Re: scanned documents

Hello Mark,

My methods are consistent with the other posters', albeit using Omnipage Pro
X as the OCR software.

To explain further on formatting within Word: I paste OCR'd text into Word
as plain text (Edit menu -> Paste Special -> Unformatted, but I use a macro
because I use it so often), making sure that when I paste the insertion
point is in a paragraph styled with a body text style (many people use
Normal style for that, but if you are using book-length documents, you
should not use Normal -- see below*). This strips out all the formatting
picked up during OCR and makes all your pasted text look like body text.

I then apply a Heading 1 style to the first chapter heading, then click in
the paragraph containing the next chapter heading and key Command-y or
Option-Return, which repeats the last action, i.e. applies the style again.
And so on through the document. Then I repeat for Heading 2, and so on
(usually using the hard copy as a guide once I get below either Heading 1 or
Heading 2).

This sounds laborious, but in practice it's quite quick because as you go
through below Heading 2, it's fairly obvious which text is heading text. One
hand keys Option-Return or Command-y while the other uses the mouse or the
down-arrow...

Are you familiar with Word's styles? They save a HUGE amount of time, and
ensure consistency and many more efficiency factors such as gluing
themselves to their subordinate paragraphs. For an introduction (though
there are other, excellent articles, see "Styles and templates - the keys to
consistency and saving time" on page 86 of some notes on the way I use Word
for the Mac, titled "Bend Word to Your Will", which are available as a free
download from the Word MVPs' website
(http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Bend/BendWordToYourWill.html).

[Note: "Bend Word to your will" is designed to be used electronically and
most subjects are self-contained dictionary-style entries. If you decide to
read more widely than the item I've referred to, it's important to read the
front end of the document -- especially pages 3 and 5 -- so you can select
some Word settings that will allow you to use the document effectively.]

* For the many reasons why it's best not to use Normal style in long
documents, see page 98 of "Bend Word to Your Will".

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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============================================================


On 20/10/06 6:23 AM, in article OmIXAy78GHA.3620@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Hugh
Watkins" <hugh.watkins@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Mark Pavlick wrote:

List members:

I'd appreciate any suggestions regarding formatting scanned
documents? I need to incorporate scanned documents with various formats
into a book with a unified format. How to impose an overall order on
these documents? Thanks in advance for any help. - Mark Pavlick

sounds like you are ending up with transcriptions

if you used a contrasting type face all will be clear

Hugh W


.

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