ViewPlus IVEO Creator Manual

Creator users can print to IVEO Converter to create a SVG file from any Windows application.  This is the recommended procedure even for applications such as Visio, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, etc. that can export as SVG.  SVG files in general can have problems with sizing, text, and object structure that are minimized by IVEO Converter.  One simply clicks on print, selects the IVEO Converter (which is installed during Creator installation), and prints.  A dialog box will permit users to select the name and location of the output.

 

The output will be a file _index.html and a file folder called _index_files.  Here is the name given to the output when printing to IVEO Converter.  A SVG file for each page printed is contained in the file folder and is called xxx.svg where xxx is the page number.  A single page document will be 001.svg.  This structure is convenient for creating web documents with multiple page SVG documents.  Users who don't need to use this capability may delete the html file, move the SVG files out of that folder and delete the folder if desired.  Files may be renamed of course, e.g. by deleting the 001 from single-page SVG files.

 

The SVG file will be exactly what would be printed on a standard printer, including margins.  Consequently it will sometimes be desirable to change the page layout so images fill the entire page.  When opened in IVEO Creator, or later in the IVEO Viewer, the SVG image will be expanded or contracted to optimally fill the frame on screen.  Extra white space is normally undesirable.  However one can select the part of the image that is desired and click on "Fit Selection to Window" in the View menu.  Blind users can do this by making a copy of the original and then selecting "Zoom rectangle" in the View menu, and then selecting opposite corners of the image.  Once this maximized image has been printed, it can be recalled later by its tactile bar code or index.

 

Text is generally reproduced very well if created in most Windows applications.  However if text is present as bit-map images, the text will be images in the SVG document and will not be read as text.  Images containing bit-mapped text should be selected, copied to some graphics authoring program, saved as a png or tif file, and then imported into IVEO Creator.  When bit maps are imported, text is automatically subjected to OCR (Optical Character Recognition) and is usually accurately converted to "real" SVG text.  Windows Paint, the utility that comes as part of Windows, can be used to capture an image saved to the clipboard.  Paint then permits exporting the image in a number of formats.

 

PDF documents can be converted to SVG, but users should be warned that PDF files may need some special attention.  Many PDF documents are images with no real text.  They may be saved from Acrobat as a png or tiff file and those bit map files imported into Creator.  The text will then be OCR'ed.  Many PDF files having good text embed the fonts and use the internal coding to identify the characters.  When IVEO Converter is used to convert such files, the text will read nonsensically in IVEO Creator or Viewer.  However such mis-identification can be repaired with the Repair Text menu item in the Creator Edit menu.  Some other graphic authoring applications also convert with occasional incorrectly-identified text.  These errors can also be repaired with the Repair Text Creator function.

To import from a scanner, the user should be sure that the scanner is properly installed, place the desired document on the scanner (best results are obtained when the document is oriented correctly), then select and click on the Scan menu item in the IVEO Creator file menu.  The user is then led through the standard options of the particular scanner, and then the document is scanned into Creator.  After scanning is complete, Creator will announce that OCR (Optical Character Recognition) is in progress.  The time needed for the OCR process depends on the speed of the user's computer but is typically a few seconds.  Text recognition is generally excellent for standard documents scanned at a resolution of 400 dpi or more.  200 dpi is the minimum recommended for OCR.  Accuracy is reduced if characters are very small, if the copy is not sharp (e.g. FAX copies and poorly photocopied materials), if foreign or scientific characters are present, or if fancy formatting, multicolors, etc. are present as text or background to text.  Text that has been incorrectly identified can be edited following procedures described in Section D below.

Several standard bit-map formats may be imported into IVEO Creator.  Click the Import menu item in the file menu and select the file to be imported.  JPG, PNG, TIFF images may be imported, but GIF images are not accepted due to proprietary claims on this format.  However one may convert GIF files to other formats using Windows Paint.  PNG is recommended.

 

The bit map files are automatically OCR'ed and imported into an SVG file.  In order to keep the size of the SVG file as small as feasible, the bit map file is referenced and used when displaying in IVEO Creator or Viewer.  Consequently the bit map image should always be moved along with the SVG file if the file is moved. 

