Max Reader ManualEn

7/27/2019 Max Reader ManualEn

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User's Guide

S/N:107500-02-01-W-E-092305-01

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Copyright

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Contents

Chapter 1 Introduction 1 Functions and Features .................................................................. 1 System Requirements ..................................................................... 3

Hardware .......................................................................................3 Software......................................................................................... 4

System Installation .......................................................................... 4 Chapter 2 Basic Concepts 5

Basic Steps in the OCR Process .................................................... 6 Getting Familiar with the Interface ................................................. 7

Image Mode...................................................................................7 Menu Bar.................................................................................. 8 Thumbnail Viewer/Page Navigation Buttons ............................ 9 Command Bar ........................................................................10 Display Toolbox......................................................................10 Edit Toolbox ........................................................................... 11 Status Bar .............................................................................. 12 Working Area..........................................................................13

Page Mode ..................................................................................13 Working Area..........................................................................14 Verify Text Dialog Box............................................................14 Edit Toolbox ........................................................................... 15

Proof Mode ..................................................................................16 Page Thumbnail and Blocks Menu.........................................17 Text Viewer ............................................................................ 17 Suggested Characters Window .............................................. 18 Character Image Window....................................................... 18 Edit Toolbox ........................................................................... 18

Customizing the Screen ................................................................ 19 Resizing a Page View .................................................................... 19

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Viewing Image Information ........................................................... 19 Setting Preferences ....................................................................... 20

Chapter 3 Importing Image Files 23 Scanning or Opening Files ........................................................... 23

Scanning...................................................................................... 23 Opening Image Files.................................................................... 24 Opening a Project ........................................................................25

Preprocessing Images................................................................... 26 Rotating Images...........................................................................26 Erasing Speckles and Filling in White Spots................................27 Cropping Images..........................................................................28 Inverting Images ..........................................................................28

Deleting Pages ............................................................................... 28 Chapter 4 Page Format and Recognition 29

Setting Character Sets .................................................................. 29 Selecting Blocks ............................................................................ 30

Automatic Block Selection ...........................................................30 Manual Block Selection................................................................ 30

Setting Page Format ...................................................................... 31 Page Layout Property ..................................................................32 Text Alignment ............................................................................. 32 Forms...........................................................................................32 Data Type ....................................................................................33

Changing Block Settings .............................................................. 33 Reordering Blocks........................................................................33 Changing Block Attributes............................................................ 34 Clearing Blocks............................................................................ 34 Loading Templates ......................................................................34

Recognizing Documents ............................................................... 34 iv



Selecting the User Dictionary (For Asian Language User

Interface)......................................................................................... 36 Editing the User Dictionary........................................................... 37 Using Spelling Check...................................................................37

Automatic Actions ......................................................................... 37 Discarding OCR Results ............................................................... 38

Chapter 5 Proofing and Editing 40 Proofing and Editing...................................................................... 40 Using the Re-OCR Tools ............................................................... 42

Removing Speckles .....................................................................43 Patching Up Broken Characters................................................... 43 Dividing Characters and Recognizing ..........................................44 Connecting Characters and Recognizing..................................... 44 Dividing a Line and Recognizing.................................................. 44 Connecting Lines and Recognizing..............................................45 Reprocessing a Block ..................................................................45 Connecting Blocks and Recognizing............................................ 46 Dividing a Block and Recognizing................................................46

Symbol Dialog................................................................................ 47 Learning (For Asian Language User Interface) ........................... 48

Deleting Learned Characters ....................................................... 49 Selecting User’s Learned Table................................................... 49

Chapter 6 Exporting Files 50 Saving Document Images ............................................................. 50 Saving OCR Results ...................................................................... 51 Saving Projects .............................................................................. 53 Saving Commonly Used Templates ............................................. 55 Printing ........................................................................................... 55 Sending OCR Results to Other Applications............................... 56

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Composite Command Export Settings ........................................ 58 Chapter 7 Chinese OCR Samples 60 Chapter 8 English OCR Samples 65 Chapter 9 Form OCR Samples 71

Recognizing Forms........................................................................ 71 Recognizing Tables without Gridlines......................................... 75

Chapter 10 Automatic Actions Samples 81 Appendix A Glossary 84 Appendix B Menu Bar 86 Appendix C Command Bar 91 Appendix D Edit Toolbox 95 Appendix E Scanning Suggestions 98

Illustration 1: Scanning Resolutions Suggestions ..................... 99 Illustration 2: Standard................................................................ 100 Illustration 3: Too Dark................................................................ 101 Illustration 4: Too Light ............................................................... 102

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Chapter 1 Introduction

MaxReader 5 allows you to easily and quickly change image files to

editable text files. It can import image files such as TIF (G3, G4, PackBitsand multi-page TIF), PCX, BMP, and JPEG. MaxReader recognizes

contents in Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, English,

numerals, and forms. Text files occupy much less disk space than image

files. You will be able to save post-OCR (text) files in such formats as TXT,

RTF, DOC, XLS, SLK, and CVS, and open and edit them with ordinary

word processing programs. Files can also be saved in HTML format and

opened with Web browsers.

! Functions and Features

! System Requirements

! System Installation

Functions and Features

♦ Automatic Actions: This program offers four automatic actions,allowing you to quickly complete document recognition. Automatic

actions guide you through importing image files, analyzing the files,

recognizing the documents, and even exporting the OCR results as

text files.

♦ High-Speed Recognition.

♦ Ability to Recognize Documents in Many Languages: MaxReader

utilizes multiple OCR engines to recognize Traditional Chinese,

Simplified Chinese, Japanese, and English documents.

♦ Ability to Process Multi-Page Documents: MaxReader 5 can process

and recognize documents that are up to 200 pages.

♦ Ability to Recognize Black/White and Color Documents: MaxReader 5

can achieve excellent OCR results whether the documents are in

black and white or in color.

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♦ Multi-Font Recognition and Reproduction for Asian languages:

MaxReader 5 can recognize multiple print fonts such as Ming, Hei,

FongSong, Kai, Yuan and Li. It will also apply the same font as the

original document after recognition.

♦ Returning to Original Format: The recognition results will appear inthe same page format as the original file for ease of editing and to

save time for adjusting the format.

♦ Automatic Separation of Pictures and Text: MaxReader 5 can

automatically separate pictures and text from an image and save the

OCR results in formats such as TXT, DOC, and RTF so you can edit

in regular word processors such as Microsoft Word.

♦ Form Recognition: MaxReader 5 can recognize all form images and

allows you to save results in formats such as XLS, SLK, and CSV for

further processing in Microsoft Excel. If you save files in RTF format,

the forms can appear in word processing programs such as Microsoft

Word in their original page layouts.

♦ Multiple File Formats: OCR results can be saved in different file

formats, such as TXT, RTF, DOC, XLS, SLK, CSV, HTML, and PDF,

allowing you to use different applications.

♦ Direct Export: You can send OCR results directly to prespecifiedapplications for processing. For example, you can transform OCR

results to files in HTML format and send them to a Web browser or

transform the results to PDF files and send them to Acrobat Reader.

♦ Automatic Detection of Skew Degree: MaxReader 5 can automatically

detect how much an image is skewed and provide the function for

image rotation.

♦ Spelling Check: MaxReader 5 checks OCR results for accuracy

against its built-in dictionary. It will label suspicious characters to saveyou time in proofreading.

♦ Suggested Characters: MaxReader 5 provides you with similar-

looking, similar-meaning, or related characters as suggestions,

allowing you to easily correct OCR errors.

♦ Ability to Learn New Characters: MaxReader 5 can learn new

characters that are often mistaken and can use them to enhance

recognition accuracy the next time.

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♦ Information Exchange: MaxReader 5 allows you to import images or

export text through the Clipboard to other Windows applications for

information exchange.

♦ Horizontal/Vertical Alignment and Single/Multi-Column Recognition for

Asian languages: MaxReader 5 automatically analyzes horizontal,vertical and horizontal/vertical alignments, and single and multi-

column image files. In cases where the imported image page setup is

too complicated, you can also set the text/image format so the system

can correctly analyze and recognize it.

♦ Ability to Save Templates: MaxReader 5 speeds up and simplifies the

processing of standardized documents by saving the arrangement of

blocks in a template (*.tpl), and then project the template onto

subsequent images.

♦ Document Correction: MaxReader 5 allows you to compare the OCR

results side-by-side with the original image and text. You can use the

keyboard, the suggested characters, or the dictionary to correct errors.

♦ Re-OCR: MaxReader 5 allows you to correct OCR errors by

connecting and dividing characters, lines, or blocks, and by changing

block attributes.

