ScanSoft TextBridge Pro 9.0 User manual

User’s Guide

COPYRIGHT INFORMATION Copyright © 1999 by ScanSoft, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be transmitted, transcribed, reproduced, stored in any
retrieval system or translated into any language or computer language
in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, magnetic, optical,
chemical, manual, or otherwise, without the prior written consent of
ScanSoft, Inc., 9 Centennial Drive, Peabody, Massachusetts 01960.
This digital version contains the full copyrighted text.
The software described in this book is furnished under license and may
be used or copied only in accordance with the terms of such license.
IMPORTANT NOTICE ScanSoft, Inc. provides this publication “as is” without warranty of any
kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to the implied
warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Some
states or jurisdictions do not allow disclaimer of express or implied
warranties in certain transactions; therefore, this statement may not
apply to you. ScanSoft reserves the right to revise this publication and to
make changes from time to time in the content hereof without obligation
of ScanSoft to notify any person of such revision or changes.
TRADEMARKS AND CREDITS TextBridge is a registered trademark, and Smart Zones, Instant Access
OCR, and Custom Proof are trademarks, of ScanSoft, Inc.
Excel,Word, and Windows are trademarks of Microsoft Corp.
WordPerfect is a registered trademark of WordPerfect Corp.
Other terms used in this manual are the trademarks of their respective
holders.
Animated character designed by Dreamlight Incorporated.
www.dreamlight.com
Portions of this product copyright © 1994–1999, Inso Corporation.
Authors: Lois West and Beth Paddock
© SCANSOFT, INC.
9 Centennial Drive
Peabody, Massachusetts 01960
TextBridge Pro 9.0 User’s Guide
Part Number 00-09510-00
March 1999

TextBridge Pro User’s Guide iii
CONTENTS
PREFACE
About This User’s Guide ............................. vii
Organization of this user’s guide ....................viii
Documentation conventions.........................ix
Related Documentation ............................... x
Technical Support ...................................xi
1 INTRODUCTION TO TEXTBRIDGE
Basic OCR Concepts ............................... 1–1
Features and Benefits .............................. 1–3
New Features ................................. 1–4
Enhanced Features ............................. 1–6
Other Features ................................ 1–8
Documents TextBridge Can Recognize................. 1–10
Input Image File Formats .......................... 1–11
Output Text File Formats .......................... 1–12
Output Image File Formats......................... 1–13
Where to Go From Here............................ 1–14

iv TextBridge Pro User’s Guide
2 INSTALLING AND SETTING UP TEXTBRIDGE
What Comes with TextBridge ........................ 2–2
Supported Scanners................................ 2–2
Installing and Testing Your Scanner ................... 2–4
System Requirements .............................. 2–5
Before Installing TextBridge ......................... 2–6
Using TextBridge with Pagis...................... 2–6
Uninstalling a Previous Version of TextBridge ........ 2–6
Learning about TextBridge ....................... 2–8
Installing TextBridge .............................. 2–9
Scanner Setup................................... 2–12
Setting Up Instant Access to TextBridge ............... 2–13
Uninstalling TextBridge ........................... 2–15
Where to Go From Here............................ 2–16
3 OCR AND BASIC TEXTBRIDGE OPERATIONS
What is TextBridge OCR? ........................... 3–2
Page types.................................... 3–2
Page sources .................................. 3–4
Recomposition ................................. 3–4
Running TextBridge Standalone and Instant Access ....... 3–6
Standalone Program ............................ 3–6
Instant Access ................................. 3–7
Improving Page Recognition with Settings .............. 3–8
Page Type Settings ............................. 3–8
Text Document Settings ........................ 3–13
Recognizing Other Languages ....................... 3–15
Language Installation .......................... 3–16
Language Processing........................... 3–16
Where to Go From Here............................ 3–18

Table of Contents v
4 LEARNING TO USE TEXTBRIDGE
Before You Begin.................................. 4–2
Ways You Can Use TextBridge ....................... 4–2
Starting TextBridge................................ 4–3
Using Automatic Processing ......................... 4–5
Using Manual Processing ........................... 4–8
Performing Basic Operations......................... 4–9
Selecting the Page Source ....................... 4–10
Selecting the Page Type ........................ 4–11
Previewing the Page ........................... 4–12
Zoning the Page............................... 4–14
Proofreading the Document...................... 4–17
Saving the Document .......................... 4–18
Getting Help While Using TextBridge ................. 4–20
Using the Welcome Window ..................... 4–20
Using the Show Me How Window ................. 4–21
Using Tips................................... 4–22
Getting Information from Help ................... 4–22
Using the TextBridge Web Site ................... 4–24
Where to Go From Here............................ 4–24
5 SAMPLE SESSIONS WITH TEXTBRIDGE
Using the Sample Documents ........................ 5–2
Session 1: Recognizing a Simple Document Using
Auto Processing............................. 5–7
Session 2: Using Instant Access to TextBridge........... 5–14
Session 3: Recognizing a Complex Document Using
Manual Processing ......................... 5–20
Session 4: Processing Text, Pictures, and a Table ........ 5–29
Where to Go From Here............................ 5–38

vi TextBridge Pro User’s Guide
6 ADVANCED SAMPLE SESSIONS
Session 1: Processing a Document to Use in a Database..... 6–1
Session 2: Using Zone Templates and Page Types ......... 6–7
Session 3: Training TextBridge OCR .................. 6–14
Where to Go From Here............................ 6–20
INDEX

