SELECTING THE READING MODE

To select the Reading mode:

• Click on Select the reading mode in the IRISPen Palette or select Reading Mode from the Settings menu, and select the appropriate reading mode:

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 directly depends on the language chosen for the reading. However, you can freely customize this character set (see: Basic parameters, Defining the output character set).

If you intend to read numeric data only, you should set the reading mode to Numeric (click on List of available languages in the IRISPen Palette or select Languages from the Settings menu, and select Numeric. By doing so, you will limit the set of used characters to numeric symbols only and eliminate any possible confusion between figures and letters like "5" and "S", ""9" and "g", "8" and "B", etc.

Bar Codes

To read bar codes. Select this option to read barcodes exclusively. The resulting character string will directly appear in the target application.

If you want to read barcodes alongside other data, you must set the bar code reading as secondary reading mode (click on Lists all supported barcodes in the IRISPen Palette and select the option Read Bar Codes, or select Bar Codes, then Read Bar Codes from the Settings menu). This allows you to read text, numeric data or handprinting, as well as barcodes without having to change your settings.

You can also fine-tune the barcode reading according to your needs (see: Basic parameters, Fine-tuning the barcode reading).

Image

To produce a grayscale image of small graphics such as signatures, mathematical formulae, logos, small pictures, etc. The image will be automatically sent to your clipboard before it can be pasted in a chosen application.

If you want to produce a black&white image of your small graphic and view it as such in the IRISPen Scan window, your must deselect the option Grayscale Image from the View menu (Grayscale Image is the default option). The black&white version of the scanned image will be automatically displayed in the Scan window.

• If you select the Text reading mode, specify the type of text to be read. Select Text Type from the Settings menu, then select the appropriate type:

Automatic (default value)

To read "normal" text in any printing quality: typeset, typewritten, laser printed, inkjet printed, letter quality dot matrix printed texts and draft dot matrix printing. The IRISPen detects the font mode automatically.

Dot Matrix

To read draft dot matrix text exclusively, i.e. to read the so-called "Draft" or "9 pin" dot matrix text, which is made up of isolated, separate dots.

Spaced Handprinting:

To read spaced handprinting, i.e. if there is a clear space between the characters.

Contiguous Handprinting:

To read contiguous handprinting, i.e. if the space between characters is reduced (some characters may occasionally touch each other) and if the zones covered by a single character may overlap.

• If you have selected the Handprinting type, you are prompted to indicate a Rejection level for the reading.

You can actually have an influence over the number of rejected characters that will appear in the reading result. If the rejection threshold is increased, characters will be rejected quicker if the software is unsure. There will thus be less possible errors but

more rejected characters in the reading result. If the rejection threshold is decreased, there will be less rejected characters in the result, but the level of possible errors will be higher. For applications where extreme accuracy is essential, you should set a high rejection level.

To adjust the rejection level, use the up and down arrows on the right.

SELECTING THE LANGUAGE

You must indicate the language in which the data is to be read. The character subset used by the IRISPen will be selected accordingly so as to optimize the reading.

Advanced option

Of course, you can further customize the character set which is normally used to read the chosen language in order to make it fit your particular needs. See: Basic parameters, Defining the output character subset.

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.

To select the language:

• Click on Lists of available languages in the IRISPen Palette or select Languages from the Settings menu, and select the language in which the data is to be read in the list of available languages.

The top part of the list gathers the languages that were selected recently.

Click on Other to access the whole list of available languages. Either browse through the list or simply press the first letter of the needed language. Click OK to confirm your choice. 

• If you want to activate a mixed alphabet, select the required language pair, e.g.: Greek-English, Byelorussian-English, etc. Click OK to confirm your choice.

• If you choose an Asian language, also indicate the text flow by enabling the option Vertical Text under the Options menu in the toolbar. See: Additional options, Vertical text.

CHOOSING THE OUTPUT TARGET

You can choose the way the read data is being inserted in your active application: either via "keyboard emulation", which sends the data directly into the active application, or via the clipboard, which requires a manual Paste or CTRL+V command.

You can also determine some other elements such as the font and the size of the inserted data.

To choose the output target:

• Click on Choose the output target in the IRISPen Palette or select Output Target from the Settings menu.

• Select the required method:

Keyboard Emulation  

Scanning multiple lines

You can scan multiple lines at the same time (this is particularly useful if you want to recapture whole excerpts of text from books, magazines, etc.) and have them read automatically. When using keyboard emulation, the various lines of text will be buffered by the software, then released with the click on a pen button.

To scan multiple lines, tick the option Multiple Lines from the Settings menu.

Clipboard (default value)

If this option is selected, the read data is first copied to the

clipboard before it is pasted (automatically or not, see below) in the active application. If the data is pasted automatically (default value, see below), this method is quicker than Keyboard Emulation.

If the data is not pasted automatically (see below), this allows e.g. to change the cursor location in the active application before the data is inserted.

Scanning multiple lines

You can scan multiple lines at the same time and send them to the clipboard. In this case, you will operate exactly as for single lines: scan then paste the data manually in the active application. To scan multiple lines, tick the option Multiple Lines from the

Settings menu.

• If you have selected Clipboard as output target, you have access to the following advanced options via the button Choose the output target in the IRISPen Palette or the command Options from the Settings menu. Select the required options and values, then click on OK to confirm.

Include font and size

You can determine the font and the size of the data to be inserted in the active application. Tick the button Include font and size and select the required font and size via the arrows on the right.

Paste automatically (default value)

If this option is selected, the software automatically pastes the data that has been sent to the clipboard in the active application.