PEN EXECUTIVE 6-MAC - Portable scanner IRIS - Free user manual and instructions

USER MANUAL PEN EXECUTIVE 6-MAC IRIS

IRISPen Executive 6 (MAC OS X)

User's guide English

Table of Contents

Copyrights. 1

Chapter 1 Introducing the IRISPen. 3

What is the IRISPen? 3
How does it work? 5
The steps to follow. 8

Chapter 2 Installation 11

System requirements 11
Installing the IRISpen for Mac OS X. 11
How to get product support? 12
How to register? 13

Chapter 3 Starting up 15

The application windows. 15
Calibrating the pen scanner 17

Chapter 4 Basic parameters 19

Selecting the reading mode 19
Selecting the language 22
Choosing the output target. 24
Programming the pen buttons (single and double click) 26
Setting the text alignment 28
Defining the output character set. 30
Fine-tuning the barcode reading 32

Enabling speech synthesis 34
Adjusting the image 35

Chapter 5 Additional options 39

Ending sound. 39
Left-handed scanning 40
Vertical text (optional) 41
Negative image. 42
Multiple lines 43
Small print 44
Unknown symbol 45
Character conversion. 45
Table frame conversion 47

Chapter 6 Saving settings. 49

Save/open/restore settings 49

Index 51

Copyrights

Copyrights ©1993-2007 I.R.I.S. All Rights Reserved.

The IRISPen Mini, the IRISPen Express, the IRISPen Executive, the IRISPen Translator software were designed and developed by I.R.I.S. OCR ("Optical Character Recognition") and Linguistic technology by I.R.I.S. I.R.I.S. detains the copyrights of the IRISPen Mini software, the IRISPen Express software, the IRISPen Executive software, the IRISPen Translator software, Read & Speak, the PBR ("Pen Bar Code Reading") technology, the PCR ("Pen Character Recognition") technology, the PHR ("Pen Handprinting Recognition") technology, the linguistic technology, the on-line help system and this manual.

The I.R.I.S. logo, IRISPen, PBR, PCR, I.R.I.S. Linguistic Technology and Read & Speak are trademarks of I.R.I.S.

All other products mentioned in this user's guide are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

CE and FCC conformity

The IRISPen was tested to comply with the EEC standards (EMC Directive 89/336/EEC amended by 92/31/EEC & 93/68/EC) as well as the FCC Standards for Home or Office Use (47 CFR Part 15 regulation & ANSI C63.4).

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCING THE IRISPEN

The IRISPen is a hand-held pen scanner and software that allows you to scan data and instantly convert it into real editable text with the OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology of I.R.I.S. The result is directly available in any Windows or Mac application.

Major applications

You will use the IRISPen to scan and enter into your active application any of the following:

• notes and short entries like addresses, phone numbers, etc.,
• figures and tables from checks, invoices, bank statements, etc.,
• excerpts of texts from books, magazines, newspapers, etc.,
• small graphics like signatures, logos, handwritten notes, etc.

Depending on the IRISPen version used, you will also be able to read

barcodes, handwriting, dot matrix text, scan multiple lines at a time, or even read out or translate the scanned lines.

The IRISPen series

Here is the IRISPen series. Each version offers a different range of functionalities.

• IRISPen Mini (+ Asian version)
• IRISPen Express (+ Asian version)*
• IRISPen Executive (+ Asian version)*
• IRISPen Translator

(*) Available for Windows and for Mac OS X.

The pen scanner

The IRISPen is a pen scanner that has the size and shape of a highlighter. It connects to your computer's USB port and does not require any external power supply. The IRISPen is equipped with a scanning head and a line guide, a roller, and two programmable buttons.

The line guide is used to properly position the pen on the line to be captured.

The roller enables to easily roll the pen onto the paper and acts as a start switch.

The two pen buttons are programmable.

When you press the IRISPen onto a piece of paper, you turn it on, and when you lift the IRISPen away, the scanning ends. A green beam lights up the text area as you scan it.

The OCR technology

The IRISPen integrates the latest OCR (Optical Character Recognition) engine developed by I.R.I.S. It is able to recognize lines of text with top accuracy in up to 125 languages. All American and European languages are supported, including Central-European languages. Greek, Turkish, the Cyrillic ("Russian") and the Baltic languages and Hebrew are also supported. Optionally, the IRISPen reads Asian documents in Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Korean. The IRISPen reads virtually any font, in a wide variety of styles and point sizes (from 8 to 20 points), as well as special characters, reading marks, special symbols, and formatting elements such as vertical lines separating table cells.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The IRISPen functions as a camera that sends an image to the computer. The image is recognized by the recognition routines. The "read" data is inserted in the target application.

