CUSTOMIZE/SAVE/REOPEN SETTINGS

Customize the default settings

When you launch the IRISPen, options are selected by default. Some default presets are also available from the IRISPen Wizard (see: Starting up, The IRISPen Wizard). 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 (see below).

Save Settings on Exit

The option Save Settings on Exit from the Options menu (toolbar) is enabled by default. This means that the settings that are active when closing the application will be active again when you next open the application. If you have modified the IRISPen Wizard presets, these will also be saved.

If you do not want to save your settings on exit, either disable the option Save Settings on Exit from the Options menu (toolbar), or select the option Reset to Factory Settings from the File menu before you exit.

Save Settings

You can save your settings in a file with the Save Settings option from the File menu. You will be able to reopen those settings whenever needed.

With the Save Settings option, you can save as many sets of settings as you wish. All you need to do is give them a name and save them with the *.IPC extension.

Open Settings

At any moment in time, you can reopen any saved settings. To open your saved settings, select Open Settings from the File menu and open the corresponding file with the *.IPC extension, or directly select the required file from the File menu (the last four saved files are listed).

READ DOT MATRIX TEXT

Dot matrix printed text is text which is made of isolated, separated dots. The IRISPen can read such text.

To read dot matrix text:

•  Select the option Dot matrix 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. See: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?

Warning:

Select the Dot matrix option only if you intend to read so-called "draft" or "9 pin" dot matrix symbols. Do not select this option if you want to read letter quality dot matrix printing, also called "25 pin" or "NLQ" (Near Letter Quality) dot matrix, or other "normal" printing.

READ SMALL PRINT

The IRISPen scanning band is 0.41" (10.5mm.) high. It can thus read characters having point sizes of 8 to 20.

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. See: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?

Warning:

Do not use the Small print option to read text above 10 points. This would decrease the recognition accuracy and would slow down the operation substantially.

READ NUMERIC DATA

The IRISPen is able to read all machine-printed figures. The recognition includes special characters, mathematical symbols, punctuation marks, currencies, etc. You can thus read all types of data such as: digits, codes, amounts, dates, account numbers, numeric tables, etc.

The set of characters used by the software to read such data is the same for all languages. However, you can freely customize this character set (see: Frequent command: Character Subset).

Default character subset used:

To read numeric data:

•  In the Application window, select the Numeric scan type. See: Basic settings, Reading options, Scan type.

•  If necessary, customize the default character subset in the Character subset window (click Character Subset on the toolbar, or select Character Subset from the Settings menu). See: Frequent commands, Character Subset.

•  Slide your pen over the numeric data. Operate as for any other type of printed data. See: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?

How to get auditive feedback?

You can activate the speech feature to get an auditive feedback of the scanned data. The speech feature incorporates intelligent routines that allow it to read out numbers, telephone numbers, dates, etc. Also see: Frequent commands, Speech Synthesis.

The IRISPen is able to read handprinted numbers and handprinted capital letters in languages using the Latin alphabet*. When reading handprinted numeric or alphanumeric data, the software also detects the dot, comma and hyphen symbols. You can thus read bank account numbers, amounts, etc.

(*) The reading of handprinting is not available in languages using another alphabet. Check the list of available languages in the Application window, Reading options,  Language field.

What is handprinting?

Warning:

Handprinting vs. handwriting

The IRISPen reads handprinting, not handwriting. Handwriting corresponds to continuous, "cursive" writing. The symbols within a word are linked and it is impossible for the software to know where one symbol ends and another starts. With handprinting, on the contrary, the symbols are separated and the IRISPen can isolate the individual characters.

To read handprinting:

•  In the Application window, select the Handprinting scan type, then select a language in the Language field. See: Basic settings, Reading options, Scan type, Language.

•  Check the handprinting settings in the Handprinting window (click Handprinting on the toolbar, or select Handprinting from the Settings menu). Adjust the settings if necessary. See: Frequent commands, Handprinting.

•  Slide your pen over the handprinted data. Operate as for any other type of printed data. See: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?

How to read handprinting alongside other data?

If you intend to read handprinting alongside other data, you will need to switch from one scan type to the other, then scan each type of data.

Tip:

To switch quickly from one scan type to the other, you can also:

- program a pen button: a click on a pen button suffices to switch scan type, see: Frequent commands, Pen Buttons.

- program a hotkey: pressing the hotkey suffices to switch scan type, see:

Learn how to... Program hotkeys.

The Switch scan type option makes you get to the next reading mode in the list of scan types (you will get from Text to Numeric, from Numeric to Black&White image, etc.). Remember that the scan type is always specified in the Status window.

