Kurzweil 3000 version General User Guide

Transcription

1 Kurzweil 3000 version General User Guide Kurzweil 3000 is software that provides students with specialized tools for reading, highlighting and note taking. In addition this tool allows students to create MP3 files for class readings. The following is a summary of the use of the color scan and reader versions. Contents About the Program... 1 How-to videos... 2 The Interface and frequently used functions... 3 Scanning Using Kurzweil To begin scanning... 4 Troubleshooting tips... 6 Using the Reader Tools... 9 To set reading preferences... 9 To read the document Knowing the Options Between Software Licenses Reader license (no scanner attached): Converting a PDF to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to Save it as.kes Optimizing a PDF using Acrobat Professional Color Scan license Automatically Converting Files to KES Downloading Kurzweil 3000 Audio to an MP3 File About the Program Kurzweil 3000 is a program that reads files aloud. HWS has two types of licensed machines available: Learn Station readers, which read Word documents and KES files (Kurzweil files), and Color Scan, which read Word and KES files as well as PDF documents. The color scan machines may also be used to scan a document so it may be saved as a KES file. Hobart and William Smith Colleges Information Technology Services Technology Resource Center

2 In cases where the document to be read is a PDF and no Color Scan computers are available, the PDF can be converted to Optical Character Recognition (OCR) text, the text copied and pasted into the program, and then saved as a KES file. If a color scan license is available, downloaded course files may be printed directly to a KES file. The program may also be used as a text editor, such as for writing papers so they can be read back to the author. In these cases, the files should be saved as KES until the paper is finished, and then saved as Word documents so necessary formatting may be done in Word. How-to videos Instructions for using Kurzweil are below. For more information, videos showing how to use the Kurzweil software are available from the Help menu on the Main Menu bar.on the menu bar, click Help> How to videos 1. On the menu bar, Click Help > How to Videos 2. In the interface, select the desired movie 3. Use the Windows Media Player Controls to view the movie 2 U sing Kurzweil

3 The Interface and frequently used functions Main Menu bar Use the File menu to save the readings in various formats. Use the Scan menu to select the scanner to use. Use the Tools menu to adjust various options for Kurzweil. Main Toolbar Access frequently used functions including the reading controls. Reading Toolbar Adjust the reading tools (from left to right): voice options, reading highlight options, reading unit, number of words per minute, zoom level and page number. 3 U sing Kurzweil

4 Scanning Using Kurzweil 3000 Scanning to Kurzweil 3000 is done using an Epson 4490 color scanner. The program is available on computers connected to the appropriate scanner. To begin scanning: 1. On the desktop, double-click the icon for Kurzweil 2. When prompted, log in with your HWS username 3. Click OK 4. From the Main Menu, select Scan 5. Under Scanner Setup, select Scanner 4 U sing Kurzweil

5 6. In the dialogue box, select Epson 4490 (TWAIN) Note: The Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) lid may be used for single page scanning 7. Return to the Scan menu and select Start New Scan Note: If scanning from a source with a binding, repeat the above steps 8. For the most versatility, save the files as.kes Note: When scanning is completed, the reading tools may be used. 5 U sing Kurzweil

6 Troubleshooting tips Problem: When initializing scanner, message appears: There are no installed scanners available or scanner will not initialize. If an error message is received during initialization: 1. Exit Kurzweil Turn the scanner off 3. Turn the scanner back on (this will reset the scanner) Note: This should be done after changing the lid of a scanner Note: Wait until the scanner has finished resetting before proceeding to scan 4. Begin the scanning process again If this persists, seek assistance from the Help Desk or the Technology Resource Center 6 U sing Kurzweil

7 Problem: Issues with the final product. Each issue can be solved by adjusting the scanning options and then re-scanning the document. To make adjustments to the scanning options: 1. From the Main Menu bar select Tools > Options > Scanning and then follow the specific instructions below: If the page is upside down or sideways: In the Options dialogue, select Scanning; under Page Orientation, select the proper orientation from the dropdown list. If the image is too dark or too light: Adjust the brightness level by moving the slider bar. If other objects on the paper (speckles) are being detected as letters: Click Despeckle to clean up the document. If there are reading errors or Kurzweil 3000 will not recognize some letters: A brighter setting may solve this. Adjust the brightness level or re-scan using the Epson software and save the file to a PDF. Note: A PDF can only be opened with a color scan license option Note: If using the Reader license option, OCR the text using Acrobat Professional and copy the text into the Kurzweil software (see directions on page 11) 7 U sing Kurzweil

8 Problem: In some cases a PDF file for a class will not be of the highest quality. If after performing the steps above, the PDF is still not read properly by Kurzweil, you may want to do the following. To scan at a higher quality: 1. Print another copy of the PDF 2. Re-scan the printed copy, making the following adjustments: 3. Click OK Scan the document to a higher dpi (at least 300) Note: Click the dropdown for Resolutions located under Destination in the Epson Scan settings In the save settings, click Options. In the Quality dropdown, select Highest 4. Begin the scanning process For assistance adjusting Scanner settings, seek assistance from the Help Desk or Technology Resource Center 8 U sing Kurzweil

9 Using the Reader Tools Controls for reading are found on two toolbars: the Main Toolbar and the Reading Toolbar. The Main toolbar contains the reading tools. The Reading toolbar allows the user to adjust how a document is read. To set reading preferences: 1. On the Reading toolbar, select the reading voice (position A) VW Paul or VW Kate is recommended 2. Select the reading mode (position B) Continuous requires the user to use the Pause Reading button 3. Select the amount of text for Kurzweil to highlight as it reads (position C) This determines the amount of text highlighted as the document is read 4. Select the reading speed (words per minute); controls are to the left of the box (position D) 5. To go to a specific page in the document, use the page controls; controls are to the left of the box (position E) 9 U sing Kurzweil