To scan the data with the IRISPen, you must simply slide the pen scanner over the line of text or area.

Operate as follows:

• Hold the IRISPen like a pencil and place it a few millimeters before the first characters or data to be recognized. The pen scanner must be positioned so that the text line to be read is right

in the center of the scanning head, directly under the guide line.

! Yellow is the IRISPen's invisible color. It cannot be picked up by the scanner. Do not scan any data printed in yellow.

Also see: Additional options: Left-handed scanning, Vertical text (optional), Negative image.

Warning:

The pen scanning band is 0.41" (10.5mm.) high and covers in many cases several lines of text. As the pen only picks the "central" line within the scanning band, position the line to be scanned properly.

• Press the pen onto the paper and roll it over the text line at a steady rate. Once pressed, the start switch is activated and the data is illuminated by a green light.

Warning:

Make sure you hold the pen at the correct angle, otherwise the data may not be scanned properly.

Incorrect positions

• Once you have reached the end of the line, lift the IRISPen. Make sure you lift it after the last character of the line.

! Do not scan a line longer than 12'' (30.5 cm). The scanning stops as soon as this line length is exceeded.

• Operate exactly the same way for the next line. Also see: Additional options: Multiple lines.

Tip:

Check the image you generate

Use the Scan window (see: Starting up: The application windows) to check the quality of the images you produce and improve your scanning skills.

Tip:

Train yourself with the testsheets

We recommend you use the testsheets provided with your IRISPen to experiment and get acquainted with the pen scanner. The testsheets are available as printed matter as well as in PDF format for possible reprint (the testsheet.pdf file is automatically installed in the installation folder).

THE STEPS TO FOLLOW...

Here are the main guidelines to follow for using your IRISPen. Detailed instructions are provided later in this manual. Use the Table of Contents and the Index at the end of the manual to find the needed information.

1. Define your settings in the IRISPen application

Before you start using the IRISPen, you must tune the software. Depending on the type of data you intend to read - text, barcodes, dot matrix text, etc. - and in which language, you must select the appropriate basic settings and if necessary, fine-tune these settings via the frequent commands.

See: Basic parameters.

2. Open the target application and position your cursor

Choose the application in which you want to insert the read data: open your target document, spreadsheet, database, etc. Place your cursor at the position where you want to insert the data. You can choose the way the data must be transferred in the active application: either direct transfer or via the clipboard. See: Basic parameters, Choosing the output target.

3. Take the original document and scan the data to be picked up

Get back to the document, magazine, etc. containing the data to be transferred and scan the data with the pen scanner: simply slide your pen over the text lines, images, etc. Scrupulously follow the instructions given under: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?. After each scan, the data instantly appears in the target application.

Important tip: Check the scanning quality

Check the quality of your first scans before you actually start with definitive

scanning. Use the Scan window (see: Starting up: The application windows) to judge the image quality and the recognition results. If necessary, operate some image adjustments via the Palette window.

CHAPTER 2 INSTALLATION

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Here is the minimal system configuration required to use the IRISPen for Mac OS X:

• A MAC OS computer with either a PowerPC (minimum G3)- or an Intel processor.
• The operating system MAC OS X version 10.3.9 (PowerPC chip), or version 10.4.3 ("Tiger - Mac OS X on Intel") (Intel chip).
• 150 MB of free hard disk space.
• A free USB port. The IRISPen requires a USB port that provides sufficient power: USB ports on the computer and USB "hubs" do fine. USB connections on keyboards do not.

INSTALLING THE IRISPEN FOR MAC OS X

The IRISPen package contains the pen scanner itself and a self-running CD-ROM containing the IRISPen software. You must install the IRISPen software before you connect the pen scanner.

To install the IRISPen:

• First start your computer and log on as administrator or make sure you have the necessary administration rights.
• Insert the CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive.
• Double-click on the CD-ROM icon from the desktop. The IRISPen window appears.
• Double-click on the IRISPen Installer icon to run the installation. Then fill in your name and password and follow the on-screen instructions.
• Accept the license agreement by clicking on Continue (scroll down to activate the button).
• Click on Install.
• Before restarting your computer, plug the pen scanner into a free USB port of your computer.
• Restart your computer. The installation is complete. You can now connect your pen scanner to a free USB port of your computer.

HOW TO GET PRODUCT SUPPORT?

If you have registered your product, you are entitled to free product support. Contact I.R.I.S.:

Europe

• Hotline: [phone] (working hours)
  Fax: [phone]
• [e-mail]

USA

• Hotline [phone] (working hours)
  Fax: [phone]
• [e-mail]

HOW TO REGISTER?

