Solid Documents Blog

Scrolling Window Capture in Firefox using Solid Capture

2008-03-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

Solid Capture Screen Capture has a wonderful feature called Scrolling Window Capture. It allows you to capture an entire web page as a single image. Unfortunately, this feature is only available in Internet Explorer and not Firefox.

So what are our customers who prefer using Firefox over IE left to do (besides use IE)? One good workaround we've found is using IE Tab to view Internet Explorer inside of a tab in Firefox. You can then use Solid Capture to take a screen shot of the IE tab in Firefox. When you're done taking the screen shot you can change the tab back to Firefox and keep working.

At the time of this writing the latest version of the add-on that works with Firefox 2 is 1.3.3.20070528 (try saying that five times fast). You can download it from here.

The product is a little short on instructions, but it isn't hard to use. When you're at a page that you want to view in IE, click the IE Tab button on your toolbar to switch to IE. When you want to switch the tab back, click the IE Tab button again.

(The IE Tab button in Firefox)

It may install itself automatically for people, but when we tested it we didn't see any extra buttons appear on our navigation toolbar like it does in the above image.

We were able to add it by going into Firefox | View | Toolbars | Customize. Click and drag the IE Tab button to your toolbar of choice to place the button. You can click the IE Tab button whenever you need to open a page in Firefox in Internet Explorer.

Capturing Screen Shots of Video using VLC Media Player

2008-03-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

Occasionally customers will contact us asking how to take screen shots from moments in their favorite DVDs.

Although Solid Capture Screen Capture is very good for capturing screen shots of most Windows applications, one thing it doesn't do well is capture still images of video. This is due to the fact that it does not capture DirectX output.

We've found that using VLC media player works well for this application. Instructions on how to take screen shots of video in the program can be found here.

Convert a folder of PDF files to DOC using Solid Converter PDF

2008-03-04T12:50:00.000-08:00

Our last post focused on quickly converting multiple PDF files to DOC using Solid Converter PDF to Word. But what if you have dozens or even hundreds of PDF files in a folder that you need to convert to DOC? This kind of situation may call for a batch file.

What is a batch file? Simply put, a batch file is a script that can control programs on your computer. Solid Converter PDF has several options that can be controlled via batch files, including converting PDF files to DOC.

Convert all of the PDF files in a folder to DOC

To see this in action open up Notepad (Start | All Programs | Accessories | Notepad) and copy the two lines below into a blank page:

set scpdf="c:\Program Files\SolidDocuments\SolidConverterPDF\SCPDF\SolidConverterPDF.exe"
for %%p in (*.pdf) do %scpdf% /i ./%%p /n

Next, save the file in a folder that contains PDF files that you want to convert to DOC. We recommend using a name ending in .bat such as bulk_pdf_converter.bat.

You can then open My Computer, browse to the batch file you just made and double click it. A command prompt will appear and Solid Converter PDF will attempt to convert all of the PDF files that are in the same folder at the batch file to DOC.

More Information

If you want to learn about the command line options of Solid Converter PDF please visit the documentation page for it. You can learn more about batch files at http://www.computerhope.com/batch.htm.

PDF Timesavers: Convert Multiple PDF files to DOC using Solid Converter PDF

2008-03-03T10:29:00.000-08:00

Normally in Solid Converter PDF you'll use a wizard menu to convert PDF files to DOC. As you progress through this wizard many conversion options will be made available to you. This is useful if you convert PDF files infrequently, as it reminds you what options are available and provides an idea of what they do.

The downside to this is that if you have to convert several files (5, 10 or even more) you have to click through the wizard for each and every PDF file. This obviously isn't optimal.

A better solution is to disable the wizard in Solid Converter PDF to Word when you need to convert several PDF files to DOC. You can then select a range of PDF files in a folder and convert them all at once.

Convert Multiple PDF files to DOC using Solid Converter PDF:

1. Open Solid Converter PDF and go into Options General Uncheck "Use Wizard" and "Launch Editor", then click OK.

2. Browse to a folder with several PDF files, use ctrl+click to select the PDF files you wish to convert and click the Convert button:

3. Select the folder you wish to place the converted Word DOCs and click OK. Your PDF files will be automatically converted to DOC.

If you're happy with the conversion you may wish to go back into the Options menu and re-enable the options you disabled in step 1.

Adobe Acrobat vs. Solid PDF Creator Plus: Password Protect an Existing PDF File

2008-02-25T12:30:00.000-08:00

This comparison focuses on encrypting and password protecting an existing PDF file using Solid PDF Creator Plus and Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional.

Both applications are more than up to the task. However, using the default settings of Adobe Acrobat require that you click through many popup windows to accomplish your goal.

Solid PDF Creator Plus is designed to reduce the amount of time it takes to accomplish a task, while at the same time protecting the end user from doing something that they may regret (overwriting an existing PDF file, making a typo in a password, providing undo wherever practical, etc.).

