SimpleSoftware Simpleview Manual 5.0 User Simple View

User Manual: SimpleSoftware Simpleview Manual

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Page Count: 25

SimpleView 5.1

MANUAL

www.SimpleIndex.com

Revised January, 2013

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Table of Contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................................ 5

1.1 File-Based Document Management with SimpleView ..................... 5

1.2 Image Quality Control with SimpleView .......................................... 6

2 Freeware Features & Licensing ......................................................... 7

2.1 Compare Free & Full Features ....................................................... 7

2.2 Running in Free & Demo Modes ..................................................... 8

2.3 Activating the License ..................................................................... 8

3 Using the SimpleView Interface ......................................................... 9

3.1 Using the Ribbon Menus................................................................. 9

3.1.1 Home ........................................................................................ 9

3.1.2 Edit ............................................................................................ 9

3.1.3 Properties .................................................................................. 9

3.1.4 Annotations ............................................................................. 10

3.2 The Dockable Panes & Windows .................................................. 10

3.2.1 Folders .................................................................................... 10

3.2.2 Files ........................................................................................ 10

3.2.3 Thumbnails ............................................................................. 10

3.2.4 Pages ...................................................................................... 10

3.2.5 Viewer ..................................................................................... 10

3.2.6 Restore Default Layout ........................................................... 10

3.3 Navigating Folders ........................................................................ 11

3.3.1 Folder Favorites ...................................................................... 11

3.3.2 Refresh Folder ........................................................................ 11

3.3.3 Add/Delete/Rename Folders ................................................... 11

3.3.4 Folder Thumbnail Size ............................................................ 11

3.3.5 Back and Forward Navigation ................................................. 11

3.4 Viewing Documents and Thumbnails ............................................ 11

3.4.1 Document View ....................................................................... 12

3.4.2 Mouse Action .......................................................................... 12

3.5 File and Page Processing Modes ................................................. 12

3.6 Working with Folders and Files ..................................................... 12

3.6.1 Working with Windows Explorer .............................................. 12

3.6.2 Drag-and-Drop ........................................................................ 13

3.6.3 Clipboard ................................................................................. 13

3.7 Email Files or Pages ..................................................................... 13

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3.8 Application Menu .......................................................................... 13

3.8.1 Help ........................................................................................ 14

3.8.2 Print ........................................................................................ 14

3.8.3 Restore Default Layout ........................................................... 14

3.8.4 Activate/Transfer License ........................................................ 14

4 Searching Files ................................................................................ 16

4.1 Folder & Filename Search ............................................................ 16

4.2 File Mask Search .......................................................................... 16

4.3 Auto-Search .................................................................................. 16

4.4 Search Text .................................................................................. 16

4.5 Regular Expressions ..................................................................... 16

4.6 Search Favorites .......................................................................... 17

5 Editing Images ................................................................................. 18

5.1 Processing Files or Pages ............................................................ 18

5.2 Background Processing ................................................................ 18

5.3 Automatic File Selection ............................................................... 18

5.3.1 Even and Odd Pages .............................................................. 18

5.3.2 Detect Blank ............................................................................ 19

5.3.3 Property Select ....................................................................... 19

5.4 Rearrange, Move and Copy Pages ............................................... 19

5.5 Image Enhancement Options ....................................................... 20

5.5.1 Rotate Left and Right .............................................................. 20

5.5.2 Deskew ................................................................................... 20

5.5.3 Despeckle ............................................................................... 20

5.5.4 Remove Border ....................................................................... 20

5.5.5 Crop ........................................................................................ 20

5.5.6 Delete ..................................................................................... 20

6 File Format Conversion................................................................... 21

6.1 Split .............................................................................................. 21

6.2 Merge ........................................................................................... 21

6.3 Export ........................................................................................... 21

6.4 OCR ............................................................................................. 21

6.5 Convert ......................................................................................... 21

6.6 Resample DPI .............................................................................. 22

6.7 Convert to Black & White .............................................................. 22

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7 Scanning and Re-Scanning ............................................................. 23

7.1 Scan New ..................................................................................... 23

7.2 Rescan Page ................................................................................ 23

8 Annotating Documents .................................................................... 24

9 Contacting Simple Software ............................................................. 25

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1 Introduction

SimpleView 5 (formerly SimpleQC) has a completely redesigned user

interface that will form the foundation for the next generation of Simple

Software applications. This redesign makes SimpleView more than just a

scanning quality control application--it is one of the most user-friendly and

cost-effective document management tools available!