Don't forget to register your IRISPen! By doing so, you will:

• be kept informed of future product developments and related

I.R.I.S. products,

• be entitled to free product support
• be entitled to special offers on I.R.I.S. products

How to register?

Registration form

You can directly access the registration form on the I.R.I.S. Web site: http://www.irislink.com/register. Select Register IRISPen from the Help menu to get direct access to the Web site.

Telephone

Or register by phone:

• Europe: 32-10-45 1364
• USA: 1-561-921-0847 / 800-447-4744

CHAPTER 3 STARTING UP

The IRISPen Palette appears above the dock, on the left side. It comprises a series of buttons that give access to all basic parameters.

A tooltip appears when you hold the mouse cursor over each of its button.

The IRISPen Palette can be hidden using the closing button on the top corner or using the Hide Palette option from the View menu. To reopen it, select Show Palette from the View menu. You can also easily drag the palette to another position on your screen.

The Scan window

The Scan window appears above the dock. It allows you to see the image you generate with your pen. You can use it to check the quality of the scanning. By default, the image produced is a grayscale image. You can display a black&white version of the image by deselecting the option Grayscale Image from the View menu.

The window contains a Status bar that gives information to the user. The Status bar also shows:

• the reading mode that has been chosen for the reading,
• the language chosen,
• the recognition results whenever data is being scanned.

You can close or hide the window. To reopen it, you will simply click on the Scan window button in the IRISPen Palette, or select Show Scan Window from the View menu. You can also easily drag the window to another position on your screen.

How to change the user interface language?

The language of the application windows directly depends on the language chosen for your operating system. If you want to change the language of your interface, change the language of the operating system.

CALIBRATING THE PEN SCANNER

Before you start using the IRISPen, you must calibrate the pen scanner. If you don't calibrate the scanner, the image quality will be low and the recognition results may be mediocre.

You are automatically prompted to calibrate the pen scanner when running the software for the first time. All you need to do is push your pen on a white piece of paper for a few seconds. The software indicates when the calibration is complete.

Caution:

If the ambient light changes - imagine you get from natural to artificial lighting or conversely, imagine you move to a much lighter or darker place, or even move to a completely different environment, etc., you may need to re-execute the calibration of your pen scanner.

Tip:

Check the scanning quality

You can always check the scanning quality in the Scan window (see: Starting up: The application windows). If the image quality appears degraded, please re-execute the calibration of your pen scanner.

To re-execute the calibration:

• Select Calibrate from the Options menu, then push again your pen on a white piece of paper for a few seconds. The software indicates when the calibration is complete.

CHAPTER 4 BASIC PARAMETERS

SELECTING THE READING MODE

Before you start using the IRISPen, you must select the appropriate reading mode. The reading mode determines the nature of the data to be scanned and read with your pen.

To select the Reading mode:

• Click on Select the reading mode in the IRISPen Palette or select Reading Mode from the Settings menu, and select the appropriate reading mode:

Text (default value)

To read machine-printed text in a certain language. This includes alphanumeric characters, punctuation marks, numeric data, etc. The set of characters used by the software directly depends on the language chosen for the reading. However, you can freely customize this character set (see: Basic parameters, Defining the output character set).

If you intend to read numeric data only, you should set the

reading mode to Numeric (click on List of available

languages in the IRISPen Palette or select Languages from the Settings menu, and select Numeric. By doing so, you will limit the set of used characters to numeric symbols only and eliminate any possible confusion between figures and letters like "5" and "S", "9" and "g", "8" and "B", etc.

Bar Codes

To read bar codes. Select this option to read barcodes exclusively. The resulting character string will directly appear in the target application.

If you want to read barcodes alongside other data, you must set

the bar code reading as secondary reading mode (click on

Lists all supported barcodes in the IRISPen Palette and select the option Read Bar Codes, or select Bar Codes, then Read Bar Codes from the Settings menu). This allows you to read text, numeric data or handprinting, as well as barcodes without having to change your settings.

You can also fine-tune the barcode reading according to your needs (see: Basic parameters, Fine-tuning the barcode reading).

Image

To produce a grayscale image of small graphics such as signatures, mathematical formulae, logos, small pictures, etc.

The image will be automatically sent to your clipboard before it can be pasted in a chosen application.

If you want to produce a black&white image of your small graphic and view it as such in the IRISPen Scan window, your must deselect the option Grayscale Image from the View menu (Grayscale Image is the default option). The black&white version of the scanned image will be automatically displayed in the Scan window.

• If you select the Text reading mode, specify the type of text to be read. Select Text Type from the Settings menu, then select the appropriate type:

Automatic (default value)

To read "normal" text in any printing quality: typeset, typewritten, laser printed, inkjet printed, letter quality dot matrix printed texts and draft dot matrix printing. The IRISPen detects the font mode automatically.

