> Prizmo is fairly easy to use, and quite complicated to get a useable image > from for OCR. > > Launch Prizmo. > The first time you use the app, open settings, general settings. Find > alignment grid and make sure it is off. The alignment grid places thin visual > lines in the viewfinder to help sighted people properly align the text. > Proper alignment is one of the critical factors required for good OCR. > Fortunately, Prizmo is more forgiving about alignment than many of its > competitors. You may also wish to set speech recognition on. I do not use > this feature, but some prefer it. Speech recognition allows you to say "take > picture" rather than activating the take picture button physically on the > iDevice. This is important because any movement of the device will blur and > quite probably ruin the image for OCR. Close settings and return to the main > screen. > > There is a list of things to recognise. I usually select text because it is > the generic setting. Business cards is good for recognising business cards > and having the information automatically formatted and added to contacts. > > The next screen gives the choice of using the camera or photo album. If > scanning physical paperwork, select camera. > > Find flash and double tap it. Select on rather than automatic. This makes the > flash activate no matter the light level in the area. In most cases, this > will help for OCR. There are a few exceptions, but flash on is a good rule to > live by. > > If you have speech recognition on, all sound will now come out the earpiece > because the mic is active whilst Prizmo is listening for take picture. > > If speech recognition is off, sound continues to come through the speaker. > > The most complicated part of using Prizmo, or any other OCR app is holding > and positioning the camera. This is because tilting the phone in any > direction causes shading which blurs the image. Shaking the iDevice, in any > manner, causes jitter which blurs the image. Having the device to close to > the image means not enough of the image is there, so OCR is incomplete. > Extremely close means the device blocks light, thereby shading the small bit > of the image that can be seen when too close. Too far from the image means > the text is too small for recognition. Fortunately, VO can help quite a bit > with finding the proper distance. > > On the iPhone, the camera is in the upper-right corner of the back of the > iPhone when the home button is facing you and on the bottom of the phone. I > do not know where the camera is on the iPod 5 or the new iPads. > > 1) lay the iPhone with the camera in the middle of the page. The phone must > be square to the page. In other words, all sides of the phone must be lined > up straight with all sides of the paper. Any deviation from this will skew > the image which will reduce, or ruin OCR. > > 2) Hold the edges of the iPhone with the middle, ring, and pinky fingers of > both hands. Using only one hand will almost guarantee that the image is too > blurry to use. It is almost not possible to tell if you have tilted the > iPhone or are shaking the iPhone with one hand. > 2) If not using speech recognition, find the take picture button with the > index finger of one hand. I use my right index finger. This finger must > remain stationary on the screen once the take picture button has been located. > 3) Lightly touch the screen with the index finger of the other hand. I touch > near the edge of the display. This sets up for a split-tap. The split-tap > will activate when the second finger is removed. Removing the first finger > will cancel the split-tap. > 4) With both fingers stationary on the display, slowly lift the iPhone > straight up from the page. Keep the phone level and go straight up. When VO > says "autofocus", stop moving and wait a couple seconds so everything can > become as still as possible. > > 5) If using speech recognition, say "take picture" in a clear voice. If not > using speech recognition, slowly lift or slide the second finger from the > active part of the touch-screen. The shutter will activate and the picture > will be taken. Note: You can also press the volume up button to take the > picture. My scans are better when I use the method above because I minimise > all movement. I use a feather-light touch since iPhone does not care how firm > the touch is, and feather-light gives free movement. > > 6) Select continue button to accept the image. > > 7) Select continue button to OCR process the image. > > 8) After reading the result, continue will save the text, or back will go to > the initial screen to start over. > > If it sounds like a difficult process to get a useable image, it is. My first > images did not work. It took me several hours of practice before I started > getting useable results. Nowadays, I get a good scan in one or two shots, and > my scans are usually quite readable. > > A note on autofocus, sometimes, iOS will autofocus on part of the text, so > the phone needs to be lifted until the second autofocus. If I go too high, I > always start over directly on the page. Even as much as I use the app, by the > time I start coming back down, I have drifted enough that I am no longer in > the centre of the page, so the text is no longer centred in the camera. > > If autofocus is never said, there is probably not enough light. > > It is best to be in a well-lit room. If your body is between the light source > and the page, even with flash on, the shading caused by your body will most > likely worsen or ruin the OCR. If the sun, or a bright direct light is > shining directly on the page, the text will wash out, disappear, because of > the glare, and the OCR will be ruined. > > In other words, as you learn to use OCR on the iPhone, expect that you will > fail, almost every time, in the beginning. If you cannot see at all, and you > cannot get a good OCR no matter what, you really need to have a sighted > person check for lighting, and watch what you are doing. A sighted person can > tell if you are blocking light, having light glare on the page, situated in a > way such that light from a window is actually causing a dark area where the > page is, notice that a finger is blocking the camera lens or flash, and so > forth. > > David Chittenden, MSc, MRCAA > Email: dchitten...@gmail.com > Mobile: +64 21 2288 288 > Sent from my iPhone > > On 21/03/2013, at 14:59, "Kay Malmquist" <kay.malmqu...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hey there, >> Can someone help me with Prizmo? I am reading the users guide and it I is >> like I am reading the wrong users guide and it still doesn't make any sense >> and I can not figure out how to use it. Any help is really appreciated. >> Thanks much. >> >> Kay Malmquist >> kay.malmqu...@gmail.com >> You received this message because you subscribed to the Accessible Phones >> Discussion List. >> >> If you don't want to receive messages from this list anymore, just send a >> blank e-mail to: >> blindphones-unsubscr...@mosenexplosion.com
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