Please note that there are ways to crack password protection in PDF files. Although there is no perfect way to protect a PDF file, following the instructions below should protect your PDF file from most end users.

Solid PDF Creator Plus:

1. Open the PDF file you wish to protect in Solid PDF Creator Plus.

2. Go into Document | Document Properties | Security:

3. Check "Require user password to open the document":

4. Type in the password you want to secure the document with twice and click OK.

5. Save the file.

Your file will now require that you supply the password you entered in order to open it.

Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional:

1. Open the PDF file you wish to protect in Adobe Acrobat.

2. Go into Advanced | Security | Password Encrypt:

3. Click Yes:

4. Check "require a password to open the document".

5. Type in the password you want to secure the document with and click OK:

6. In the popup window that appears, type in the password again and click OK.

7. Click OK:

8. Save the file.

Your file will now require that you supply the password you entered in order to open it.

Adobe Acrobat vs. Solid PDF Creator Plus: Extracting Pages from a PDF File

2008-02-21T09:42:00.000-08:00

This comparison focuses on extracting pages 1-10 and 20-30 from a PDF file and placing it in a new PDF file.

Why would you want to do this? You might have a price list or catalog that you want to customize for a customer. Or you might have some documentation that is rather large and you only need to refer to certain sections of it. Whatever your reason you can use both Solid PDF Creator Plus and Adobe Acrobat to accomplish this goal.

Adobe Acrobat allows you to do this with some effort. You need to extract each set of pages as PDF files, save them and then use a wizard to combine them into a single PDF file. In Solid PDF Creator Plus you simply select the page range you want to extract and in one easy step the pages are extracted into one PDF file ready to be saved. As a result performing this task in Solid PDF Creator Plus is both simpler and faster than in Adobe Acrobat.

Solid PDF Creator Plus:

1. Open the original PDF file in Solid PDF Creator Plus:

2. Go into Document | Extract Pages:

3. Select the page range (1-10,20-30) and click OK:

4. Your new PDF file will open in Solid PDF Creator Plus:

5. Save it if you are happy with it.

Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional:

1. Open the original PDF file in Adobe Acrobat:

2. Go into Document | Extract Pages:

3. Select a page range of 1-10 and click OK:

4. A new PDF file will appear in a new Adobe Acrobat Window. Save the file and close it:

5. Back in the original PDF file go into Document | Extract Pages.

6. Select a page range of 20-30 and click OK:

7. Save the second new file and close it:

8. Click Combine Files:

9. Click Add Files, select the files you extracted in the window that appears and click Add Files:

10. Select your compression options and click Next:

11. Select Merge files into a single PDF and click Create:

12. Review your new PDF file. Assuming that you're happy with it click Save:

13. Name your file and click Save:

Adobe Acrobat vs. Solid PDF Creator Plus: Combining Two PDF Files

2008-02-19T10:25:00.000-08:00

This comparison focuses on combining two PDF files using either Adobe Acrobat or Solid PDF Creator Plus. The steps below could just as easily apply to combining five or ten PDF files, as the process is the same for both products.

Adobe Acrobat uses a wizard to perform the task, while Solid PDF Creator Plus uses a docked menu. With Solid PDF Creator Plus you can either set your preferred settings or accept the default ones and then quickly create PDF files. Adobe Acrobat requires you to go through the entire wizard each time you need to combine a PDF file.

Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional:

1. Open Adobe Acrobat and click Combine Files:

2. Click Add files and add the files you wish to combine:

3. Select the compression options you wish to use and click Next:

4. Select Merge files into a single PDF and click Create:

5. Click Save:

6. Select the name and location of the PDF file and click Save:

The new PDF file will be saved and opened in Adobe Acrobat:

Solid PDF Creator Plus:

1. Open Solid PDF Creator Plus and click Create or Combine PDF files:

2. Browse to the files you wish to combine, select them and click Open:

3. Ensure that Combine is checked, then click Create:

4. The new PDF file will be created and opened in Solid PDF Creator Plus:

Assuming that you're happy with it, save it.

CutePDF Professional vs. Solid PDF Creator Plus: Deleting a Page in a PDF File

2008-02-15T10:44:00.000-08:00

This comparison focuses on deleting an individual page from a PDF file using CutePDF Professional and Solid PDF Creator Plus. If you haven't yet read the first post in this series, we recommend that you do so to see how Solid PDF Creator Plus performs. We also have a complete feature comparison of the free version of CutePDF verses Solid PDF Creator and Solid PDF Creator Plus which is well worth reading.

CutePDF allows you to delete a single page from a PDF file, and so does Solid PDF Creator Plus. The main difference between them is in how you are forced to accomplish the task. In Solid PDF Creator Plus you can simply select a page and press delete. In Cute PDF Professional you have to go through several menus to delete a single page.

