using computer as a typewriter ?

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - using computer as a typewriter ?

Posted: 5/18/2003 3:26:51 PM EDT

I can scan a form into my computer and I can than send the image to my printer so that the computer becomes a copying machine. But how can I type to fill in the blanks of the form before I print it. There must be a way but as a total novice to this computer stuff I am lost. If it matters I have a Dell with windows 98.

Thanks

Posted: 5/18/2003 3:31:23 PM EDT

[#1]

do you have an OCR* program or Adobe Acrobat ?

either of these programs will allow you to create documents from something you scan.

*Optical Character Recognition

Posted: 5/18/2003 3:36:15 PM EDT

[#2]

There are a couple of ways:

[list=1]
[*]Get out a ruler and measure where the blanks are on the form and make corresponding text boxes with MS word or other word processor, or[/*]
[*]Depending on the length of the form you could always rewrite the form using a word processor (I would recommend using tables). I did this for a bunch of forms that needed for work, or[/*]
[*]Pick up a copy of an OCR software, this will convert the scanned text to "real text" an open it in a text program.[/*]

IM me if you need more of an explanation.

Good luck

Posted: 5/18/2003 4:13:42 PM EDT

[#3]

When you scan a document the computer isn't really reading it. Scanning is more like making a photograph. It doesn't create a document with characters just an image.

Adobe Acrobat and some other programs can look at that image and pick out the characters (OCR).

Even the best OCR packages guess wrong some times. You usually have to edit the scanned document to fix the bad guesses.

It's still way easier than re-creating the document from scratch, especially if it's a complex form.

Posted: 5/18/2003 4:20:01 PM EDT

[#4]

Whats a typewriter????

Posted: 5/18/2003 5:37:53 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:I can scan a form into my computer and I can than send the image to my printer so that the computer becomes a copying machine. But how can I type to fill in the blanks of the form before I print it. There must be a way but as a total novice to this computer stuff I am lost. If it matters I have a Dell with windows 98. Thanks

View Quote

Get a program callsed "Omniform"
[url]http://www.scansoft.com/omniform/[/url]
It [b]will[/b] do what you want.

Posted: 5/18/2003 6:04:50 PM EDT

[#6]

At $100 a toss, it better.

Posted: 5/18/2003 6:12:16 PM EDT

[#7]

Well, if you haven't any qualms about it, get the demo, then the crack from astalavista

Not that I'd be suggesting it or anything...

Posted: 5/18/2003 6:13:14 PM EDT

[#8]

Most scanners come with some form of optical character recognition (the program that turns the "photo" of the document your scanner took into a Word document) on a CD. There are programs that you can purchase separately that do it also. I don't have any OCR loaded currently, years ago I bought an OCR program made by Xerox (I think) that was under $ 50.

Posted: 5/18/2003 6:15:18 PM EDT

[#9]

i was looking at kazalite.com to see if it was available there for free,but i wouldn't download load it since you know that may be illegal so you may want to buy the copy from the store.

Posted: 5/19/2003 12:29:40 AM EDT

[#10]

ScanSoft's OmniForm is designed to do exactly what you're looking for.

[url]www.scansoft.com/omniform/[/url]

-Troy

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - using computer as a typewriter ?

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