Recent Posts

1976

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 18, 2009, 04:53 AM »

Hmm... now that I see the jpg "full-size" here, maybe it's not the best test candidate... The font looks big in the jpg. rjbull - do you have an image file that you could post for me to try to convert or is this what you were looking for?

-Darwin (June 10, 2009, 08:29 AM)

I sent Darwin the front page of a patent PDF file, and Nuance made a very good job of OCR'ing it into usable text.  Able2Extract couldn't touch it.  Maybe I should ask them to raise their game   

Darwin, many thanks for the test.  Expect some DC credits! 

[Edit]
Aaauuuggghhh!       I spoke too soon!  I just tried Able2Extract again - and this time it worked!     Leaving aside explanations such as Rupert Sheldrake's morphic resonance, I think I must have pressed Ctrl-A in Able2Extract meaning the whole page, but it included the whole file, all 99 pages of it, and choked on converting something that size.  Just marking a section or a single page and converting that now works OK.  And it darned well should, too.  Here's part of the About screen:

Copyright     2000 - 2008 Investintech.com Inc.
Nuance      OCR     1994-2008 Nuance, Inc.

That is, it uses Nuance OCR technology!     On a quick look I still think Nuance's own conversion was a little better at least on the graphics, but Able2Extract has done a perfectly adequate job on the text.

Oh, well.  I suppose that means I don't have to buy yet another software licence.  I'm catching Darwin up all too rapidly as it is 
[/Edit]

1977

General Software Discussion / Re: XYplorer 8.00 released with DUAL PANES (!)

« Last post by rjbull on June 18, 2009, 03:31 AM »

I just miss descript.ion file support.

-Innuendo (June 17, 2009, 09:28 AM)

Oh, I must have overlooked that point 
I wonder how many people on here use them?  Might be interesting to see if anyone else holds up a hand.

-cranioscopical (June 17, 2009, 10:46 AM)

I do, a bit.

1978

General Software Discussion / IrfanView Version 4.25 released

« Last post by rjbull on June 18, 2009, 03:28 AM »

Note the OCR plugin:

IrfanView Version 4.25 ( - CURRENT VERSION - ) (Release date: 2009-06-16)

• New capture option: Region capture (Thanks to grebulon)
        (as option in Capture dialog or hotkey: CTRL + PrintKey)
• OCR Feature/PlugIn added (Options menu, Hotkey: F9, full image or selection)
        PlugIn download: http://rerecognition.../kadmos44/KADMOS.htm
• New command line switches for /capture
        4 = use region capture, 5 = start in capture mode using dialog settings
• New and re-arranged Properties dialogs
• New Color Management options in Properties->Viewing (new LCMS PlugIn needed)
• Burning PlugIn: can burn using Nero or Windows interface (WinXP or later)
• Support for JLS format (JPEG-LS, PlugIn by KATO Kanryu)
• Support for WBZ/WBC/WB1 formats (Webshots formats, PlugIn by V. Paramoshin)
• New display option: Use Resample for zooming (Menu: View->Display options)
• New fullscreen option: Use Resample for zooming (Properties->Fullscreen)
• Option to save changes on exit in now also used for image/file change
• New option in Batch-Scan dialog: Remember last scan counter
• Previous "Search files" dialog results showed again on next search
• Batch rename dialog: Last 15 rename patterns are saved
• New Thumbnails sort options: Sort by image DPI
• New placeholder: $p (image DPI)
• New buttons/options in File-Replace dialog for multiple files
• Resample bug with very special images fixed (TIF bug reported by Secunia, thanks!)
• The option "View->Lock zoom" works now with all display options
• Show PNG and TGA/DDS alpha color options merged (Properties->Viewing)
• New command line option: /reloadonloop
        Reload input source used in /slideshow when list is finished
• Command line, /convert: exit codes added: 0 = OK, 1 = load error, 2 = save error
• Support for TIFs with 12 bits per channel
• New option in Postscript PlugIn: Enable Antialiasing for better quality
• New button in EXIF dialog: Show in GeoHack-Wiki (for GPS coordinates)
• New help menu: Check homepage for updates
• Browsing hotkey: CTRL + SHIFT + number (0-9), decrease file index by number
• Several PlugIns are changed/updated, please install the newest versions
        http://www.irfanview.com/plugins.htm

1979

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 16, 2009, 03:48 AM »

Infix does not understand that the text may continue on the next page.