If you need to perform complicated or large operations, a menu is really useful (We put one for deleting pages in Solid PDF Creator Plus for this reason). When you just need to work with a page or two, a WYSIWYG interface is faster, more intuitive and easier to use.

CutePDF Professional:

1. Open PDF file in Cute PDF Professional:

2. Click Page Tool | Delete Pages:

3. Select the Page you wish to delete and click OK:

.. and the page is deleted.

4. If you need to undo the operation, you can click the undo button:

Adobe Acrobat vs. Solid PDF Creator Plus: Deleting a Page in a PDF File

2008-02-13T15:26:00.000-08:00

As we just released a new PDF creation and modification utility (Solid PDF Creator Plus), we thought it might be helpful to compare how certain features of the product compare with our competitor's products.

This comparison focuses on deleting an individual page from a PDF file using Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional and Solid PDF Creator Plus.

Although both applications allow you to delete pages, Adobe Acrobat does not let you undo a page deletion. Rather, each time you attempt to delete a page it offers a pop-up message that you need to click to confirm that you really want to delete it.

Solid PDF Creator Plus allows you to delete pages as needed. Should you make a mistake you can easily reverse the change by using undo.

Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional:

1. Open PDF file and click the Pages button:

2. Select a page and press the delete key.

3. Click OK when prompted:

(Click image for full size view)

...and the page is deleted:

4. Decide that you want to undo the page deletion? Unfortunately, this isn't available in Acrobat.

Solid PDF Creator Plus:

1. Open PDF file and click the Pages button:

2. Select a page and press the delete key.

...and the page is deleted:

3. Decide that you want to undo the page deletion? Go into Edit | Undo and the page will be put back:

Tips to get the most from Microsoft Word's AutoCorrect Feature

2007-12-20T14:20:00.000-08:00

How often do you misspell the same word over and over and over and have to go back and correct the spelling error? For example, do you forget the rule "i before e except after c" (English language)? Do you try to spell "receive" as "recieve" frequently? Or maybe you remember the rule and then misspell "weird". Weird rule!

Microsoft Word does anticipate common spelling mistakes and replaces the errors automatically with its AutoCorrect feature. After you finish typing "recieve" it magically changes to "receive" without you batting an eye or backspacing on your keyboard.

Microsoft didn't put every possible misspelling of every possible word into their AutoCorrect list. You can make AutoCorrect more personal and powerful by adding your own list of commonly misspelled words. These additions will then be available in every document you create because they are saved in the Normal.dot template file (master template file that Word uses for all documents).

You can find Word's AutoCorrect options under Tools | AutoCorrect Options...

(click image for full size version)

Make sure that "Replace Text as You Type" is checked (if unchecked then AutoCorrect is disabled).

There are two ways to add auto corrected words to the AutoCorrect list. One way is in the Tools AutoCorrect panel - just type the misspelt word in the "Replace" field and put the correct spelling in the "With" field. Then click "Add".

(click image for full size version)

You can also use Word's right-click functionality and add the correction to the AutoCorrect list like this:

Save your words with all lowercase letters, if possible. Word will then be able to handle all capped or lowercase versions of the typo automatically.

Remember - if you accidentally put a misspelling into the auto correction field, you can go and delete or update the word by going back to the Tools AutoCorrect Options... dialog. Also - if you didn't want Word to perform the auto correction (for example the text above talking about common misspellings where you want to see the misspelt word) then just ctrl-Z or backspace over and retype to undo the auto correction.

Things We Love: Spell Check in Firefox 2

2007-12-19T11:11:00.001-08:00

Firefox 2 has a built in spell checker that works in any multiline field you edit. Although this feature has been around for a while, it's worth repeating for those of us who haven't tried the free browser since version 2 was released.

This feature is extremely useful when submitting comments online and you don't want to copy and paste from Firefox into Microsoft Word to do a quick spell check. This is also great if you create content online (think web based e-mail, wikis or blogs).

Below is a quick example of this in Gmail:

(Creating an e-mail)

(Right clicking the misspelled word to correct it)

Some words that aren't in Firefox's dictionary (LLC is a good example) will be underlined. Left alone this can be a bit annoying. To fix it, right click the correctly spelled word and select "Add to dictionary":

Adventurous readers can find the words you've added to Firefox's dictionary by opening Windows Explorer and typing in the path below:

%appdata%\Mozilla\Firefox\Profiles\

Once you press enter, you will be redirected to the profiles folder of Firefox.

Browse to your profile folder (it will look like "NameOfProfile.default") and you should see a file named persdict.dat.

This can be backed up if you've added a lot of words to your dictionary, or even manually edited with a text editor such as Notepad++. Be careful to not use the built in text editor in Windows (Notepad) to view the file, as the program did not display the file correctly on our computers.