1.1 File-Based Document Management with SimpleView

SimpleView lets you quickly scan, organize, search and view documents

stored on your hard drive or file servers. Most document management

systems use a database to organize and search for files. This forces you to

laboriously import files into the system, then you must rely on that system

anytime you access your files. SimpleView lets you use your existing folder

and filing system to find, view and annotate documents. This has several

advantages:

• No server systems to learn or maintain, only a desktop application

• No reliance on proprietary technology to access your files

• Uses built-in Active Directory file permissions

• Use existing access rights or edit them from SimpleView

• Files can be shared with other applications

• No need to import and tag files manually

• Use existing backup plans

• Users who view documents infrequently can still use Windows

Explorer

Most companies that use their file servers for document management

simply use Windows Explorer to find and view files. SimpleView is a much

better solution for anyone that works with documents regularly.

• Integrated document scanning

• View multi-page documents without opening in Acrobat or Windows

Picture and Fax Viewer

• Double-click files to open in default application for advanced editing

• Rotate, clean-up, re-order pages, split and merge multi-page TIFF

and PDF files

• Convert documents to text or searchable PDF with OCR

• Annotations - make notes, highlights and other mark-ups without

altering original

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• More versatile file searching, including pattern matching (RegEx)

• Search large file shares in seconds instead of minutes

• Find text inside PDF files (also RegEx enabled)

• Dockable windows for customized viewing, including multiple

monitors

1.2 Image Quality Control with SimpleView

Even though we think SimpleView 5 has broader appeal as a document

management tool, it is also better than ever at document imaging quality

control and rescan functions. We have added some very unique and useful

features in this department, including:

• Instantly view page properties like resolution, color depth and

compression type in the toolbar

• Auto-select files or pages based on above properties

• Automatically convert resolution, color depth, file type

• Select all even numbered, odd numbered or blank pages

automatically

• Full support for drag-and-drop with pages, folders and files

• Splitting and merging files, reordering pages is faster and easier

• Multi-threaded processing lets you continue working while pages are

processed in background

Of course all the standard QC functions from the previous version are all

present as well:

• Rotate pages

• Deskew (straighten page)

• Despeckle (remove “snow”)

• Rescan

• Reorder pages

• Move or copy pages between multi-page files

• Delete pages

• OCR to Searchable PDF or Text

• Blank page detection

• Open PDF and other files in default application for review

• Integration with Windows Explorer right-click menu

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2 Freeware Features & Licensing

2.1 Compare Free & Full Features

When SimpleView is first installed, it is automatically set to run in Freeware

Mode, with only certain features enabled. The differences between the

freeware and the full version of SimpleView are below:

Features

Free

Full

Integrated Windows explorer style image browser

View thumbnails of files

View page thumbnails for selected file

Fast folder and file searching

Search text in PDF files

Support for Regular Expressions in file and text searches

Dockable view windows with multiple monitor support

Supports TIFF, PDF, JPEG, GIF, PNG and BMP format

TWAIN scanning to TIFF or PDF

Rescan pages

Rotate pages

Rearrange pages in multi-page files

Extract pages to new file

Append pages to files

Delete pages and files

Email files or extracted pages

Print files or pages

Integrated Windows file security

Deskew (correct image angle)

Despeckle (remove noise)

Remove black borders

Crop images

Detect blank pages

Split large files

Merge multiple TIFF and PDF files into one

Convert files between image formats

OCR to Text or searchable PDF Image+Text (Tesseract)

Resample image resolution

Convert between Black & White and Color formats

Select files/pages based on images properties (Color, DPI)

Annotate TIFF and PDF files

Select files/pages based on annotations

Automatically highlight or redact full text search results with annotations

Make annotations permanent

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If you want to use the full feature set, you can try the demo for 30 days or

purchase the software to activate the full version with a serial number.