-Curt (June 15, 2009, 10:44 AM)

Thanks...  I suppose it was too much to hope it would really work like a word processor...   

1980

General Software Discussion / XYplorer 8.00 released with DUAL PANES (!)

« Last post by rjbull on June 16, 2009, 03:43 AM »

XYplorer 8.00 has been released on 15-Jun-2009. Here's a quick introduction to the main new features:

1) Dual Pane
  Dual Pane file management is synonymous with productivity and ease of use. It combines comfort, speed, and power in the most natural way, namely by letting you look at the contents of two folders side by side.
  Both panes are tabbed, and can be arranged vertically or horizontally, or shown individually as single panes.

2) Overlong filenames supported.
  All fundamental file operations now work with extremely long filenames (longer than 260 characters): Rename, Copy, Move, Delete, Preview, Thumbnails, Backup, Properties, Time Stamp, Attributes Stamp, etc.

1981

Found Deals and Discounts / Re: Acronis True Image Home 2009 41% off on Bits du Jour, Fri. 19th June

« Last post by rjbull on June 15, 2009, 07:13 AM »

I haven't tried it, but I'm fairly sure I've seen positive mentions on DC before.

Off to try the forum search...

1982

Found Deals and Discounts / Acronis True Image Home 2009 41% off on Bits du Jour, Fri. 19th June

« Last post by rjbull on June 15, 2009, 05:16 AM »

Bits du Jour offer:

Acronis True Image Home 2009

Deal Price: $29.99
You Save: 41%
List Price: $49.99

Deal Available: Friday 19 JUN ’09

1983

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 15, 2009, 04:50 AM »

@Curt:

The few PDFs I tried it on had a text box around every few letters (even words were usually comprised of multiple text boxes).  I don't have a burning need to edit pdfs, so I just dropped it. 

What I wonder now is if other (possible more expensive) PDF editors such as INfix handle things such that this issue isn't noticeable by the user? 

-mwb1100 (June 12, 2009, 09:19 AM)

Curt, do you mean that Infix allows you to ignore the boxes, and looks to the user like you're editing free text?

1984

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 12, 2009, 07:47 AM »

@Curt: that little box about changing "For" to "Four" was just the problem I hit with PDF TExt Replace Tool!  I can't get the boxes to resize properly using Foxit PDF Editor, either, though in practice there are too many of them to manually deal with anyway.  The author of PDF TRT has already made a new version that saves its search-replace string pairs between sessions, but I haven't tried it yet.

1985

General Software Discussion / Re: Best macro program to click a toolbar button, and...

« Last post by rjbull on June 12, 2009, 07:41 AM »

Automation Anywhere. Since it requires no programming

-autogeeek (June 11, 2009, 11:43 PM)

autogeek, the OP is tranglos, who is a respected programmer 

At $495, Automation Anywhere will be only a dream for most people.

1986

General Software Discussion / Re: Screenshot tool with built-in OCR?

« Last post by rjbull on June 11, 2009, 09:26 AM »

Hmmm...  Don't have OneNote, but hadn't thought of using Evernote like that.  Thanks! 

Saw a comment in the Snagit forums that WordScale by TMA Software does a good job in this area.  Haven't heard of TMA before.  They're too coy to put the price on their Web site, so I'll have to wait for an e-mail reply to find out the current rate.  But I really should try Evernote   

1987

General Software Discussion / Screenshot tool with built-in OCR?

« Last post by rjbull on June 11, 2009, 05:51 AM »

Please, is there a good screenshot tool with built-in OCR?

I have to extract editable text from documents, including PDFs that are scanned-in image files.  PDF seem to be a problem because it handles fonts differently than Windows.  Some screenshot tools, like the recent free version of SnagIt, can't do it.  I could save an image and use Evernote to OCR the text, though I haven't tried that.  What I do at present is load the PDF into Foxit PDF Editor, increasing text size if necessary, and using freeware JOCR to capture and recognize the text.  This works surprisingly well, but JOCR is dependent on Microsoft Office components, which I'd rather avoid if possible.  I also have Able2Extract which isn't, erm, as able as its name, especially with small fonts.  [For comparison with Able2Extract, I've asked Darwin about Nuance elsewhere on DC].

[Edit]
And lived to discover I was wrong.  Able2Extract is able to do the job, see my confessional message   
[/Edit]

So, please, any recommendations for anything "better?"

Thanks...

1988

General Software Discussion / Re: Best macro program to click a toolbar button, and...

