Tips for More Accurate OCR Scanning When scanning text, you are by and large limited by your software capabilities and the document quality; however, there are a few things you can do to boost accuracy: ■ Scan at a high resolution to capture as much image data as possible. This facilitates the character-recognition process. ■ If characters appear faint, broken, or jagged, reduce the scanner brightness level. Reducing the brightness can sort of reconnect the dots composing the character by minimizing the light areas between the dots. Darkening obscures detail. ■ Keep your scanner surface clean and dust free. Particles on the glass bed of your scanner can interfere with character recognition. ■ Use your search-and-replace feature after scanning to correct errors that occur when one character is consistently mistaken for another. ■ OCR software sometimes has difficulty with crooked documents. Keep your original straight by scanning so that the lines of text are parallel to the top edge of the scanning surface. The Future of OCR Software High-end OCR software programs generally do not come bundled with scanners. Although accuracy and character confusion are presently nagging problems with bundled OCR software, they might soon be issues of the past. OCR software continues to become increasingly more reliable in all price ranges. Future bundled versions of these programs might even do spell checking and recognize words used in an incorrect context. 234 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Additional Scanning Projects Part IV Copyright 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. Basic Scanning Projects for Home Hobbyists Chapter 14 Copyright 2001 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click Here for Terms of Use. Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. How To… ■ Import a scanned image into your editing program ■ Organize scanned photos into an electronic album ■ Use templates and faux backgrounds ■ Create a slide show ■ Personalize your Windows desktop Photos of family, friends, and favorite places are among our most treasured possessions. Being able to scan and print them is rewarding, but making copies is by no means the only way your scanner helps you share and save photos. Scanning technology, combined with a good image-editing program, allows you to organize and edit your images, and to display them in artistic and enduring compositions. This chapter identifies some basic ways you can use your scanner to archive and visually enhance your treasure trove of photos. Understand the Role of Your Image-Editing Software All the projects in this chapter and the subsequent chapters are made possible by the use of image-editing software. Before embarking on them, it’s important to understand what image-editing software does. First and foremost, it’s important to understand the difference between scanner software and image-editing software. Scanner software runs your scanner, and always comes with your scanner. It directs your scanning device to perform the scanning function, and allows you to vary settings and preferences that enable the device to interface with your computer. The scanner software might offer you the capability to perform some limited editing, such as cutting, cropping, and resizing the image, but not extensive editing tools. In contrast to scanner software, image-editing software has a vast range of editing capabilities. Image-editing programs, such as MGI PhotoSuite and PhotoDeluxe, allow you to apply a wide range of special effects and processes to an image that has already been captured and saved via the scanner software. Image-editing software also allows you to archive and display photos using special database features. Some programs even allow you to add effects such as fake backgrounds and props. 238 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. . allows you to archive and display photos using special database features. Some programs even allow you to add effects such as fake backgrounds and props. 238 How to Do Everything with Your Scanner Please. always comes with your scanner. It directs your scanning device to perform the scanning function, and allows you to vary settings and preferences that enable the device to interface with your computer purchase PDF Split-Merge on www.verypdf.com to remove this watermark. How To ■ Import a scanned image into your editing program ■ Organize scanned photos into an electronic album ■ Use templates