Docuscan Plus for Windows Manual

Docuscan PLusForWi
ndowsManual
Welcome to DocuScan Plus
Information in this document, including URL and other Internet web site references, is subject
to change without notice. The most current help documentation for this product can always be
found at http://help.samobile.net
Serotek's docuScan Plus offers high quality optical character recognition, (OCR,) to convert the
printed page in to text, that can be read aloud by your computer. In addition, it can read many
pdf files that otherwise can not be read. This is accomplished either by opening an email
attachment received through the SAMNet email client, from a web site when using the SAMNet
browser, or by opening the file after first saving it to your hard drive.
Once your scanned paper or PDF documents have been recognized, DocuScan Plus will allow
you to convert these documents to Daisy books, MP3 files, or BRF files for use with a notetaker
or Braille embosser.
HoverCam T5V Document Camera
documentation
Congratulations on your purchase of a HoverCam T5V document camera! You are just moments
away from having the ability to quickly scan your favorite materials with DocuScan Plus in one
of the most portable ways possible. You can use this camera on the Apple Macintosh or
Microsoft Windows platforms, affording you maximum flexibility in turning your printed
materials in to text. Now, through the power of the cloud or just by scanning locally, you can
access your data when and where you need it from just about anywhere and on just about any
platform.
Contents of HoverCam T5V
Inside your HoverCam box you should find the following items:
1 HoverCam T5V Camera
1 Case for HoverCam T5V Camera
1 USB cord for connection of the camera to a computer
1 Document Mat
1 Program CD (not needed to operate the camera with DocuScan Plus)
Inside the box you will also find a piece of plastic that can be folded out to resemble a letter L.
This piece of hardware is not supported by DocuScan Plus at this time and it can be placed back
into the box for safe keeping. This piece of hardware aids in deskewing an image before that
image is passed to a piece of software. Since DocuScan Plus already performs orientation on the
image before it is recognized, this functionality is not needed. Once you have these items in
hand, it's time to familiarize yourself with the camera's design.
Unfolding your camera
The camera itself consists of four parts. There is the camera base, the camera lock switch, the
neck of the camera and the arm of the camera. We will describe each portion of the camera as
we go through the setup process. Remove your camera from it's case or from the original box.
Please remember to store the camera in its case or in the box when traveling or when not in
use. You will notice that the camera has a narrow end and a wide end. The wide end serves as
the base of your camera. Place the camera's base on the Document Mat, or any other solid
unmoving surface, before performing any other steps. Place the camera facing towards you by
aiming the oval located on the top of the camera base in your direction. The USB connection
port should face away from you while the oval should be pointed towards you.
Run your hands along the back of the camera until you feel a series of bumps. These bumps
should be around two thirds the way up the neck of the camera from the unit's base. The
bumps serve as a marker for finding the camera's lock switch. Place a fingernail beneath the
latch, which begins at the bottom of the bumpy surface, and gently raise the latch to unlock the
camera. The latch should angle upwards, from the camera base, and will only open halfway.
Once you have unlocked the camera, you can now extend the camera's neck upwards. The neck
of the camera is just above the top of the Camera Lock Switch. The neck will slide up and down
vertically. With the Camera lock Switch set to the unlocked position, gently raise the neck of
your camera upwards. You may find that placing one hand on the Camera Base and another on
the Camera's Neck will help in raising the Neck upwards. The neck will raise out of the Camera's
Base. Extend the camera's neck until you feel resistance, then place the latch in the down, or
closed position to secure the camera in place. Your camera will double in height when the Neck
is at its highest point. When not in use, or when traveling, the neck of the camera should be slid
in to the base of the camera and the lock switch should be closed.
Now that the neck of the camera is extended and locked in place, deploy the camera arm. Run
your fingers along the Neck of the Camera as it faces you, at the point where it slides out of the
base. You will find a semicircular hole. It is just above where the Camera's Base joins with the
Neck of the unit. Once you find this hole on the Camera's neck, place a finger in the semicircle
with your fingernail pointing downwards. The Camera's Arm Can be pulled towards you. it will
then raise upwards as you lift it from the neck of your camera. The Arm will lock into place once
it has been fully raised. The whole unit, with the Camera Arm lifted, should look like an upside
down letter L . Remember that the oval on the Camera's Base should be facing you and the
Camera's Arm will do the same.
