Using Optical Character Recognition on Scanned Text

Transcription

1 Using Optical Character Recognition on Scanned Text This document describes how to use the optical character recognition software OmniPage Professional 15 to convert scanned documents into computer-editable text. The application is available on the public cluster PCs on level 0 of the J. B. Priestley Library. Copyrights The University of Bradford retains copyright for this material, which may not be reproduced without prior written permission. Screen shot(s) reprinted by permission from Nuance. We welcome feedback on our documentation. Please suggestions@bradford.ac.uk. For alternative formats please see: September 2012

2 Contents Introduction... 1 Copyrights... 1 Starting OmniPage Professional Choosing a Processing Method... 2 Quick Start Scan... 2 Manual Processing... 3 Backgrounds... 4 Drawing Zones... 4 Irregular Zones... 5 Deleting Zones... 5 Zone Properties... 5 Performing OCR... 5 The Text Editor... 6 Processing Additional Pages using Manual OCR... 7 Exporting the Results... 7 Saving a File in OmniPage Pro... 7 Speech Facility... 8

3 Introduction This document is an introductory guide to using the optical character recognition (OCR) software OmniPage Professional 15. OCR is the process of analysing character shapes from a scanned image (or from an electronic image file) and translating it into editable text. This software can be used on whole or specific areas of a scanned document. Successful OCR is dependent upon the quality of the original; the better quality the original the more likely the text will be recognised. Acceptable results may not be achieved straight away and it is unlikely that a mirror image of the original will be produced. The results can be exported into a variety of applications, including Microsoft Word and HTML. Copyrights Legally you must abide by Copyright legislation. Serious penalties apply for infringement of copyright. For more information see: Starting OmniPage Professional 15 Click on Start and in the Search box type: OmniPage Professional 15. There are several different elements to the opening page. 1 September 2012

4 OmniPage Toolbox - This contains buttons and associated drop down lists for; Start and Stop processing, Get Page(s), Perform OCR and Export Results. Thumbnail Area - where thumbnails of your pages will appear after the initial scan. Image Panel Displays the current page. Text Editor - Shows the recognised results from the current page. If any of these are not displayed, click the View button and select the missing one. Choosing a Processing Method Documents can be scanned in a number of ways; however this document only covers the Quick Start scan and Manual Scanning methods. For full information on all scanning techniques, From the Help menu search for: Processing Methods. Quick Start Scan - This is recommended for inexperienced users and quick scanning. You are taken through a short series of steps, and then the document is processes automatically. Manual Processing This method allows more control over the scanning process. Each page is processed individually before the document is exported. Zones (the areas to be processed) can be drawn manually, allowing users to assign specific properties, or to scan only what is necessary. Quick Start Scan 1. From the drop down list beneath Get Page(s) select Scan 2. From the drop down list beneath Perform OCR select Automatic. 3. From the drop down list beneath Export Results select Save to File. 4. Place the document on the scanner, face downwards towards the top. 5. From the drop down list beneath Start / Stop Processing select 1-2 3, then click on Start / Stop processing to begin the scan. 6. After a short while, the HP Scanning Wizard will be activated and your document will be scanned. Click Finish when complete. 7. When the first page has been scanned, it appears in the image panel, along with a thumbnail on the left. The Continue Automatic Processing box is then displayed. If you have no more pages to scan, click on Stop Loading Pages. Alternatively, to scan additional pages, remove the first page from the scanner, insert the next, and click on Add More Pages. September

5 The OCR Proofreader window will appear, this is similar to a spell checker in a word processing application. You can choose to edit any incorrect or suspect words (which will be highlighted) in the OCR Proofreader, or wait until you have exported the file into Microsoft Word to edit it. 8. To exit the Proofreading window, click on Close. 9. When the Save to File window appears, select a folder, File Type and type in a File name. 10. Select a Formatting level: Using Optical Character Recognition on Scanned Text Plain Text - Exports as unformatted, left-aligned text in single font and size. Graphics and Tables are not supported. Formatted Text - Places any text originally in columns into a single column, retains fonts and formatting along with graphics and tables. True Page - Places everything in frames. Avoid this option if you have little or no experience of using frames or intend to edit the document significantly later in Microsoft Word. Flowing Page - Retains the original layout of the page as much as possible without using frames or text boxes. In most cases this will be the best choice. 11. Ensure Save and Launch is selected and click on OK. Your chosen destination application will open and display the document. Check the paper size is set to A4 and if necessary adjust the margin settings before saving the file. If the result is not satisfactory, close the file and return to OmniPage Pro and try other settings, e.g. Manual Processing. Manual Processing With manual processing you have more control over how the document is processed. You can draw zones to process only part of a page, change the automatic zones, which OmniPage Pro creates or have different settings for each page. 1. Place your document in the scanner, face down towards the top. 2. From the drop down list beneath Start / Stop Processing select Click on Start / Stop processing to begin the scan. 3. On the standard toolbar, click on Options, or click on the Tools menu and select Options. Work through the tabs and check that the settings are appropriate for your document. 4. To define the document source, from the drop down list beneath the Get Page(s) select either: Load Files (to open an image from a file) or Scan (to scan an image). 5. Click on the Get Page(s) button 3 September 2012

