Table of Contents Copyrights......................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1 Introducing the IRISPen....................................................... 3 What is the IRISPen? ...................................................................................3 How does it work?........................................................................................7 The steps to follow... ...............................................
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide Scan type......................................................................................................... 29 Language......................................................................................................... 29 Other ............................................................................................................... 31 Target .........................................................................................................
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.
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING THE IRISPEN WHAT IS 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.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide barcodes, handprinting, 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.
CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCING THE IRISPEN Replace vertical lines Replace vertical lines Replace vertical lines Delimiters Delimiters Multiline scanning Multiline scanning Speech synthesis Speech synthesis Image adjustment Replace character string Customizable character subset Reading of handprinting Reading of dotmatrix Reading of barcodes Reading of CMC7 Translation of recognized data (*) The Asian version of the IRISPen allows you to recognize 4 additional languages: Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chi
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide 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.
CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCING THE IRISPEN 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.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide • 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. Correct position 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.
CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCING THE IRISPEN 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 .
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide 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.
CHAPTER 2 INSTALLATION SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS Here is the minimal system configuration required to use the IRISPen: • A Pentium-based Intel PC or compatible. A Pentium III-based PC is recommended. • 64 MB RAM. • 100 MB of free hard disk space. • The Windows Vista, XP or 2000 operating system. • A free USB port to connect the IRISPen scanner. INSTALLING THE IRISPEN SOFTWARE The IRISPen package contains the pen scanner itself and a selfrunning CD-ROM containing the IRISPen software.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide To install the software: • First start your computer and log onto Windows. Caution: You must log on as administrator or make sure you have the necessary administration rights to install the software. • Insert the CD-ROM in your CD-ROM drive. Users of Windows Vista: Click on Run menu.exe to install the program, then follow the on-screen instructions. Users of Windows XP and Windows 2000: Simply wait for the installation program to start running.
CHAPTER 2 - INSTALLATION Caution: Users of Windows XP must ignore the following message and click on Continue Anyway to continue the installation procedure: • Users of Windows Vista must confirm the installation of the device software by clicking on Install. • When the installation is complete, click on Finish, then remove the CD-ROM from the CD-ROM drive. The submenu I.R.I.S. Applications - IRISPen under the Windows Programs menu is created automatically by the installation program.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide INSTALLING THE PEN SCANNER Once the IRISPen software installation is complete, you can install the pen scanner. To install the pen scanner: • Plug the pen scanner USB cable into a free USB port of your computer. A message confirms that the device has been installed. Caution: Users of Windows XP, Service Pack 2: the wizard offers to search for more recent drivers on the Internet. Select "No, not this time".
CHAPTER 2 - INSTALLATION • Select Install the software automatically (recommended). Caution: Users of Windows XP must ignore the following message and click on Continue Anyway to continue the installation procedure: • When the installation is complete, click on Finish. Tip: Once the pen scanner has been installed (see above), it can be disconnected then reconnected without having to reconfigure or reboot the PC.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide • From the Windows Start menu, select Control Panel and click Add/Remove/Uninstall programs. • Select the IRISPen from the list and click the Uninstall/Change/Remove button to remove the software. • Follow the on-screen instructions. 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: 32-10-45 13 64 (working hours) - Fax: 32-10-45 34 43 - support@irislink.
CHAPTER 2 - INSTALLATION - be entitled to free product support - be entitled to special offers on I.R.I.S. products How to register? Registration wizard You can use the Registration Wizard available from the Register menu (main toolbar). Simply follow the on-screen instructions. Registration form You may also directly access the registration form on the I.R.I.S. Web site: http://www.irislink.com/register.
CHAPTER 3 STARTING UP RUNNING THE IRISPEN To start the IRISPen: • From the Windows Start menu, select All Programs, I.R.I.S. Applications, then IRISPen, or click the application shortcut on your desktop. The IRISPen startup screen appears for a few seconds. It displays the version and copyrights of the IRISPen software. Next, the IRISPen Application window and two additional windows are displayed: the Image Quality Check window and the Status window.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide automatically appears on top of the others, prompting the user to calibrate the pen scanner. • If you are running the software for the first time, calibrate the pen scanner. See: Starting up, Calibrating the pen scanner. USER INTERFACE The user interface is composed of 3 windows: the Application window, the Image Quality Check window, and the Status window. The IRISPen icon appears in the Windows task bar and confirms that the application is running.
CHAPTER 3 - STARTING UP The Application window The Application window is the IRISPen's main window. It contains a menu bar that gives access to all software commands, a toolbar for quick access to all frequent commands, and the a window pane containing the basic settings. The window can be minimized with a click on the Minimize button or on the OK button. To reopen it, simply double-click or rightclick on the Status window, or use the IRISPen icon on the Windows task bar (see below).