The camera arm contains a light for those times when ambient light in your scanning
environment is not sufficient. The switch for this light can be found on the end of the camera's
Arm. With the oval at the Camera's Base facing you, run your fingers along the Arm until you
reach the end of theArm. The switch can be located at the end of the camera Arm, which
should be facing you. The small switch will move left to right, where the leftmost position turns
the light on, and moving the switch to the right turns it off.
Connecting your camera for the first time
Now that you are familiar with the camera's design, you are ready to connect it to your
computer. Whether you are using a Mac or a PC, no additional drivers are required for the
camera to function. You need only plug it in to your computer for it to be recognized and ready
to use with DocuScan Plus. To plug the camera in, attach the small square end of the USB cable
to the USB port located on the back of the camera's base. Attach the large, rectangular end of
the cable to an available USB port on your computer. On the PC, Windows should play two
ascending tones indicating that a device has been plugged in. On a Macintosh, you will receive
no auditory feedback, and the HoverCam will not show up in Image capture, so you will need to
simply test by attempting a scan.
Using the Document Mat
The HoverCam T5V comes with a slip-resistant mat which is perfect for holding the camera and
your print materials in place. The mat is rectangular in shape, and contains various markings
which may serve as guides for where to place your materials for optimal accuracy. The
document mat should be placed such that the HoverCam logo, which may feel like a dense
group of printed lines, is in the upper lefthand corner. This means that the mat will be longer
than it is wide. Now that the mat is facing correctly, we can determine the proper place for the
camera. Near the top center of the mat, you will feel two raised lines which curve slightly
towards each other. These lines are spaced such that the base of the camera should fit
perfectly between them and the curves of the raised lines will match the curves on the oval
base of the camera. When the camera is in this position on the mat, it is able to focus the
largest possible area on the mat.
Now that the camera is situated properly, you may place your printed material on the mat in
preparation for scanning. You will notice several lines on the mat which are shaped like corners
of a page. For example, on the very bottom left of the mat, you'll see a marking which matches
the bottom left corner of the page, and just across the mat on the bottom right, you will see a
line which fits the right bottom corner of a page. This set of lines can be used as a guide for
placing a book with two facing pages. Now, if we begin at the bottom left of the mat and move
slightly upward and to the right, we will encounter another line which appears to correspond
with the bottom lefthand corner of a page. If we follow this line to the right, we will discover a
similar marking. This marking is a guide for placing an 8.5 by 11-inch page for optimal accuracy.
As you move closer to the center of the mat, you will find lines which are appropriate guides for
smaller and smaller material to be scanned. Note that it is not necessary to use the mat while
scanning, but you may find it quite useful for keeping your material stable and providing a
reference for the best place for focusing on your documents.
Using the Camera with DocuScan Plus
While the Docuscan Plus help files describe the operation of the product in great detail, here
we will talk about a few things which are specific to using the camera with DocuScan Plus. The
tips found here are applicable to both the PC and Mac platforms.
If you are using a computer with both a scanner and camera connected, you'll have the
opportunity to choose which scanning source you use for each project. You will be prompted to
select your scanning source once you've chosen to scan the first page of your document. The
document camera will be listed as HoverCam T5V.
Unlike with a scanner, there is no feedback from the hardware of the camera when it snaps a
picture. For this reason, we have included a sound in the DocuScan Plus software which
indicates when a picture is being taken. This sound is a traditional camera snap sound, and
should be easily recognizable.
When beginning each scanning session with the document camera, please note that the initial
picture will take slightly longer to be captured than all subsequent pictures. This is because the
camera takes a moment to be fully ready for scanning, once it has interfaced with the software.
If your first scan with the camera yields poor results, here are some things you can try.
Turn the camera light on, in the event that you don't have enough ambient light in the room.
Ensure that your material is not skewed on the mat, and that the camera base itself is not
resting on any portion of your material.
While the information here is sufficient to learn specifically how to operate your HoverCam
T5V, we highly recommend that you also read the DocuScan Plus help files for your chosen
platform in order to get the most out of your new software.
