AbiSee Zoom-Ex Setup guide

Zoom-Ex / Zoom-Office
Training Guide and User Manual
For Mac OS X
VERSIONS 10.5 AND 10.6
Release 4. .1
Revision date: February 25 2011
0 Main Street, Unit G
Acton, MA 017 0
800-681-5909
Patent Pending
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TABLE OF CONTENTS:
What are Zoom-Ex and Zoom-Office? ......................................................................................................................................
Setting up Zoom-Ex ...................................................................................................................................................................
Quick Start ................................................................................................................................................................................ 5
How to Place a Document under the Camera ....................................................................................................................... 5
Do you Want Zoom-Ex to talk to you? ...................................................................................................................................... 5
Having your Document Read to You ......................................................................................................................................... 6
To read from the beginning of the page ............................................................................................................................... 6
Page description ................................................................................................................................................................... 6
To read from the beginning of the section ........................................................................................................................... 6
Moving to the next word, sentence, section, or another document .................................................................................... 6
Viewing magnified graphics and listening to the voice reading the description of the graphics .......................................... 7
Following the text on the screen while listening .................................................................................................................. 7
Changing the Voice Settings ..................................................................................................................................................... 7
Changing the Language ............................................................................................................................................................. 8
Working in Magnification (CCTV) Mode ................................................................................................................................... 8
Working in Formatted Text Mode ............................................................................................................................................ 9
Different Formatted Modes for following text on the screen ............................................................................................. 10
Other Formatted Mode options ......................................................................................................................................... 10
Working in Formatted Text Mode without speech output ................................................................................................. 10
Navigate the formatted document in full screen formatted mode .................................................................................... 11
Switching between Formatted Mode and CCTV Mode ........................................................................................................... 11
Going to the Next Page or another Document ....................................................................................................................... 12
Saving a Document and Opening a Previously Saved document ............................................................................................ 12
To save a document as a text file ........................................................................................................................................ 12
To save a document as an audio - MP3 file ........................................................................................................................ 13
Opening an MP3 File ............................................................................................................................................................... 13
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Printing a Document ............................................................................................................................................................... 13
Changing Zoom-Ex Display Characteristics ............................................................................................................................. 1
Changing the sharpness settings ........................................................................................................................................ 1
Changing the text/background color .................................................................................................................................. 1
Rotating the view of an object ............................................................................................................................................ 1
Using the preview window ................................................................................................................................................. 1
Changing Advanced Zoom-Ex Display Characteristics ............................................................................................................. 16
Fine-tuning the contrast setting ......................................................................................................................................... 16
Changing the brightness setting ......................................................................................................................................... 16
Creating and Managing Books ................................................................................................................................................ 16
Creating a Book ................................................................................................................................................................... 16
Choose how to scan a Book ................................................................................................................................................ 17
Scanning modes .................................................................................................................................................................. 17
Adding pages to a new Book ............................................................................................................................................... 18
More tips on saving a Book ................................................................................................................................................. 18
Reading a saved Book ......................................................................................................................................................... 19
Managing Books ..................................................................................................................................................................... 20
Adding additional pages to an existing Book ...................................................................................................................... 20
Deleting pages in an existing Book ..................................................................................................................................... 20
Deleting a Book ................................................................................................................................................................... 21
Closing a Book ..................................................................................................................................................................... 22
Saving a Book as text .......................................................................................................................................................... 22
Saving a Book as MP3 files .................................................................................................................................................. 22
Copying a saved Book ......................................................................................................................................................... 23
Zoom-Office Quick Reference Guide ( .2.1) ........................................................................................................................... 23
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What are Zoom-Ex and Zoom-Office?
Zoom-Ex is an electronic scanner-reader-magnifier that aids visually impaired persons in
reading printed material and writing in real-time. Zoom-Ex camera is connected to your
laptop through a USB 2.0 port.
Zoom-Ex weight about 1 pound making it easy to bring to and from the classroom.
Zoom-Office is a software program that runs on your computer controlling Zoom-Ex
camera.
Together Zoom-Ex and Zoom-Office make reading easy for anyone who has to strain to
see small print. Zoom-Ex can be used to read books magazines newspapers
documents medicine bottle labels and any printed text. You can also listen to the voice
of your choice reading the text.
For simplicity we will use the name Zoom-Ex to describe features of both the device
and the software.
Zoom-Ex is very easy to use. Place a printed document under Zoom-Ex camera and
Zoom-Ex displays it on a computer screen instantaneously. There are no buttons on the
device; everything can be done using either a keyboard or a mouse.