System Requirements

Hardware

• A Pentium II or higher processor on an IBM compatible computer

• 64 MB or more RAM (128 MB or more recommended)

• 800 x 600 Hi-Color resolution monitor

• 300 MB free hard disk space

• CR-ROM drive

• TWAIN-compliant scanner

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Software

• Microsoft Windows 98 SE, Me, 2000, or XP

MaxReader 5 only supports 32-bit Windows XP.

System Installation

1. Place the MaxReader installation CD into the CD-ROM drive.

2. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.

3. Once the installation is complete, click the Start button, point toPrograms, NewSoft, and then click MaxReader 5 to start the

program. You can also double-click the MaxReader 5 icon on your

desktop to start the program.

Please notice the following for the Windows 2000 and

XP environments:

(1) Installation and operation can only be performed by

users with Power User or Administrator privileges.(2) Please reset the operating system to the default

interface language before installation to avoid

errors.

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Chapter 2 Basic Concepts

This chapter describes the basic concepts and operating skills that you

should possess while operating MaxReader 5, such as understanding the

MaxReader 5 OCR process and interface, customizing the screen,

resizing images, viewing page information, switching among different

pages, changing the system settings, and using online help.

! Basic Steps in the OCR Process

! Getting Familiar with the Interface

! Customizing the Screen

! Resizing a Page View

! Viewing Image Information

! Setting Preferences

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Basic Steps in the OCR Process

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Getting Familiar with the Interface

MaxReader 5 offers 3 operating interfaces: Image mode, Page mode, and

Proof mode.

! Image Mode

! Page Mode

! Proof Mode

Image Mode

In Image mode, you can complete everything you need prior to

recognition. For example, after importing the image file from the scanner

or CD-ROM drive, you can use editing tools to adjust the image and make

recognition settings (such as the recognition language, text alignment,

and the inclusion of forms).

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Image Mode

1. Menu Bar 2. Thumbnail Viewer

3. Command Bar 4. Display Toolbox

5. Edit Toolbox 6. Page Navigation Buttons

7. Status Bar 8. Working Area

Menu Bar

The Menu Bar lists all commands to open, save, edit, or recognize files.

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To perform a command, you can take one of the following actions.

• Click a menu, point to a command, and then click it.

• Some commands offer shortcut keys so you can perform thecommands without clicking the menu item. Shortcuts are the

combination of keys located to the right of each command.

If you wish to close an open menu, you can perform one of the followings:

• Click anywhere outside of the Menu Bar.

• Press ESC.

Thumbnail Viewer/Page Navigation Buttons

The Thumbnail Viewer displays the imported files as thumbnails. You can

click the thumbnail to move directly to the page, or you can click the Page

Navigation buttons at the bottom to move to the desired page.

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Button Function

To First Page

To Last Page

To Previous Page

To Next Page

You can also right-click the thumbnail to perform some commonly used

commands such as Delete Current Page or Discard Current Page OCR

Results.

Command Bar

Icons on the Command Bar allow you to quickly and easily perform many

commands. A drop-down menu is located under each command

icon to provide you with more options. Usually the command icon will

change after you have chosen a command from the menu; only a few

commands do not change the icon. If the icon is displaying the desired

command, simply click the icon.

Display Toolbox

The Display toolbox allows you to change the scale of the image or switch

among modes.

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1. Image Mode 2. Page Mode

3. Proof Mode 4. Resizing a Page View

Edit Toolbox

The Edit toolbox allows you to process the file in simple recognition steps,such as editing scanned images or changing the settings for blocks. The

tools in the Edit toolbox change during each recognition step. Please refer

to Appendix D – Edit Toolbox for details.

Pre-OCR Edit Toolbox

Edit Toolbox in Image Mode (Pre-OCR)

1. Text Identification 2. Image Identification

3. Table Identification 4. Clear Block

5. Pen 6. Eraser

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7. Crop 8. Rotate 180 Degrees

9. Rotate Counterclockwise by 90

Degrees

10. Rotate Clockwise by 90 Degrees

Post-OCR Edit Toolbox

Edit Toolbox in Image Mode (Post-OCR)

1. Selection 2. Reorder Blocks

3. Connect Blocks 4. Divide Block

Status Bar

The Status Bar displays from left to right: the Information of the object the

cursor points to, X and Y coordinates for the cursor, the current text input

mode, and the current recognition character set. Clicking the character

set on the right of the Status Bar will display a list of character sets for you

to choose from.

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Working Area

You can process images in the Working Area, for example, deskewing the

image, clearing impurities, cropping parts that do not need recognition

and so on to make the OCR results satisfactory. In addition, right-clickingthe document in the Working Area allows you to choose some commonly

used commands, such as Recognize Current Page, Zoom In/Out,

Rotate by 180 Degrees and so on.

Page Mode

Page mode displays the recognized text. You can adjust page settings

such as connecting or dividing blocks, changing block attributes, andreordering blocks. You can also correct wrongly recognized words directly.

Page Mode

1. Working Area 2. Verify Text Dialog Box 3. Edit Toolbox

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Working Area

The Working Area displays the recognized text. Once you click the Verify

Text tool , some yellow characters with blue background will appear in

the Working Area. These are suspicious characters that the system has

identified after recognition. Once you click the Reorder Blocks tool ,

each block will be marked with a border and a block number at the upper

left corner.

Verify Text Dialog Box

When you find any error, select the Verify Text tool and click the

error. A dialog box will appear in the Working Area:

Verify Text Dialog Box

You can click at the upper left corner to set the attributes of theVerify

Text Dialog Box:

Verify Text dialog box menu

Move Change the dialog box position by using the arrow

keys (!"#$).

Close Close this dialog box.

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Fix the

Window

Position

After dragging the dialog box to the proper

position, choose this command to fix its position.

Otherwise, the box will move with the chosen text.

QuickBrowse the

Character

Image

After choosing this command, the suggestedcharacters will change when moving the cursor.

Otherwise, the contents of the dialog box will not

change until you click a character.

Edit Toolbox

The Edit toolbox provides verify and edit tools in Page mode. Please refer

to Appendix D – Edit Toolbox for more information.

Edit Toolbox in Page Mode

1. Selection 2. Reorder Blocks

3. Connect Blocks 4. Divide Block

5. Verify Text

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Proof Mode

The most important function in Proof mode is to proofread and edit the

recognized results. Proof mode displays post-OCR text and allows you toverify and correct errors. MaxReader 5 offers a Suggested Characters

window, user dictionary, and tools for connecting and dividing characters.

You can also type to correct OCR errors.

Proof Mode

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1. Page Thumbnail and Blocks

Menu

2. Text Viewer

3. Suggested Characters Window 4. Character Image Window

5. Edit Toolbox

Page Thumbnail and Blocks Menu

To edit the contents of a block, click the block in the Page Thumbnail

window or select it from the Blocks Menu window. The contents of the

block will be displayed in the Text Viewer.

Page Thumbnail and Blocks Menu

Text Viewer

The Text Viewer displays recognized text. Suspicious characters will be in

blue.

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Suggested Characters Window

You can choose the correct characters from the Suggested Characters

window to replace the wrongly recognized characters.

Character Image Window

The Character Image window magnifies the selected character image for

ease of verifying and editing.

Edit Toolbox

The Edit toolbox provides verify and edit tools for Proof mode. Please

refer to Appendix D – Edit Toolbox for more information.

Edit Toolbox in Proof Mode

1. Divide Character and Recognize 2. Connect Characters and

Recognize

3. Divide a Line and Recognize 4. Connect Lines and Recognize

5. Erase and Recognize 6. Draw Line and Recognize

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Customizing the Screen

You can hide or show the Command Bar , Thumbnail Viewer , or Edit

Toolbox by selecting them from the View menu.

Resizing a Page View

You can resize a page displayed in the Working Area. From the View menu, select Fit to Width, Fit to Page, Actual Size, Reduce, Enlarge,

Zoom In, or Zoom Out to enlarge or reduce the view. You can also use

the following hotkeys.

Hotkey Function

Ctrl + F5 Zoom In

Ctrl + F6 Zoom Out

Ctrl + F4 Actual Size (100% )

Ctrl + F3 Fit to Page

Ctrl + F2 Fit to Width

Viewing Image Information

You can view the image information such as size and resolution. When

editing more than one page, choose the specific page from the

Document menu, then choose Image Information…. You can also

switch to Image mode by right-clicking the image, and choosing Image

Content to see the related information.

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Image Information Dialog Box

Setting Preferences

You can select settings for MaxReader 5 from the Preferences dialog box.

To open it, choose Preferences… from the File menu.

