There are many products out in the market that have OCR capabilities. But if you have Microsoft Office installed on your machine then you do not need purchase or use any free OCR products, as some Microsoft office applications have built-in OCR engine.

You can OCR documents by using Microsoft Office Document Imaging tool and if you have Microsoft Office 2007 installed then you can also use Microsoft Office OneNote.

We will now see how to these applications to OCR images or scanned documents.

Copy text from images or scanned documents using Microsoft Office Document Imaging:

1. Click on Start > All Programs > Microsoft Office > Microsoft Office Tools > Microsoft Office Document Imaging.
2. In Microsoft Office Document Imaging, click the File menu and select the Open… option to open the document that you want to OCR. The document will now be displayed.
3. Click the Tools menu and select Recognize Text using OCR… option. A dialog will be launched.
4. Select the appropriate option and click OK to begin the OCR.
5. You can now copy text from this document. If you wish you can export the extracted text to a Word file then click the Tool menu and select the Send Text to Word… option.

By using this method you will not be able to copy text from document scanned as a PDF file. To do this you will need to use Microsoft Office OneNote (available in MS Office 2007)

Copy text from images or scanned documents using Microsoft Office OneNote:

1. Click on Start > All Programs > Microsoft Office > Microsoft Office OneNote 2007.
2. In Microsoft Office OneNote, click the Insert menu and select the Files as Printouts… option to open the document that you want to OCR. The document will now be displayed.
3. Right click the displayed document and select the Copy Text from All the Pages of the Printout option.
4. Once the text is copied you can then paste it in Notepad or Word.

That’s It!

Please note that the quality of the extracted text depends on the quality of the scanned document. If the document is not scanned properly then the OCR engine will not be able to recognize the text and give you gibberish text.

1. Open a Word Document (a blank document will also do) and place your cursor at the spot where you wan to insert the other document.
2. For Office 2007, click Insert tab and click the Object drop-down and select the Text from File… option. The Insert File dialog will be launched.
3. For Office 2003, click the Insert menu and select the File option. The Insert File dialog will be launched.
4. Now, select the file(s) that you want to combine/insert and click the Insert button.

That’s It! Your multiple word documents will now be combined as a single file.

After all these hassles I decided to find a blog publishing software which is especially designed for bloggers so that they can write their post and directly post it to their blog. I researched a bit and found out that Windows Live Writer is recommended and used by many bloggers.

Windows Live Writer (referred as WLW) is a free application developed by Microsoft, that is part of the Windows Live range of products. It features WYSIWYG authoring. WLW is currently compatible with most popular blogs like Windows Live Spaces, SharePoint blogs, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, Wordpress etc.

Windows Live Writer is very easy to use. Though it looks simple, it is packed with all powerful features and not to forget the vast plug-ins it supports. WLW allows you to manage more than one blog. It allows you to insert photos, videos and maps in your post and it also uploads them to the location you specify. It also has a preview pane so that you can view how your post will look once it is published. And it also has a HTML editing pane for advanced users.

WLW also allows you add tags, categories and excerpts to your post. It also allows you to save your post to your local drive. A very popular feature of WLW is the Set publish date. This feature allows you to set a date to publish the article.

These are just a few features of Windows Live Writer. According to me Windows Live Writer is best blog publishing software. If you use Windows Live Writer and would like to share some tips or features that I have missed out then please leave your comments.

Click here to download: Window Live Writer

1. On the keyboard hit the Prnt Scrn button to take a screenshot.
   Note:  To take a screenshot of an active window press the Alt + Prnt Scrn button.
2. Now, paste the screenshot in Microsoft Paint. To launch Microsoft Paint click Start > Accessories > Paint.
3. In Paint, click the Edit menu and select Paste or press the Ctrl+V button on the keyboard to paste the screenshot.
4. Now, click the File menu and select the Save option or press the Ctrl+S button on the keyboard to save the screenshot. The Save As dialog will now be launched.
5. Enter a name for the image and choose a location to save it.
6. Click the Save button to save the image.