TextBridge Pro User’s Guide vii
PREFACE
ScanSoft, Inc. welcomes you to TextBridge Pro 9.0 for
Windows®95, 98, 2000, and Windows NT 4.0. (Subsequently
referred to as “TextBridge.”)
The documentation that comes with TextBridge should provide
all the information you need to operate TextBridge. The
documentation includes this user’s guide, a Help system, and
Release Notes. ScanSoft invites your comments about the
information provided in the documentation.
Before going on to find out more about TextBridge, please read
this preface because it describes these important items:
◆About this user’s guide
◆Related documentation
◆Technical support
ABOUT THIS USER’S GUIDE
This user’s guide is a reference tool that provides information
about TextBridge. It is for users with a wide range of computer
experience. It assumes that you are familiar with the
management and operation of your computer and Windows.
This manual is provided both in print and electronic form. The
entire user’s guide is provided as a digital document in Adobe®
Portable Document Format (PDF).

viii TextBridge Pro User’s Guide
To view the user’s guide you need Adobe Acrobat Reader which is
installed with TextBridge unless you already have it on your PC.
You can access the user’s guide from the installation menu and
the TextBridge Program menu from the Start menu, or you can
open it from Adobe Acrobat Reader. After you open it, you can
view it on your PC and print all or part of it using Adobe Acrobat
Reader.
Organization of this user’s guide
The user’s guide organization is as follows:
This Preface describes the documentation provided with
TextBridge and technical support.
Chapter 1 “Introduction to TextBridge” discusses TextBridge
features. It also describes basic OCR concepts, documents
TextBridge can recognize, supported scanners, and input file
formats TextBridge can read and output file formats to which
TextBridge can save the recognized text.
Chapter 2 “Installing TextBridge” describes what comes with
TextBridge, system requirements, installation, Instant Access set
up, and TextBridge uninstall.
Chapter 3 “OCR and TextBridge” explains document
recognition and OCR concepts and the basic TextBridge functions.
Chapter 4 “Learning to Use TextBridge” describes the basic
processes of using TextBridge.
Chapter 5 “Sample Sessions with TextBridge” walks you
through several practice sessions designed to help you to learn
and use the important features of TextBridge.
Chapter 6 “Advanced Sample Sessions” describes more
complex and less frequent uses of TextBridge.
The Index provides a comprehensive list of topics to assist you in
quickly locating the information you need.

Preface ix
Documentation conventions
TextBridge documentation uses certain graphical elements and
formatting to emphasize information and give more meaning to
text.
Table 1: Documentation Conventions
bold Introduces a new term or the first use of an
important term in a chapter. Sometimes used
to denote strong emphasis.
italic Denotes titles of other user’s guides or books
and generic representations of file name entries
in examples; for example, filename
monospace Denotes text that appears on the computer
screen such as examples, menu text, and
messages plus actual file names.
“ ” (quotes) Denotes titles of chapters and sections in this
user’s guide.
☞Introduces tips that provide useful information
about a procedural step or system function.
Note Introduces information of note about the
current subject.

xTextBridge Pro User’s Guide
RELATED DOCUMENTATION
TextBridge provides a comprehensive set of printed and digital
documentation designed to assist you in learning and operating
the product. The documentation provided with TextBridge covers
all aspects of installation and operation.
Note Information provided in these documents is not duplicated in
other documents except for basic information about TextBridge. If
you do not find the information you want in a particular
document, please check another.
Refer to the documentation in the following list for information:
◆ Online Release Notes. Before or after you install TextBridge,
read the Release Notes. These provide the most up-to-date
information about TextBridge. During installation you can access
the Release Notes from the installation menu. After installation
you can access the Release Notes from the TextBridge Program
menu in the Start menu.
◆ Help. The Help system provides you with detailed information
about using TextBridge. It includes instructions on how to get
started in TextBridge, step-by-step procedures for most
operations and user tips. Context-sensitive Help is always
available by pressing F1 from any menu command or dialog box.
◆ Online User’s Guide. An online version of the complete user’s
guide is provided in Adobe Acrobat format (.pdf).
◆ Printed User’s Guide. A printed version of the user’s guide is
provided.
Note You may also need to refer to additional publications, such as the
manufacturer’s documentation for your scanner.