Preferences Dialog Box

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Default Image

View

Select the original image display ratio, such

as Fit to Page, Fit to Width, or Actual Size.

Default ModeAfter OCR

Select whether the screen will switch to PageMode or Proof Mode after OCR.

Save Line

Break with

Each Line

Select a file format, and a line break will be

appended to each line when saving in that

format.

Suggested

Characters

Suggested Characters are displayed

according to characters that are related to

either the previous or next character.Related to Previous Character: Set the

previous character of the chosen character as

the center, and display characters with

related meanings. (This option is only

available for Asian characters.)

Related to Next Character: Set the next

character of the chosen character as the

center, and display characters with related

meanings. (This option is only available for

Asian characters.)

Use User’s

Learned Table

Use the User’s Learned Table during

recognition to enhance recognition accuracy.

Spelling Check

After OCR

Perform a spelling check to verify text during

recognition.

Include Hong

KongCharacters

Include Hong Kong characters in the

Character Set.

Show Block

Format Dialog

Before Re-

OCRing

Blocks

The Show Block Format dialog box allows

you to change settings before executing the

“Re-OCR” function.

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Enhance

English

Recognition

Accuracy

Enhance English recognition accuracy when

recognizing Chinese/English documents.

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Chapter 3 Importing Image Files

All image files requiring recognition must first be imported into MaxReader

5 before processing can commence. Therefore, you must first import an

image file into MaxReader 5. You can also open previously unfinished

files for further editing and recognizing. MaxReader can import and

recognize documents up to 200 pages each time.

! Scanning or Opening Files

! Preprocessing Images

! Deleting Pages

Scanning or Opening Files

Most image files requiring recognition are obtained from scanning. You

can preset the scanner used in MaxReader 5 and scan the document to

import as an image file. You can also open existing image files or an

unfinished project for editing and recognizing.

MaxReader can recognize image files in TIF (including G3, G4, PackBitsformat and multi-page TIF files), PCX, BMP, and JPEG formats.

! Scanning

! Opening Image Files

! Opening a Project

Scanning

Step 1: Setting the Scanner

1. Choose Select Source… from the File menu.

2. Select the scanner you want to use from the Select Source dialog

box and click Select.

Step 2: Scanning

1. Do one of the following to scan a document.

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Chapter 3 Importing Images

# If the Input icon on the Command Bar is . Click the icon

or click and choose Scan Document… from the list.

# Choose Acquire… from the File menu.

2. The system will bring up the scanner’s interface. (Please refer to your

scanner’s user’s manual for instructions on its operation.)

Opening Image Files

1. You can perform one of the following actions to open an image file.

# If the Input icon on the Command Bar is , click the icon;

or click to choose Open Image File… from the list.

# Choose Open Image File… from the File menu.

Open Image Dialog Box

2. Choose an image file from the Open Image dialog box and click

Open to import the selected image file. You can also use Shift or Ctrl

to select more than one files.

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Opening a Project

If you have already saved a project, you can perform one of the following

actions to open it. Please refer to Chapter 6 – Saving Projects for

instructions on saving a project.

# If the Input icon on the Command Bar is , click the icon;

or click and choose Open Working File… from the list.

The Select a Project Folder dialog box will appear.

# Choose Open Project… from the File menu.

Select a Project Folder Dialog Box

After selecting the folder where the project is saved, clickOK to

import the project into MaxReader 5.

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Preprocessing Images

A clear image file is a key factor for the best OCR results. Therefore,

before recognition, you should check the imported image and preprocess

it accordingly. For example, you may straighten a skewed image, erase

speckles, fill in white spots, crop parts that do not require recognition, or

invert the image to enhance recognition accuracy.

! Rotating Images

! Erasing Speckles and Filling in White Spots

! Cropping Images

! Inverting Images

Rotating Images

# If the image is skewed less than 3 degrees it is in an acceptable

range. You do not need to adjust it.

# If the image is skewed more than 3 degrees but less than 10

degrees: You can choose Rotate from the Edit menu and selectDeskew, or right-click the image and choose Rotate by Any

Degree… in Image mode. The Deskew dialog box will open.

MaxReader 5 will automatically detect the degree of skew.

# If the image is skewed more than 10 degrees and less than 90degrees, you should scan the document again.

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Image with Large Skew Angle

# If the image is skewed by 90 degrees, you can choose Rotate from

the Edit menu and select Rotate right (left) 90 degrees.

Alternatively, click or from the Edit toolbox to rotate theimage. You can also enter Image mode and right-click the image to

choose Rotate clockwise (counter-clockwise) by 90 Degrees.

# If the image skews by 180 degrees: you can choose Rotate from

the Edit menu and select Rotate 180 degrees, or click from theEdit toolbox to rotate the image. You can also enter Image mode

and right-click the image to choose Rotate by 180 Degrees.

Erasing Speckles and Filling in White Spots

To improve accuracy, you can use the Eraser in the Edit toolbox toclear speckles close to blocks, or use the Pen to fill in white spots.

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Cropping Images

If you do not need to recognize all of the imported image, you can use

Crop in the Edit toolbox to select the desired area to keep, and then

choose Crop from the Edit menu to crop unnecessary parts.

Inverting Images

MaxReader 5 cannot recognize images with black background and white

text. If you have imported such images, you can first use the Invert Image

from the Edit menu to change the image into white background and black

text and then commence recognition.

Deleting Pages

You can delete unnecessary pages from MaxReader 5 by following these

steps:

1. Select the page to be deleted in the Thumbnail Viewer.

2. Perform one of the following actions to delete it:

• Select Delete Page…from the File menu.

• Right-click the page in the Thumbnail Viewer and select Delete

Current Page.

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Chapter 4 Page Format and

Recognition

Before starting the OCR, you can do some preparation work such as

selecting character sets, selecting blocks, selecting the page format,

performing page analysis, and selecting the user dictionary. MaxReader 5

also offers automatic actions for the ease of obtaining the OCR results.

! Setting Character Sets ! Recognizing Documents

29

! Selecting Blocks ! Selecting the User

Dictionary (For AsianLanguage User Interface)

! Setting Page Format ! Automatic Actions

! Changing Block Settings ! Discarding OCR Results

Setting Character SetsWhen the OCR document includes Chinese characters, you can choose

Set Character Set from the Format menu to set the appropriate

character set as a guide for MaxReader 5 during recognition.

Traditional

Chinese I

Suitable for everyday documents such as

newspapers, and magazines.

Traditional

Chinese II

Suitable for documents composed of ancient

languages such as ancient poetry, codes and

records. Selecting this option will cause slower

recognition speed compared to TraditionalChinese I.



Chapter 4 Page Format and Recognition

Simplified

Chinese

Suitable for documents with simplified Chinese

characters.

Japanese Suitable for Japanese documents.

This feature is only available for Asian languages.

Selecting Blocks

When recognizing the entire page, you do not need to manually select

blocks; however, if you wish to recognize only certain areas of the page,

you will need to manually select the blocks for recognition, and then setthe page format for recognition. MaxReader 5 will only recognize the

selected blocks.

! Automatic Block Selection

! Manual Block Selection

Automatic Block Selection

Analyze Pages will distinguish images from text, select the blocks to

recognize, and set the block order for efficient OCR performance. You

can choose one of the following actions for MaxReader 5 to automatically

analyze the page.

# Select Analyze Pages from the OCR menu.

# If the Analyze icon on the Command Bar is , simply click the

icon. Otherwise, click and choose Analyze Page from the list.

After analyzing the page, MaxReader 5 will select blocks and mark them.

Manual Block Selection

1. Click Text Identification from the Edit toolbox.

30




2. Drag the mouse to select the text (excluding forms) that you wish to

recognize. The block border is blue.

3. If you wish to preserve the images in the document, you can click

Image Identification from the Edit toolbox to select the images.That area will be treated as images and the block border is red.

4. If there are forms in the document, you can click theTable

Identification from the Edit toolbox to select the form. The block

border is green.

5. If you wish to have the post-OCR block to remain one complete block,

select Keep Block Intact from the Format menu, and the block

border will change from a single line to a double line.

Setting Page Format

Set the page format to select the attributes of the document to be

recognized, including horizontal/vertical alignment, single/multi-column,

data type, and form-related settings. Select Page Format… from the

Format menu, and choose the options.

Page Format Setting Dialog Box

! Page Layout Property

! Text Alignment

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! Forms

! Data Type

Page Layout Property

The default Page Layout Property is Auto, meaning MaxReader 5 will

automatically detect the text layout. Select Force to Single Column for

the following documents.

# Single-column documents with sparse spacing (such as bulleted

list), select Force to Single Column prior to recognition.

