Rating: 
Summary: Awesome.
Review: Not a term I use too often, but prior to getting my hands on Abbyy's FineReader 5.0 Pro I was always under the impression that OCR software was a joke; an opinion bolstered by mine and others' experience of applications like Text-Bridge. Not FineReader. This stuff is in its ability to convert scanned documents into text files that can then be formatted in your word-processor. With FineReader 5.0 Pro I can do what would take me over a week - assuming I didn't go loopy in the process of transcribing it - in under an hour; converting about 20,000.00 words worth, into a useable MS-Word or RTF file.FineReader makes very few mistakes. Some worth mentioning are the following: Text hyphenated in order to allow a word to wrap in the original: This will give word splits with optional-hyphen symbols that will have to taken out individually in your word-processor file. Quotation marks will default to text-editor style without any left and right handing: This can be corrected globally in a given document by ( in MS- Word ) using the replace all function and entering the normal quotation marks in the find and replace boxes. This applies to both single and double quotes. Text set in columns with cross-column footnotes will create a line or two of rubbish, but the columns will be successfully interpreted as a single one in your word-processor document, providing you remember to save the processed file without any formatting. I reckon you should save all processed files without retaining the original formatting to make life easier. You can also output a processed file as a PDF and an HTML page. Be sure to consider the settings for these export options, otherwise you can end up with an enormous PDF or an HTML page that won't work in older browsers. I would also encourage a user to dispense with all the Wizard toolbars and get familiar with the commands via the menu bar. This is a better and more flexible way to work, and potentially less confusing. And buy a decent scanner, too. Epson do good ones such as their perfection series. If you want an OCR application that really works, get FineReader 5.0 Pro. You'll recoup its incredibly modest cost in one job.
Rating: 
Summary: A solid product
Review: This program is not perfect, but does a real good job most of the time. The interface is straight-forward and it is pretty fast. I would purchase this product again.
Rating:
Summary: A solid product
Review: This program is not perfect, but does a real good job most of the time. The interface is straight-forward and it is pretty fast. I would purchase this product again.
Rating:
Summary: It works. Period.
Review: Unlike most OCR programs this one works. Toss out your bundled OCR software that came with your scanner. It only provides you with an opportunity to practice your typing skills. FineReader 5.0 Recognizes and learns from it's mistakes. And it doesn't cost nearly what some other, less capable programs do. One note... it does have some issues with Windows XP. There is a 22meg service pack available from the publisher's US website along with a registry hack to make it behave. I have used it successfully with Win98SE, WinME, and XP though. Enjoy!
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