That’s It! You have now learnt to take screenshot.

Hey, there are other cool stuff too that you can do by taking a screenshot. I’ll teach you one trick you can try this on your mate, take a screenshot of the window that they are working on (for e.g. Word document or just watever is opened on his/her screen) ofcourse when they are not at their desk. After saving this screenshot set it as the desktop background. Now, minimize all the opened window and hide the desktop icons. Now just wait for friend to return and then watch the fun.

After some more reserach I found this Layout Issues article on Wordpress.com. This article contains the basic troubleshooting steps that should be followed to solve the sidebar problem. This article was a life saver for me. I hope this article helps you too.

1. Click Start > All Programs > MS SQL Server 2005 > SQL Server Management Studio. The SQL Server Management Studio will now be launched.
2. Enter your login details and connect to the server.
3. Select the Databases folder in the left pane, all the databases will now be displayed in the right pane.
4. Right-click any database from the list and select Tasks > Restore > Database… option.
5. The Restore Database window will be launched. Select a DB from the To database drop-down to restore the backed-up DB. Incase you want to create a new DB to restore the backed-up DB then type the name of the DB in this box.
6. All the DB backups that were performed will be displayed in the From Database drop-down. Select a backup from the list to restore.
7. Incase the backup file is not listed in the From Database drop-down then select the From device option to specify the location of the back-up file. Click this [...] button to specify the location of the backed up file.
8. Once the backup file is selected the DB backup and the Transaction log backup will be displayed in the Select the backup sets to restore section. Make sure both the back up of the DB and its Transaction log is checked.
9. Click the Options tab in the left pane. The options will now be displayed.
10. From the Restore options check the Overwrite the existing database or leave it blank.
11. Select the RESTORE WITH RECOVERY option from the recovery state.
12. Click the OK button to begin the restore. Once the restore is complete you will get a confirmation message, click OK.
13. Close the SQL Server Management Studio.

That’s It!

For more info on restore see, Restore MS SQL Server 2005

1. Click Start > All Programs > MS SQL Server 2005 > SQL Server Management Studio. The SQL Server Management Studio will now be launched.
2. Enter your login details and connect to the server.
3. Right click the Server name and select Properties. The Server Properties window will now be launched.
   
4. Select the Security node in the left pane.
5. In the Server authentication section select the SQL Server and Windows Authentication mode.
   
6. Click the OK button to apply the changes.
7. Now, right click the server name and select Restart. The service will now be restarted.

That’s It!

1. Click Start > All Programs > MS SQL Server 2005 > SQL Server Management Studio. The SQL Server Management Studio will now be launched.
2. Enter your login details and connect to the server.
3. Expand the Databases folder and select the DB that you want to backup. Right-click this database and select Tasks > Back Up… option. The Back Up Database window will be launched.

4. From the Backup Type drop down select the Full option to perform a complete database backup.
5. In the Backup Component section select the Database option.
6. Enter a name for the backup in the Name box. Enter a short description about the Backup in the Description box.
7. Click the Add button to specify a destination for the backup.

8. Click the Options tab in the left pane. The options will now be displayed.
9. Select the Append to the existing backup set option to append the current backup to existing file or device.
10. Check the Verify backup upon completion option to verify the backup upon completion.

    

11. Click the OK button to begin the Backup. Once the backup is complete you will get a confirmation message, click OK.
12. Now, again right-click the DB from the list and select Tasks > Back Up… option. The Back Up Database window will be launched.
13. Select the Transaction Log option to backup the DB’s log from the Backup Type drop down.
14. Enter a name for the backup in the Name box. Enter a short description about the backup in the Description box.
15. Click the Add button to specify a destination for the backup.
16. Click the Options tab in the left pane. The options will now be displayed.
17. Select the Append to the existing backup set option to append the current backup to existing file or device.
18. Check the Verify backup upon completion option to verify the backup upon completion.
19. Click the OK button to begin the Backup. Once the backup is complete you will get a confirmation message, click OK.
20. Close the SQL Server Management Studio.
21. Now, copy these files to a device (Pen Drive) or burn them on a CD.