6 If you chose the Load Files option, you will be presented with the Load Files dialog box. Ensure Documents is selected, then navigate to the file. If you chose the Scan option, the scanning process will begin. The scanned, but unrecognised page will then appear in the Image Panel. The Image toolbar on the left of the Image panel contains tools to draw zones and assign properties to the areas you want recognised. For example, graphics can be marked as specific image zones, or a grid as a table zone. Some tools contain a small triangle in the bottom right-hand corner, to indicate that there are further tools currently hidden. To display the flyout menu and use a hidden tool, hold down the mouse on the triangle, and click the appropriate button. This button will then remain visible on the toolbar until you choose another one from the flyout menu. Backgrounds Page images in OmniPage Pro have two types of background; Process and Ignore. You will need to ensure you have the correct background selected before you perform the OCR, otherwise the recognition results may not be what you require. Note: Use the buttons at the top of the image toolbar to change the background type. Process Background - This usually appears white. Any areas outside a manually drawn zone will be auto-zoned. After recognition the manually drawn zones and the auto-zones will be transferred to the Text Editor. Ignore Background This is usually shaded. Only manually drawn areas will be recognised and placed in the Text Editor. Drawing Zones 1. Click on the relevant tool on the Image toolbar e.g. to create a text zone, click on Text tool, or to create a graphic zone, click the Image tool. 2. Hold down the left-mouse button and drag the cursor over the area to create a rectangle. When the mouse is released, a small icon will appear in the top left corner indicating its type. The background will automatically become an Ignore background. 3. Continue to create any other zones as applicable. Note: If you need to adjust the size of a zone, click inside it to select it and use the handles to drag it to a new size. September

7 Irregular Zones To draw an irregular shaped zone, create another zone of the same type, partially overlapping the original zone. When the mouse is released the two zones will join together. Deleting Zones To delete a single zone, right click on it and from the pop-up menu select Clear. To delete all zones, click on Edit, Select All. Click on Edit again and select Clear. Zone Properties All zones have a type, e.g. text (alpha or numeric), graphic, table, form, process or ignore. For recognition is as accurate as possible, ensure these settings are correct. 1. Right click in a zone. On the sub-menu click on Zone type, a fly out menu will show the currently assigned zone type. If necessary select a new type. Performing OCR 1. From the drop down list beneath Perform OCR select the option that closest describes the layout of the incoming pages. Note: Select Automatic if the page contains different or unknown layouts, multiple columns and a table, or multiple tables. 5 September 2012

8 2. Click on Perform OCR to have the page recognised. If you requested proofreading, any incorrect or suspect words will display in coloured text in the OCR Proofreader window. These can be modified using the buttons on the right. The recognised text also appears in the Text Editor pane. The Text Editor The text editor underlines in red suspect text. You can make changes to text here; however it is advisable to do most editing in Microsoft Word, as the layout may be affected. You can alter the display in the Text Editor to make it easier to verify, by using the three buttons at the foot of the Panel. Plain Text View - Removes all formatting and left aligns all text. Formatted Text View - Places any text originally in columns, into a single column and retains fonts and formatting. True Page View - Most closely resemble the formatting and layout of the original. Note: These views are for the Text Editor only. The final formatting level is selected at the time of export. If the result in the Text Editor window is not satisfactory, repeat the scanning process and choose a different option from the Perform OCR list, or changing the type of zones. September

9 Processing Additional Pages using Manual OCR To scan more pages and have them included in the same file: Using Optical Character Recognition on Scanned Text 1. Place the new document in the scanner. Ensure the setting beneath the Get Page(s) is correct for the current page. 2. Click on Get Page(s). The scanned page will appear in the Image Panel. 3. Create the zones. Ensure the setting beneath Perform OCR is correct. Click on Perform OCR. Exporting the Results Once all the pages have been processed, they can be exported into an application. 1. From the drop down list beneath Export Results select Save as File. Click on Export Results. 2. In the Save to File window, select a folder, file type and type in a File name. 3. Under Formatting level: choose one of the following options: Plain Text - Exports as unformatted, left-aligned text in single font and size. Graphics and Tables are not supported. Formatted Text - Places any text originally in columns, into a single column. Retains fonts and formatting along with graphics and tables. True Page - Places everything in frames. Avoid this option if you have little or no experience using frames or intend editing the document significantly later in Microsoft Word. Flowing Page - Retains the original layout of the page as much as possible without using frames or text boxes. In most cases this will be the best choice. 4. Ensure Save and Launch is selected and click on OK. Your chosen destination application will open and display the document. Check the paper size is set to A4 and if necessary, adjust the margin settings before saving the file. If the result is not satisfactory, close the file, return to OmniPage Pro and try different settings. Saving a File in OmniPage Pro If you are processing a long document, it is advisable to save it regularly in OmniPage Pro. 1. Click on File, Save OPD. 2. Name and save the file in a suitable location. Click on OK. When the file is saved as an OmniPage Pro file, all the previously chosen settings are preserved in the file, and if necessary, additional pages can be added later. 7 September 2012

10 Speech Facility Note: You will need to use headphones for this utility. To hear the text in the Text Editor read out loud, 1. Click on the Tools menu and select Speech Mode. (The voice, speed and volume can be controlled through the Speech Settings options on the Tools menu.) 2. Click in the Text Editor where you want to start reading. Navigate using the following keyboard shortcuts: TO HEAR TEXT One character at a time, forward or back KEYS Right or left arrow Current word Ctrl + Numpad 1 One word to the right One word to the left A single line Next line Previous line CtrI + right arrow Ctrl + left arrow Place the insertion point in the line Down arrow Up arrow Current sentence Ctrl + Numpad 2 From insertion point to end of sentence Ctrl + Numpad 6 From start of sentence to insertion point Ctrl + Numpad 4 Current page Ctrl + Numpad 3 From top of current page to insertion point From insertion point to end of current page Previous, next or any page Typed characters Ctrl + Home Ctrl + End To Pause/Resume Ctrl + Numpad 5 Ctrl + PgUp, PgDown or navigation buttons Each typed character is pronounced, one by one, including punctuation September