important note concerning foreign languages

- Connect macros for Word, Excel and WordPerfect

- Important note for users of Readiris 32 bit

- Reverse (negative) images with Twain compatible scanners

- Scanner drivers

- Important note for users of Agfa scanners

- Recognizing the Euro currency symbol

- Contacting I.R.I.S.




* CD-ROM contents
  ---------------

This release of the Readiris software is contained on a CD-
ROM. (A trial version can be downloaded from the I.R.I.S.
web site (www.irislink.com).)

The Readiris CD-ROM contains the following software pack-
ages:

* Readiris 5.01 (32 bit software)

* Readiris 3.90 (16 bit software) (in folder "Read16")

* Cardiris 1.50 LE (16 bit software) (in folder "Cardiris")

* Some scanner drivers


Note above all that not all software mentioned above is ne-
cessarily included in your release. With some software
bundles, all "goodies" other than the essential Readiris
software are not found on the distribution CD-ROM.

To install the Readiris 5.01 software, simply insert the
autorunning CD-ROM into your CD-ROM drive and follow the
on-screen instructions.

With some software bundles, you may have to install the
additional software packages by going to the correspond-
ing folder and running the "Setup" program. The trial
version downloadable from the I.R.I.S. web site equally
comes with an installer.

Before installing these scanning applications, you should
install the software supplied with the scanner.

The trial version downloadable from the I.R.I.S. web site
is actually a reduced version of the Readiris software.
Some downgrading of the OCR accuracy is to be expected as
the linguistic lexicons which aid the recognition are not
included in the software!



* Year 2000 (Y2K) compliance
  --------------------------

I.R.I.S., having performed the necessary tests, can confirm
that Readiris 5.01 is Year 2000 compliant.


All versions of Readiris up to 4.15 are compliant with min-
or issues.

* Readiris handles no dates.

* The links with the Visioneer PaperPort and the Microtek
  PageSuite software handle no dates.

* The proprietary installer used for all versions up to
  3.95 handles no dates. From version 4.0 onwards, the in-
  staller is based on the Y2K compliant InstallShield
  software (www.installshield.com).

* Minor issue: with versions up to 4.15, the protection
  scheme that obliges users to register within 30 days can
  cause problems when users install in December 1999. As
  soon as the softkey is entered, the software functions
  normally. This protection scheme applies to specific re-
  tail versions only, where users are prompted to enter a
  softkey they obtain from I.R.I.S. The "compliant with mi-
  nor  issues" version was phased out in December 1998; as
  of that date, I.R.I.S. exclusively ships fully compliant
  versions.



* New features version 5.01
  -------------------------


Refer to the I.R.I.S. web site (www.irislink.com) for full
details on the new features of Readiris 5.01.

We will limit ourselves here to some "highlights".

* A new, more powerful recognition module yields unpara-
  llelled OCR accuracy.

* Table recognition is enhanced: tables get recreated cell
  by cell in spreadsheets and in wordprocessors.

* Newer, more powerful "autoformatting" recreates your
  source doucments with higher accuracy.

* An OCR wizard guides you through the OCR process comfort-
  ably: answer a few simple questions and you'll obtain
  quick and easy results with Readiris.

* You can send the recognized documents directly to your
  wordprocessor and spreadsheet.


As of version 5.01, Readiris supports Office 2000. What
does this mean?

* The "Send to" feature works with Word and Excel 2000. You
  can send the OCR results directly to your wordprocessor
  Word 2000 and to your spreadsheet Excel 2000 after the
  recognition phase.

* The "Connect" feature works Office 2000. You can execute
  the OCR from within the wordprocessor Word 2000 and the
  spreadsheet Excel 2000. Use the same macros as were de-
  signed for Office 97.



* When to use the 32 bit and 16 bit software
  ------------------------------------------

Readiris is supplied in a 32 bit and a 16 bit version on
this CD-ROM.

The 32 bit version can be used on the platforms Windows 98,
95 and Windows NT. The 16 bit version should always be used
on the platforms Windows 3.1x.

(Readiris 5.01 was tested successfully on some beta versions
of Windows 2000; given the "early" status of these Windows
2000 releases, I.R.I.S. gives no guarantee that the Readir-
is software runs without interruptions on the commercial re-
lease of this platform.)

You should realize that the 32 bit version is not only fast-
er but offers more powerful OCR than the 16 bit version
does. The reason for this is the Readiris 32 bit software
incorporates I.R.I.S.' latest OCR kernel - which only runs
in 32 bits!