Supported Scanners
DocuScan Plus supports most Twain-compliant scanners. An exhaustive list of scanners is
beyond the scope of this help file, but if your scanner is supported with Windows XP, Vista, or
Windows 7, it will most likely work with DocuScan Plus. In some cases, the scanner requires a
set of drivers, which are shipped with the scanner or which can be downloaded from the
manufacturer's web site, in order to work properly with any scanning program. However, some
scanners such as the Cannon LiDE 110 sold by Serotek and other online retailers, require no
additional drivers beyond those provided natively by Windows to function. This means that you
can carry your scanner with you, and can use DocuScan Plus from any computer without
needing to install the program or drivers for your scanner.
DocuScan Plus also supports duplex scanners, which can scan both sides of the page at once,
and Docuscan Plus also works with automatic document feeders.
If you attempt to scan a page, and DocuScan Plus does not initially recognize your scanner,
you'll see a dialogue which includes a link to troubleshoot the problem. Choose this link by
tabbing to it and pressing the enter key, and then select your scanner from the list, which will
display all scanners on your computer that Windows has recognized.
If you find that your scanner is not supported, let us know and we will do our best to add it to
the list of supported scanners, as time and resources allow.
Accessing DocuScan Plus
DocuScan Plus can be accessed in several ways, and this depends partly on how you've licensed
the product. If you own DocuScan Plus in conjunction with other Serotek products, you'll
automatically be able to access it from each machine upon which you have Serotek products
installed.
DocuScan Plus will be downloaded and installed in the background, so there's no need for you
to do anything to install it on your computer. If you are working from a machine where you
don't have Serotek products installed, simply log in to www.satogo.com and then access
DocuScan Plus from SAMNet Home. You can also access it from the System Access menu with
modifier+f, and then press the d key to launch DocuScan Plus.
If you are using DocuScan Plus and do not own any other Serotek products, you may access it
by visiting www.DocuScanPlus.com Follow the spoken prompts and then log in with your
account credentials.
Once done, you will be able to scan and read your documents from the Docuscan Plus Home
menu. Note that since DocuScan Plus is self-voicing, you don't need to have a screen reader
running in order to use it. If you do have a screen reader running, it will be silent in the
DocuScan Plus windows. If you'd like to install DocuScan Plus on your computer, simply choose
the "my account" option from the DocuScan Plus Home window, and then choose "install
DocuScan Plus on this computer. Once installed, you'll be able to launch DocuScan Plus from
your desktop by pressing control+alt+d.
Using DocuScan Plus With Other Screen
Readers
If you have a primary screen reader other than System Access, it is still quite easy to use
DocuScan Plus, even while the other screen reader is running. If you are using a version of JAWS
or Window-Eyes as your primary screen reader, there's nothing in particular that you need to
do in order to make DocuScan Plus work alongside your current screen reader. This is because
Serotek provides files with DocuScan Plus that will silence the speech of your primary screen
reader when you are in a DocuScan Plus window. When you move away from a DocuScan Plus
window and open something like Microsoft Word, for instance, your primary screen reader will
speak as it normally would. One important thing to keep in mind is that, because your screen
reader will be in "sleep mode' or "silent mode" in the DocuScan Plus windows, you won't be
able to use your screen reader's hot keys to perform functions. Instead, you will need to use the
hot keys provided in DocuScan Plus. For example, the hot key to read from the cursor to the
bottom of the window in DocuScan Plus is modifier+down arrow. If your screen reader has a
different hot key for this function, you will need to remember to use modifier+down arrow
while in a DocuScan Plus window.
If you use ZoomText as your primary assistive technology, you have a couple of options for
determining how DocuScan Plus behaves. When you first launch DocuScan Plus, the program
will detect ZoomText if it is running. You will then be asked how docuScan Plus should read. If
you want to maintain magnification in ZoomText but want the experience of high-quality voices
reading menus, controls and documents, you should choose the "yes" button and DocuScan
Plus will enter self-voicing mode. If ZoomText speech is also on and you begin hearing two
voices speaking at once, you can temporarily silence ZoomText speech with the alt+shift+s hot
key. If you want to exclusively use ZoomText and don't want DocuScan Plus to speak, choose
the "no" button. In this case, DocuScan Plus will not speak, and ZoomText will behave as it
always has. Please note that ZoomText features like App Reader, Doc Reader and Speakit may
not work well in DocuScan Plus, and are not directly supported at this time.