# If you wish to save multi-column text from an image file as single-column text (For example, the Yellow Pages), select Force to

Single Column prior to recognition.

Text Alignment

The default text alignment setting is Auto, meaning MaxReader 5 will

automatically detect the text alignment. If you require special text

alignment, you can select Vertical or Horizontal to obtain the correctpage analysis result. If you select Vertical, MaxReader 5 will recognize

the text in the order of the vertical alignment; if you select Horizontal,

MaxReader 5 will recognize the text in the order of the horizontal

alignment. In other words, the OCR results vary from alignment to

alignment.

Forms

The default Forms setting is Auto, meaning MaxReader 5 will

automatically detect whether the image file contains forms and form types.

If your document does not contain any forms, you can select Document

without forms. If your document contains forms, you can choose Form,

Table with Gridlines, or Table without Gridlines.

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Data Type

You can set the data type of the page, such as Chinese, alphabetic,

numeric, or image.

Changing Block Settings

This feature allows you to change the order or attributes of the blocks

after selecting them. You can even delete unnecessary blocks.

!Reordering Blocks

! Changing Block Attributes

! Clearing Blocks

! Loading Templates

Reordering Blocks

Each block created in page analysis will have its own block number.

MaxReader 5 will assign the block number according to the

horizontal/vertical text alignment after page analysis. If you have selected

blocks manually, the block number is assigned in the order the blocks are

selected. When you click Reorder Blocks from the Edit toolbox, the

block number will appear on the upper left corner of each block. The block

number will affect the output of the recognized text.

To reorder blocks:

1. Select Reorder Blocks from the Edit toolbox.

2. Reorder a block by clicking and dragging it into the block to which

you want it to precede. For example, if you wish to change block 3 to

block 2, simply click block 3 and drag it into block 2, release the

mouse button, and these two blocks will be reordered accordingly.

33




Changing Block Attributes

If you wish to change the attributes of the blocks after manually selecting

blocks, for example, changing text blocks to image blocks, right-click the

blocks, select Change Block Attributes, and then choose an attribute:Image, Text, or Advanced Attribute Settings. If you have chosen

Advanced Attribute Settings, the Page Format Setting dialog box will

appear. For more information, please refer to Chapter 4 – Setting Page

Format.

Clearing Blocks

You can clear unnecessary blocks. Depending on your Edit toolbox status,two scenarios can occur.

Solution 1: Select Clear Block and select the blocks to be deleted.

Solution 2: Enter Image mode and click Selection to choose the

blocks to be deleted. Then right-click it and choose Deselect Block.

Loading Templates

You can save commonly used templates and project them directly onto

the document to save time on page analysis. For more information on

saving templates, please refer to Chapter 6 – Saving Commonly Used

Templates.

To apply existing templates, select Load Template… from the Format

menu.

Recognizing Documents

After importing the image file, selecting the character set, selecting the

page format, and reordering blocks, you can start the recognition process.

After recognition, MaxReader 5 will automatically enter Page mode or

Proof mode for you to verify the post-OCR text. To set the post-OCRdisplay mode, click Preferences… from the File menu.

34




If you recognize certain types of documents regularly, setting preferences

will save you from making the same settings again and again.

To recognize only the selected page, perform one of the following:

# Select Recognize Current Page from the OCR menu.

# If the Analyze icon on the Command Bar is , click the icon.

Otherwise, click and choose Recognize Current Page… from the list.

# Enter Image mode, right-click the thumbnail in the Thumbnail

Viewer or the page in the Working Area to choose Recognize

Current Page.

To recognize all pages, perform one of the followings:

# Select Recognize All Pages from the OCR menu.

# If the Analyze icon on the Command Bar is , click the icon.

Otherwise, click to choose Recognize All Pages… from the

list.

To recognize only the existing blocks:

First select a block, and then right-click it to choose Analyze Block.

To set recognition preferences:

1. Perform one of the following to set Recognition Preferences:

• Select Recognition Preferences from the OCR menu.

• Click under the Analyze icon on the Command Bar, and

select Recognition Preferences… from the list.

2. Select the desired template name from the dialog box and set the

preferences. Click Set as Default to set the current template as

recognition default settings. To go back to the original default settings,

click Default Settings.

3. You can also click Rename to change the name of the current

template.

35




Recognition Preferences Dialog Box

4. Click OK.

Selecting the User Dictionary (For Asian LanguageUser Interface)

The User Dictionary contains vocabulary commonly used during

recognition. Therefore, setting different User Dictionaries for different

types of documents will save your time during recognition and verification.

When you choose an Asian language user interface,

make sure you have selected the corresponding character set to make this feature available.

! Editing the User Dictionary

! Using Spelling Check

36




Editing the User Dictionary

1. Select User Dictionary Editing Settings… from the OCR menu.

2. Add new vocabulary.

Rename Change the name of the current dictionary.

Add Add symbols or words in Add New Word text box

to the user dictionary.

Delete Delete words from the dictionary.

Update Update words from the dictionary.

Set as the

User

Dictionary

Use the selected dictionary as one of the user

dictionaries. You can select more than one

dictionary.

Using Spelling Check

You can switch among different dictionaries and apply them to spelling

check to enhance OCR accuracy. To use spelling check:

1. Select User Dictionary Editing Settings from the OCR menu, select

the dictionary you want to use, and then click Set.

2. Select Spelling Check from the OCR menu to start checking the text.

Automatic Actions

You can select Automatic Actions to allow MaxReader 5 toautomatically recognize text and present the OCR results by following the

steps described below.

1. Click under the Wizard icon on the Command Bar to choose a

command, or select Automatic Actions from the File menu.

2. Depending on the command, steps will change accordingly.

37




Command Step

Scan>>Recognize… The scanner driver interface will

appear on the screen, you can click

Scan to scan the document andMaxReader will automatically

analyze and recognize the scanned

image.

Scan>>Recognize>>export… The scanner driver interface will

appear on the screen, you can click

Scan to scan the document.

MaxReader 5 will automatically

analyze and recognize the scannedimage and export the OCR results to

the applications that you have

chosen in the Composite Command

Export Settings dialog box.

Open>>Recognize… The Open Image dialog box will

appear in which you can select a file.

You can hold Shift or Ctrl to select

more than one file. Click Open, and


recognize the documents.

Open>>Recognize>>

export…

The Open Image dialog box will

appear in which you can select a file.

You can hold Shift or Ctrl to select

more than one file. Click Open, and


recognize the documents and export

the results to the applications thatyou have chosen in the Composite

Command Export Settings dialog

box.

Discarding OCR Results

You can discard the OCR results for the current page by doing one of the

following:

38




• Select Discard OCR Result of Current Page from the OCR menu.

• Enter Image mode, and right-click the image to choose Discard

Current Page OCR Results.

• Right-click the thumbnail in the Thumbnail Viewer to choose

Discard Current Page OCR Results.

To discard all OCR results, select Discard OCR Result of the

Document from the OCR menu.

39



Chapter 5 Proofing and Editing

MaxReader 5 allows you to view the recognition results in Page mode or

Proof mode. It displays suspicious characters resulting from blurredimages or incorrect page analysis. You can edit as needed. The following

explains how you can proof and edit post-OCR text.

! Proofing and Editing

! Using the Re-OCR Tools

! Symbol Dialog

Proofing and Editing

MaxReader 5 displays the recognition results of the whole page based on

the system settings in Page mode, and displays the recognition results

block-by-block in Proof mode. You can switch between these two different

operation modes by using the mode buttons in the Display toolbox.

Proofing and Editing in Page Mode

1. Click Verify Text from the Edit toolbox and suspicious characters

will appear in yellow with a blue background.

40

! Learning (For Asian Language User Interface)




Suspicious Characters in Yellow with a Blue Background

2. Use the Verify Text tool to click a suspicious character, then choose

the correct character in the Verify Text window. The selected

character will replace the chosen suspicious character.

Verify Text Window

If no substitute character is found in the Verify Text window, type in

the correct character.

3. Move to the next suspicious character or select any incorrect

character by using the Verify Text tool.

41




Proofing and Editing in Proof Mode

1. Click the block to be edited from the page thumbnail or select it from

the Blocks menu. The OCR results will be displayed in the Text

Viewer with the suspicious characters marked in blue.

2. Click a wrongly recognized character in the Text Viewer. The

character’s original image will be framed in red in the Character

Image window.

3. Pick a suggested character from the Suggested Characters window

beneath the Character Image window. The suggested character will

replace the one to the right of the cursor in the Text Viewer.

If no substitute character is found in the Suggested Character window,

move the cursor to the left of the suspicious character and type in thecorrect one.