2.2 Running in Free & Demo Modes

Click the Demo Full Version button to launch SimpleView in demo mode.

During the 30 day trial this option will enable all features of the full version.

Click Use Free Version to launch SimpleView in free mode. This option

never expires.

2.3 Activating the License

To activate the full version of SimpleView, enter your serial number in the

box and click Activate. If you are connected to the Internet and no firewall is

blocking it, SimpleView will connect to the activation server and register

automatically.

If connectivity problems prevent communication with the activation server,

you may activate offline by clicking the Offline Activation button and

following the on-screen instructions.

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3 Using the SimpleView Interface

3.1 Using the Ribbon Menus

All functions in SimpleView are accessed either through the ribbon menu or

through context-sensitive right-click menus.

You can hover over any button to get a description of that button's function.

You can right-click any button to add it to the

quick access menu at the top of the screen.

These buttons can be accessed no matter which ribbon tab you are using.

3.1.1 Home

Folder and document navigation, mouse options and searching.

3.1.2 Edit

Image enhancement options like Deskew, Despeckle, Rotate, etc..

Document conversion options like Split, Merge, Convert, OCR, Export and

Email. Clipboard functions.

3.1.3 Properties

View image properties like resolution, color depth and compression. Select

images based on properties. Resample DPI or convert color images to

black and white.

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3.1.4 Annotations

Allows you to mark-up, highlight, annotate and otherwise interact with the

digital document the way you would with paper. Annotations are saved

separately from the original page image, rather than modifying it

permanently.

3.2 The Dockable Panes & Windows

SimpleView uses dockable panes or sub-

windows to organize the visual and interactive

elements. Each pane can be resized, moved,

hidden or detached into a new window. When

you click the header of any pane and drag it,

arrows like the ones on the right will appear.

Using the inner arrows will divide the current

window. The outer arrows will divide the main

window so the pane fills the selected side.

3.2.1 Folders

Navigate drives and folders on your network.

3.2.2 Files

List of files in the current folder or search results.

3.2.3 Thumbnails

Thumbnail images for the first page of each file in the current folder or

search results.

3.2.4 Pages

Thumbnails for each page in a multi-page TIFF or PDF file.

3.2.5 Viewer

Full page view of current page. Interactive zoom, pan, selection and

annotation.

3.2.6 Restore Default Layout

This option (found in the Application Menu) allows you to restore all panes

to the default layout. This will restore any panes that have been closed and

dock any pop-out windows.

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3.3 Navigating Folders

The Folders pane lets you browse folders on a

local and network drive. Unlike Windows Explorer,

any folders that are not accessible to the current

user are hidden automatically. This makes

navigating large file servers much easier.

3.3.1 Folder Favorites

Most users only access a small number of folders

on a regular basis. The favorites bar lets you add

frequently-used folders to the selection list and

access them instantly. Use the + to add the current

folder to your favorites list and x to

remove it.

You can also enter a folder directly into

the favorites bar to open that folder.

3.3.2 Refresh Folder

Updates the display for the current folder, showing any subfolders and files

added by other programs and re-sorting the file list.

3.3.3 Add/Delete/Rename Folders

Right-click on a folder in the Folders pane to access the folder menu. All

changes to the folder structure must be done by dragging folders to move

or copy them or use the right-click menu to add, delete or rename folders.

3.3.4 Folder Thumbnail Size

Use the slider to adjust the size of file thumbnails.

3.3.5 Back and Forward Navigation

The arrows on either side of the slider are web browser style Back and

Forward navigation buttons, letting you quickly jump between folders you

previously visited.

3.4 Viewing Documents and Thumbnails

The Document View toolbar group contains

options to navigate the pages of multi-page

documents and options for viewing the

current page.

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3.4.1 Document View

Standard First, Previous, Next and Last Page buttons let you browse

pages, or enter a page number in the box above to go directly to that page.

Zoom options on the right let you zoom Out and In on the current page,

view the Actual Size of the image, Fit to Window or Fit Width. The slider

control in the bottom-right corner of the window allows you to control the

zoom level of the current page as well.