Using DocuScan Plus Without an Internet
Connection
While an Internet connection is highly recommended while using DocuScan Plus in order to
access previously scanned materials or to save new projects to the server, it is sometimes not
possible to be connected to the Internet when you need to scan a document. Docuscan Plus will
function perfectly well in this scenario, as long as you understand that materials can only be
saved to your local computer and not to the cloud while in this mode. If you are scanning
without an Internet connection, you will only see the menu options that are applicable while
offline.
Simple Scan
DocuScan Plus is intuitive and easy to use, and has options appropriate for every type of
scanning you might wish to perform. When launching DocuScan Plus, you'll see each of the
options available to you, and you can navigate the list of options with your tab or arrow keys.
Press enter on the option you'd like to use. Note that each option is also preceded by a number,
and you can press the number of the option you want in order to launch it.
Simple Scan
The Simple Scan option lets you quickly scan one, or more, pages of text. Just place the
document with the print facing down against the glass of your scanner and close the scanner's
lid for best results. Don't worry if the document is upside down or sideways. DocuScan Plus will
scan your material and it will also let you know its orientation. This is convenient when sharing
documents with others, or when you need to first read, and then sign an important piece of
paper. Press the "Continue" button when you're ready and Docuscan Plus will do the rest.
Once the page is scanned, you will find a button to edit the text you have just scanned. You can
edit manually if you like, and DocuScan Plus also offers a feature to help you find mistakes. Just
press F7 for a spell checker. If you have additional pages to scan, simplye press the "Scan Next
Page" button. If the current page didn't come out as clearly as you would like, choose the
"Rescan this Page" button after making any adjustments to the paper and scanner.
Once all pages have been scanned and recognized, choose the "Save document" button. You
will be prompted for a name to give the current project. Type in a name that will help you
remember the material you've just scanned and press enter to save your work. Note that when
you save a document at this stage, it is stored online, and not on your local hard drive. There
are several methods for saving the document to your local computer or to a portable device,
which will be discussed later.
If you wish to discard all scanning done thus far, press the "Start Over" button. You will be
prompted: by a box asking "Are you sure you want to permanently lose this document and start
over?" If you are sure, press enter on the OK button, or tab once to the cancel button if you do
not wish to lose your scanned pages.
Batch Scan
Batch Scan allows you to scan several pages of text in one sitting without having to review each
page being scanned. This bulk scanning option will then let you save the pages as one single file
at any point in the scanning process. Once the computer is ready to scan the next page, you will
hear the computer say "Scan Next Page." Place the next page to be scanned face down on the
scanner, and press either the spacebar or enter key to scan the next page. After scanning the
last page, choose the "done Scanning" button, then name your project, and you will have
several pages all ready to be reviewed at a later time. to discard your work, choose the "start
Over" button to start the process over again.
Auto-Read Scan
The DocuScan Plus Auto Read option is great for those who want to preview books and printed
mail without needing to edit the scanned pages. For even faster scanning and reading, you can
press the Space Bar to scan the next page while Docuscan Plus is reading what you've already
scanned. When you hear two short tones, you'll know that Docuscan Plus is ready for another
page.
After the first page is scanned, you will see three buttons: "Scan Next Page", "Save document",
and "Start Over." These buttons are at the bottom of the document. so be aware that pressing
tab will move your cursor from its current position in the document, to the end of the
document.
Scanning a PDF file
DocuScan Plus offers the ability to scan and OCR PDF file for later viewing. This means that for
those documents which only contain images and no text, you can still access their content
quickly and easily. For those documents which do contain text, you need not use Adobe Reader
to view them. You may open the files in DocuScan Plus and save them for later viewing, or even
convert them to a Daisy book or MP3. Here's how to work with PDF documents in DocuScan
Plus.
If the PdF file is already on your hard drive, choose the "scan a PDF file" option from the
DocuScan Plus main menu. Next, use the "browse" dialogue to find the file on your hard drive
that DocuScan Plus should recognize. Once you've located the file, choose the "open" button
and DocuScan Plus will then recognize the contents of the file. You'll hear a sound to indicate
that document recognition is complete. Now, you can review the document, and tab to the
"save" button if you'd like to keep the document's contents.