All images in this post were created by Solid Capture Screen Capture.

Using Adblock Plus in Firefox

2007-12-06T15:20:00.000-08:00

One of our favorite add-ons for the Firefox web browser is Adblock Plus.

This utility allows you to get rid of ads and banners on websites. Besides allowing you to subscribe to filter lists for commonly encountered ads, it also allows you to quickly block specific images and banners on a page. This prevents the ads from being downloaded and displayed again.

How to install Adblock Plus on Mozilla Firefox:

In Firefox, navigate to the link below:

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/1865

Click the button marked Install Now and follow the onscreen prompts.

Once the add-on is installed you'll be prompted to restart Firefox. When you do, you'll see a window appear that allows you to subscribe to a list of filters:

(click image for full size version)

Select one of the subscriptions from your local area and click Subscribe.

At this point you'll largely be done. Adblock Plus will work in the background, blocking ads from the filter list that you subscribed to.

Blocking specific images:

If you find a particular image or banner that you want to block, just right click it and select "Adblock Image...". The image will disappear, and your computer won't attempt to download it in the future.

For example, you could use this to disable the image at our website that displays some of the companies that use Solid Converter PDF to Word.

What if you want to display the image again? Go into Tools | Add-Ons | Adblock Plus | Options | Right click the particular link you want (it should be at or near the top) and select Delete. Click OK to close the window and then refresh your browser to see the image again.

Creating Archivable PDF/A Files using Solid PDF Creator

2007-12-05T15:09:00.000-08:00

One of the features in the new version of Solid PDF Creator is the ability to create PDF/A compliant documents.

What is a PDF/A file? Why does this matter to me?

Many, if not the majority of, businesses are sold on the benefits of storing their documents digitally. However, most digital storage and management systems have one major flaw: long-term reproducibility is not guaranteed.

This is where the PDF/A standard comes into play. It's a subset of the PDF standard, optimized for the long term archival of documents. They are always device and operating system independent, provide guaranteed color reproduction and contain everything needed to accurately display them.

PDF/A files must include:

- Embedded fonts
- Device-independent color
- XMP metadata

This allows them to achieve the above goal, accurately reproducing documents long after the computers and software that produced them are no longer available.

PDF/A files must not include:

- Encryption
- LZW compression
- Embedded files
- External content references
- Transparency
- Multi-media
- JavaScript

All of the above items can exist in standard PDF files, which may make them less suited to archival than a PDF/A file.

Using Solid PDF Creator to Create Archivable PDF/A Files:

Once you've purchased and installed the latest version of Solid PDF Creator go into Start Control Panel Printers (Printers and Faxes in Windows XP).

In the folder that appears you'll see all of your installed printers. Right click the Solid PDF Creator printer driver and select Printing Preferences.

In the window that appears, go into the Compliance tab and select "PDF/A-1b...":

(click image for full size view)

You have the option of either canceling PDF creation or just displaying a warning when you attempt to create a file that will not be PDF/A compliant. Click OK to close the window.

Once this is complete, simply print your documents to the Solid PDF Creator printer driver and it will attempt to create PDF/A compliant files from them.

Alternately, you can also create PDF/A files without changing the default settings above. To do so, print to the Solid PDF Creator printer driver from your Windows application.

When the Create PDF window appears, click "PDF files..." next to Save as type and select "PDF/A files...":

(click image for full size view)

Next, click the Create button to make the PDF/A file. This is useful when you only need to create PDF/A compliant files occasionally.

Disable Video Ads in Windows Live Messenger

2007-12-04T14:26:00.000-08:00

Do you use Windows Live Messenger? You may have noticed that the application displays videos at the bottom of its main window:

Although some people find value in video ads, other people find them distracting.

You can disable the video and make sure that it only displays static picture ads quite easily. To do so, go into Show Menu | Tools | Options:

In the window that appears, go into General | Video Carousel | Uncheck "Show Video Carousel" and click OK:

(Images created with Solid Capture Screen Capture)

The ads at the bottom of Windows Live Messenger will now be static pictures instead of video.

Free PDF Encryption using Solid PDF Creator

2007-11-28T15:26:00.000-08:00

Not all great software costs money. You can use Solid PDF Creator to make encrypted PDF files free of charge.

Back in September we showed how to use Solid Converter PDF to Word to do this (You can read about it here), and most of the information in that post applies to Solid PDF Creator as well.

Why would I want to encrypt a PDF file in the first place?

Depending on the type of document you've created you may need to control how it's used. Some documents should only be opened by certain people, while others need to be distributed to many people without having the contents copied or changed.

Although there is no perfect way to protect a PDF file (software that crack PDF files does exist), it's easy to restrict the options of most users in Adobe Reader.