 

Most bit map files made by scanning or copying within Windows applications are likely to import well, but many web bit maps may not.  Web authors commonly reduce the file size of images for efficiency, and these can give quite strange results when imported and OCR'ed.  It is common to give very small "thumbnail images" intended mostly as a link to something more interesting.  These small files seldom import well, so users are encouraged to find larger, better resolution images.

The Repair Text item in the edit menu can only correct the character code of characters, not the screen image of the character.  If OCR mistakes have been made, the screen image shows the character that the OCR engine has selected to represent the original image, and Repair Text can have no effect.  Consequently one must Edit Text if an OCR error has been made.  One should also edit text if a word is broken into two or more text spans instead of being (and reading as) a single word when selected.

 

When one selects a text object, one may open the Edit Text dialog with ALT ENTER or by clicking the Edit Object item in the Edit menu.  A list of words in that text object is given on screen along with several buttons.  One may arrow up and down the text word list until one finds the word to be edited.  Select it with ALT ENTER or by double-clicking the mouse.  Edit, then click OK or press ENTER to accept the edited word or click cancel or press ESC to cancel editing without making any change.  One edits split words by expanding one part to the full word and deleting the other.  Delete a word by editing it and deleting the characters with DEL or BACKSPACE.

 

Click the Advanced button to edit other properties such as position, font, etc.  The full SVG text parameters may be edited by people who understand how to use this powerful editing capability.

1. Getting Started: Open your SVG file.

Open IVEO Creator. To create a new, blank file, press Ctrl+N or select “New” in the file menu.  To open an existing file, select ‘Open' from the File menu or press Ctrl+O.  Browse to the desired file and open it as described in the tutorial.

2. To edit the file using the IVEO Touchpad, emboss a tactile copy as described in the tutorial, place on the IVEO Touchpad, and select objects or text by pressing on them.  Sighted users can select objects on screen with a mouse or with the stylus of a Tablet PC.

3. To give an object a title and/or description, select the object and then choose Edit Object from the Edit menu or press Alt+Enter. A dialog box will appear into which one can type the title and the description of the object.  The IVEO Creator or Viewer will speak the title when speech is on and a user selects the object.  The description is spoken if a user selects the object and then presses Ctrl+D or activates ‘Say Selection' in the Edit menu.  Tab to the OK button and press the space bar or Alt+O to accept the changes and close the dialog box.

Sometimes objects are difficult to select because of their small size or unmarked location. One can easily select and edit all objects using the elements list.  Display by pressing Shift+E or by selecting the ‘Elements List' item in the Show menu. At the bottom of the elements list, there is an Edit button that will bring up the same dialog box that the Edit Object command brings up. Click this button or press Alt+E after selecting the object to be edited.  After editing all desired objects, close the elements list with Alt+C or by clicking the ‘Close” button. 

Sighted users who find that there are many objects in an area that should have the same name and don't want to go through and give them all titles can use the Filled Polyline command from the Add menu. Just draw a line around the area desired for selection. Press space to get out of Filled Polyline mode, then select the filled polyline and choose ‘Convert to Overlay' from the Edit menu. To label all the objects under the overlay, use the Edit Object command just as for any other object. Adding a filled polyline and converting it to an overlay also works great for labeling areas that may have been blank space on the original SVG file (like large bodies of water on a map) and are not really objects. 

Note: All objects on top of other objects cover the objects beneath them, even though these objects may still be visible depending on the fill properties of the object(s) on top. This means that if there is a labeled area in a region on which an overlay filled polyline is to be drawn, it may be necessary to draw a new, small overlay filled polyline over the central area on top of the larger one. 

Sighted users can also use IVEO Creator to add other objects to files. Available under the Add menu are commands that allow the user to enter modes to add text (press Ctrl+Shift+T), rectangles (press Ctrl+Shift+R), ovals (press Ctrl+Shift+C), polylines or free form lines (press Ctrl+Shift+P), filled polylines or freeform shapes (press Ctrl+Shift+F), and images (Ctrl+Shift+I). Press the space bar to get out of the Add mode when no more objects of that type need to be added. 

When editing of the file is finished, don't forget to save it. The program will prompt the user to save the file before closing if changes have been made to the file. The save process can be activated using the current file name and location by pressing Ctrl+S or choosing Save from the File menu. To save the file under a different name and/or in a different location, press Ctrl+A or choose Save As from the File menu to open up a Save As dialog box.

Tips and Tricks