If you do not have SAMNet and the file you wish to view is on a web site, you must first
download that file to your hard drive, and then use the steps above to recognize its contents. If
you do have SAMNet and the file you'd like to recognize is on a web site, simply use the
SAMNet browser to navigate to it and press enter. At this point, you'll be presented with three
options, including opening the document with Adobe Reader if you have it, opening with
DocuScan Plus, or saving the file to your hard drive. If you like, you can open the document
directly in docuScan Plus at this point, rather than saving it first and then browsing to it on your
hard drive. Once the document has been opened, DocuScan Plus will recognize it. You can then
view the document's contents, or save it for later viewing by choosing the "save" option found
at the bottom of the document in the DocuScan Plus window.
If you have SAMNet, you can also use DocuScan Plus to open email attachments you've
received while using the SAMNet email client. Simply tab to the link with the file name of the
attachment you'd like to open, press enter, and you'll be presented with several options,
including the option to open in DocuScan Plus.
Managing Documents
Once your paper or PdF document has been recognized, you may do a number of things with it.
To explore your options, first choose the "manage documents" link from the DocuScan Plus
main menu. Here, you'll see a list of documents you've created using DocuScan Plus. Choose
the one you'd like to work with simply by tabbing to the link and selecting it with the enter key.
Upon doing this, you'll see the document in its entirety, followed by a number of actions you
may perform with it. If you want to jump quickly to the first option, press the tab key. This will
take you through any links present in the document itself, and then your focus will then land on
the first DocuScan Plus option, which is "email a document."
Document Recovery
Sometimes, you may find yourself in a situation where you have scanned a document, but
something happens to prevent you from saving it. In this instance, the DocuScan Plus autosave
feature is quite helpful. Note that this feature only applies to "batch scan" and "autoread scan"
modes, and does not apply to "simple scan" or PDF scanning. Here's how it works.
If you attempt to scan new material and DocuScan Plus sees that you have a previously unsaved
document, you will be prompted as to how you'd like to proceed next. If you choose the
"continue scanning" button, the material you scan will be added to the text you scanned during
your last interrupted session. If you choose to start over, your previously unsaved work will be
discarded and you can begin scanning in a new set of material. If you choose the "go back"
button, you will be returned to the DocuScan Plus main menu.
You don't have to initiate a new scan in order to be prompted about an unsaved document. You
can find the portion of the document you've scanned in the "manage documents" section of
DocuScan Plus. The file will be named "untitled." If you open the untitled document, you'll see
the same options you would traditionally see for a document which has already been saved. For
example, you can save the document to your computer, create a Daisy file, or create an MP3
for listening on a portable device. If you'd like to add to the document before saving it to the
cloud, you may choose the "add to document" button.
Please note that once you have added material to a document, you will want to save the
project with a legitimate name. This is because the "untitled document" you see is only
temporary, and will be overwritten the next time you are interrupted and unable to save your
work while scanning. Even if you don't need to add to the untitled document, you will want to
save the material to your computer before proceeding to scan a new document.
Creating Folders to organize your documents
DocuScan Plus allows you to organize the documents you've scanned in to separate folders if
you wish. For example, you might like to keep all your scanned letters in one folder, and your
textbooks in another.
To do this, you'll first need to create the folders you'd like to use to organize your documents.
The option to create a new folder is located in the "manage documents" section. The edit box
you'll use to give your folder a name is located just below the section which lists all the
documents you've scanned so far. To jump quickly to this field, you may press the letter e to
jump to the first edit box on the page. Here, you can type the name of the folder you'd like to
create, and then tab to the "create folder" button and press the space bar to activate it. Your
folder will be created and is now ready to use.
If you don't want to further organize your documents in to subfolders, you may now press
escape to close this window. If you do want to further organize your documents, type the name
of the subfolder you'd like to create in the edit box labeled "create subfolder". When pressing
the "create folder" button, a folder with the name you've just given will be placed inside the
folder you initially created. Remember, when you're done creating subfolders, press the escape
key to exit the window.
Moving Your Documents to Separate Folders
Once you've created folders to organize your documents, you'll want to move the documents in
to the folders where they belong. To do this, first choose the document you'd like to move from
the "manage documents" section of DocuScan Plus. Next, tab through the document options
until you find the button labeled: "move this document to another folder." Activate this button
with the space bar. You'll initially be in the top level folder, and you can select the folder you
need by tabbing to the "subfolders" list and selecting your folder with the up or down arrow
key. Once the folder you want has focus, tab to the "open folder button to tell DocuScan Plus
this is the folder you'd like to select. Now that the appropriate folder has been selected, tab to
the "move here" button and press the space bar. Your document will then be moved from its
place in the top level of the "manage documents" section in to the folder you've chosen. The
next time you'd like to view documents in a particular folder, you'll find links to each folder in
the "manage documents" section. Choose the folder you'd like, and you can then view the
documents inside it.