How to make a PDF file that requires a password to open in Adobe Reader:

1. Open a document you wish to convert to PDF and go into File | Print. You should see something similar to the screen below:

(click image for full size version)

Select the Solid PDF Creator Printer driver and click OK.

2. A nag screen will appear. Select Evaluate software, wait a couple seconds and click Evaluate near the lower right-hand part of the window:

(click image for full size version)

Incidentally, you can get rid of the nag screen by purchasing the product. It's not required, but it does help pay the people that made the software.

3. In the window that appears, ensure that Prompt for Document Properties is checked, name your PDF file and click Create:

(click image for full size version)

4. Next, go into Security and check Require user password to open document. Type in the password twice and click OK:

(click image for full size version)

Your PDF file will be created, and you should see the screen below when you try to open it in Adobe Reader:

(click image for full size version)

Comparing Adobe Reader to Foxit Reader and Sumatra PDF

2007-10-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

In order to view a PDF file, you need a PDF reader (theoretically you could use Solid Converter PDF to Word to convert it to DOC and view it, but this is not needed if you just need to view the document and not edit it).

Most customers we work with are using the free Adobe Reader, but we've heard a great deal about some alternate readers out there. The two most commonly mentioned alternatives are Foxit Reader and Sumatra PDF.

Why would you want to use a PDF reader other than Adobe Reader? Unfortunately, Adobe Reader isn't the fastest program on earth and it can take up more memory than you'd like. The alternative programs available try to provide a PDF with a smaller footprint on your computer.

There are workarounds to improve this (If you're curious try googling "speed up Adobe Reader"), but most people just want to install a program and go.

With the introduction out of the way, let's see how the readers compare:

Training tips:
(you can download the PDF at http://www.soliddocuments.com/samples/pdf_cadtips.pdf)

- Viewed in Adobe Reader 8

(click image for full size)

Memory used on our test machine: ~34MB.

- Viewed in Foxit

(click image for full size)

Memory used on our test machine: ~11MB.

- Viewed in Sumatra PDF

(click image for full size)

Memory used on our test machine: ~14MB.

Foxit Reader is almost as good as Adobe in this case, but Sumatra fails to render the tables correctly.

Legal document:
(you can download the PDF at http://www.soliddocuments.com/samples/pdf_dmca.pdf)

- Viewed in Adobe Reader 8

(click image for full size)

Memory used on our test machine: ~42MB.

- Viewed in Foxit

(click image for full size)

Memory used on our test machine: ~10MB.

- Viewed in Sumatra PDF

(click image for full size)

Memory used on our test machine: ~20MB.

In this case neither Sumatra nor Foxit rendered the text correctly.

Product information sheet:
You can download the PDF at http://www.soliddocuments.com/samples/pdf_turbocad.pdf)

- Viewed in Adobe Reader 8

(click image for full size)

Memory used on our test machine: ~54MB.

- Viewed in Foxit

(click image for full size)

Memory used on our test machine: ~21MB.

- Viewed in Sumatra PDF

(click image for full size)

Memory used on our test machine: ~38MB.

The image in this PDF is rendered correctly by Adobe Reader and Foxit, but not by Sumatra PDF.

Clearly Foxit Reader and Sumatra PDF are more lightweight programs than Adobe Reader. Although neither program felt significantly more responsive to us than Adobe Reader did, your mileage may vary. On a computer with 256-512MBs of RAM, either one might be a good alternative if you really need to squeeze out as much performance as possible.

If you have RAM to spare, we'd honestly recommend sticking with Adobe Reader. If you want to ensure that a PDF file looks and prints as it should we don't see an alternative to Adobe Reader at this point.

Optimizing Your Conversion Output Using Solid Converter PDF

2007-10-10T15:36:00.000-07:00

When it comes to PDF conversions, one size does not fit all. Converting a 100-page long document that you want to revise extensively is different from converting a two-page form. Solid Converter PDF to Word provides numerous conversion output choices that help you get the results you need.

Why Should You Care?

Let's say you're converting a 20-page document and want to remove many paragraphs and large sections of text. If the text is in text boxes (what is made when using Exact Reconstruction mode), that means that content won't automatically "flow" once you've made your edits. If you want to move the contents of page 19 in your converted Word DOC to page 5, this could take you a very long time.

Reconstruction Modes

Flowing. Recovers page layout, columns, formatting, and graphics, and preserves text flow. This is the best selection for most documents, particularly for those to which you want to make extensive revisions.
Continuous. Does not retain the exact layout of the document. the Continuous mode correctly reconstructs the text order but will only recover paragraph formatting, graphics, and text flow.
Plain Text. Displays text without any formatting or layout (as in a .txt file) . This mode will not recover formatting or graphics but will recover text flow using column and page layout analysis. (Note: You must use the wizard when converting a PDF file to plain text.)
Exact. Uses Word text boxes to ensure that the text and graphic layout in the Word document is the same as the PDF file. It is most useful for short artistic or brochure-like documents. This is also your best choice if you want to convert a fill-in form and type entries into the form using Word. If you n

Reconstruction Modes can be selected at the bottom of the main screen in Solid Converter PDF as well as in the conversion wizard.