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide The Image Quality Check window appears by default as a semitransparent window, below the Application window. When scanning, it displays the "raw" grayscale image of the scanned area. Its purpose is to enable the user to view and check the quality of his scans. You can easily drag the window to another position on your screen. The chosen position will be maintained if you save your settings. You can remove the transparency of the window with a right-click of the mouse.
CHAPTER 3 - STARTING UP 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.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide To re-execute the calibration: • Select Calibrate from the Options menu in the Application window or, from the Scan Test window, press the Calibrate button, then push again your pen on a white piece of paper for a few seconds. The software indicates when the calibration is complete. CHANGING THE USER INTERFACE LANGUAGE The user interface of the IRISPen is available in a wide range of languages. The language can be easily changed according to your needs.
CHAPTER 3 - STARTING UP THE SCAN TEST WINDOW The Scan Test window displays the black-and-white version of the image you generate with the pen scanner. The recognized data appears just below the scanned image. Thanks to the Scan Test window, you can test your first scans and check the results before you start with definitive scanning. You can save your images, load and recognize previously scanned images, access the calibration dialog box, etc.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide Bad quality images As you will notice, the IRISPen is able to recognize data on bad quality images, e.g. on low-contrast documents where the background nearly has the same color as the text, on highly distorted images with wavy, skewed or even contracted lines (see above figure). However, if the recognition result is not satisfactory, you should use the Scan Test window to make a few more tests.
CHAPTER 3 - STARTING UP Recognize The Recognize option is activated by default. All images you scan or open are thus automatically recognized. Note that in the text zone, you can get directly to the end or the beginning of the recognized text: place your cursor in the text zone, then press the End or Home key from your keyboard. The Recognize option is not useful when scanning graphics.
CHAPTER 4 BASIC SETTINGS READING OPTIONS Scan type The Scan type determines the nature of the data to be scanned and read with your pen. Select the appropriate Scan type in the dropdown list. 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 to read such data directly depends on the language chosen for the reading.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide Select the required language in the drop-down list. Either browse through the list or simply press the first letter of the needed language. ). 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.
CHAPTER 4 - BASIC SETTINGS If you use Windows 2000, check that it has been configured to be able to type the Asian language(s) required. Other Small print The option Small print is used to get optimized results when reading small printed text. Select this option if you want to read text with a font size smaller than 10 points. Also refer to: Learn how to... Read small print.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide Clipboard If the option Clipboard is selected, the software will send the read data to the clipboard before you can paste it into the target application. You will then use the Paste or CTRL+V command to actually paste the data. Select this option if you want to manually paste the read data into your target application. ! Remember that the clipboard can only contain the data of the last scan. Active application This option is selected by default.
CHAPTER 5 FREQUENT COMMANDS PEN BUTTONS Your pen scanner is equipped with two buttons. The simple 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 keyboard commands, add characters, etc. without having to touch your keyboard.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide • Modify the default programming by selecting the required radio buttons on the left- and on the right-hand side. The left radio buttons refer to the left button, the right radio buttons refer to the right button. Possible operations Null: This corresponds to a "null" operation. In other words, a single click will not trigger off any action. This option is usually used to deactivate a programmed operation. • Click OK to confirm and close the window.
CHAPTER 5 - FREQUENT COMMANDS To activate the beep sound: • Click the Sound button on the toolbar or select Sound from the Options menu. The beep is activated. You can hear it during scanning.
CHAPTER 6 LEARN HOW TO... CUSTOMIZE/SAVE/REOPEN SETTINGS Customize the default settings When you launch the IRISPen, options are selected by default. These selected options form the "default settings", also referred to as the "factory settings". You will of course change these default settings to make the IRISPen perfectly fit your particular needs. The changed settings become your own settings. They will normally be kept until you next modify them.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide 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. To read small text: • Select the option Small print in the Application window. See: Basic settings, Reading options, Other. • Operate as for any other type of printed data: just slide the pen scanner over the text line.
CHAPTER 6 - LEARN HOW TO... • 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? SCAN 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.
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide • 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 Image Quality Check window appears vertically. The Scan Test window remains horizontal but the image is rotated. DEFINE THE SYMBOL FOR UNKNOWN CHARACTERS If characters are not properly recognized by the IRISPen, they are by default represented by a tilde, i.e.
CHAPTER 6 - LEARN HOW TO...
INDEX A active application ........................34 application window.....................22 asian languages ...........................43 B beep sound ..................................38 black-and-white image................28 C F factory settings ........................... 41 G grayscale image .......................... 24 H holding the pen ............................. 7 I image .......................................... 31 calibration ...................................
IRISPen Mini 6 - User's guide P settings (customize) .................... 41 pen buttons..................................37 settings (restore) ......................... 41 pen scanner ...................................3 sliding the pen .............................. 7 pen scanner calibration ...............25 small print................................... 42 product registration.....................19 support........................................ 19 product support ...........................
INDEX Y yellow...........................................
46