Dot Matrix

To read draft dot matrix text exclusively, i.e. to read the so-called "Draft" or "9 pin" dot matrix text, which is made up of isolated, separate dots.

Spaced Handprinting:

To read spaced handprinting, i.e. if there is a clear space between the characters.

Contiguous Handprinting:

To read contiguous handprinting, i.e. if the space between characters is reduced (some characters may occasionally touch each other) and if the zones covered by a single character may overlap.

• If you have selected the Handprinting type, you are prompted to indicate a Rejection level for the reading.

You can actually have an influence over the number of rejected characters that will appear in the reading result. If the rejection threshold is increased, characters will be rejected quicker if the software is unsure. There will thus be less possible errors but

more rejected characters in the reading result. If the rejection threshold is decreased, there will be less rejected characters in the result, but the level of possible errors will be higher. For applications where extreme accuracy is essential, you should set a high rejection level.

To adjust the rejection level, use the up and down arrows on the right.

SELECTING THE LANGUAGE

You must indicate the language in which the data is to be read. The character subset used by the IRISPen will be selected accordingly so as to optimize the reading.

Advanced option

Of course, you can further customize the character set which is normally used to read the chosen language in order to make it fit your particular needs. See: Basic parameters, Defining the output character subset.

Mixed alphabets

You can activate a mixed alphabet of Greek or Cyrillic and Western characters. This is useful if Western words pop up in Greek of Cyrillic texts (this is often the case with proper names, brand names, etc.). The IRISPen will automatically switch languages whenever needed.

To select the language:

• Click on Lists of available languages in the IRISPen Palette or select Languages from the Settings menu, and select the language in which the data is to be read in the list of available languages. The top part of the list gathers the languages that were selected recently.

Click on Other to access the whole list of available languages. Either browse through the list or simply press the first letter of the needed language. Click OK to confirm your choice.

• If you want to activate a mixed alphabet, select the required language pair, e.g.: Greek-English, Byelorussian-English, etc. Click OK to confirm your choice.

• If you choose an Asian language, also indicate the text flow by enabling the option Vertical Text under the Options menu in the toolbar. See: Additional options, Vertical text.

CHOOSING THE OUTPUT TARGET

You can choose the way the read data is being inserted in your active application: either via "keyboard emulation", which sends the data directly into the active application, or via the clipboard, which requires a manual Paste or CTRL+V command.

You can also determine some other elements such as the font and the size of the inserted data.

To choose the output target:

• Click on Choose the output target in the IRISPen Palette or select Output Target from the Settings menu.
• Select the required method:

Keyboard Emulation

If this option is selected, the read data is directly inserted at the cursor location in the target application.

Scanning multiple lines

You can scan multiple lines at the same time (this is particularly useful if you want to recapture whole excerpts of text from books, magazines, etc.) and have them read automatically. When using keyboard emulation, the various lines of text will be buffered by the software, then released with the click on a pen button.

To scan multiple lines, tick the option Multiple Lines from the Settings menu.

Clipboard (default value)

If this option is selected, the read data is first copied to the

clipboard before it is pasted (automatically or not, see below) in the active application. If the data is pasted automatically (default value, see below), this method is quicker than Keyboard

Emulation.

If the data is not pasted automatically (see below), this allows e.g. to change the cursor location in the active application before the data is inserted.

Scanning multiple lines

You can scan multiple lines at the same time and send them to the clipboard. In this case, you will operate exactly as for single lines: scan then paste the data manually in the active application. To scan multiple lines, tick the option Multiple Lines from the Settings menu.

• If you have selected Clipboard as output target, you have access to the following advanced options via the button Choose the output target in the IRISPen Palette or the command Options from the Settings menu. Select the required options and values, then click on OK to confirm.

Include font and size

You can determine the font and the size of the data to be inserted in the active application. Tick the button Include font and size and select the required font and size via the arrows on the right.

Paste automatically (default value)

If this option is selected, the software automatically pastes the data that has been sent to the clipboard in the active application.

Otherwise, you must paste the data manually with the Paste or CTRL+V command.

PROGRAMMING THE PEN BUTTONS (SINGLE AND DOUBLE CLICK)

Your pen scanner is equipped with two buttons. The simple and double click of each pen button can be programmed so as to execute an operation in the target application. By simply pressing the pen buttons, you will thus be able to execute key sequences, add characters, switch from one reading mode to another, etc. without having to touch your keyboard.