Other Options The vast majority of the documents we work with will convert correctly using the above settings. When you really need to be particular about how our software converts a document, you'll want to look at the extra settings below:

Recover or Remove Images. You can choose how you want your images anchored in the document - automatically, with the page, or with the paragraph. If you wish, images can be removed entirely.
Detect Tables. Solid Converter PDF can automatically recognize tables and convert them into table objects in the Word document. (Note: this option only works in Flowing or Continuous modes.)
Select Page Range. Need pages 10-20 from a 100 page PDF converted to DOC? This feature will quickly become your friend.
Convert Headers and Footers. If the PDF contains headers and footers you can convert them to Word headers and footers, convert them as normal text, or have them removed.

Converting Faxes and Scanned Images to DOC using MODI

2007-10-05T15:10:00.000-07:00

Need to extract text from a scanned document? Chances are that doing this is a lot easier than you think, and you may even have the software to do it already. In this post we explore how to use Microsoft® Office Document Imaging (This comes with Office 2003 and 2007).

Microsoft Office Document Imaging (MODI)

Microsoft Office Document Imaging performs text recognition using optical character recognition (OCR) and comes with Office 2003 and 2007.

What makes a scanned document different from other documents? A scanned document does not contain actual text, but rather a “snapshot” of text much in the same manner as a digital camera takes a photo.

OCR recognizes characters from images of text and converts them into actual text characters. This process makes it possible to edit that text by sending it to Microsoft Word or to find the file later using a keyword search. The results generally are not perfect, but this process can save considerable time and labor over having to re-create an entire document.

(Image created using Solid Capture Screen Capture)

The quality of the text created by created by MODI depends in large part on the quality of the scanned document. If you have a poor quality image to work with, you may get poor results in your DOC file.

In many cases it will help to get a better scanner (or purchase better OCR software), but it never hurts to try the tools you already have before spending additional money.

Visualizing Tasks using Solid Capture and Google Image Search

2007-10-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

Google offers many different search tools, and one of our favorites is Google Image Search (http://images.google.com). This search tool is designed to find images across the Internet.

This can be useful for visualizing tasks at work. For example, if you are trying to decide what style of desk you want for your new office, you can use Google Image Search to find examples of them. Once you've found some relevant images, you can use Solid Capture Screen Capture software to easily reuse them.

Using Google Image Search more Effectively.

In a nutshell, Google Image Search displays a list of images from the Internet based on what you put into the search engine. Search for "desk" and you'll find all of the images related to the word desk.

This can be useful, but what about when you want to search for images on a particular site? (in our example, ikea.com comes to mind) In your search, add "site:site_you_are_searching.com" and you'll only get images from that one site.

Continuing with our example, the search will look like this:

(click here to see the search in action)

The page that appears will have many small thumbnail versions of the images that Google found. You can click the images to see them in context of the website they're in (and in full size). In many cases you just need the smaller version to get your point across.

Using Solid Capture to Reuse the Images.

Once you're looking at an image that you want to use, open Solid Capture and click the Rectangle Capture button:

Click and drag over the image (or images, or part of an image) that you wish to capture, and the capture will be saved inside Solid Capture.

You can drag these files from Solid Capture into a folder, or copy and paste them into an e-mail (or a Word DOC, or whatever application you're working with that can use images). To complete the example, an e-mail with some of the images we captured might look like this:

Finally, make sure to follow all copyright laws when using Solid Capture (or any other computer program for that matter).

Using Google Maps and Solid Capture to Create Directions

2007-09-28T15:52:00.001-07:00

Google Maps is a powerful tool for getting directions. You can map out a route, change it as needed and quickly print it out for the road. In addition, you can also use it to e-mail directions to your friends and colleagues.

You can also use Solid Capture in conjunction with Google Maps to capture all or part of a route for use in a document or an e-mail.

Creating Directions in Google Maps.

First, go to http://maps.google.com.

In the window that appears click "Get directions". Type in the starting address in the Start address field and type in the destination address into the other field. Click "Get Directions" and you'll see your route:

(Click image for full size view)

(The first route from Google Maps)

The default route isn't always the best way to go, especially if traffic or construction is in the way. If you want to change your route, just click and drag the purple line to alter it:

(Moving the route)

(The new route)

You can do this multiple times as needed:

(The scenic route)

Taking a Screen Capture of the Map.

You can use Solid Capture screen capture to turn this map into an image you can e-mail (or paste into a Word DOC or whatever else strikes your fancy).