4. Move to the next suspicious character by clicking it.

Using the Re-OCR Tools

Some document images may lead to incorrect analysis and OCR results.

The Re-OCR tools allow you to touch up your document and recognize it

again for better results.

! Removing Speckles ! Connecting Lines and

Recognizing

! Patching Up Broken

Characters

! Reprocessing a Block

! Dividing Characters and

Recognizing

! Connecting Blocks and

Recognizing

! Connecting Characters and

Recognizing

! Dividing a Block and

Recognizing

! Dividing a Line and

Recognizing

42




Removing Speckles

Removing speckles can enhance the OCR accuracy. When you edit in

Proof mode, you can use the Erase and Recognize tool to removespeckles from the image.

1. Select the wrongly recognized character in the Text Viewer. The

original image of the character is blocked by a red frame in the

Character Image window.

2. Select Eraser and Recognize from the Edit toolbox. To change

the size and type of the eraser, simply click at the upper left corner.

3. Drag the eraser to remove speckles within the red frame. Undo the

previous step by pressing ESC.

4. Click anywhere outside the red frame or press Enter . MaxReader 5

will immediately re-OCR the character.

Patching Up Broken Characters

Patching up broken characters may increase the accuracy of recognitionresults. When you edit in Proof mode, use the Draw Line and Recognize

tool to patch up characters.




2. Select Draw Line and Recognize from the Edit toolbox. To

change the size and type of the pen tool, simply click at the upper left corner.

3. Drag the mouse to patch up the broken character within the red frame.

Undo the previous step by pressing ESC.

4. Click anywhere outside the red frame or press Enter . MaxReader 5

will immediately re-OCR the character.

43




Dividing Characters and Recognizing

If characters are too close together, the program will read them as a

single character. Use Divide Characters and Recognize tool to separatethem.




2. Select Divide Characters and Recognize from the Edit toolbox.

3. Click and hold the left mouse button within the red frame. Adjustingthe red cutting line to the proper position and release the mouse key.

MaxReader 5 will re-OCR the two newly divided characters and

renew the OCR results in the Text Viewer.

Connecting Characters and Recognizing

A character sometimes appears to the program as two or more characters.

Use the Connect Characters and Recognize tool to have themprocessed as a single character.




2. Select Connect Characters and Recognize from the Edit

toolbox.

3. Click within the red frame and drag to the character to be connected.

MaxReader 5 will re-OCR the newly connected character and renew

the OCR results in the Text Viewer.

Dividing a Line and Recognizing

Divide an incorrect connection between two lines and re-OCR.

44







2. Select Divide a Line and Recognize from the Edit toolbox.

3. Click within the red frame. The lines stuck together will be divided into

two parts. MaxReader 5 will re-OCR the two separate lines and renew

the OCR results in the Text Viewer.

Connecting Lines and Recognizing

Connect lines that are wrongly divided by the system as two or more lines

and re-OCR.




2. Select Connect Lines and Recognize from the Edit toolbox.

3. Click within the red frame and drag to the line to be connected.

MaxReader 5 will re-OCR the newly connected lines and renew theOCR results in the Text Viewer.

Reprocessing a Block

When you discover mistaken page format settings for a specific block,

such as wrong text alignments or data types, you need to reprocess that

specific block.

1. Click the Page mode button in the Display toolbox.

2. Choose Selection in the Edit toolbox. Click the block, and the

block will turn yellow.

3. If you have cleared Show Block Format Dialog Before Re-OCRing

Blocks in the Preferences dialog box, you need to perform one of

the following actions to reset the block attributes.

• Select Page Format… from the Format menu.

45




• Enter Image mode, and right-click the document. Choose Change

Block Attributes and select Advanced Attribute Settings….

If you have checked the Show Block Format Dialog Before Re-

OCRing Blocks, skip this and go straight to Step 4.

4. Select Re-OCR Block from the OCR menu or press F8. If you have

checked Show Block Format Dialog Before Re-OCRing Blocks in

the Preferences dialog box, the Block Format dialog box will appear,

allowing you to reset the block attributes. Click OK and MaxReader 5

will re-OCR the selected block and renew the OCR results.

Connecting Blocks and Recognizing

Connect wrongly divided blocks and re-OCR.


2. Select Connect Blocks in the Edit toolbox.

3. Drag a rectangle around the area you want to connect.

4. MaxReader 5 will re-OCR the connected blocks. If you have checked

the Show Block Format Dialog Before Re-OCRing Blocks in thePreferences dialog box, the Block Format dialog box will appear,

allowing you to reset the block attributes. Click OK and MaxReader 5

will re-OCR the selected block and renew the OCR results.

Dividing a Block and Recognizing

Divide wrongly connected blocks and re-OCR.


2. Select Divide Block in the Edit toolbox.

3. Click the block and adjust the position of the red line (you can also

drag to create a red line) to divide the block.

46




4. Press Enter or click anywhere outside the block, and MaxReader 5

will re-OCR the divided blocks. If you have checked Show Block

Format Dialog Before Re-OCRing Blocks in the Preferences dialog

box, the Block Format dialog box will appear, allowing you to reset

the block attributes. Click OK and MaxReader 5 will re-OCR theselected block and renew the OCR results.

Symbol Dialog

When proofing and editing in Proof mode, you can input special symbols

by using Symbol Dialog.

To enter symbols:

1. Click the place you wish to insert the symbol in the Text Viewer.

2. Select Symbol Dialog from the View menu. The Symbol bar will

appear.

3. If you cannot locate the desired symbol, click or to move

forward or backward to search for the symbol.

4. Click the desired symbol, and it will be inserted in the position of the

cursor.

To add symbols to the Symbol bar:

1. Select Symbol Dialog from the View menu.

2. Click , and the Symbol Setting dialog box will appear.

3. Click Previous Page and Next Page to browse the entire list of

symbols and search for the symbol that you wish to add to the

Symbol bar and click it. You can also manually type the symbol in the

Add Character text box.

4. Click Add.5. Click Quit to close the dialog box.

47




To delete symbols from the Symbol bar:

1. Select Symbol Dialog from the View menu.

2. Click , and the Symbol Setting dialog box will appear.3. Select Symbol.

4. Choose the symbols to be deleted from the list and clickDelete.

5. Click Quit to close the dialog box.

Learning (For Asian Language User Interface)

If you notice that MaxReader 5 wrongly recognizes certain characters

repeatedly, you can use the Learning function to add these characters to

the User’s Learned Table to enhance OCR accuracy. You can also select

different User’s Learned Tables for different types of documents.

When you choose an Asian language user interface,

make sure you have selected the corresponding character set to make this feature available.

Learning Characters:

1. Click the Proof mode button in the Display toolbox.

2. In the Text View, select the wrongly recognized character you want to

save.

3. Select Learning… from the OCR menu, and the Learning dialog box

will appear. The selected character appears at the top of the dialog

box. (It is the same character blocked in a red frame in the Character

Image window.)

4. Type the correct character in the Add New Character text box. Click

Learn. The new character will be saved in the Learned Table, and

MaxReader 5 will replace the incorrect character in the Text Viewer.

For more information, please refer to the following:! Deleting Learned Characters

48




! Selecting User’s Learned Table

Deleting Learned Characters

If you wish to delete characters in the User’s Learned Table, select

Delete Learning Character… from the OCR menu. Select the character

to be deleted and click Delete.

Selecting User’s Learned Table

This feature allows you to choose a specific User’s Learned Table as the

default Learned Table and rename it.

1. Select Select Learning File… from the OCR menu.

2. Select the User’s Learned Table that you wish to set as default and

click OK. To rename the Learned Table, click Rename.

49



Chapter 6 Exporting Files

In MaxReader 5, you can save pre-OCR document images, commonly

used page formats, and post-OCR text, image, and forms for future useand editing. You can also save an unfinished project.

! Saving Document Images

! Saving OCR Results

! Saving Projects

! Saving Commonly Used Templates

! Printing

! Sending OCR Results to Other Applications

! Composite Command Export Settings

Saving Document Images

If you wish to preserve scanned or imported images, you can save them

in BMP, TIFF, PCX, or JPEG format.

To save document images:

1. Select Save Original Image from the File menu.

2. In the Save Original Image dialog box, select a location and file typefor your document, type a filename, and then click Save.

50




Save Original Image Dialog Box

Saving OCR ResultsYou can save the recognized text in various formats. Save the recognition

results of the current page or of the whole document in TXT, DOC, RTF,

XLS, SLK, or CSV format for editing in word processing programs such as

WordPad, Microsoft Word, and Microsoft Excel. You can also save files in

HTML format and open them with a Web browser, such as Internet

Explorer or Netscape Navigator.