The buttons programming is particularly useful, for example, when entering data into a database: you can program the command to get to the next field and program the to move the cursor to the next row. When entering amounts in a spreadsheet, you can program the keying of the currency ("\(", etc.). In your word processor, you will program the key to make a carriage return and start a new paragraph, etc. These are only a few examples...

You can program the single and double clicks of each button, four operations can be programmed in total.

To program the pen buttons:

• Click on Program the pen buttons in the IRISPen Palette or select Pen buttons from the Settings menu. By default, the buttons are programmed as follows: Left button:

• single click:

• double click:

Right button:

• single click:
• double click:

• Select the button to be programmed (left or right), then select the operation to be executed with a single click and/or double click (use the arrows on the right). Click OK to confirm and close the window.

Frequent operations are proposed. The User String option can be used to program custom operations.

None

This corresponds to a "null" operation. A single or double click will not trigger off any action.

This option is usually used to deactivate a programmed operation.

Key sequence

This allows you to program your own key sequences, i.e.: any other keyboard command, the addition of characters, or any combination of all. To enter your key sequence, tick Key Sequence, click on Set, then introduce the commands and/or characters in the proposed field and click OK to confirm.

Switch reading mode

This allows you to program the switch to the next reading mode in the list of reading modes available. See: Basic parameters, Selecting the reading mode. If the current reading mode is Text, this will make you switch to the Bar Codes reading mode. If the current reading mode is Bar Codes, this will make you switch to the Image reading mode. Remember that the reading mode is always specified in the Status window.

User String

This allows you to program the addition of a character string. To enter your key sequence, tick User String, then introduce the character string in the proposed field and click OK to confirm.

SETTING THE TEXT ALIGNMENT

With the Text Alignment feature, you can indicate how the scanned lines must be delimited. Where should the reading actually start if a word has been cropped during scanning? How should hyphens be interpreted when occurring at the end of a line? Should prefixes or suffixes be added before and/or after the read data?

To set the text alignment:

• Click on Set the text Alignment in the IRISPen Palette or select Alignment from the Settings menu.

• Indicate how the scanned area must be isolated and what the output should be:

• keep all scanned characters

• keep all characters before the last space
• keep all characters after the first space
• keep all characters between the first and the last space

Ignore rejected characters in first and last position

If characters are not properly scanned or read at the beginning or at the end of a line (these are by default represented by a tilde, i.e. the "\~" symbol), you can ignore them for the output. This option is particularly useful when the word spacing is reduced or when you scan text from columns (like in magazines, etc.): if you start scanning slightly on the previous word/column and end scanning on the next one, the unwanted parts can be deleted.

Select this option if you want to ignore the rejected characters at the beginning and at the end of the scan. If characters are rejected within the lines, these will be kept for the output.

Also see: Additional options, Unknown Symbol.

Restore paragraph

You must indicate how to interpret hyphens occurring at the end of a line. If you scan the lines "The new presi-" and "dent waved from the balcony", the hyphen must obviously be dropped so as

to recompose the word "president" in the output: "The new president waved from the balcony".

Select this option if you want to delete end hyphens.

Note: If hyphens are deleted, the suffixes (see below) will automatically be deleted so that the words can be properly recomposed.

Prefix

You can have the IRISPen execute operations automatically in the target application, either before or after the output result.

To insert a prefix, select it from the drop-down list or select User String to introduce a character string in the proposed field, then click OK to confirm.

The default prefix is: .

Suffix

You can have the IRISPen execute operations automatically in the target application, either before or after the output result. To insert a suffix, select it from the drop-down list or select User String and introduce a character string in the proposed field, then click OK to confirm.

The default ending code is: . If you insert data into a database, you can select the suffix to automatically position the cursor in the next field.

DEFINING THE OUTPUT CHARACTER SET

The subset of characters used by the IRISPen to read data is set according to the Reading Mode and the Language chosen for the reading. As you can imagine, the set of characters used for reading numeric data differs from the one used for reading text: the first one mainly contains figures, while the second one also contains letters.

Similarly, the subset used for reading English differs from the one used for reading French (think of the "é", "è", "û", etc. that do not exist in English), etc.

By using a specific subset of characters, the software eliminates the chances of recognition errors. For example, if you select the reading mode Numeric, you limit the set of recognized characters to numeric symbols only. By doing so, no confusion can possibly made "5" and "S", "9" and "g", "8" and "B", etc. as the software automatically interprets the characters as figures.

You can also by yourself go one step forward and customize any of the proposed subsets of characters by creating character subsets that exclusively contain the symbols you want to recognize. As an example, if you want to read amounts given in dollars exclusively, select the reading mode Numeric, then limit the character set to figures, punctuation and the only "$" sign, and eliminate all other unnecessary symbols.