In Solid Capture, click the Rectangle Capture button and then click and drag over the area you wish to capture. Your result should look similar to this:

(Solid Capture, click image for full size view)

This screen capture may be pasted directly into an e-mail, or dragged into Microsoft Outlook as an attachment.

A screen capture is useful, but you may also need a link to the map itself. In Google Maps, click "Link to this page". The URL that will be created can be pasted wherever you need it:

After pasting the link to Google Maps and your screen capture into an e-mail your result might look like this:

(Click image for full size view)

Pasting Unformatted Text in Microsoft Word

2007-09-21T13:53:00.000-07:00

The clipboard in Microsoft Word is very powerful. It has the ability to copy and paste most of the formatting from other Microsoft Office applications, as well as much of the formatting from a website.

This isn't always what you want, however. Sometimes you simply want the text without any extra colors, fonts or other features.

Doing this in Word is fairly simple. To paste unformatted text into Microsoft Word 2003, go into Edit | Paste Special | Unformatted Text | OK.

In Word 2007, go into Home | Paste | Paste Special | Unformatted Text | OK.

This is fine if you need to perform this every once in a while.

If you plan on using the feature frequently, you'd be well served by creating a macro for this and binding it to a keyboard shortcut. If you're new to creating macros, check out our more general post on creating Word macros before trying the one below.

Writing a Macro to Paste Unformatted Text in Word 2003 and 2007.

- Word 2003

Go into Tools | Macro | Macros | Name your macro "PastePlainText" (without quotes) and click Create.

If you don't like PastePlainText, you can name this ASeriesOfTubes [wikipedia.org] for all Word cares. Just make it unique and you'll be ok.

- Word 2007

Go into the Developer Tab, then Macros. Name your macro, then click Create.

If you don't have the Developers Tab in Word 2007 you can enable it by clicking on the Office Button | Word Options | Popular | Check "Show Developer tab in the Ribbon".

(The Office Button in Word 2007)

- Word 2003 and 2007

Microsoft Visual Basic will appear, and you should see the start of your Macro in the center window:

(Click image for full size)

You should see code that looks very similar to the code below:

Sub PastePlainText()
'
' PastePlainText Macro
' Macro created 9/21/2007 by Solid Documents
'

End Sub

Change this to:

Sub PastePlainText()
'
' AutoClose Macro
' Macro created 9/21/2007 by Solid Documents
'
Selection.PasteAndFormat (wdFormatPlainText)
End Sub

(FYI, the lines that start with single quotes (') are comments. Nothing on a line that comes after ' will be run in your macro. This is useful to document how a macro works, as well as to remind yourself 6 months from now just what this macro called "ASeriesOfTubes" was supposed to do in the first place)

Next, go into File | Save Normal. Close the window.

- Word 2003

Go into Tools | Customize | Keyboard | Categories | Macros | Select PastePlainText (or whatever you named your macro).

- Word 2007

Click on the Office Button | Word Options | Customize | Customize Macros | Select PastePlainText (or whatever you named your macro as).

- Word 2003 and 2007

Click in the "Press new shortcut key" field and type the shortcut that you want to use. Ctrl+shift+v is a nice choice, given that you will be pasting something.

Click Assign, then in Word 2003 click Close | Close (in Word 2007 click Close | OK).

Your macro has been created, and you have assigned it to a keyboard shortcut. Try copying and pasting some text using your new shortcut. If you see any errors, go back and make sure you don't have any typos in your macro.

Copying Formatting in Word using the Format Painter

2007-09-20T14:23:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite tools (besides PDF to Word, of course) is the Format Painter in Microsoft Word. Although this feature is fairly well known, it deserves mentioning again due to just how much time you can save with it.

Basically, you use the tool to copy all of the formatting from one selection of text to another. This is usually much faster than going through several menus to apply different formatting options to a section of text. Even when it isn't that much faster, it's nice to let Microsoft Word do the hard work for you.

How to use the Format Painter in Word:

Select the text with the format you wish to copy. Next, either click or double click the Format Painter:

(in Word 2003)

(in Word 2007)

If you single click the Format Painter icon, you can click and drag over a selection of text once to copy the formatting. Your cursor will change back to normal and you can continue working.

If you double-click the Format Painter icon, you'll be able to do copy the formatting to as many selections of text as you like. To stop using the Format Painter after double-clicking it, just click the icon again (or press escape).

If you're using Word 2007 and find yourself using this feature frequently, right click Format Painter icon and select "Add to Quick Access Toolbar". Now it will be available regardless of what part of the ribbon that you're in:

Finally, this feature is also available in Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint, so feel free to give it a shot in those programs as well.

Free Software for Students and Teachers: Solid Capture

2007-09-19T14:50:00.000-07:00

We're giving away Solid Capture - FREE - to students and educators. What's the catch? Just this - download and unlock our software using an e-mail address from an educational institution. Then it's yours to use or recommend to a friend.