The slider control lets you adjust the size of thumbnails in the Page pane.

3.4.2 Mouse Action

This menu lets you control what happens when you click

and drag the mouse in the Viewer pane.

None: use to select and edit annotations.

Zoom: draws a box around the selected area and zooms in on it. After

zooming, the Mouse Action is automatically switched to Pan.

Pan: lets you move the image using click-and-drag.

Select: draws a selection box on the image, allowing you to copy the

region to the clipboard.

3.5 File and Page Processing Modes

Each ribbon tab has a standard Files and Pages selector. This

serves an important function! Anytime a processing option is

selected, the process could be performed on the selected pages

within the current file, or on the selected files in the file list. The

value of the Files and Pages selector determines whether to

process pages or entire files.

When selecting more than one page or file, the Mode is automatically

switched. The Mode is also indicated by a shaded background in the

corresponding thumbnail pane.

3.6 Working with Folders and Files

SimpleView is designed to interoperate fully with Windows Explorer drag-

and-drop and clipboard functions for moving and copying files.

3.6.1 Working with Windows Explorer

When SimpleView is installed, a new option to View in SimpleView is

added to the right-click menu in Windows Explorer when a folder is

selected.

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There is also an Open in Explorer option in the right-click menu of the

Folders pane.

By easily switching back and forth from Explorer to SimpleView you can

use the best sorting and searching features of each as needed.

3.6.2 Drag-and-Drop

File and page thumbnails can be moved or copied between SimpleView

windows using drag-and-drop. You can also select files in Windows

Explorer and drag them into the SimpleView Folders and Thumbnails

panes. The reverse also works--dragging folders or files from SimpleView

to Explorer.

3.6.3 Clipboard

Cut, Copy and Paste functions in SimpleView also works the

same way they do in Windows Explorer to copy and move

folders and files.

3.7 Email Files or Pages

The Email button uses your default email application (Outlook,

Thunderbird, Notes, etc.) to create a new email message.

SimpleView uses the MAPI email interface to create a new

message, attach the selected files to that message, then display it for you

to edit before sending.

Many webmail services provide a MAPI interface that lets you use it with

SimpleView and other applications that use email. Here is the link for how

to configure Gmail to use MAPI:

http://support.google.com/mail/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=10966

SimpleView also allows you to select one or more specific pages to email.

Click the arrow below the email button and select Email Page(s) to email

the selected pages rather than entire files. The pages will be saved to a

temporary file, and that file is attached to the email.

3.8 Application Menu

There are a few infrequently used commands available through the

Application Menu.

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3.8.1 Help

Opens this document in your default PDF viewer.

3.8.2 Print

We do not recommend using this option! Every

time the Print button is clicked, a baby tree

dies! We understand that there are some

circumstances where printing a hardcopy is

absolutely unavoidable, and we have included

the Print option only for use in these emergency

scenarios.

3.8.3 Restore Default Layout

See 2.2.6.

3.8.4 Activate/Transfer License

This option displays the demo screen, allowing

you to Activate or Deactivate a serial number.

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During the 30 day demo, this screen is displayed each time you run

SimpleView. The Demo button will be enabled--click it to access the

program.

To activate SimpleView, enter the Serial Number that is emailed to you

after you order and click the Activate button.

If you do not have internet access or a firewall prevents online activation,

enter the serial number and click the Offline Activation button and follow the

on-screen instructions.

To deactivate a serial number on this computer, allowing you to activate

your serial number on another computer, select the serial number from the

drop-down and click Transfer.

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4 Searching Files

A powerful search function lets you

quickly search thousands of folders and

files for a specific text or pattern.

4.1 Folder & Filename Search

Enter any text in the search box and click the Search button to perform the

search. Any file that contains the search term in any part of the filename

will be returned. If the Folder button is checked, any file contained in any

folder that matches the term will also be returned.

4.2 File Mask Search

Valid file masks like *.tif, m???.pdf, etc. will return the matching files.

4.3 Auto-Search

Automatically performs the selected search options whenever a new folder

is clicked. If Text is selected, file text will be searched each time a new file

is opened.