Handprinting: If you select the Handprinting reading mode, the character subset proposed by default is limited to: numbers (0-9) and capital letters (A-Z). This set of characters cannot possibly be extended.

To customize a character subset:

• Click on AB508 A164 1234 Define the output character subset in the IRISPen Palette or select Output Subset from the Settings menu.

The subset of characters proposed by default for the selected data type is enabled.

• To add/remove groups of characters to/from the default subset, select or deselect the proposed selections, then click OK to confirm.

All: Select all characters of the subset defined according to the chosen reading mode and language.

A-Z: Select all upper-case letters from A to Z

a-z: Select all lower-case letters from A to Z

0-9: Select all numbers between 0 and 9

Character string: Type in any character to be added to the subset.

FINE-TUNING THE BARCODE READING

The IRISPen allows you to fine-tune the barcode reading. You can limit the reading to specific barcodes and even make the software automatically verify and erase their check digits.

Tip:

Read Bar Codes

The Read Bar Codes option is used to set the bar codes reading as secondary reading mode and thus read barcodes as well as other data. This allows you to read text, numeric data or handprinting, as well as barcodes without having to change your settings.

To fine-tune the barcode reading:

• Click on Lists all supported barcodes in the IRISPen Palette or select Bar Codes from the Settings menu.
• If needed, tick the option Verify and Erase Check Digit to enable the verification of the bar codes check character(s) and have it stripped out from the recognition results.
• Select/deselect the bar code types according to the bar codes you wish to read. You can limit the reading to the following bar codes:

-EAN-JAN8
-EAN-JAN 13
-UCP-A
- Codabar
- Interleaved 2 of 5
-Code 39
- Code 39 Extended
-Code 93
-Code128

ENABLING SPEECH SYNTHESIS

Thanks to the speech synthesis, you can make the IRISPen speak out the recognized data for you*. Just scan some data and the computer reads it out for you!

(*) The speech synthesis feature is available in English.

Practically, you will no longer need to look up to the screen to verify your recognition results. Think how useful this will be when encoding new data, entering data into your bookkeeping, etc. The IRISPen will also be a valued tool when learning a foreign language: the computer will pronounce all new words for you, etc.

At any moment in time, you can also have the software repeat the pronounced lines. The IRISPen will always repeat the last utterance.

Tip:

Speech synthesis applies to all legible data

Speech synthesis not only applies to text but to all legible data such as handprinting, numeric data, and barcodes. You can thus activate the speech to get an auditive feedback of any type of data.

Tip:

Do not enable the speech feature unless you really intend to use it. The recognition actually slows down as you wait for the recognized data to be read aloud.

Tip:

If you intend to read whole sentences, do not forget to select the scanning mode Multiple lines. This will ensure a natural prosody and a good intonation.

To activate the speech synthesis:

• Make sure that English has been selected as recognition language. See: Basic parameters, Selecting the language.

• If you intend to read whole sentences, select the scanning mode Multiple lines. This will ensure a natural prosody, a good intonation, and the insertion of pauses. See: Additional options, Multiple lines.

• Click on Enable Speech in the IRISPen Palette or select Speech from the Options menu. As soon as data is being scanned, it is spoken out by your computer.

If the beep sound was enabled, it is automatically disabled and replaced by the speech.

To repeat the speech:

Select the command Repeat Speech from the Options menu. The IRISPen will directly repeat the last pronounced utterance for you.

ADJUSTING THE IMAGE

The image adjustment features enable to optimize the image generated with the pen for the recognition process. These options will be particularly useful if you scan very bad quality documents, documents with colored background, or low-contrast documents where the background virtually has the same color as the text.

After each adjustment, the scanned image is directly adapted and the recognition re-executed.

Tip:

Remember that yellow is the IRISPen's invisible color. Do not try to make the IRISPen pick up any data printed in yellow.

To adjust the scanned image:

• Click on Adjust the Image in the IRISPen Palette or select Adjust Image from the Options menu.

Adjust the settings as follows. The resulting image is directly displayed in the Scan window.

Smoothen image

The Smoothen image option renders the images more homogeneous by "flattening", smoothening out relative differences in intensity. As a result, a sharper contrast is created between the text and the background.

The option is activated by default. It is recommended to leave it activated at all times.

Brightness

Brightness means the black-and-white threshold of the image.

Automatic brightness is set by default. You should leave this default setting for all normal documents.

Manual

When dealing with bad quality documents, changing manually the brightness level may level the quality of the black&white image and so improve the text recognition.

To set the brightness manually, click Manual, then slide the indicator to the left (lighten) or to the right (darken). When you darken the image, more pixels become black in the black-and-white image; when you lighten the image, less pixels become black.