« Last post by rjbull on June 11, 2009, 04:19 AM »

I can't give you a definitive "best,", but as a left-field suggestion, you might look at PTFB Pro.  While you can find the last free version around the Net, recent payware versions are much more advanced and have macro features.  The program's main purpose is to "Push the Freakin' Button" so I would hope it would work for you, though it is only fair to add that PTFB Pro's Help file has plenty of caveats.  PTFB turns up on Bits du Jour from time to time, but you just missed one.  I haven't checked its resource usage, but keep it running all the time without apparent problems.

Other suggestion, which is freeware - PowerPro - can do almost anything, and relatively light on resources, but hard to get to grips with.

1989

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 10, 2009, 09:25 AM »

Hmm... now that I see the jpg "full-size" here, maybe it's not the best test candidate... The font looks big in the jpg. rjbull - do you have an image file that you could post for me to try to convert or is this what you were looking for?

-Darwin (June 10, 2009, 08:29 AM)

Well, it certainly looks like small text that's been greatly enlarged, but I agree you can't tell the original size    My problem files are usually patents, which always seem to be scanned in and sometimes have quite small text.  I'll try and dig out an offending page and PM you, thanks 

1990

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 10, 2009, 04:43 AM »

Darwin, how does Nuance fare on PDFs with small fonts?  Able2Extract tends to fail, not altogether surprising as PDF seems to handle fonts differently from Windows.

-rjbull (June 09, 2009, 10:37 AM)

I'm not sure I understand the question - do you mean when creating a document or in searching a pdf or...?

-Darwin (June 09, 2009, 02:45 PM)

Sorry - I meant when trying to convert a PDF that's an image file (scanned in) to a Word .DOC or any other editable format.

1991

General Software Discussion / Re: INfix: easy, capable, but expensive WordPad-like PDF editor

« Last post by rjbull on June 09, 2009, 10:37 AM »

Nuance PDF Converter Professional 5, on the other hand, will search for text over the entire document but doesn't seem to offer a batch replace feature.

-Darwin (May 28, 2009, 08:57 AM)

PDF Text Replace Tool (PDF TRT) does batch search-and-replace of multiple strings over multiple files, and does it very efficiently, but results aren't always what you expect, and convenience features are rudimentary.
 

• I tried replacing serial numbers with code numbers that were longer; the replaced text was scrunched up, characters overlaid.  Checking with pdftotext (part of XPDF) showed that the whole text had been correctly replaced.  That seems to mean that the space allocated by the application that made the original PDF wasn't big enough.   Not PDF TRT's fault, but yet another problem that can jump out and bite you.
• Although multiple search-and-replace strings are supported, there's no provision for saving them!  If you want to do the same set again tomorrow, you have to enter them all over again!     I've already e-mailed the author about this.

Darwin, how does Nuance fare on PDFs with small fonts?  Able2Extract tends to fail, not altogether surprising as PDF seems to handle fonts differently from Windows.

1992

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: multiple clipboards depending of times you press c (or x/v)

« Last post by rjbull on June 09, 2009, 06:19 AM »

Is there a NirSoft style global hot-key utility finder ?  If so, that would tell you at a glance if you have any clashes.

-Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 05:32 PM)

err, ShortcutsMan by Nir Sofer, but it will only show you hotkeys set at the Windows level, not all those set by programs themselves or by hotkey programs.  There's a DC thread with a recent program by tranglos on this topic, IIRC.

1993

Post New Requests Here / Re: IDEA: multiple clipboards depending of times you press c (or x/v)

« Last post by rjbull on June 09, 2009, 06:12 AM »

  Clipboard managers are inherently cumbersome without multiple clips, like you suggest. Since you have to bring up the manager, find and choose the cilp you want.

-Steven Avery (June 07, 2009, 03:56 PM)

Not necessarily.  Some of them, e.g. ClipCache and ArsClip, allow you to assign hotkeys that will move you up or down the clip stack, showing you a tooltip of the current clip as you go.

1994

Living Room / Re: Where did your DC user I.D come from?

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 09:54 AM »

My name badge was washed with laundry once, ES fell from JAM, so I became JAM

-jammo (June 04, 2009, 12:06 AM)

I have a thick winter T-shirt that had "Winter Sports" written across it.  Only some of the letters fell off, and now it reads "Win e  S o ts."  I sort of wondered it that was a Freudian comment.
<sigh>

1995

Living Room / Re: Where did your DC user I.D come from?

