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Sharpdesk lets you convert a non-editable, graphical image containing text into a file that can be 
edited with your favorite word processor.  You can convert an image at anytime while working in 
Sharpdesk by simply dragging the image onto the Convert by OCR option on the Output Zone 
bar. With Sharpdesk, even your document layouts are preserved.  
Once an image has been turned into an editable document, you can then change it, annotate it, 
and treat it like any other document you created from scratch in its native application. 
You can convert any .TIF, BMP, .DCX, .JPG, or .PCX, image into one of many standard output 
formats.  
Keep in mind that text conversion accuracy depends on the quality of the original image. A poor 
quality fax or copy might not convert correctly as the engine will have difficulty reading the text 
characters. On the other hand, most laser-printed documents should convert just fine. For tips on 
getting the best results, refer to “Text Conversion Tips” later in this chapter. 

The Sharpdesk conversion engine can recognize text characters in the following languages: 

English French 

German 

Italian 

Spanish Portuguese 

Swedish 

Dutch 

The following output file formats may be selected for the Convert by OCR process: 

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Format File 

Extension 

AmiPro .sam 
Comma Delimited Text 

.txt 

Microsoft Excel 

.xls 

Formatted Text 

.txt 

Hypertext Markup Language 

.htm 

Lotus 123 (v 2.0) 

.wk1 

Plain Text 

.txt 

Plain Text with Line Breaks 

.txt 

Rich Text Format 

.rtf 

Tab Delimited Text 

.txt 

TypeReader Image 

.tif 

Microsoft Word 

.doc 

Corel WordPerfect (v 5.0) 

.wpf 

Corel WordPerfect (v 5.1) 

.wpf 

To convert an image to text using drag and drop: 

1.  In Sharpdesk, select the image you want to convert in the Sharpdesk work area. 
2.  Make sure the Output Zone bar appears by selecting the Output Zone command from the 

View menu. 

3.  Drag and drop the image onto the Convert by OCR option on the Output Zone bar. A dialog 

appears showing you the progress of the conversion. 

 

[If the “Show this dialog every time OCR is processed” is checked (see Properties discussion 
below), the Convert by OCR Preference tab will be displayed first.] This dialog shows you the 
name of the file being converted, the current conversion process (auto-rotating, de-skewing, 
locating and recognizing), and the progress of the entire job.  Once the conversion completes, the 
dialog automatically closes and the finished text document appears in the appropriate application. 
If you click Cancel, the ongoing conversion process is canceled. 

Sharpdesk User’s Guide 

To OCR an image and specify the options you wish to apply: 

1. Choose the Preferences command in the Tools menu.   

The Convert By OCR Properties dialog displays. 

 

2.  You can specify the following text conversion options.  When finished, click OK to save 

your options. 

File Format 

Select a file format that the conversion should use for its output. 

Locate Method 

This option controls the method that the text conversion engine uses to locate 

text on a page. You can select from: 

Normal (Multi-Column): This setting is suitable for most cases. It is to be used 

on text with ordinary paragraphs, pages with mixed text and graphics, and on 

multi-column pages of text such as in newspapers and magazines. This setting 

is also good for pages that have tables. 

Force Single Column: Use this setting when the page contains side-by-side 

blocks of text that you want the text conversion engine to read from left to 

right across the page. With this setting, the engine always locates text from the 

left margin to the right margin of the page, regardless of the spacing between 

groups of words. 

Picture Processing 

This setting determines whether to look for text within pictures. Your choices 

are: 

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Text & Pictures: Use this setting when you want the text conversion engine to 

attempt to locate text that resides in regions on the page that it views as 

pictures. 

Text Only: The text conversion engine does not attempt to locate text that 

resides in regions on the page that it considers to be pictures. 

Quality of  

Input Image 

This setting tells the text conversion engine about the quality of the image it is 

about to process. Your choices are: 

Letter: This is appropriate for most documents. 

Dot Matrix: Use this setting when characters in the input document are 

printed in a mono-spaced font and made up of dots that are not touching. 

Degraded Quality: Check this item when the input text is severely degraded 

or is hard to read. This will significantly slow down the text conversion 

processing. 

Miscellaneous 

Custom Dictionary: Clicking this button invokes a standard File Find dialog 

box letting you select a custom dictionary file (.DIC). Custom dictionary files 

improve the recognition ability when processing uncommon words. Sharpdesk 

comes with a simple custom dictionary, USER.DIC, that will be selected by 

default. If you are converting a document that contains technical terms that 

aren’t commonly used, you can place these terms in a your custom dictionary 

separated by line breaks. Use Microsoft Notepad or other similar editors to 

make changes to your custom dictionaries or create new ones. 

Language: Lets you select a language setting for the text conversion engine. 

Illegible Character: Lets you specify the character that the text conversion 

engine outputs when it cannot read a character. The default is “~”. 

Show this dialog box every time OCR is performed: Checking this item 

forces this property dialog box to be displayed every time you perform OCR, 

giving you an opportunity to change the settings. 

If you do not get the results you want when you convert an image to text, you might check the 
following items: 

• 

Check your scanning options. You might have the brightness or contrast levels set too high 
or too low.   

• 

Check your text conversion preferences.  

• 

Clean your scanner glass and scanner lid with a soft cloth. 

• 

Reposition the document on the scanner glass. 

• 

Change your Quality of Input Image settings.  Sometimes an image can be converted by 
using the Dot Matrix or Degraded Quality settings. 

• 

Be sure you have sufficient disk space to hold the temporary files that the text conversion 
engine creates. 

Sharpdesk User’s Guide