How to get auditive feedback?

You can activate the speech feature to get an auditive feedback of the scanned data. The speech feature incorporates intelligent routines that allow it to read out numbers, telephone numbers, dates, etc. Also see: Frequent commands, Speech Synthesis.

READ BARCODES

Barcodes are composed of parallel bars and spaces. The IRISPen analyzes the succession of bars to extract the characters contained in the barcodes. The recognized characters are further inserted to the target application.

The IRISPen supports all widespread barcode standards and types, including the 2D barcodes PDF 417 and QR barcode. The IRISPen supports bearer bars drawn around the barcodes.

To be legible, the barcodes must be well-contrasted and printed with laserprinters and inkjet printers (not matrix printers), and meet the following conditions:

- The barcode must be at least 0.3" (0.75 cm) high

- The narrow bar should be at least 12 mils (0.012" or 0.3 mm.).

Do not try to read tinier barcodes, the resolution of the pen scanner will not suffice.

To read barcodes:

•  In the Application window, select the Barcodes scan type. See:

Basic settings, Reading options, Scan type.

You do not have to indicate which barcode type you are going to read. Even various types of barcodes can be mixed for the scanning. The IRISPen will automatically detect the barcode type and read it.

•  If you want to read barcodes on top of another type of data, select the Barcodes option in the Application window. See: Basic settings, Reading options, Other.

•  If you want to limit the reading to specific barcodes, make the software verify checksums, authorize partial read, or read out-of- specs barcodes, you must fine-tune the barcode reading in the Barcodes window. See: Frequent commands, Barcodes.

•  Operate exactly as for any other data: just slide the pen scanner over the barcode. The middle of the barcode should be positioned just in front of the pen scanner guide line. Follow the instructions given under: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?

! Do not try to read several barcodes per scan. Only one barcode can be read at a time.

Scanning tips...

Tip:

Scan on a flat, stable surface

You are recommended to scan on a flat, stable surface. Although you may succeed reading some barcodes on physical objects such as bottles, boxes, etc., remember that  the IRISPen is a productivity tool meant for the office environment and is not intended to industrial applications.

Tip:

Set the brightness correctly

Set the brightness correctly in the Scan Test window. If the barcode images are too light, they contain white spaces where none were intended. If the images are too dark, two narrow bars form a single wide one, a white space between two black bars become filled in, etc.

Tip:

Scan from left to right or from right to left

You can scan your barcodes from left to right or from right to left without having to change the scanning direction.

Tip:

Tell the software if the quality is poor

If the barcode quality is poor, use the barcode quality option in the Barcodes window (see: Frequent commands, Barcodes) to make the software use additional intelligent routines. Make several scanning tests if necessary.

Tip:

Activate the speech synthesis

Speech synthesis not only applies to text but to all legible data such as barcodes. You can thus activate the speech to get an auditive feedback of your barcodes. See: Frequent commands, Speech Synthesis.

SCAN MULTIPLE LINES

You can scan multiple lines at the same time, i.e. within the same scan. This is particularly useful if you want to capture whole excerpts of text from books, magazines, etc.

The various lines of text will be buffered, then released with the click on a pen button.

To read multiple lines:

•  In the Application window, select the option Multilines. See:

Basic settings, Scanning mode.

•  Scan the various lines one by one. Make sure that each line is positioned directly in front of the pen's guide line.

After each scanned line, the Status window displays the message

"Press pen button to flush". Go on scanning the next line immediately.

Important:

The pen scanning band is 0.41" (10.5mm.) high and covers in many cases several lines of text. This does not mean that all these lines are being read. Only one line, the central one, is picked and recognized by the pen. You must thus scan each line separately and make sure it is positioned right in the center of the scanning head.

•  At the end of your scan, click any pen button to insert the data into the active application.

SCAN FROM RIGHT TO LEFT

By default, the pen scanner is set to operate from left to right, but you can adapt the scanning direction and scan from right to left. You will follow this scanning direction if you are left-handed. You will also operate this way if you intend to read right-to-left text like e.g. in Hebrew.

To operate with the pen if you are left-handed:

•  In the Application window, select the option Left-handed Scanning under the Options menu.

•  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?

To scan right-to-left text (right-handed users):

•  Simply 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?

To scan right-to-left text if you are left-handed:

•  Operate exactly the same way as if you were right-handed (see above).

Note: If you select Hebrew as recognition language in the

Application window, the option Left-handed Scanning will be grayed out as right- and left-handed users operate the same way.