10 To read the document: 1. To begin, click inside an open document 2. Place the flashing cursor where you would like to begin reading the document 3. On the Main toolbar, click: to Start Reading to Pause Reading and to Re-read a previous section and to skip ahead to the next section Knowing the Options Between Software Licenses Reader license (no scanner attached): The reader license will read the following documents: Kurzweil (.KES file extension) Word 2003 (.doc file extension) Word 2007 (.docx file extension) The reader version will not open or read files saved to PDF. To work with a PDF file in the reader version, first use Adobe Acrobat Professional to convert the PDF to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) text, paste the text into a new Kurzweil document, and save it as.kes. Then a reader machine can read it. 10 U sing Kurzweil

11 Converting a PDF to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) to Save it as.kes To convert a PDF to OCR text: 1. Save the PDF file to the desktop 2. Open Acrobat Professional by going to Start > All Programs > Adobe Design Premium CS3 > Acrobat Professional Note: Acrobat Reader will not perform this function 3. Open the PDF file you wish to convert 4. In Acrobat Professional, on the menu bar, click Document > OCR Text Recognition > Recognize text using OCR 5. In the Recognize Text dialogue, select All Pages 6. Click OK Note: Wait for the converter to finish 11 U sing Kurzweil

12 7. On the menu bar, go to Edit > Select all Note: This will select all text that Acrobat Professional was able to identify 8. Copy the text by pressing [Ctrl+C] 9. From the desktop, open Kurzweil Click New to make a new document 11. Place the cursor in the editor and paste the text using [Ctrl+V] 12. Go to File > Save As 13. Name the file 14. From the file extension dropdown choose.doc (word document) 15. Click Save 12 U sing Kurzweil

13 Optimizing a PDF using Acrobat Professional If there are some words that were not properly read in by Kurzweil, attempt to optimize the PDF in Acrobat using the steps below. To optimize a PDF: 1. In Acrobat 8 or 9, open the PDF 2. On the menu bar, click Document > Optimize Scanned PDF 3. In the Optimize Scanned PDF dialogue, adjust the following: 4. Click OK File size: slide bar to the Higher quality Deskew: click automatic to straighten a file that is misaligned Background removal: use this to remove any shadows that are in the document as a result of the scanning process (set to medium); these shadows may disrupt the OCR process Edge Shadow: use this to reduce how clear an edge there is on the document; use the cautious setting to begin Despeckle: use this to remove extra marks that may be on the screen due to the scanning process (set to medium); these marks may disrupt the OCR process Descreen: use this to remove the fading of text that may occur when the document has been printed and then scanned Halo: use this to remove any glowing of the text that may interfere with the OCR process; set to on After performing these steps, perform the OCR process again in Acrobat Professional. Copy and paste the text in Kurzweil for reading. Repeat as needed to capture all desired text. 13 U sing Kurzweil

14 Color Scan license: The colorscan license will read the following documents: Kurzweil (.KES file extension) Word 2003 (.doc file extension) Word 2007 (.docx file extension) PDF files Due to the limited number of colorscan licenses available, when scanning a document into Kurzweil, save the file to a.kes file or Word document to ensure that it can be opened on any licensed machine. Automatically Converting Files to KES On a colorscan machine, files downloaded from a course can be automatically converted to a.kes file for use on a Learnstation (reader license) machine. To automatically convert a file to KES: 1. Open the file in Word or Acrobat 2. Go to File > Print 3. In the Print dialogue, choose KESI Virtual Printer 4. Click OK 5. In the login prompt for Kurzweil, enter your username 6. Click OK 14 U sing Kurzweil

15 Downloading Kurzweil 3000 Audio to an MP3 File Using a colorscan machine, a Kurzweil file can be saved to an audio file. Audio files are created in real time. Therefore the document must be read entirely for the audio file to be generated. Kurzweil will read the entire document, including page numbers and chapter headings that are found on each page. In order to read only the main text, delete page numbers and chapter headings or designate them as secondary text. Designating areas to be read: 1. In Kurzweil, on the menu bar, click Scan > Zone Editor 2. In highlighted sections of text, Left Click 3. In the selected zone, Right click and in the quick menu, select Delete Zone Note: In this example the zone being deleted is the chapter heading located at the top of each page Note: To designate a zone as secondary without deleting it, double click the highlighted area and choose secondary from the dialogue 4. Repeat this process for page numbers, captions for images (if desired), or other extraneous text that you would like the audio file to skip 15 U sing Kurzweil

16 To save a Kurzweil file as an MP3: 1. In Kurzweil, on the menu bar, click File > Audio Files > Create Audio Files 2. In the Create Audio File Dialogue, select the pages (entire document or page range) Note: Include secondary text like the title of the document and publication date for reference 3. From the Speaker dropdown, choose the voice 4. Input speed preference 5. In Output File, select the format.mp3 6. From the Quality dropdown, choose Best 7. Provide a file name 8. Click OK 16 U sing Kurzweil

17 9. Allow the Kurzweil 3000 system to read the entire document or the parts designated to be read Note: Interrupting the reading process will not create a final audio file 10. Return to the desktop Note: Located on the desktop is a folder named Kurzweil Output Audio All recordings made from the Kurzweil software are saved here. 11. To locate the recording, click on the folder shortcut, Kurzweil 3000 Output Audio 12. Save the file to your flash drive or M drive 17 U sing Kurzweil