To save OCR results:

1. To save the results of the current page, perform one of the following:

# Select Save OCR Result… from the File menu.

# If the Export icon on the Command Bar is , click the icon.Otherwise, click and select Save Current Page OCRResults… from the list.

To save the results of the whole document, perform one of the

followings:

51




# Select Save All OCR Results… from the File menu.

# If the Export icon on the Command Bar is , simply click

the icon; otherwise, click and select Save All OCRResults....

Either the Save Current Page OCR Results or Save All OCR

Results dialog box will appear.

2. Select a location and type a filename for your document. You can

save it in several different formats.

File

Format

Description

Text File Plain text file. Save only the text from the recognition

results.

MS_Word Microsoft Word file. MaxReader 5 will save the

document as a doc file. If the document contains

images, all image blocks will be saved to the doc file.

When there are multiple pages in the document,MaxReader 5 will insert a separator between pages.

52




File

Format

Description

Rich-Text-

Format

Font size, layout, image blocks, and form attributes are

preserved. When there are multiple pages in the

document, MaxReader 5 will insert a separator between

pages.

Excel Save the document in this format to work with Microsoft

Excel.

SLK Save the document in this format to work with Microsoft

Excel.

CSV Save the document in this format to work with Microsoft

Excel.

HTML or

HTML for

IE4.0

Save the document in this format to work with Web

browsers. If the document contains images, all image

blocks will be saved as JPEG files and numbered

sequentially. For multi-page documents, MaxReader 5

automatically inserts horizontal lines between pages.

3. Click Save.

Saving Projects

If you have not completed recognizing and editing your document but

need to stop, you can save the images and post-OCR text for future

processing.

To save an unfinished project:

1. Perform one of the following steps to save a project.

# Select Save Project from the File menu.

# If the Export icon on the Command Bar is , click the icon.

Otherwise, click and select Save Working File… from thelist.

53




The Select a Project Folder dialog box will appear.

2. Select a blank folder or click New Folder to create a new folder.

3. Click OK to save the current edit status and text and image blocks to

the folder.

To open a project, refer to Chapter 3 – Opening a Project for more

information. You can also copy the project to other computers on which

MaxReader 5 has been installed and continue editing your document.

54




Saving Commonly Used Templates

If you use a certain page format regularly, you can save it as a template

(*.TPL) that can be projected onto an image to save time on setting the

page format and enhance recognition accuracy.

To save a page format:

1. Perform page analysis, or manually select blocks and set block

attributes.

2. Select Save Template… from the Format menu.

Save Page Mode Dialog Box

3. Select a location, type a filename, and then clickSave.

To load a template, please refer to Chapter 4 – Loading Templates.

Printing

MaxReader 5 provides printing functions for both the image and

recognition results. To print the recognition results, point to Print on the

File menu, and then select Print Result. To print an image, point to Print

on the File menu, and then select Print Original Image.

55




Sending OCR Results to Other Applications

MaxReader 5 provides export functions, allowing you to send images to

an e-mail program or export the recognition results or image blocks to

other applications such as WordPad, Paint, or Acrobat Reader.

MaxReader 5 can record 10 templates, each containing an application

and the export file format. You can directly select a template to export

your document.

To send a document to an e-mail program.

You can send opened images to an e-mail program by selecting Send To

Mail… from the File menu.

You must install a MAPI-compatible e-mail program such

as Exchange or Outlook Express that MaxReader 5 can

send documents to.

To set an export template:

1. Perform one of the following:

#Select Send Setup… from the File menu.

# Click under the Export icon on the Command Bar to

select Export Settings… from the list.

56




2. Make settings in the Send Setup dialog box:

Send Setup Dialog Box

Add Add a new export template.

Delete Delete the selected export template.

Rename Change the name of the selected exporttemplate.

Program Input the application for the selected export

template.

Parameter Type the parameter for the selected template.

Format Set the file format for the selected export

template.

3. Click OK.

To apply an export template:

Click under the Export icon on the Command Bar and select

Export Current Page OCR Results To, Combine and Export All

Results To, or Export Results Separately To and choose the

application for sending your document. These options are explained here.

57




Option Description

Export Current

Page OCR

Results To

Export the OCR results of the current page to the

selected application.

Combine and

Export All Results

To

Export the OCR results of the whole document to

the selected application and save them in one file.

Export Results

Separately To

Export the OCR results of the whole document to

the selected application and save them in separate

files.

During the export process, MaxReader 5 will temporarily

save the files in the Pccrtemp directory. You will need to

regularly delete these temporary files to free up space

on your hard disk.

Composite Command Export Settings

The Scan >> Recognize >> export… and Open >> Recognize >>export… commands in MaxReader 5 Automatic Actions can

automatically export the OCR results. This section describes how to

preset the export file format and application.

To set the Automatic Actions export file format and application:

1. Perform one of the following to set the export application.

# Select Composite Command Export Settings… from the File

menu.

# Click on the Wizard icon on the Command Bar and select

Composite Command Export Settings… from the list.

2. The Composite Command Export Settings dialog box will appear.

Select an export application from the Application list box on the left.

3. Select the suitable file format from the Format drop-down list box.

4. Click OK.

58




MaxReader 5 will export the post-OCR document to your chosen

application when you choose Scan >> Recognize >> export… or Open

>> Recognize >> export….

59



Chapter 7 Chinese OCR Samples

Chinese documents with images are the most common document type.

The following demonstrates the application of page format and OCR for these documents.

1. If the Input icon on the Command Bar is , click the icon.

Otherwise, click to select Open Image File… from the list.

2. Select SAM_RGB3.jpg from the Example\Traditional directory under

the MaxReader 5 program folder.

3. Click Open to import the file.

60




4. Select Set Character Set… from the Format menu and selectTraditional Chinese I from the submenu, or click the right side of the

Status Bar and select Traditional Chinese I from the menu that

appears.

5. Select Page Format… from the Format menu.

6. Check option buttons or check boxes as follows in the Page Format

Setting dialog box:

Item Settings

Page Layout Property Auto

Text Alignment Auto

61




Item Settings

Forms Auto

Data Type

Chinese, Alphabetic,

and Numeric

7. Click under the Analyze icon on the Command Bar and select

Recognize Current Page… from the list to start recognition.

8. Click the Page mode and Proof mode buttons in the Display

toolbox to verify the OCR results as needed. (Refer to Chapter 5 for

details on verification.)

62




9. Click under the Export icon on the Command Bar and selectExport Current Page OCR Results To and select WINWORD.

(1) You must first install Microsoft Word and set it as the

export template in order to select it from the

submenu under the Export icon. For more

information, please refer to Chapter 6 – Sending

OCR Results to Other Applications.

63




(2) You can choose Preferences… from the File menu,

and set to add line breaks in the Microsoft Word

document to preserve the original page format. If you

wish to manually edit the pages, you can choose not

to add line breaks.

10. MaxReader 5 will send the OCR results to Microsoft Word. Select

Print Layout from the View menu to view the entire document.

OCR Results sent to Microsoft Word

64



Chapter 8 English OCR Samples

Besides Chinese documents, MaxReader 5 can also recognize English

documents. The following demonstrates the steps for recognizing English-only documents.



2. Select SAM_RGB2.jpg from the Example\English directory under the

MaxReader 5 folder.


65





5. Check option buttons or check boxes in the Page Format Setting

dialog box.

Item Setting


Text Alignment Auto

Forms Auto

Data Type Alphabetic

66




6. If the Analyze icon on the Command Bar is , click the icon.

Otherwise, click to select Recognize Current Page… to start

recognition.

67





toolbox to verify the OCR results as needed. (Refer to Chapter 5 for

details on verification.)

8. After verification, click on the Export icon on the CommandBar to select Save Current Page OCR Results….

9. In the Save Current Page OCR Results dialog box, type the file

name Sam-rgb2 and save it in Rich-Text-Format (RTF) format.

You can select Preferences… from the File menu and

choose to add line breaks in RTF files to preserve the

original page format. If you wish to manually edit the pages, you can choose not to add line breaks.

68




10. You can also send the file to an application. Click on the

Export icon on the Command Bar, point to Export Current Page

OCR Results To, and then select WINWORD.

You must first install Microsoft Word and set it as theexport template in order to select it from the submenu

under the Export icon. For more information, please

refer to Chapter 6 – Sending OCR Results to Other

Applications.

11. MaxReader 5 will send the OCR results to Microsoft Word. Select

Print Layout from the View menu in Microsoft Word to view the entire

document.

