Scansoft Omnipage Pro 12

Turning printed documents into digital files isn't the most popular pastime but if you need to do it, optical character recognition (OCR) software is a must.

Packages like Scansoft's Omnipage have been saving PC users' time, money and sanity for years.

With the launch of version 12, Omnipage Pro is once again boasting greater accuracy and promising to be even easier to use.

Moreover, this edition can read, convert and save various flavours of pdf, as well as word processor file formats and HTML.

The new streamlined interface is certainly easy to pick up, and we were bringing documents in from our USB scanner within minutes.

Novices can use an OCR Wizard to get things going, while advanced users may control each step of conversion manually if they prefer.

It didn't take us long to move from the basics to more advanced features.

As with previous versions, areas of a page can be 'zoned' as text, graphics or a table to aid successful translation.

While you can let Omnipage handle this automatically, doing it manually definitely gets better results.

Once scanned, documents need to be proofread, and Scansoft's Intellitrain system aims to improve recognition as you progress.

Certainly after about 10 tests and a bit of training we hit a pleasing degree of accuracy - about 80 per cent.

The results were definitely better than expected, but possibly not enough to make this an essential upgrade for existing users.

Other noteworthy features in this version include text-to-speech facilities, recognition of over 100 languages, the ability to schedule OCR jobs and direct integration with applications such as Office.

Converted documents can also be sent by email through any Messaging Application Programming Interface-compatible program, including Outlook.

At £99 Omnipage Pro isn't a casual purchase, but if you retype documents on a regular basis it's a small price to pay.

DETAILS

PRICE: £99.99 (£85.09 ex VAT)

CONTACT: Scansoft 0870 870 8085
www.scansoft.co.uk

SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

• Pentium processor or equivalent
• Windows 98SE or higher
• 64MB of Ram (128MB recommended)
• 135MB of hard disk space
• 5MB for Microsoft Installer (MSI)
• SVGA monitor with 256 colours and 800 x 600 resolution
• CD-Rom drive
• Compatible scanner