Zoom-Ex allows navigating the text for reading off the screen without moving the page
responds to commands instantly and supports text formatting for easy reading.
Zoom-Ex reads text in your choice of language aloud with sophisticated natural
language speech synthesizers. No third party software installation required—it‘s
included.
Zoom-Ex allows you to create books by capturing multiple pages under one name. One
more very important feature: Zoom-Ex can convert the entire book into an Audio –
MP3 file.
Setting up Zoom-Ex
Setting up Zoom-Ex is very easy. Simply plug the USB cable directly in USB2 port on
your Mac.
Select Zoom-Ex from the Applications directory or from the Tool bar. Once Zoom-
Office opens it will announce “Camera Started”. This indicates that the camera is ready
to start scanning. Zoom-Ex runs off your computer‘s power so there is no need for an
additional power source.

Quick Start
How to Place a Document under the Camera
Now Zoom-Ex should be in the standing position. It has two horizontal legs: the longer
leg is 11 ½ inches while the shorter leg is 9 inches long. These two legs create a corner
guide to assist the user in properly aligning documents to be scanned. Zoom-Ex camera
captures and saves the whole page (8 ½ by 11 inches). When you are placing your
document under the camera try to make it as flat as possible and align it with the legs.
When the camera is turned on two modes are available: Scanning mode and Live
Magnification (CCTV) mode.
When Zoom-Office starts up the camera is turned on and it is in scanning mode. A full
image of the page that is placed under the camera appears on the screen. Zoom-Ex is
ready to take an image and read the text. In this mode magnification is not available.
In Magnification Live (CCTV) mode: Zoom-Ex displays what is currently placed under
its camera on the computer screen. In this mode you can fill out forms or look at small
objects or pictures under the camera. You can toggle between scanning and
Magnification mode by pressing the letter Y .
Note: Please switch slowly from scanning to Magnification mode and back again wait
to hear the announcement: “Reading mode”/ “Magnification mode”.
Place a document under the Zoom-Ex camera and make sure that the camera is in
scanning mode:
1. To have the document under the camera read to you press E.
. To see your document in Formatted Text mode press F.
3. To see your document magnified in Formatted Text mode press “ +” to increase
the font size.
Do you Want Zoom-Ex to talk to you?
You can customize Zoom-Ex software in many different ways. When you start Zoom-Ex
for the first time it will work according to the default settings. There are customizable
features that can be changed to your liking. One of these customizable features is
Speech Output. By default Zoom-Ex will read menus dialogs etc. It will also tell you
when the camera is on or off or if your document is placed as portrait or landscape etc.
If you do not want Zoom-Ex to talk to you and you would rather have a program like
JAWS assist you go to Applications and down to Settings.
Under Speech Output uncheck Status (Zoom-Ex will not inform you about the
camera) and/or uncheck ‗ Menus and dialogs (it will not read menus and dialogs). Click
OK. (See image below)
NOTE: Our application speaks menu bars and dialogs just like the program
JAWS so there is really no need to run JAWS while using Zoom-Ex.
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Having your Document Read to You
To read from the beginning of the page
To start reading from the beginning of the page place the page under the camera click
the Space bar to turn the camera on and press the E key. You will hear the voice in a
few seconds. To stop or pause the voice press the Control key. To resume the voice
press the X key. To hear and see the text being read hit F to bring you to the text
Formatted mode. You can also start reading by going to Voice on the tab menu and
down to Speak Entire Page.
Page description
A page may have text pictures graphics etc. We define sections as page elements or
parts of the page that can be easily visually separated from the rest of the page. For
example if the page is a newspaper then each column will be a section. If the page has
a picture in the middle of the page then the text above the picture is the first section
and the text below the picture is the second section.
The key combination Shift + E will describe the page layout such as:
- How many words are on the page
- How many sections are on the page
- What percentage of the page is text
- How many columns and headers (if any)
To read from the beginning of the section
To start reading from the beginning of the next section press the Control key plus the
Down Arrow. You will hear the voice in a few seconds. To stop or pause the voice at
any point press the Control key. To resume the voice press the X key. Reading will
stop at the end of the section.
Moving to the next word, sentence, section, or another
document
Zoom-Ex allows the reader to move around the page whether it’s by word sentence or
section.
The following are a few ways to move around the document page:
To move to the next word press Control + Right Arrow
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To move to the previous word press Control + Left Arrow
To move to the next sentence press the Down Arrow.
To move to the previous sentence press the Up Arrow
To move to the next section press Control + Down Arrow
To move to the previous section press Control + Up Arrow
To read at an exact point place your cursor on a word and press the mouse wheel.