4.4 Search Text

If the current file is a PDF file that contains text, that text will be searched

when the Text button is selected. All pages will be searched until the next

match is found, then that page will be displayed with the matching term

highlighted. Click the Search button again to find the next match in the

document.

4.5 Regular Expressions

Regular Expressions (RegEx) is a

whole language for pattern

matching that is well-known by

programmers and IT professionals.

Using RegEx you can find files or

text that contain complex patterns

and not just specific values. For instance, you can use regular expressions

to find all the files that contain any date in the filename.

There are many references available to help you learn and build Regular

Expressions. Do a quick Google search to find out more!

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4.6 Search Favorites

Because most users are not familiar with regular expressions, the search

function also has a Favorites drop-down to let you save common search

terms to the list so they show up automatically each time you run

SimpleView. Administrators can develop complex searches and save them

to the users' Favorites, allowing them to perform those searches whenever

they need to.

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5 Editing Images

A variety of image enhancement functions are available on the Edit tab. On

the Properties tab there are options for changing resolution and color

depth. Since each button has a detailed description that can be seen when

you hover the mouse over it, this section will focus on general principles of

image processing.

5.1 Processing Files or Pages

The Mode selection determines whether the edit function affects

selected pages within the current file or every page in all

selected files.

Use the Shift and Control keys to select multiple pages or files

in the thumbnail viewers.

5.2 Background Processing

You can continue browsing, viewing and annotating files while files or

pages are being processed. Progress will be tracked in the progress bar in

the lower-left corner of the window.

The current file being processed cannot be viewed in the viewer, though

other files can be viewed. Only one background process can take place at

a time.

Click the red x button to cancel processing. The current page or file will

finish processing before the background process is ended.

When processing is finished, the status bar will indicate how long the

process took.

5.3 Automatic File Selection

There are several ways to automatically select files or pages based on

various criteria.

5.3.1 Even and Odd Pages

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Use the Select Odd and Select Even buttons to automatically select

every other page. Used to select front or back sides of every page

when scanning 2-sided documents. Check both boxes to select all

pages.

5.3.2 Detect Blank

Selects all blank pages. Detection may select some pages with a

very small amount of content, so exercise caution before deleting

the selected pages.

5.3.3 Property Select

On the Properties tab it is possible to auto-select all pages or files that have

the Same Resolution as the current file, or all the ones that are Different

than the current file. You can also do the same thing with the Color Depth

property.

This unique feature lets you scan a wide variety of documents, that may

have been scanned by different operators on different scanners and

devices, and quickly see which files do not match the desired format.

The interface was designed to use the current file properties as the basis

for comparison. However you can also manually type in a resolution or

color depth setting before using Property Select and that number will be

used as the basis for comparison.

5.4 Rearrange, Move and Copy Pages

Pages can be rearranged within a multi-page file as well as moved or

copied from one file to another.

Select the page(s) you want to move, then click and hold the left mouse

button to drag the pages to their destination. When you drag pages over

the Pages pane you will see a position indicator showing where the pages

will be inserted. Release the button to move the pages to that location.

When dragging pages over the Thumbnails pane, you can either release

the mouse over one of the files or in a blank area where there is no

thumbnail. If the mouse is over a file, a menu will give you the option to

Move or Copy the pages to the selected file. Pages will be appended to the

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end of the file. If no file is selected, you can Move or Copy the pages to a

new file in the folder.

5.5 Image Enhancement Options

The following image enhancement options are available:

5.5.1 Rotate Left and Right

Rotate the selected pages 90 degrees to the left or right.

5.5.2 Deskew

Straightens pages that were scanned crooked.

5.5.3 Despeckle

Remove "snow" that often appears on scanned or photocopied

documents due to colored backgrounds, shading, dirt and other

factors.

5.5.4 Remove Border

Eliminates the black border that often appears around the outside

margin of scanned images. Some legal applications require this

border to be kept in order to demonstrate that none of the page

was cut off during scanning. However for most documents it simply

causes the file to be bigger and the printer to use more ink when you print.

5.5.5 Crop

Manually select a region on the current page and crop the page

down to that region.

5.5.6 Delete

Delete the selected pages or files.