However, in some cases your scanner driver may not work in
the 32 bit mode. In that case, you are limited to the 16 bit
version of Readiris.

Such a phenomenon should never occur with Twain drivers, as
the Twain standard accounts for 32 bit support. See also the
note below on Twain drivers and 32 bits!



* Important note concerning foreign languages
  -------------------------------------------

Because of internal reasons - Windows 98, 95 and 3.x use on-
ly 8 bit character tables, not so-called "Unicode" tables -,
the document language you select with Readiris must be sup-
ported by your localized version of Windows.

Simply put, Readiris can read Greek, Cyrillic etc. comfort-
ably, but your Windows licence may not be able to handle
Greek, Cyrillic etc. characters.

This becomes clear in two ways: (1) Windows may be unable to
represent these special characters on your screen, even if
Readiris recognized them correctly, (2) the learning phase
may prompt you to respond to recognized "special" charac-
ters, and here again it only works when Windows is able to
display and accept input of these special characters.

- Windows 98 and 95

Windows 98 and 95 can be easily adjusted to support extra
languages. The Readiris CD-ROM contains a lengthy document
which details extensively what you can do to support more
languages with Windows 98 and 95. The technical info on the
I.R.I.S. web site contains the same information.

Simply put, you need to ensure that the Windows module "Mul-
tilanguage Support" is installed on your computer system.
(To do this, select "Settings" under the "Start" menu and go
to the "Control Panel". Now select "Add/Remove Programs" and
click the tab "Win(dows) Setup".

You'll find the item "Multilanguage Support" in the list of
Windows components. Click "OK" to execute, you will be
prompted for the Windows CD-ROM.


This module can also be downloaded from the Microsoft web
site at the URL address:

    http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/default.asp

- Windows 3.1x

Windows 3.1 does not have this flexibiity.

To recognize the Eastern-European languages - we mean Croa-
tian, Czech,Hungarian, Polish, Rumanian, Slovak, Slovenian -
you need the localized Eastern-European version of Windows
3.1x.

To recognize the Cyrillic languages - we mean Bulgarian, By-
elorussian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, Ukranian - you
need the localized Russian version of Windows 3.1x.

To recognize Turkish, you need the localized Turkish version
of Windows 3.1x.


The Readiris CD-ROM contains a lengthy document which de-
tails extensively what you can do to get a Windows version
that supports the required languages. Go to the Acrobat file
LANGUAGE.PDF in the folder "Language" to consult this infor-
mation. The same information can be found among the techni-
cal info on the I.R.I.S. web site.



* Connect macros for Word, Excel and WordPerfect
  ----------------------------------------------

Readiris' installation procedure automatically installs the
necessary files in the Readiris folder:

        - CONWRD97.DOT for Word 2000 (Office 2000)and Word
          97 (Office 97)

        - CONX97.XLS for Excel 2000 (Office 2000) and Excel
          97 (Office 97)

    - CONNECT7.DOC for Word 7.0 (Office 95)

    - CONNECT7.XLM for Excel 7.0 (Office 95)

        - CONNECT.DOC for Word 6.0

        - CONNECT4.XLM for Excel 5.0

    - CONNECT6.WCM for WordPerfect 6.0

    - CONNECT.DOC for Word 2.0

    - CONNECT4.XLM for Excel 4.0

    - CONNECT.WCM for WordPerfect 5.0

        - CONNECT3.XLM for Excel 3.0

However, there are some additional steps needed to conclude
the installation, steps no installation program can take
care of. The on-line help system of Readiris details those
steps.

To make this information more accessible, the corresponding
topic of the on-line help system is displayed automatically
towards the end of the installation program.

To add the Connect features to the programs mentioned above,
follow the instructions provided of the Readiris help system
closely. Be sure that you use the correct files each time!



* Important note for users of Readiris 32 bit
  -------------------------------------------

If your scanner is only shipped with a 16 bit Twain driver
and no 32 bit driver is available, your computer system re-
quires a special software component that allows a 32 bit ap-
plication to communicate with the 32 bit version of Readir-
is.

This special interface is called "twunk"; it is not always
installed by the drivers shipped with the scanner.

To verify if the "thunk" software is present on your system,
check if the following files are present in your Windows
folder or directory:

    TWUNK_16.EXE
    TWUNK_32.EXE
    TWAIN.DLL
    TWAIN_32.DLL

If one of these files is missing, you will find the neces-
sary files in the folder "Twunk" (short for "Twain thunk")
on the Readiris CD-ROM.

That folder or directory also contains a README.TXT file
which clarifies how to install this software module. Be
sure to copy all *.EXE and *.DLL files to the Windows fol-
der or directory.