OCR Results sent to Microsoft Word

69




If you do not need to save image blocks, you can

choose to save recognized text as a .txt plain text file to

include only text in the file. You can send this text file to

an application like WordPad or NotePad.

70



Chapter 9 Form OCR Samples

Besides documents containing both images and text and Chinese/English

documents, MaxReader 5 can also recognize various forms, such asofficial documents, address books, resumes, and report cards. The format

and text of the original form can be preserved, and you can send the OCR

results to Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel for further processing.

! Recognizing Forms

! Recognizing Tables without Gridlines

Recognizing Forms



2. Select SAM_TABLE1 from the EXAMPLE\English directory under the

MaxReader 5 folder.


71





5. Check option buttons or check boxes in the Page Format Setting

dialog box.

Item Settings

Page Layout

Property Auto

Text Alignment Auto

Forms Form

Data Type Alphabetic, Numeric

72




6. If the Analyze icon on the Command Bar is , click the icon.

Otherwise, click to select Recognize Current Page… to start

recognition.


Toolbox to verify the OCR results as needed. (Refer to Chapter 5 on

verification.)

8. You can send the file to an application. Click on theExport

icon on the Command Bar, point to Export Current Page OCR

Results To, and then click Explorer .

You must first install a Web browser and set it as the

export template in order to select it from the submenu


refer to Chapter 6 – Sending OCR Results to Other

Applications.

73




9. MaxReader 5 will send the OCR results to Explorer.

OCR Results sent to Explorer

10. You can also save the file. Click on the Export icon on the

Command Bar to select Save Current Page OCR Results… from the

list.

11. In the Save Current Page OCR Results dialog box, type the file

name Sam_TAB1, save the file in HTML format, and then click Save.

MaxReader 5 will save the file in HTML format and save image blocksas *.JPG files sequentially.

74




Save Current Page OCR Results

Recognizing Tables without Gridlines

1. If the Input icon on the Command Bar is , simply click the

icon; otherwise, click to select Open Image File… from the list.

2. In the dialog box that appears, select SAM_TABLE2 from the

EXAMPLE\English directory under the MaxReader 5 folder.

75





76





5. Check option buttons or check boxes as follows in the Page Format

Setting dialog box:

Item Settings


Text Alignment Auto

Forms Table without Gridlines

Data Type Alphabetic, Numeric

6. Click on the Analyze icon on the Command Bar to select

Recognize Current Page… from the list to start recognition.

77





toolbox to verify the OCR results as needed. (Refer to Chapter 5 on

verification.)

8. You can send the file to an application. Click on theExport

icon on the Command Bar to select Export Current Page OCR

Results To and select EXCEL.

78




You must first install Microsoft Excel and set it as the

export template in order to select it from the submenu


refer to Chapter 6 –Sending OCR Results to Other

Applications.

9. The OCR results will be sent to Microsoft Excel.

OCR Results to Microsoft Excel

10. You can also save the file. Click on the Export icon on the

Command Bar to select Save Current Page OCR Results… from the

list.

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11. Type the file name Sam_YP2 in the Save Current Page OCR

Results dialog box and save the file in Excel format.

Save the OCR Results in Excel Format

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Chapter 10 Automatic Actions

Samples

MaxReader 5 provides convenient and speedy automatic actions. It

automatically import and recognize documents to give you highly accurate

OCR results.

1. Select Auto Actions from the File menu.

2. Select Open >> Recognize….

3. In the dialog box that appears, select the EXAMPLE\English directory

under the MaxReader 5 folder, hold Ctrl and select SAM_ENG1.tif,SAM_RGB2.jpg, and SAM_YP2.tif.

4. Click Open and MaxReader 5 will open and recognize each file.

5. When recognition is complete, Click the Page mode and Proof

mode buttons in the Display toolbox to verify the OCR results.

(Refer to Chapter 5 on verification.)

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Chapter 10 Automatic Actions Samples

6. After verification, you can select Save All OCR Results from the File menu.

7. In the Save All OCR Results dialog box, type the file name

Sam_Auto and save the file in Ms_Word format. The OCR results of

these 3 files will be saved in one file with separators dividing each one.

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Chapter 10 Automatic Actions Samples

Save All OCR Results

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Appendix A Glossary

Terms Description

Block Attribute The characteristics of page layout and data content,

such as the horizontal/vertical alignment of text, used

language, the inclusion of forms, and single/multi

column.

Clipboard The area that text and images are temporarily saved.

It is used to temporarily save objects from Cut and

Paste commands.Default

Settings

The original values for all options in the program.

DPI Resolution-measuring unit. The resolution of printers

and scanners is measured by the dots per inch they

produce. The higher the DPI value, the higher the

resolution.

Memory Also called RAM (Random Access Memory) This is

where the computer temporarily saves data. You cancopy contents in the memory to your hard drive or

disk for permanent access.

Drop-Down

Menu

The command list that appears when you select the

Menu Bar or click on the Command Bar.

Page Format Set the properties of the document contents such as

page layout, text alignment, forms, and data type.

Analyze Pages MaxReader 5 automatically analyzes the recognition

area of the image file, changes block order, and sets

document properties.

Block Rectangular areas created after page analysis.

Divide

Character

Divide characters that have been wrongly connected

and recognized.

Connect

Characters

Connect characters that have been wrongly divided

and recognized.

Divide Line Divide characters in two adjacent lines that have beenwrongly connected and recognized.

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Appendix A Glossary

Terms Description

Connect Line Connect characters that have been wrongly divided

into two lines and recognized.

Divide Block Divide blocks that have been wrongly connected.

Connect Block Connect blocks that have been wrongly divided.

Suggested

Character

Characters similar to the selected character in shape

or in meaning.

Learning Enter the commonly wrongly recognized characters

into the User’s Learned Table to enhance OCR

accuracy.

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Appendix B Menu Bar

The following table describes each command and its function.

File

Open New Project… Open new documents and close the already

opened document.

Open Project… Open unfinished documents.

Save Project… Save unfinished documents.

Auto Actions Guide you to import files and perform

automatic recognition and verification.

Composite Command

Export Settings…

Set the applications to be used and file format

when Automatic Actions exports the OCR

results.

Save OCR Result… Save the current page OCR results. If you

choose to save OCR results in DOC, RTF, or

HTML format, MaxReader 5 will save all

contents (images and text). HTML format will

assign order numbers to images in the file and

save them in order. If you choose to save thefile as text-only, MaxReader 5 will only save

recognized text.

Save All OCR

Results…

Save all OCR Results and separate each

document with page breaks. If you choose to

save OCR results in DOC, RTF, or format,

MaxReader 5 will save all contents (images

and text). HTML format will assign order

numbers to images in the file and save them inorder. If you choose to save the file as a text-

only file, MaxReader 5 will only save

recognized text.

Open Image File… Open image files.

Delete Page… Delete the current page.

Save Original Image Save the current page image with the name

that is entered by the user.

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Appendix B Menu Bar

File

Acquire… Bring up the scanner interface. (Please refer

to the scanner manual.)

Select Source… Select a scanner.

Print Print the current file.

Print Setup… Select a printer.

Send To Mail… Send the image file to your e-mail program.

Send Setup… Set the receiving applications and the file

format for export.

Preferences… Define the way MaxReader 5 performs.

Exit Exit MaxReader 5.

Edit Undo Undo the previous action.

Cut Cut the selected area and save it to the

Clipboard.

Copy Copy the selected area to the Clipboard.

Paste Paste the information on the Clipboard onto

the current file.

Clear Delete the selected area.

Select All Select all text and images in the Working Area.

Crop Cuts the image outside the selected area.

Invert Image Replace the colors in the image with their

opposites.

Rotate Rotate the image file in the Working Area

clockwise by 90 or 180 degrees, counter-

clockwise by 90 degrees or by any angle.

Find… Find a specified term in the document.

Find Next Find the next specified term in the document.

Replace… Replace a specified term with another

specified term.

Find First Suspect Find the first suspicious character that

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Appendix B Menu Bar

Edit MaxReader 5 encountered in the current

page.

Find Next Suspect Find the next suspicious character.

View Fit to Width Enlarge or reduce the image to fit the width.

Fit to Page Display the image as a whole page.

Actual Size(100%) Display the image as its actual size.

Reduce Reduce the image with 12.5%, 25%, and 50%

ratios.

Enlarge Enlarge the image with 2 to 16 times ratios.

Zoom In Enlarge the image.

Zoom Out Reduce the image.

Image Mode Display the imported image.

Page Mode Display the post-OCR images/text.

Proof Mode Display the post-OCR editing mode.Command Bar Display or hide the Command Bar.