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 09:51 AM »

Back in the 1940s i worked in Scotland Yard and was a hotshot detective, best in the department.  Nicknamed "mouser" for my ability to always catch my prey (like a cat catch's mice)

-mouser (June 03, 2009, 09:52 PM)

mouser, you should look at T.S. Eliot's book of poems "Old Possums Book of Practical Cats," and check out "Macavity" 

1996

General Software Discussion / Re: Sticky Notes - Freeware Roundup

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 09:41 AM »

Notesholder:

Including the browser url from the clipboard is interesting.  Is it getting the last focused screen page ? If so you would have to be careful not to open a new page before clipping to NotesHolder.  Any other strong features come to mind ?

-Steven Avery (June 04, 2009, 06:36 AM)

I think you have to mark some text and immediately hit the Notesholder hotkey.  If you change browser tabs or Alt-Tab to another application first, nothing seems to happen.

I'm not sure about "strong features."  I dislike its reminder system because it displays all expired notes, which I don't always want for routine reminders, and I can't see a way of turning that off.  Notesholder can be portable, which is nice.  You can activate it by hotkey and/or by "bumping" a thin vertical line at the edge of the screen.  The Lite version works well and is small, so there's no reason not to try it.  It has a very different look-and-feel from normal sticky notes programs, more like a continuous ribbon of paper.  Sticky notes are often better if you want something at a particular screen location, which you can't do with Notesholder.

1997

General Software Discussion / Re: Kana Reminder alternative??

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 05:41 AM »

Would you be better off with one of the sticky notes programs?  See, e.g., DC's new thread Sticky Notes - Freeware Roundup.  A very popular free one is Zhorn Software's Stickies.

Otherwise, you might like Kirby Software's Kirby Alarm Pro, which some people are very keen on.  I don't think there's a free version now - if there ever was, you'd probably find it via one of the "old version" sites.

1998

General Software Discussion / Re: Sticky Notes - Freeware Roundup

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 05:01 AM »

NotesHolder - (Pro - $20)
http://www.alshare.com/

-Steven Avery (June 04, 2009, 02:05 AM)

That appears to be NetNote.  NotesHolder is by A!K Research Labs.  It isn't a conventional sticky notes program in the traditional 3M style, but it's an interesting and potentially useful alternative.  E.g., recent versions have a convenient feature that a hotkey will copy the clipboard contents into a new note, and if your clip came from a browser, will automatically include the URL.  Recent versions of the payware version - $19.95, but offers have been known, including a recent one on Bits du Jour - are mislabelled false positives in Trend OfficeScan AV.  The current free version isn't so treated.

1999

Announce Your Software/Service/Product / SlickRun updated to v4.0.2.1, dated 2 Jun 2009

« Last post by rjbull on June 04, 2009, 04:49 AM »

Bayden Systems just updated their popular freeware "launcher plus," SlickRun: SlickRun Updates

SlickRun 4.0.2.1 (496Kb)

v4.0.2.1 (2 Jun 2009)
+ Added Unicode support for Jot, history, autocomplete, $W$, etc
+ Enhanced UI with visual styles
+ Added Windows Vista/Windows 7 manifest
+ Filename autocompletion prefers .exe files
+ First Run sets smarter defaults (bigger fonts, memory usage, etc)
+ Initial setup backs up installing user's configuration
+ Port to Delphi 2009

2000

General Software Discussion / Re: Adding text 'silently'?

« Last post by rjbull on June 01, 2009, 10:54 AM »

A simple "take note" batch file, let us call it takenote.bat
[...]
The only con I can think of here is that the date and time are somewhat messily on separate lines. I'm not that hot on the syntax for Windows's batch files to make it concatenate those on only one line.

-akx (May 30, 2009, 12:46 PM)

If you can run to an extra little program, take a look at Horst Schaeffer's LOGECHO from his freeware PBATS collection

[Select]

LOGECHO 2.2 (c) 1997 Horst Schaeffer
ECHO using time/date information (case sensitive tokens):
$D  day (01..31) $h  hour
$M  month (01..12) $m  minutes
$N  month (Jan..Dec) $s  seconds
$H  month (hex 1..C) $c  sec/100
$Y  year (00..99)
$C  century (19|20)
$W  day of week (Sun..Sat)
$V  day of week (0..6)
$Z  day of year (001..366)
$$  '$'
$+  new line

which would allow you to enter times and dates however you like.