11.0

Deferring Correction

You know now that correcting recognition errors helps Dragon NaturallySpeaking adapt to your speech and

recognize it more accurately. However, sometimes, you may not have time to correct errors before closing the

document you dictated; if you dictate in DragonPad, Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect, the opportunity to

correct misrecognition is not lost: Dragon can save what it heard in synchronization with the text you dictated,

so you can later play it back and make corrections as needed.

This “Deferred Correction” feature also allows you to let someone else correct misrecognitions in your dictated

documents—which means your profile gets refined without any effort on your part.

Saving Recorded Dictation (.DRA)

Step 1: Dictate into DragonPad, Microsoft Word or Corel WordPerfect. (If you wish to make any corrections

now, do so.) When you are finished dictating, save the document as you normally would.

Step 2: Dragon asks whether you want to save the associated recording. (Your word-processor’s Auto-Save

feature may even trigger this message earlier). If you or someone else will be Correcting in this

document later, choose Yes.

Dragon will automatically save, in the same location as your text document, a file bearing the same name, with

the extension .DRA.

You may now exit the word processor and Dragon if you wish, even shut down the computer.

TIP

By default, whenever a word-processor document is saved, Dragon asks whether you want to save the

recording; in the Options dialog, you can change that setting to always save, or on the contrary, never save.

Recorded dictation files can get very large, so you should only save them if Correction is to take place at a

later time; without the recorded dictation, you can still edit and format the document as usual.

Step 3: When you are ready to correct misrecognitions, start the application in which you dictated the

document and open the document. You can now correct recognition errors. Select some text anywhere

in the document and play them back. As you can see, the audio is still associated with your text.

Once finished correcting misrecognitions in your document, you may delete the associated .DRA file. (You will

no longer be able to use playback on this document but you will still be able to edit and format.)

IMPORTANT

When using a .dra file, it is best to proceed in order, from the top of the document.

One of the services an experience Dragon trainer can provide is establishing optimal options and workflows,

including the management of .dra files, particularly if another person will be your “Correctionist.” (See the

Correction Only option available in the higher edition.)

Making Corrections to Someone Else's Dictation

As you have learned, correcting misrecognitions helps ensure that your accuracy increases. However, especially

at first, and depending on the quality of the dictation, Correction can be time-consuming.

The Save Recorded Dictation feature allows you to have someone else perform this important task for you.

There are several ways to take advantage of it, particularly if the Roaming User feature is used—details are

available in the online Help and IT Administrator’s Guide.