Deleting a Folder
If you find you no longer have the need for a particular subfolder, you may delete it. Do this by
first choosing the folder from the "manage documents" section of DocuScan Plus, and then
tabbing to the "Delete folder" button. At this point, you will be prompted if you'd like to delete
this folder, including any documents and subfolders inside it. Tab to the OK button if you wish
to proceed, or the cancel button if you do not wish to delete the folder and its contents.
Saving a Document to Your Computer
While you can use the "manage documents" feature to access your scanned documents from
any computer at any time, it is sometimes desirable to save a document for further editing on
your own machine. You can do this using the "save to this computer" option in the "manage
documents" section.
First, choose the document you'd like to save. Next, tab through the document until you
encounter the "save to this computer" button. Press the space bar here, and you'll be
presented with a dialogue box where you can enter a file name and browse to the desired
location to save the file. Note that the file name field will already be filled in with the name of
the scanned project, but you can change this if you wish. Once you've chosen the location to
save the file, and you've given it a proper name, tab to the "save" button and press the space
bar to save the document to your computer.
Now, if you'd like to do further editing on your document, use "Windows Explorer" or "my
computer" to browse to the location where you've saved it, and press enter to open it.
Saving a Document to Your Computer in Large Print
While you can use the built-in magnification features of DocuScan Plus to view your scanned
document in larger type, it is sometimes advantageous to be able to save the document to your
own computer in large print format. In this way, you can print the document to share with
others who require large print, or you can view the document on-screen in large type for easy
reading and editing. Note that saving a document in large print will alter the formatting in order
to accommodate the larger type, and is likely to take up more pages than the original document
when printing.
To save to your computer in large print format, choose the document you'd like to save from
the "manage documents" section of DocuScan Plus. Next, tab through the document until you
encounter the "save to this computer as large print" button. Press the space bar here, and
you'll be presented with a dialogue box where you can enter a file name and browse to the
desired location to save the file. Note that the file name field will already be filled in with the
name of the scanned project, but you can change this if you wish. Once you've chosen the
location to save the file, and you've given it a proper name, tab to the "save" button and press
the space bar to save the document to your computer.
Now, if you'd like to print your work or do further editing on your document, use "Windows
Explorer" or "my computer" to browse to the location where you've saved it, and press enter to
open it.
Password Protection for Your Documents
Sometimes it is necessary to apply an extra layer of security to a document you have scanned.
Docuscan Plus allows you to create a password for your documents in order to ensure that the
material cannot be accessed by anyone.
To do this, first choose the "manage documents" option from the DocuScan Plus main menu.
Next, select the document you'd like to protect. Finally, tab through the options available to
you and select "password protect this document." Upon doing this, you'll be prompted to enter
a password for your document. When you've done this, tab to the "continue" button and
activate it with the space bar.
Now, each time you wish to access this particular document, you'll be prompted for its
password before the document will open. Enter the password in the edit box, and then press
tab to the "continue" button and press space bar to activate it.
Emailing a Document
This DocuScan Plus feature will allow you to send your recognized document to another person
via email. This option behaves differently depending on whether or not you have a SAMNet
subscription. If you do not have a SAMNet subscription, a simple page will appear when you
choose the "email a Document" option. On this page, you may enter the email address to which
you'd like to send your scanned document. Next, tab to the send button and your document
will be emailed to the recipient address you've specified.
Note that when the email is received, the document will appear to have been sent from the
recipient address you've entered. The subject of the message will be the title of your scanned
project, and the document itself will appear as an HTML attachment.
If you are a current SAMNet subscriber and you choose the "email document" option, the
SAMNet email program will launch, and you can fill in the recipient address, subject, and so on.
You may add text in the body of the email message if you wish. The document itself will appear
as an HTML attachment to the recipient. Tab to the "send" button in your SAMNet email client
and your message, with document attached, will be sent.