For more info on backup see, MS SQL Server 2005 Backup

1. Open Microsoft Word and create your document.

2. For Word 2007 click Page Layout tab > Watermark drop down and select a default watermark from the list. The watermark will now be inserted on the pages of your document.

   If you want to create a watermark then click the Custom Watermark… option from the drop-down. The Printed Watermark window will now be launched.For Word 2003 click the Format menu > Background > Printed Watermark option. The Printed Watermark window will now be displayed.

   

3. On this window you have three options. They are as follows…

   1) No watermark - Select this option to remove the current watermark.

   2) Picture watermark - Select this option to use a picture as the watermark.
   i. Select Picture: Click this button to select a picture to be your document watermark.
   ii. Scale: Select a percentage from this drop down to insert the picture at a particular size. You can just leave it to auto.
   iii. Washout: Check this to lighten the picture so that it doesn’t interfere with the text.

   3) Text watermark - Select this option to create a custom text watermark.
   i. Language: Click this drop-down to modify the watermark’s language. This option is not available for Word 2003.
   ii. Text: Enter the text for your watermark in this box.
   iii. Font: Select the font for your watermark from this drop-down.
   iv. Size: If you wish you can specify the size of watermark or just leave it to Auto.
   v. Color: Click this drop-down to select a color for your watermark.
   vi. Semitransparent: Check this option to lighten the text watermark so that it doesn’t interfere with the document’s  text.
   vii. Layout: Specify whether the watermark should appear diagonally or horizontally.

4. Click the OK button to apply the Watermark.

That’s It! You have just learnt to create and insert a watermark on the pages of a Word document.

]]> http://itaz.com/techguide/how-to-add-a-watermark-to-a-page-in-microsoft-word/feed http://itaz.com/techguide/how-to-type-in-other-languages-on-windows-xp-and-windows-vista http://itaz.com/techguide/how-to-type-in-other-languages-on-windows-xp-and-windows-vista#comments Tue, 03 Feb 2009 08:09:34 +0000 techguy http://itaz.com/techguide/?p=46 In Windows, English is not the only input language. If you wish, you can change the language you type in, to Spanish or any other language that is supported by Windows. You can change the Input languages for both Windows XP and Vista. Follow the steps below to change the input language…

Steps to change the input language for Windows Vista…

1. Click Start and select Control Panel. The Control Panel will now be launched.
2. Click the Clock, Language and Region link and select Regional and Language options. The Regional and Language options window will now be launched.
   Note: If you are using Classic View, then click the Regional and Language options in the Control Panel window.
3. Click the Keyboard and Languages tab and click the Change keyboards… button.

   

4. Click the Add button to add input languages.
5. Check the keyboards that you want to add and click OK. The keyboard will now been added.

   

6. You can select your default keyboard from the Default input language drop down. This keyboard will be used each time you turn on your computer.
7. Click OK to apply the settings.

Steps to change the input language for Windows XP…

1. Click Start and select Control Panel. The Control Panel will now be launched.
2. Double-click Regional and Language Options. The Regional and Language options window will now be launched.
3. Click the Languages tab, and then click the Details button.
4. Click the Add button to add input languages and then click the language you want to add and the keyboard layout you want to use for that language.
5. Click the OK button. The keyboard has now been added.
6. You can select your default keyboard from the Default input language drop down. This keyboard will be used each time you turn on your computer.
7. Click OK to apply the settings.

That’s It! You are now ready to type in your regional language.

For both Windows XP and Vista, you can press “Left Alt + Shift” keys to switch between languages. You can also switch languages by clicking the Language toolbar. You may find the Language toolbar on your desktop or in the Taskbar.