Thumbnail Viewer Display or hide the Thumbnail Viewer.

Edit Toolbox Display or hide the Edit toolbox.

Symbol Dialog In Proof mode, it allows you to quickly type

commonly used symbols or special

characters--for example, Chinese

punctuations.

Format Page Format… Set the data properties and page format for

documents.

Set Character Set Select the character set that MaxReader 5

uses during recognition.

Save Template… Save the page format on the current image,including data properties, block positions, and

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Appendix B Menu Bar

Format orders in the Working Area.

Load Template… Apply the saved template.

Discard AnalyzedResult

Discard the current analyzed results so youcan reset and analyze again.

Keep Block Intact Make the block remain as one after

recognition. When this command is selected,

block borders will change from single line to

double lines.

Font Type Set the font type for text blocks.

Font Size… Set the font size for text blocks.

Input Type Set whether input characters will be insert or

overwrite in Proof mode.

OCR Analyze Pages Automatically analyze the image and mark

blocks.

Recognize Current

Page

Recognize the current page.

Recognize All Pages Recognize all pages.

Spelling Check Re-OCR with the specified dictionary.

Recognition

Preferences…

Set the commonly used template for future

application and reference for recognition.User Dictionary

Editing Settings…

Set the user’s dictionary as reference for

spelling check.

Learning MaxReader 5 will use new characters in the

User’s Learned Table as reference during

recognition.

Delete Learning

Character…

Deletes learned characters from the User’s

Learned Table.

Select LearningFile…

Set the desired User’s Learned Table asreference.

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Appendix B Menu Bar

OCR Re-OCR Block Re-OCR the selected block.

Discard OCR Result

of Current Page

Discard the current analysis and OCR results

so you can reset, re-analyze, and recognize.

Discard OCR Result

of the Document

Discard all analysis and OCR results so you

can reset, re-analyze and recognize.

Document

First Page Display the first page of the document.

Last Page Display the last page of the document.Next Page Display the next page to the current page.

Previous Page Display the previous page to the current page.

Go to Go to the specified page.

Image Information… Display the image information for the current

page such as the image size and resolution.

Help

Search for Help

on…

Display the index of help topics.

About Display the MaxReader 5 program information,

version, and copyright.

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Appendix C Command Bar

The Command Bar provides commonly used commands during

recognition. The menus list action-related commands. Usually icons willchange according to the command that you have chosen from the menu.

If the icon shows the desired command, you can simply click it.

Wizard Icons

Icon Command and Description

Scan >> Recognize…

This option brings up the scanner interface for you toscan the document. After scanning, MaxReader 5 will

automatically analyze and recognize the document.

Open >> Recognize…

This option allows you to open an image file for

MaxReader 5 to automatically analyze and recognize.

Scan >> Recognize >> Export…

This option brings up the scanner interface for you to

scan the document. After scanning, MaxReader 5 will

automatically analyze, recognize, and export the

recognized results to the preset application.

Open >> Recognize >> Export…

This option allows you to open an image file for

MaxReader 5 to automatically analyze, recognize, and

export the recognized results to the preset application.

No

Correspondin

g Icon

Composite Command Export Settings

This option allows you to set the receiving application

and file format when exporting the recognized results

using Automatic Actions.

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Input Icons


Scan Document…

This option allows you to import images with a scanner.

You may need to first select Select Scanner… to

choose a scanner.

Open Image File…

This option allows you to open an image file.

Open Working File…

This option opens files that have not yet completed

recognizing, verifying, or editing.

No

Correspondin

g Icon

Select Scanner…

This option allows you to select a scanner.

Analyze Icons


Analyze Page…

MaxReader 5 automatically analyzes the image and

creates blocks.

Recognize Current Page…Recognize the current page.

Recognize All Pages…

Recognize all pages.

No

Correspondin

g Icon

Recognition Preferences…

Set the data properties and page format during

recognition.

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Export Icons


Save Working File…

You can choose to save unfinished OCR results along

with the image files for future verification and editing.

Save Current Page OCR Results…

Save the current page OCR results as an editable word

processing file.

Save All OCR Results…

Saves all OCR results as an editable word processing

file.

Export Current Page OCR Results To

Export the current page OCR results to the selected

application.

Combine and Export All Results ToExport all OCR Results to the selected application and

combine them in one file.

Export Results Separately To

Export all OCR results to your selected applications but

separate them into different files.

No

Correspondin

g Icon

Export Settings…This option adds, deletes, or sets the application for

export.

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Live Update Icons


Live Update

Link to NewSoft website to update the program.

Link to NewSoft Website

Link to NewSoft website.

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Appendix D Edit Toolbox

Image Mode (Pre-OCR)

Tool Description

Text Identification

Allow you to drag areas on the image requiring recognition

(excluding forms). The border of this block is blue.

Image Identification

Allow you to select images not requiring recognition.

MaxReader 5 treats that block as an image and will notconduct recognition. The border of this block is red.

Table Identification

Allow you to select forms requiring recognition. The border of

this block is green.

Clear Block

Delete selected blocks.

PenUse this tool for patching up. If you wish to select different

sizes of the pen tip, click on at the upper left corner.

Eraser

Remove speckles on the image. If you wish to select different

sizes of the eraser tip, click at the upper left corner.

Crop

Allow you to use the mouse to select the parts of the image

you wish to preserve, select Crop from the Edit menu to crop

the image outside the selected area.

Rotate 180 degrees

Rotate the image by 180 degrees

Rotate counter-clockwise by 90 Degrees

Rotate the image left by 90 degrees

Rotate clockwise by 90 Degrees

Rotate the image right by 90 degrees

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Image Mode (Post-OCR)/Page Mode

Tool Description

Selection

Allow you to select blocks for further processing.

Reorder Blocks

Each block has its own block number. You can use this tool to

reorder blocks. (Please refer to Chapter 4 – Reordering

Blocks.)

Connect Blocks

Connect and re-OCR blocks that have been divided.

Divide Block

Divide and re-OCR a block that has been connected.

Verify Text

Display suspicious characters in Page mode. Suspicious

characters are in Yellow with a blue background. This tool is

only available in Page mode.

Proof Mode

Tool Description

Divide Character and Recognize

Divide and re-recognize characters that have been wrongly

connected.

Connect Characters and Recognize

Connect and re-recognize characters that have been wrongly

divided.

Divide a Line and Recognize

Divide and re-recognize lines that have been wrongly

connected.

Connect Lines and Recognize

Connects and re-recognize lines that have been wrongly

divided.

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Draw Line and Recognize

Use this tool for patching up. If you wish to select different

sizes of the pen tip, click at the upper left corner. Erase and Recognize

Erase speckles on the image. If you wish to select different

sizes of the eraser tip, click at the upper left corner.

Tool Description

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Appendix E Scanning Suggestions

The quality of the original image affects the scanned result, and different

resolutions should be applied for different documents. Generally, wesuggest that you use 400 dpi resolution to scan regular documents. (The

character height is about 3mm.) If the font size is smaller, we suggest that

you increase the resolution.

For ease of recognition, please use the Eraser tool to remove speckles on

the image prior to recognition to enhance OCR accuracy.

Three factors affect the quality of recognition: image quality, scanning

resolution (dpi), and scanning brightness.

• Image Quality: the documents must be in proper alignment (3

degrees is the limit for skewness) and the image must be clear.

• Scanning Resolution (dpi): normally, when the font size is

between 40 to 50 pixels in the image file, MaxReader 5 performs

the best. When the font size is either bigger or smaller, the

recognition quality will suffer.

You can use 400 dpi to scan the text in the newspaper. (The font

size is 3mm.) We suggest that you use 300 dpi for larger font size.For detailed information, please refer to Illustration 1 – Scanning

Resolutions Suggestions.

• Scanning Brightness: images that are too light (causing broken

lines – refer to Illustration 4) or too dark (causing characters to

smudge – refer to Illustration 3) will both decrease the OCR

accuracy. Therefore when adjusting the scanning brightness,

special attention should be paid to simple characters (not to let

them have broken lines) and complex characters (not to let themsmudge). When it is not feasible to consider both factors, you

should place the clearness of horizontal lines of simple characters

as a priority.

! Illustration 1: Scanning Resolutions Suggestions

! Illustration 2: Standard

! Illustration 3: Too Dark

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! Illustration 4: Too Light

Illustration 1: Scanning Resolutions Suggestions

Suggested Value: 400 dpi

NewSoft Technology Corp. (10 points)











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Illustration 2: Standard

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Illustration 3: Too Dark

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Illustration 4: Too Light

If the text in a document is in black with a white background, you can use

the Automatic Exposure feature provided by the scanner to set the

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