Making a Daisy Book
DocuScan Plus allows you to create a copy of your scanned material in the popular Daisy
format. This format will contain both a text-to-speech rendering of your content, as well as the
text content itself. You can then transfer your Daisy file to a portable Daisy player, or you may
play the Daisy file using a program on your computer which supports this format. Using your
Daisy player, you can play the audio content of the book you've just created, or you may switch
to the text content, which will give you the ability to navigate the content by character, word,
sentence and so on. When playing the audio version of the Daisy book you've created, you may
navigate by phrase, which in this instance will jump by paragraph. Note that the audio content
of your Daisy book is generated using the default synthesizer settings you have configured in
System Access, SAMNet, or DocuScan Plus preferences.
To create a Daisy file, you must first choose the document you'd like to work with from the
"manage documents" option in DocuScan Plus. Once this is done, tab to the "Make a Daisy
Book" option and press the space bar. If you have a supported portable Daisy player attached
to your computer, you'll see an option to send to that player. If you don't have a portable Daisy
player connected, you'll see the option labeled "save to folder." Choose this option, browse to
the folder where you'd like to store your document, and then choose the "ok" button. A
subfolder will be created in the folder you've browsed to, and it will be named according to the
file name you've given your scanned document. This folder will contain all the files associated
with the Daisy book you've just created.
Creating a MP3 File
You can create a Mp3 file of your document which can then be played on your computer or any
portable device which supports MP3 playback. Note that your MP3 file is generated using the
default synthesizer settings you have configured in System Access, SAMNet, or DocuScan Plus
preferences.
To create your MP3, tab to the "make a MP3 file" option once you've chosen your document
from the "manage documents" menu. Here, you can save your MP3 to a folder of your
choosing, or you can send the file to your media library if you are a SAMNet subscriber. If
choosing to send the file to a folder, you'll be presented with a dialogue allowing you to browse
to the folder of your choice. Once you choose the "OK" button in this dialogue, your file will be
created and placed in the appropriate folder. If you have the option to send the file to your
media library, it will be placed in your library under a folder called "scanned documents." Upon
browsing your media library and choosing this folder, you'll be able to play any of the files it
contains simply by tabbing to them and pressing enter.
Making a Braille File
With DocuScan Plus, you may create a file in .brf format which can then be sent to an embosser
or transferred to a braille display supporting this format for later reading. Please consult the
documentation for your Braille display to learn more about how to transfer a BRF file to your
display.
Docuscan Plus uses the braille table chosen in the braille preferences of System Access,
SAMNet, or Docuscan Plus. If you have not previously chosen a braille table to be used with a
refreshable braille display, Docuscan Plus will use the English U.S. 8-dot computer braille table.
This is likely not what you want to read scanned documents with. Therefore, before you use the
"save to braille file" option, be sure to select an appropriate translation table, such as English,
U.S. Grade 2.
Press modifier+f for the menu, then select "Preferences". From the preferences page, select
"Braille preferences". Here, you will be presented with a list of available translation tables. Use
the up and down arrows to select the desired braille translation table. Then, press the tab key
to reach the "OK" button, then press the spacebar to save the setting. Close the preferences
screen with the escape key.
To create the file, you must first choose the document you'd like to work with from the
"manage documents" menu option in DocuScan Plus. Next, tab to the "make a Braille file"
option and press the space bar. Here, you can browse to the location where you'd like to save
the Braille file. Once you've done this and chosen the "ok" button, your file will be created and
ready to transfer to your embosser or Braille display.
Sending to Amazon Kindle
You can send your scanned documents to your Amazon Kindle by email. To do this, you first
need to log into Amazon, set up a Kindle email address, and add your email address as an
approved sender for your Kindle. Once you have done that, you're all set to send documents to
your Kindle from DocuScan Plus.
First, choose the document you'd like to send from the "manage documents" section of
DocuScan Plus. Next, enter your Kindle email address in the first edit box and then press the tab
key. Now, enter the email address you've approved through Amazon as an email address from
which you can send documents. Last, tab to the send button and press the space bar. Your
scanned document will then be transferred wirelessly to your Kindle.
Additional Document Options
If you wish, you may add more material to a document you've already scanned. To do this,
simply choose the "add to document" option once you've selected the document you'd like to
work with. Upon doing this, the "simple scan" interface will be displayed, allowing you to add
more pages to your document. For more help on using the "simple scan" option, refer to the
"simple Scan" section of the DocuScan Plus help files.