* Reverse (negative) images with Twain compatible scanners
  --------------------------------------------------------

Readiris and Cardiris have been designed to interpret cor-
rectly the image of the Twain source.

However, in some cases, the image recieved by the I.R.I.S.
application is "negative" or "inverted": black pixels on the
page are white on the screen and the white backgound shows
up black on the screen.

In this case, activate the option "Invert" as you find under
the "Scanner" button on Readiris' main toolbar.

For Cardiris, you have to edit the file WIN.INI file under
the Windows folder, search for the entry "[Twain]" and add
the following lines:

    [Twain]
    invert = 1

This information will instruct Cardiris (and Readiris) to
reverse the image when it is being transferred from the
Twain source.



* Scanner drivers
  ---------------

If you experience problems with the scanner driver, you may
find alternative third party drivers on the Readiris CD-ROM
under the folder "Drivers".

I.R.I.S. offers no guarantee that drivers are supplied for
your scanner model or that the drivers supplied on the
Readiris CD-ROM will work (well) with your scanner model.

Don't hesitate to contact your scanner manufacturer or its
representative should problems with scanner drivers conti-
nue. Most manufacturers allow you to download the latest
versions of the scanners drivers from their web site.



* Important note for users of Agfa scanners
-------------------------------------------

- Users of Agfa FotoLook

It takes the Agfa FotoLook 3.0.8 "patch" for Windows 98/95
and NT to use your Agfa scanner successfully with the Read-
iris 5.01 software (and other software).

In other words, should an earlier version of the FotoLook
Twain driver be installed on your PC, you will need to up-
grade the FotoLook software to this version of the Twain
driver.

The FotoLook 3.0.8 software can be found on the Readiris CD-
ROM under the folder "Drivers\Agfa\Fotolook\V308". Run the
SETUP.EXE file to install the software.

Don't hesitate to contact your scanner manufacturer or its
representative should problems with scanner drivers conti-
nue.

- Users of Agfa ScanWise


Users of Agfa ScanWise should select "Twain Agfa ScanWise"
as their scanner model with the "Scanner" button on the
main button bar.

Don't hesitate to contact your scanner manufacturer or its
representative should problems with scanner drivers conti-
nue.



* Recognizing the Euro currency symbol
  ------------------------------------

Although Readiris 5.01 - not the 16 bit software Readiris
3.90 - recognizes the Euro symbol comfortably, the currency
symbol may not show in your text file when you study the
recognition result.

This is not due to Readiris, but to your computer's opera-
ting system (keyboard drivers) and the fonts as are used
when you display the text result.

Windows 98 is equipped to represent the Euro symbol, but it
takes a software "patch" to represent the Euro symbol under
Windows 95.

Contact your reseller to obtain the necessary files or
download the software patch from the Microsoft web site at
the following URL:

   http://www.microsoft.com/truetype/fontpack/win.htm

(Look for the file CORFNT32.EXE.)

Consult the Microsoft web site to obtain more information
on how to install the Euro product update.



* Recognizing the Asian languages
  -------------------------------

Readiris 4.10 and higher optionally offers recognition of
the Asian languages Japanese and Simplified Chinese.

Note that it does not take an Asian, Japanese or Chinese
version of the Windows operating system to make good use of
such recognized texts. You can also run specialized "emula-
ting" software on a Western version of Windows to correctly
represent the "exotic" symbols of these Asian
languages.

Secondly, if you are running Word 2000 (Office 2000), this
step is superfluous: Word 2000 is "equipped" to view and
edit documents in over 80 languages, and that includes Ara-
bic, Hebrew, Japanese, Korean, Traditional and Simplified
Chinese.

Contact I.R.I.S. to purchase the "add-on" recognition module
for these Asian languages.

This extra CD-ROM complements your installed Readiris 5.01
licence automatically - it does not work on versions of the
Readiris software earlier than 4.10 - and explains all you
need to know to successfully recognize Asian documents.



* Contacting I.R.I.S.
  -------------------

Contact I.R.I.S. for more information.

I.R.I.S.
Image Recognition Integrated Systems
Rue du Bosquet 10,
1348    Louvain-la-Neuve (Belgium)
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

I.R.I.S. Inc.
Image Recognition Integrated Systems
1600 N.W. Boca Raton Bld Suite 20
Boca Raton, FL 33432 (USA)
Tel: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

E-mail sales: [e-mail]
E-mail support: [e-mail]
Web site: www.irislink.com


(8/9/99)