Despeckle

The option Despeckle makes it possible to remove small spots from the images. By default, the option is turned off.

To activate the despeckling, slide the indicator to the right. You can remove dots from 1 to 20 pixels.

! Caution:

Be careful not to erase spots that are too big, otherwise you may start erasing the dots on the letter "i", portions of dot matrix letters, etc.

CHAPTER 5

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS

ENDING SOUND

The Sound option enables to activate a beep sound during the scanning: you will hear a beep sound when the pen scanner stops scanning and when the recognized data is being sent to the target application or clipboard.

To activate the beep sound:

• Select Sound from the Options menu.

You can choose a sound within a wide range of possible sounds. Select the sound that you prefer.

The option None is used to deactivate the ending sound.

LEFT-HANDED SCANNING

By default, the pen scanner is set to operate from left to right, but you can adapt the scanning direction and scan from right to left. You will follow this scanning direction if you are left-handed. You will also operate this way if you intend to read right-to-left text like e.g. in Hebrew.

To scan from right to left:

• Select the option Left-handed Scanning under the Options menu.

• Take the pen scanner in your left hand and turn it the other way around so as to lean it to the left. Position it at the right end of the text line and slide it over the line from right to left. Make sure you hold the pen with the right angle. See: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?

To scan right-to-left text (right-handed users):

• Simply take the pen scanner in your left hand and turn it the other way around so as to lean it to the left. Position it at the right end of the text line and slide it over the line from right to left. Make sure you hold the pen with the right angle. See: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?

To scan right-to-left text if you are left-handed:

• Operate exactly the same way as if you were right-handed (see above).

Note: If you select Hebrew as recognition language, the option Left-handed Scanning will be grayed out.

VERTICAL TEXT (OPTIONAL)

If you intend to read some Asian vertical text, you must tell the software that the text flow is vertical rather than horizontal. The new text flow will be indicated in the Status window.

To scan vertical text:

• Select the required Asian language (see: Basic parameters, Selecting the language), then select the option Vertical Text under the Options menu.

• Rotate your document 90^ counterclockwise and slide the pen scanner over the text line from left to right. Use your pen appropriately, see: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?.

The Scan window remains horizontal but the image is rotated.

NEGATIVE IMAGE

With the IRISPen, you can scan negative images, i.e. light text or graphics on a dark background. The image produced by scanning is automatically inverted by the software and displayed in the Scan window: the black pixels will become white, and the white pixels will become black. The recognition is carried out on the inverted image.

To scan negative images:

• Select the option Negative Image under the Options menu. Your IRISPen is ready to scan the negative images.

• Operate as for any other type of printed data: just slide the pen scanner over the text line. See: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?

MULTIPLE LINES

You can scan multiple lines at the same time, i.e. within the same scan. This is particularly useful if you want to capture whole excerpts of text from books, magazines, etc.

The various lines of text will be buffered, then released with the click on a pen button.

To read multiple lines:

• Select the option Multiple Lines from the Settings menu.

• Scan the various lines one by one. Make sure that each line is positioned directly in front of the pen's guide line.

Important:

The pen scanning band is 0.41" (10.5mm.) high and covers in many cases several lines of text. This does not mean that all these lines are being read. Only one line, the central one, is picked and recognized by the pen. You must thus scan each line separately and make sure it is positioned right in the center of the scanning head.

• At the end of your scan, click any pen button to trigger the output process.

SMALL PRINT

The IRISPen scanning band is 0.41" (10.5mm.) high. It can thus read characters having point sizes of 8 to 20.

8 point -- Times New Roman 20 point --- Times New Roman

If you have to read data printed in a font size smaller than 10 point, you must activate the Small print option. This will help you get optimized results with the IRISPen.

8 point -- Times New Roman-- This is small print

To read small text:

• Select the option Small print from the Settings menu.

• Operate as for any other type of printed data: just slide the pen scanner over the text line. See: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?

Warning: Do not use the Small print option to read text above 10 points. This would decrease the recognition accuracy and would slow down the operation substantially.

UNKNOWN SYMBOL

If characters are not properly recognized by the IRISPen, they are by default represented by a tilde, i.e. a "~" symbol, in the recognition result. If you wish to, you can choose another symbol.

You can select a different symbol than the default tilde.

To define the symbol for unknown characters:

• Select the option Unknown Symbol from the Settings menu.

• Replace the symbol in the required field, then click OK to confirm.

CHARACTER CONVERSION

Once you have recognized some data with the IRISPen, you can have this data converted by some other data before it is inserted in your active application. This is particularly interesting if you want

to use specific terms or symbols that were not present on the original document. For example, you can replace the currency "USD" that appears on the original document by the corresponding symbol "" in your active application. You can replace an abbreviation by its full name, you can erase data, e.g. replace "" by nothing so that "$2.99" becomes "2.99", etc.