If you'd like to delete a document, choose the "delete document" option once you've selected
the document you'd like to work with. You will be prompted as to whether you're certain you
wish to delete the document. If you do, choose the "ok" button. If you've changed your mind,
you may cancel the deletion with the "cancel" button.
Once you're done performing operations on a particular document, you can browse other
documents you've created, or you can return to the DocuScan Plus main menu. Do this by
choosing the appropriate options from the DocuScan Plus "manage documents" menu.
Scanning Profiles
Sometimes, the default settings for DocuScan Plus do not appropriately recognize the material
you've scanned. In these instances, it is helpful to be able to customize how DocuScan Plus
recognizes what you've scanned. For these occasions, DocuScan Plus allows you to customize a
scanning profile. Upon doing this, you can use the scanning profile you've created to recognize
similar materials in the future.
To create a scanning profile, you must first scan a page of the material you'll be working with.
When you've done that, you can examine how DocuScan Plus has recognized your image, and
make changes if necessary. To begin making changes to the profile, tab to the "change
settings"• button which will appear among the other buttons, such as for rescanning a page,
once your first page has been recognized. Once you choose the "change settings"• button,
you'll be presented with the following options:
Fax preprocessing
This setting will enhance your image for better recognition. This option can be used with
materials coming from a fax machine, or images with similar characteristics.
Text Column Detection
This setting will allow you to set whether DocuScan Plus attempts to analyze the image and
recognize columns separately, or to treat the entire page as a single column. If you'd like
DocuScan Plus to treat the entire page as a single column, set this option to "disabled."
Table Detection
This setting will tell DocuScan Plus whether it should attempt to detect and recognize multiple
tables on a page, treat the entire page as a single table, or not attempt to determine whether
tables are present on the page at all. Open the dropdown list with alt+down arrow and choose
the option you prefer.
Graphics Detection
This option tells DocuScan Plus whether to attempt to find and ignore pictures on the page, or
whether to recognize the entire page without attempting graphics detection. Disable this
option if you'd like DocuScan Plus to recognize the entire page without attempting to find and
ignore pictures, or set this option to automatic if you'd like DocuScan Plus to find, detect and
recognize only the textual portions of the page.
Look For Headers and Footers
Often, in books or similar material, there are headers and footers on a page which are not part
of the rest of the text, and should be recognized and formatted as separate text from the main
body of the material. Check this box if you'd like DocuScan Plus to look for headers and footers,
and uncheck the box if you want the entire page to be treated as one body of text.
Look for web Links
In some materials, web links may be present. DocuScan Plus can recognize these and format its
output such that the recognized link is clickable. Check this box if you'd like DocuScan Plus to
attempt this, and leave it unchecked if you just want DocuScan Plus to recognize the text
without attempting to search for and format web links.
When you've made the changes you believe are appropriate, you should choose the "rescan
page"• button to verify that your settings are working as you expect. If they are, choose the
"save scanning profile button" once you've viewed the recognized text. You can give this profile
a name which specifies the kind of material the profile works best with, such as "book"• or
"magazine"•. Now, each time you begin scanning, you'll first see a dropdown list which allows
you to choose the scanning profile you want to use for this session. You may choose
"default"• if you want DocuScan Plus to use its default settings, or press alt+down arrow to
open the dropdown list and choose from the scanning profiles you've created.
Navigation commands
Move to the beginning of the first page, or top of document, by pressing "Control+Home."
Move to the end of the last scanned page, or bottom of document, by pressing "Control+End."
Read from your current position to the end of all currently scanned pages by pressing the "say
all" key combination for your screen reader. For System Access and SAMNet, this is
"Modifier+downArro. Note: the Modifier key is one of four possible keys. Use either the Insert
key on the numeric keypad, the standard insert key in the 6-pack group of keys, the CapsLock
key located above the left shift key, or the ScrollLock key. Use whichever of these four keys in
combination with the downArro key that feels most comfortable to you.
Note: PageUp and Pagedown keys move by computer screens, and not by scanned pages. Press
"PageUp" to move up one screen at a time. Press "Pagedown" to move down one screen at a
time. You can use all other standard Windows navigation commands; like downArrow to read
the next line, UpArrow to read the previous line, Control+LeftArrow to read the previous word,
control+RightArrow to read the next word, and so on.