Jenny it doesn't sound complicated if you persist with it.
Christopher H
On 19/03/2012 20:55, Jenny Keller wrote:
That sounds way too complicated for me. Is there an easier program?
Also is there a bar code reader ap and what info does it tell you?
Jenny and my goofy guide Brooks
On Mar 19, 2012, at 2:07 PM, Anne Robertson<a...@anarchie.org.uk> wrote:
Hello Paul,
The Light Detector app is just called Light Detector and you just launch it and
it plays a tone which rises with the light level.
Here are the instructions for Prizmo that Esther posted a little while ago.
Cheers,
Anne
One of the features that contributes to Prizmo's increased effectiveness for visually impaired users is the ability to take pictures with speech control, by saying, "Take
Picture", which reduces the likelihood of a blurred image due to moving the phone when you double or split tap a button to take a picture. You turn this feature on in the Settings
menu by double tapping the "Settings" button in the top right corner of the main Prizmo screen. Flick right to the "General Settings" button under the
"Settings" heading and double tap. On the "General Settings" screen, flick right past the "Capture" heading and set the "Alignment Grid" to
"Switch button, off", then set the "Speech Control" to "Switch button, on". I believe both switches are turned on by default, but it is several months since
I configured Prizmo. I'm not sure whether turning off the "Alignment Grid" is necessary, but you certainly don't need it to be displayed, since you can't see it while using the
camera. Once
you have checked that these settings are in place, double tap the "Settings, back button" in the
top left corner to return to the "Settings" screen, then double tap the "Done" button in
the top right corner to return to the main Prizmo screen.
The main Prizmo screen has a list of types of documents to scan and OCR, followed by a
"Documents" button at the bottom of the screen that are results you want to store in the
app. In general, you will choose to double tap "Text" (the first listed entry).
The app works in 3 stages, which are indicated by the 3 buttons at the bottom of the the next ("Photo") screen: (1) Source (obtaining the image using the Camera -- can also use previous images from your photo album taken outside the app), (2) Image (options to apply corrections to image before OCR -- generally requires vision to perform actions, such as cropping to only include the part of the image that contains text or correct for distorted pictures because you didn't hold the iPhone flat), and (3) OCR (perform the OCR with an option to choose the language to improve the OCR), then display the results for editing, copying, etc. or saving in the app's stored "Documents". You can navigate through the app without ever using these buttons, just by double tapping the "Next" button in the top right corner of the screen to move through each stage, and that's probably the easiest way to use the app when you get started, especially if you only work with documents in English. However,
if you want to OCR a document in a different language, you can improve your results by double tapping the "OCR" button (third or three at the bottom
right corner of the screen) and then flicking left to the language button (e.g., "English") in the row of option buttons for that screen, and double
tapping. You'll be able to double tap another language from the list of 10 available languages. (Note that you will not hear "selected" announced
beside the currently selected language in the list, but you can only exit the "Language" menu by either double tapping a new language selection or by
double tapping the "Cancel" button in the top right corner. Once you have changed the language (e.g., to French) and returned to the
"Photo" screen with the OCR button set, you should hear the new language, "French", announced if you flick left to that button.) Setting
the OCR language before applying the "next" button improves the recognition of words with accented characters -- otherwise I may ge
t a "6" for an "e" with acute accent, and other such examples.
Here's the sequence for the iPhone 4, assuming that you have configured the "Settings" menu as outlined
earlier. It is very helpful to use the $0.99 "Light Detector" app to check lighting conditions and also get
a sense of the optimal centering and height of the iPhone above the page before you use Prizmo. (You can hear when the
"Light Detector" signal is loudest if you move the phone up and down or left/right and forwards/back with
respect to the page. This only gives a rough sense of where to position the phone when you use Prizmo, but if you
can't hear any difference in signal with Light Detector when you move the phone around over the page, chances are that
either the background light level is too low to take a good image, or you're blocking the light source with part of
your body. You should also use a headset connected to the headphone jack, since as soon as the iPhone camera is
accessed in a mode that is capable of responding to your spoken "Take Picture" command the v
olume of VoiceOver through the speaker will drop, and not get restored until you exit the camera
screen either by double tapping the "Use" button in the bottom right corner of the screen
or the "Retake" button in the bottom left corner of the screen.
