scrambled text in word

[pjb]

Hi, my problem is when I try to scan text into a word doc, what I get is not what I sent. sometimes the sentences are half here and half there and not in order. sometimes the pages are shuffled and merged together, if there are columns scanned they are all merged or else listed in single word per line all down the page. I have tried everything in the help and troubleshooter.I'm running office xp pro with all the updates fixes, converters and tool kits everything else works fine. thank you

 

[garfield-n-odie]

This problem can't be fixed from within Word. You need to fiddle with the scanner software to get it to scan the areas you need. If you are scanning something with a columnar layout , you probably have to scan one column at a time. Even after you get the scanner to scan what you want and insert it into Word correctly, I think you'll find that the scanner's optical character recognition is not perfect.

 

[Graham Mayor]

You need some better OCR software! Investigate Finereader. It's not perfect,
but is close and is the only one that I have found not to make a dog's
breakfast of the job.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[pjb]

thanks, I fiddled with the faddle in the scanner, now I have full sentences and proper ly ordered paragraphs an only need to make a few adjustments. I am still having problems with the columns tho, they still go down the page in single word per line order, I'm trying to cut and paste but it is not going where I try to put them. Do you have any more great ideas?? Also just a bit more plain english instructions please.

 

[pjb]

Thank you I have that program, it also indicates it uses something called sprint as well, I almost have fixed what I need done but still havings problems with my columns and more ideas ??

 

[Graham Mayor]

With Finereader select each column separately and reformat into columns in
Word.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[sf]

Now, set your line length for posts to 60 or 70 characters,
so your text doesn't run off my screen.

TIA
```````````````

thanks, I fiddled with the faddle in the scanner, now I have full sentences and proper ly ordered paragraphs an only need to make a few adjustments. I am still having problems with the columns tho, they still go down the page in single word per line order, I'm trying to cut and paste but it is not going where I try to put them. Do you have any more great ideas?? Also just a bit more plain english instructions please.

Practice safe eating - always use condiments

 

[pjb]

Thanks a million, I have 18 pages of columns to scan

 

[pjb]

Hi, where do I do that at ? at the web site or my pc ?

 

[Graham Mayor]

I didn't mean that you should process each column as a separate task. You
can work on all the pages at once.

If you select the columns separately and process them into Word as a single
column, it is easy to reformat to columns in Word. Just select the text and
then format > columns to put the text into columns.

If you rely on the OCR software to do this, the document will probably
translate into a reasonable facsimile of the original document, but your
columns are likely to have been replaced by frames which makes editing the
document a beast of a task. If I was doing it I would convert to plain text
and format that in Word.

At the end of the day this is a conversion of a graphic into text and it is
a credit to the programmers that Finereader can make such a good stab at
formatting if left to its own devices.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Graham Mayor]

Most of us who access these newsgroups do so by accessing the news server
directly using newsreading software rather than via the web portals -
http://www.gmayor.com/MSNews.htm. sf uses Forte Free Agent, and apparently
she doesn't have it setup to wrap long lines correctly. When reading
software is correctly configured to wrap text to the screen, there is no
problem with your posts.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP


<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[sf]

Hi, where do I do that at ? at the web site or my pc ?

Not your PC if you're posting via the web site.

If you're using a news reader, there is an option to set
line length (# of characters) in my news reader under
"posting preferences"... do you see anything like that on
the website?


Practice safe eating - always use condiments