USD 10,000

You can convert a recognized character or character string by: other characters, keyboard commands or any combination of all.

To define character and string conversions:

• Select the option Character Conversion from the Settings menu.

Character Conversion...

• To introduce a new character conversion, type in the character to be replaced in the first field and click on Add. In the second field, select the required keyboard command from the list. If you wish to make the conversion to another character or a whole user string, select User String from the list, then type in the character/user string in the proposed field. Click OK to confirm.

Once string conversions have been defined, you can edit or remove them. You can also browse the list of existing conversions by clicking on the down arrow of the Convert field.

TABLE FRAME CONVERSION

The IRISPen is able to detect and convert vertical lines separating data as e.g. table columns. By default, the software replaces vertical lines by the command. This means that each time it encounters a vertical line during scanning, it executes a tabulation in your target application. If your target application is a spreadsheet, the moves your cursor to the next cell and the various bits of data are inserted in separate cells.

Various keyboard commands are proposed for the conversion, but you will also be able to replace vertical lines by characters or any combination of characters and commands.

Tip: How to recompose a whole table?

If on top of the default command, you add the line suffix (see: Basic parameters, Setting the text alignment), your cursor will be relocated on the next row after each scanned line. By doing so, you will be able to recompose a whole table.

To define the table frame conversion:

• Select Table Frame Conversion from the Settings menu, then select the required keyboard command.

By default, the command <Tab> is selected.

Select User String to introduce your own table frame conversion, then click OK to confirm. You can execute any other keyboard command, add characters, or any combination of all.

Tip:

If your table does not contain vertical bars, the easiest procedure is to quickly add them on the original document with a pen and a ruler.

Tip:

If your table does not contain vertical bars, remember that you can always replace scanned characters by a cursor command. To insert, e.g. "2.555.99" in a worksheet, you can replace the symbol "" by the cursor command to place the individual figures in separate cells. See: Basic parameters, Character conversion.

CHAPTER 6 SAVING SETTINGS

SAVE/OPEN/RESTORE SETTINGS

When you launch the IRISPen for the first time, options are selected by default (e.g.: reading mode: Text, language: English, etc.).

These selected options form the so-called "factory settings".

You will of course change these default settings to make the IRISPen perfectly fit your particular needs. Once your own settings have been defined, you can save them as default or even save them in a specific file. At any moment in time, you can always come back to the original factory settings.

The following options are available from the Settings menu:

Save As Default

Select this option if you want to save your current settings as the default settings. When quitting and reopening the IRISPen, the application will open again with these default settings.

Open Default

Select this option if you want to reopen the settings that were previously saved as the default settings.

Save...

You can save your custom settings in a file, rather than save them as the default settings. You can save as many custom settings as you wish. At any moment in time, you will be able to reopen any of them.

When quitting and reopening the IRISPen, the application will open again with the default settings.

Open...

This option offers to reopen any of the custom settings saved in a file.

At any moment in time, you can restore the factory settings, i.e. the default settings as they were set when running the IRISPen for the first time. If you want to keep the factory settings as default settings, click Save As Default.

INDEX

A

alignment 28

application window. 15

asian languages. 41

B

barcodes. 19

beep sound 39

brightness. 35

C

calibration. 17

character conversion. 45

character subset. 30

check the scanning. 5

correct position of the pen 5

customize settings. 49

D

despeckle 35

dot matrix 19

F

factory settings 49

H

handprinting 19

handwriting. 19

holding the pen 5

1

image 19

image adjustment. 35

invisible color. 5

IRISPen 3

IRISPen Palette. 15

K

keyboard emulation 24

L

language 22

left-handed users. 40

N

negative image. 42

P

Palette 15

pen buttons. 26

pen scanner. 3

pen scanner calibration 17

product registration. 13

product support. 12

programming pen buttons. 26

R

reading options 19

registration. 13

rejected characters 45

replacing characters. 45

replacing vertical lines. 47

restore settings 49

restore to factory settings.49

S

save settings. 49

scan. 5

scan from right to left 40

Scan window 15

scanning. 5

scanning band. 5

settings (customize) 49

settings (restore) 49

settings (save) 49

sliding the pen 5

small print. 44

smoothening 35

support 12

system requirements 11

T

table frame conversion. 47

target. 24

target application. 8

technical support. 12

text. 19

text alignment. 28

train to scan 5

U

unknown characters 45

unknown symbol. 45

use the IRISPen 5,8

user interface language 15

Y

yellow. 5