1) From the main Prizmo screen, double tap "Text"
2) On the Photo screen, flick right to the "Camera" button that is the first of the 3
"Get text from picture" source options, near the bottom of the screen, and double tap
3) On the iPhone 4 Camera screen (no heading), there are three buttons at the top: one for the "Flash" at the top left and one for "Camera
Chooser" at the top right. In between is an unlabeled "Button" that toggles on and off the speech control function when the switch for that
option is turned on under the "General Settings" submenu of the "Settings" menu. If the switch for the speech control option is not turned
on in "Settings", this unlabeled button will not appear on the screen. If, when you enter the Camera screen, your phone does not vibrate, and
VoiceOver's volume through the speaker does not immediately drop, then the ability to use speech control to take a picture by saying "Take Picture"
on this screen has not been toggled on, and you will have to double tap that unlabeled button to the left of the "Camera Chooser" button to activate
this function. Once you toggle on the speech control function, your iPhone should vibrate, and the volume of VoiceOver through the spea
ker should immediately drop. I believe that the first time you access the Camera screen, speech control is toggled off
(i.e., you can do a two finger flick down to "Read All" the controls on the screen and hear everything
announced through the speaker). If you double tap the unlabeled button at the top of the screen to turn on voice
control of the camera shutter, then whenever you enter the Camera screen your speaker volume will automatically be
lowered, requiring use of headphones. Presumably this is to get a good trigger when you say, "Take Picture".
Your speaker volume will remain lowered until you leave the Camera screen (either by double tapping the "Use"
button in the bottom right corner after taking a photo, or by double tapping the "Cancel" button in the
bottom left corner to leave the screen without taking a picture), or until you
toggle the speech control feature off by double tapping the unlabeled button at the top of the
screen again. (Note, if you become very confident and proficient in the layout of the camera
screen, so you can double tap the "Use" button in the bottom left corner without a
VoiceOver prompt, you can run this without headphones. Alternatively, if you're at home in a quiet
setting you may still be able to hear VoiceOver through the lowered speaker volume and also work
without headphones. Also, if you're fast at getting the iPhone to the correct height and level
before you hear the buzz, and then say "Take Picture", you can work without headphones.
But in general, be prepared to use headphones when you use voice control for the camera shutter.)
4) Revisiting step 3. Assuming you set your speech control on, and exited the Camera screen (e.g. by double
tapping the "Cancel" button in the bottom left corner), you can start the process again, with your
headphones connected. After double tapping the "Text" button (Step 1) and before double tapping
the "Camera" button (Step 2), place your iPhone on the page you want to OCR using the edges of the
paper to align the sides of the device. Center the iPhone so that the camera lens (top right corner as you
normally hold the device) is approximately in the center of the page. (If you use a case, make sure that the
back of the case does not block the camera lens). Sandy has mentioned suggestions like lightly folding the
page in half length-wise and width-wise to guide positioning and aligning the iPhone, in the case of
practicing with a sheet of letter paper. Make sure that you flatten the paper because failing to keep either
the page or the iPhone flat when you take the picture
will cause some of the letters to show up as tildes; this is typical if you
scan a book page and haven't flattened the section near the spine enough.
5) Double tap or split tap the "Camera" button, then, using two hands to make sure you keep the iPhone level, raise it
steadily up from the page to a height of about 7 to 9 inches. (Nine inches is roughly twice the length of the iPhone.) You'll
feel the iPhone vibrate, and then VoiceOver will announce "auto-focused". At this point you can say "Take
Picture" and hear the shutter close. (You'll probably start by lifting the iPhone too slowly to reach 7-9 inches before you
feel the vibration and hear "auto focused". Say "Take Picture" anyway -- your image is more likely to be in
focus. The actual distance you lift depends on the size of the page. Small billings only require about 6 or 7 inches. I
practice lifting and then check the distance I've lifted an iPhone against the handspan of one hand, which for me is 7 inches,
but I have small hands.
6) Double tap the "Use" button in the bottom right corner of the screen.
This is the last element on the screen, so you can also just use a four finger tap on the
bottom of the screen and then double tap. (I preferred the four finger swipe down, but
this is the current gesture for moving tot he end of the screen.)
7) On the next screen flick right the "Next" button in the top right corner and double
tap. You'll move to a screen labeled "Processing"
8) The results of the OCR will show up in an "Edit" screen which will let you
review and edit your results.
9) Double tap the "Next" button in the top right corner when done. You can
Save your results, or copy them, mail or upload them. Options such as copy or email are
listed as buttons along the bottom of the screen. Do a three finger flick left to hear
the second page of options, which include MobileMe, DropBox, etc.
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