SCAN NEGATIVE IMAGES

With the IRISPen, you can scan negative images, i.e. light text or graphics on a dark background. The image produced by scanning is automatically inverted by the software and displayed in the Scan Test window: the black pixels will become white, and the white pixels will become black. The recognition is carried out on the inverted image.

To scan negative images:

•  In the Application window, select Negative Image from the Options menu.

The "Negative" option appears in the Status window. The IRISPen is ready to scan negative images.

•  Operate as for any other type of printed data: just slide the pen scanner over the text line. See: Introducing the IRISPen, How does it work?

•  Once you are finished with negative images, do not forget to disable Negative Image in the Options menu.

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. The new text flow will be indicated in the Status window.

To scan vertical text:

•  In the Application window, select the required Asian language in the Language field, then select Scan Vertical Text from the Options menu.

•  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. a "~" symbol, in the recognition result. If you wish to, you can choose another symbol.

To define a custom symbol for unknown characters:

•  In the Application window, select the option Unknown Symbol from the Settings menu.

•  Replace the symbol in the required field, then click OK to confirm.

REPLACE A CHARACTER STRING

Once you have recognized some data with the IRISPen, you can have this data replaced by some other data before it is inserted in your active application. This is particularly interesting if you want to use specific terms or symbols that were not present on the original document. For example, you can replace the currency "USD" that appears on the original document by the corresponding symbol "$" in your active application. You can replace an abbreviation by its full name, you can erase data, e.g. replace "$" by nothing so that  "$2.99" becomes "2.99", etc.

You can replace a recognized character or character string by: other characters, keyboard commands or any combination of all.

To replace a character or a character string:

•  In the Application window, select the option Replace Character String from the Settings menu.

By default, no character conversion is defined in the Character String Conversion window.

•  Click on Add to define a new string conversion. Introduce the required characters/commands in the proposed fields, then click OK to confirm. Use the Character map to easily key in the needed characters.

Scanned string: Type in the character or character string that will be scanned and recognized.

Converted string: Type in the data into which the scanned string has to be converted. You can type in a character, character string, a keyboard command, or any combination of all.

Character map: Click the button to access the whole list of available characters. To introduce character(s) in a field, first position you cursor in the target field, then click on the required character(s) in the map. The character(s) is(are) automatically inserted.

Once string conversions have been defined, you can edit or delete them by clicking on Edit or Delete. You can also browse the list with the Up and Down buttons.

REPLACE VERTICAL LINES

The IRISPen is able to detect and replace vertical lines separating data as e.g. table columns. By default, the software replaces vertical lines by the <Tab> command. This means that each time it encounters a vertical line during scanning, it executes a tabulation

in your target application. If your target application is a spreadsheet, the <Tab> moves your cursor to the next cell and the various bits of data are inserted in separate cells.

Various keyboard commands are proposed for the conversion, but you will also be able to replace vertical lines by characters or any combination of characters and commands.

Tip:

How to recompose a whole table?

If on top of the default <Tab> command, you add the line ending code <Home> <Cursor Down> (see: Frequent commands, Delimiters), you cursor will be relocated on the next row after each scanned line. By doing so, you will be able to recompose a whole table.

To replace vertical lines in the target application:

•  In the Application window, select Replace Vertical Lines from the Settings menu, then select one of the proposed keyboard commands (by default, the command <Tab> is selected).

Select Custom to introduce your own set of conversion, then click OK to confirm. You can execute any keyboard command, add characters, or execute any combination of all.

Tip:

If your table does not contain vertical bars, the easiest procedure is to quickly add them on the original document with a pen and a ruler.

Tip:

If your table does not contain vertical bars, remember that you can always replace scanned characters by a cursor command. To insert, e.g. "2.55$

5.99$" in a worksheet, you can replace the symbol "$" by the cursor command <Tab> to place the individual figures in separate cells. See: Learn how to... Replace a character string.

PROGRAM HOTKEYS

The IRISPen allows you to program hotkeys for the execution of the following commands:

- Restore the application (reopen the Application window)

- Switch scan type (switch from one scan type to the next one - see:

Basic settings, Reading options, Scan type)

- Repeat speech (repeat the last utterance pronounced with the speech synthesis)

This will make your work quicker and easier.

To program hotkeys for the proposed commands:

•  In the Application window, select Hotkeys from the Settings menu on the toolbar.

•  Define a hotkey for one or several available commands. Operate as follows:

- tick either the ALT or CTRL key

- introduce the clipboard key to be used in the key box

E.g.: ALT+X to restore the application.

Do not use key combinations that are used by your target application, such as: Ctrl+V in Microsoft Word.

•  Click OK to confirm.