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6 File Format Conversion

A variety of automated format conversion options are available.

6.1 Split

Automatically split a multi-page file into single page files, 100 page

files or any custom size. Files will be output with "_####" appended

to each split file, where #### is the part number.

Splitting files over 300 pages into 100 page files is recommended, since

performance decreases exponentially the larger a file gets. Performing the

same function on 5x100 page files is often 10 times faster than performing

the same operation on 1x500 page file.

6.2 Merge

Allows you to select multiple files then quickly append each file to

the first one. A common error in batch scanning is the accidental

insertion or detection of a document separator before the end of the

file. The Merge option quickly fixes this.

6.3 Export

Select multiple files or pages and save them to a new multi-page

file. Export prompts you to enter the new filename using a Save

dialog. All exported pages will be converted to the specified format

and combined into one file (TIFF and PDF) or saved to numbered single-

page files (all other formats).

6.4 OCR

Optical Character Recognition (OCR) converts text contained in a

scanned image to searchable text that can be recognized by the

computer. OCR results can be output to plain Text files, or

Searchable PDF files.

Searchable PDF files are unique in that they display the original scanned

image but have searchable text in a hidden layer. You are able to find,

highlight and even copy text in a PDF to the clipboard, but you are still able

to view the original scanned document.

6.5 Convert

Automatically converts selected files to the specified format, using

the current filename and removing the original file after conversion.

This allows you to standardize the file format for many files in one

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click.

6.6 Resample DPI

Changes the resolution of all selected pages or files to the one

entered in the X Res and Y Res boxes. New resolution value can

be taken from selected page or entered manually. Standard

conversions to 200 and 300 dots per inch are built-in.

Standardizing the input file resolution is essential to any OCR data

extraction process.

6.7 Convert to Black & White

Selected pages or files will be converted to Black & White. This

dramatically reduces file size when color is not needed. It also

improves recognition for many OCR processes.

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7 Scanning and Re-Scanning

Multi-page TWAIN scanning capabilities are built-in to SimpleView, letting

you quickly scan single documents to a folder or rescan illegible pages in

an existing document.

7.1 Scan New

Click the Scan New button to scan a new document to a multi-page

TIFF or PDF file. A standard Save dialog will allow you to pick a

folder and filename for the new file.

The default scanner settings dialog for your scanner will be displayed,

allowing you to change the resolution, color, page size and other options

before scanning.

While scanning, full page images will be displayed in the Viewer pane, and

thumbnails will be shown in the Pages pane. When scanning is complete

the new file will be displayed in the viewer.

There are two ways you can append pages to an existing document. You

can scan to a new document and drag-and-drop the pages you want to an

existing file. Or, you can highlight the last page in an existing file and

choose “Insert Scanned Pages” from the Scan New drop down.

7.2 Rescan Page

This option rescans the currently displayed page, replacing it with a

newly scanned one. Scanner settings are displayed just like when

scanning a new file, but only 1 page will be scanned. Hard-to-read

pages may take several rescans with different brightness, threshold and

other settings tweaked before a readable image is produced.

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8 Annotating Documents

Annotations allow you to mark up electronic documents in similar ways to

how people write on, post notes, stamps, highlights and otherwise work

with real documents.

Select the appropriate annotation from the toolbar, then click and drag on

the Viewer pane to draw the annotation on the current page. Once drawn,

annotations can be moved, resized and otherwise modified.

Use the Save button to save changes to annotations. If you forget to save

you will be prompted when opening another file.

Do delete an existing annotation, select the annotation with the mouse and

click the Delete button.

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9 Contacting Simple Software

SimpleIndex is a product of Simple Software from ScanStore. Simple

Software and ScanStore are divisions of Meta Enterprises, LLC.

SimpleIndex Website: http://www.simpleindex.com

Mailing Address:

PO Box 548

Knoxville, TN 37901-0548

Physical Address:

500 West Summit Hill Drive, Suite 302

Knoxville, TN 37902

Sales/General E-Mail: info@SimpleIndex.com

Tech Support E-Mail: support@SimpleIndex.com

Phone Number: 877-355-4141