Test reports
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Test reports
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Words worth FxScan
FxScan is the only program for the Amiga that includes text recognition. I bought this program because I wanted to do that.
FxScan is an interface which hosts on the scanner drivers of ScanQuix, which I have, or on BetaScan. As a test object I used the workshop about "Video on the Amiga" in the recent AmigaPlus [German periodical].
I started FXScan, which opens its own screen and took a look at the interface. I was familiar with the previous version which came with my ScanQuix, and I did not notice much new beside a few additional icons.
Let's go, I thought, and put the AmigaPlus article into the scanner. After clicking the icon that looks like a little scanner the scanner drivers window of ScanQuix opened on FxScan. Of course this only happens when there is more than one driver installed for ScanQuix (I additionally have "Scan to File"). After selection of a driver the usual preview window of ScanQuix opens.
A friend who has had the program for some time advised me to make the first scan in gray grading. I activated the preview scan, placed a frame for the whole page and clicked upon scan. I left the setting at my usual resolution of 150 x 150 pixels. In the preview I realized that I had put the magazine top down into the scanner, but for this type of error FxScan has a remedy, a simple type of picture processing.
After the page was scanned, in the upper left corner a small display appeared of the area read in. I clicked on the picture to select it, then the icon looking like a painter's palette. The scanned picture appeared twice in the middle of the screen quadruple the size of the first display: On the left side the original, on the right side the preview to be changed according to the filter to be used.
Out of the pulldown menu below the original I choose the item "Rotate", set it to "180°" and right away the picture turned around. Then a click upon "Perform" and the procedure was done.
A quick check with the little monitor-like icon (View) and the preliminaries for text recognition were done.
This was my first test and I had not put anything into the database of FxScan, so I did not expect a satisfactory result.
I activated text recognition by selecting the capital "A" icon. On the left side of the screen another icon menu appeared. It showed four symbols: A mouse arrow for editing, a frame symbol for setting the text boxes, a trashcan and the most important, the symbol to start.
Because the frame symbol is selected from the beginning, you start by setting the text boxes. I selected the three text columns on the scan and then activated text recognition.
A process window appeared to display the progress of the job. Well, I must admit, it ran quite fast, but I'd advise using a 68040/40 at least. On a PPC it would really be good, but unfortunately I didn't have one.
As soon as the job was done a window opened to process the words which FxScan did not recognize correctly. On top was the detail of the scan, below FxScan showed its view of the word, at the bottom was a correction box.
Reworking by hand with the correction window of FxScan took, for one DIN A4 page, appr. 40 minutes. I had to decide for each word if it should be transferred to the program's database for learning.
Then the text could be saved in ASCII format.
I opened Amigawriter, which I had ordered with FxScan, and in a new project arranged three text boxes for the columns and loaded the new file.
The ASCII text was correctly loaded and placed into the boxes. Then I spell checked the text and after 30 more minutes the document was ready.
Of course, you might say, in that time you could have typed the document manually! Right this time, but keep in mind that the database of the program needs to be built up to eliminate errors - mostly the mixing up of similar letters, like "l = f", "I = t" etc. I believe these errors will disappear after a certain learning period and the job will speed up.
So, in summary, I want to state:
It needs some practice to get used to the selection of items without normal menus and only with icons. But help text appears if the mouse pointer is not moved for a few seconds.
Taken all in all the program really can be recommended and for the price of 69.- DM (appr. 35 EURO) it is not too expensive.
Test system: A4000/060, 118 Mb fast ram, Picasso IV etc.
Andreas Volkmann <Andreas-V@t-online.de>
