Openbook 9 Released
OpenBook 9 supports 64-bit and 32-bit versions of Windows® 7, Windows Vista® and Windows 2008 Server, and 32-bit versions of Windows XP and Windows 2003 Server operating systems.
Some of the new features and improvements in Openbook 9 include:
Fast Optical Character Recognition (OCR)
OpenBook 9 features the fastest and most accurate text recognition available. Place a document on a scanner or under the PEARL® camera and OpenBook begins to read and display the recognized text on the screen within seconds of acquiring the image.
PEARL Portable Reading Camera
OpenBook 9 and the new PEARL camera provide the ultimate in portable acquisition and reading, making capturing text images faster than ever before - enabling you to snap a picture and begin reading in a matter of seconds. The convenient page guide helps you align your documents so you capture a good image every time. Place paperback books sideways and the PEARL will capture two pages at a time. For larger books, such as text books, align the spine of the book at the edge of the guide to capture single pages at a time.
OpenBook captures up to 20 pages per minute. OpenBook’s built-in motion detection prevents snapping a picture until a page is turned and is perfectly still. The PEARL is designed to capture great images in standard room lighting. If the room is unusually dark, the built-in LED light can be turned on to provide additional lighting.
Use PEARL as a Video Magnifier
OpenBook 9 includes a new Camera View that displays a live image on your screen of the item currently under the PEARL camera. This allows you to use PEARL as a video magnifier and perform various short-term tasks where you may require a magnified view such as magnifying the serial number on a CD or a set of instructions on the outside of a box. The Live View and captured Exact Views feature the ability to change zoom levels and the Virtual XY table to visually read through the text. Camera View is activated through the View menu, or you can press CTRL+SHIFT+V to cycle between Text View, Exact View, Split View, and Camera View.
Enhanced Customization Using Workflows
All of the commonly-changed settings for acquiring and processing have been consolidated into the new Workflows feature. The new workflows replace the previous Scanning Modes, retaining similar names, but providing greater functionality.
Recognition Strategies
With the new recognition strategies, you no longer have to try and guess which OCR engine you should use to process a particular document. Simply select from one of the available strategies; Fastest, Balanced (selected by default), or Most Accurate, and OpenBook will use the appropriate OCR engine combinations suitable for that particular strategy.
To change the default strategy so it applies to all workflows, open the Workflow settings properties page (ALT+G, O) and navigate to the Strategy, Language, and Secondary Language combo boxes. To change the strategy for a particular workflow, modify or create a new workflow and on the Process page, clear the Use Default Strategy check box. Then, select a strategy, or change the recognition language. When this workflow is active, OpenBook will instead use the strategy you configured for that workflow instead of the default.
RealSpeak Solo Direct Synthesizers
OpenBook 9 includes RealSpeak™ Solo Direct synthesizers from Nuance® Communications. These new synthesizers work exclusively with Freedom Scientific products.
Several RealSpeak Solo Direct voices are included on a disk that ships with OpenBook, but several others are available for download from our Web site. RealSpeak Solo Direct voices are installed to a shared location and installed voices can be used by OpenBook, MAGic® and JAWS®.
Read the full improvement & new features list