Zoom-Ex will start reading at the word your cursor was on. To stop the document being
read press the Control key.
Refer to the Quick Reference Guide to find the keystrokes on the keypad for the
above reading functions.
To read a new page turn the Zoom-Ex camera on by pressing the Space bar. Zoom-Ex
will tell you that the camera is now on. Place the new page at the Zoom-Ex base and
press the E key.
Viewing magnified graphics and listening to the voice
reading the description of the graphics
The text which is currently read does not have to be seen on the screen. You can move
the image on the screen to view a picture graph etc. and listen to the voice reading the
description of the picture at the same time.
If there is only one picture on the page move the picture to the center of the screen
magnify the picture (see Working in Magnification (CCTV) Mode) and click the E
key.
Following the text on the screen while listening
If you want to follow the text while listening you will have to format the text first.
Double click anywhere in the image or click the F key. The formatted text (no pictures
or lines ever run of the screen) will be displayed. Magnify the text as desired.
You can click the E key to start reading from the beginning of the page.
The word that is currently read will be in reversed color. Text will scroll automatically so
the word that is read will always be on the screen. See section Different formatted
modes for following text on the screen for other ways to read formatted text.
Changing the Voice Settings
You can change the voice parameters by going to Application, down to Settings, and
on the Voice tab:
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Test different voices select one you like and click Apply.
You can change the speed by clicking the Shift + Q key to make it faster or the
Shift + Z key to make it slower. You can also change the speed by going to
Application, down to Settings, over to the Voice tab and using the slide bar.
Changing the Language
When you go to Application, down to Settings, and over to the Voice tab there are
two other options that you can modify. The first is OCR Language.
OCR Language is the language of the document that you are putting under the Zoom-
Ex camera. By default the OCR Language is English.
The second is Application Language, which is the language of the application
including text menus and dialog boxes. By default the Application Language is
English.
Working in Magnification (CCTV) Mode
Magnify (Zoom-In) and shrink (Zoom-Out) whatever you see on the screen:
By keyboard: Press + and – (plus and minus signs) to zoom in or out.
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By mouse: Roll the mouse wheel forward/backwards to zoom in/out.
To move the view without moving the magnified document:
By keyboard: Press Left, Right, Up or Down arrows. (If you are unable to do this
see below for further instructions.)
By mouse: Click the left mouse button at any point on the screen and move the
mouse in the direction you want to move the document.
Under Application, go down to Settings. There is a setting called Use arrow keys to
simulate X-Y table under the General Tab.
If the box is checked the arrow keys will behave as described above i.e. the user can
navigate the screen in CCTV mode with arrow keys. Use the Up and Down arrow keys
to scroll up and down in both the CCTV and formatted mode.
If this box is unchecked the arrow keys can be used for reading functions as described
in the section Notebook (Laptop) keystrokes for reading functions. Default value
for this setting is unchecked.
Working in Formatted Text Mode
Formatted Text mode separates text from pictures and wraps the text according to the
selected magnification. Pictures are ig nored focusing on just the text. The document is
scanned and changed over to true font as in a word document. The text is put in one
long column and no matter how much you magnify the text; it will not run off the
screen. There is no need for an X-Y table.
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Different Formatted Modes for following text on the screen
Go to Application, down to Settings click on the tab labeled Formatted Mode and go
down to the section called Formatted Mode. There you will see three options to read
formatted text. The four options are: Full Screen, Highlighted Line, and Word by
Word.
Full Screen is the DEFAULT and it will show text on the screen as if it were a word
document. Full Screen option highlights the word as it is being read.
Highlighted Line is the option having one line going across the screen as it highlights
the word being read. This allows you to follow words with ease.
The last option Word by Word, takes one word at a time and shows it on the screen
as it is simultaneously being read.
You have the ability to change the size of the font seen on the screen by pressing (+) to
increase the size of the font and (-) to decrease the size of the font.
You can also change the speed at which the words are being spoken by pressing Shift +
Q to increase it or Shift + Z to decrease it.
Other Formatted Mode options
You also have the option to turn on/off the Display separation lines between
paragraphs as well as True Font format. The option Display separation lines
between paragraphs if enabled put lines on the screen separating paragraphs. If
disabled the text will flow the same as in a word document.
If True Font format is enabled the text will show up on the screen as in a word
document. If disabled the t ex t or fon t on the screen will show up exactly as it is in the
actual document placed under the camera.
Working in Formatted Text Mode without speech output
Formatting a document:
By keyboard: Press the F key
By mouse: Double-click anywhere in the text.
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