(Click Here to Download)

Free Software: Helping Education and Companies

We at Solid Documents are taking a small step to help cut the burden of rising education costs by making software free to students and their instructors. Solid Capture is very useful to students who need to use screen shots and browser captures to extract information or illustrate reports.

Companies also benefit in many ways. All companies rely upon well-educated employees and customers who can understand and use technology, so it benefits everyone to support students in their endeavors to receive the highest quality technology education possible.

For a limited time, we are offering Solid Capture free to any e-mail address that ends in an educational institution extension (.edu, .k12, ac.uk, .sch.uk, etc). Each e-mail address is entitled to download one copy of the program, free of charge. If you have such an e-mail address (or know someone who does), please forward this post to them.

Restrictions: the license is strictly for non-commercial use, is non-transferable, and applies to the current release only. Other than that, students and educators are free to use the software for whatever purposes they need.

We hope students and teachers will enjoy this offer and look forward to hearing how Solid Capture is being used in educational institutions throughout the world!

Creating Fillable Forms using Solid Converter PDF

2007-09-18T10:07:00.000-07:00

Given how digitized most workplaces have become, printing out a PDF form and filling it in with a pen seems odd (and time-consuming). Why did you print it out? Because someone sent you a PDF file that you cannot fill out in Adobe Reader.

This can be a pain, but it doesn't have to be. You can use Solid Converter PDF to Word to convert the PDF file into a Word DOC which may be filled in like any other DOC file.

Converting your PDF form to DOC:

Right click the PDF file and select Solid Converter PDF | Convert using Wizard.

In the window that appears, set "Layout and Formatting" to Exact and click Last | Finish.

(click image for full size)

After the PDF is converted, the converted Word DOC should appear in Microsoft Word automatically (assuming that you haven't changed this default setting).

- If your PDF file was not made from a scanned document, you should be done at this point. Click into the fields that you want to fill in and type away.

- If your PDF file was made from a scanned document, you will likely have a series of flat images in your Word DOC.

By itself, this isn't very useful. However, after adding text boxes you'll be able to fill it in easily.

- In Microsoft Word 2003 go into Tools | Options | General | Uncheck "Automatically create drawing canvas..." and click OK:

Next, go into Insert | Text Box | Click and drag where you want to draw the text box, then release.

- In Microsoft Word 2007 go into Insert | Text Box | Draw Text Box | Click and drag where you want to draw the text box, then release.

- In both Word 2003 and 2007 A text box will be created that you can fill in. Unfortunately, it isn't transparent and it has a black border.

Type some sample text into the text box ("Type your text here", for example), then right click one of the edges of the text box and select Format Text Box.

(Selecting Format Text Box in Word 2003)

In the Window that appears, go into the Colors and Lines tab. Under Fill set Color to "No Fill" ("No Color" in Word 2007) and under Line set Color to "No Line" ("No Color" in Word 2007) .

(The Format Text Box window in Word 2003)

Click OK. You text box will be transparent, excluding the sample text you entered.

Right click the edge of the text box and select Copy, press escape twice and go into Edit | Paste (Home | Paste in Word 2007). Move the text box to a field and resize it if needed.

Keep pasting and moving text boxes until you have text boxes over all of the fields in the document. After that you can fill in your document.

Word Tips: Changing Default Margins and Layout in Word

2007-09-17T12:10:00.000-07:00

Unhappy with the default settings of Microsoft Word? You can save time and energy if you reset some of the default settings of the program to match what you most frequently use.

Do you find yourself constantly having to re-set the page margins because the default setting leaves too much white space for your liking?

You can easily change the default margins to come up the same each time you start a new document in Word 2003 by choosing File-Page Setup-Margins.

Here you can adjust your margins how you would like them to be and click the default button at the bottom.

Click yes to allow the change.

Word 2007 makes it easy to make the same changes:

In the ribbon, click the Page Layout tab.
Click the Margins tool in the Page Setup group.
Click Custom Margins.
Change your right and left margins to one inch (or whatever setting you need).
Click the Default button.
Click Yes.

References:
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HP052292751033.aspx

http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-10877-6176730.html

Page views:
Everyone has individual preferences for how they like their Microsoft Word documents to look on their screen while working. Some people really like the Reading Layout feature in Microsoft Word (why else would they send you documents that use this by default?). Other people dislike it when Word opens up this way, and they find themselves racing to hit the escape key when this happens.
If you really do not like the reading Layout, you can ask Microsoft Word to not open any documents in that view by choosing Tools-Options-General and un-checking the box next to “Allow starting in Reading layout”.

Other layouts can be trickier. There are options for Normal, Web, Print, Reading and Outline on the View menu. If you choose one of these options for your document, you can then save it and it will always open this way. If you receive a document from someone else, you can change the view while you have it open, however the default view when you open the original will always be however it was created as this is saved with the document information.