Sony ICD SX46VTP User Manual Dragon Naturally Speaking 7 Users Guide NS7guide

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User Manual: Sony ICD-SX46VTP Dragon Naturally Speaking 7 Users Guide

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USER’S GUIDE

March 2003. Version 7. Professional, Medical, and Legal, Solution Series, Preferred, Standard, and Essentials editions.
This material may not include some last-minute technical changes and/or revisions to the software. Changes are periodically made to the
information provided here. Future versions of this material will incorporate these changes.
ScanSoft, Inc. has patents or pending patent applications covering the subject matter contained in this document. The furnishing of this
document does not give you any license to such patents. This software is protected under the following patents, among others: 5,027,406;
5,168,548 5,202,952; 5,231,670; 5,388,183; 5,428,707; 5,465,318; 5,526,463; 5,680,511; 5,715,367; 5,754,972; 5,765,132; 5,794,189; 5,799,279;
5,818,423; 5,822,730; 5,850,627; 5,890,181; 5,909,666; 5,915,236; 5,920,836; 5,920,837; 5,949,886; 5,960,394; 5,970,448; 5,970,460; 5,983,179;
6,029,124; 6,058,366; 6,064,959; 6,073,097; 6,088,671; 6,092,043; 6,092,044; 6,101,468; 6,125,342; 6,125,347; 6,138,098; 6,151,575; 6,163,768;
6,167,377; 6,212,498; 6,260,013; 6,292,779; 6,349,282; 6,424,943; and 6,456,972.
No part of this manual or software may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including, without limitation, electronic or mechanical,
such as photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written consent of ScanSoft,
Inc. Specifications are subject to change without notice.
Copyright © 2002-2003 ScanSoft, Inc. All rights reserved.
ScanSoft, the ScanSoft logo, the Dragon logo, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, NaturallySpeaking, NaturallyMobile, RealSpeak, Nothing But
Speech (NBS), Natural Language Technology, Select-and-Say, MouseGrid, and Vocabulary Editor are registered trademarks or trademarks
of ScanSoft, Inc. in the United States or other countries. All other names and trademarks referenced herein are trademarks of ScanSoft or
their respective owners. Designations used by third-party manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products may be claimed as
trademarks by those third-parties.
Pentium is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation.
Adobe and Acrobat are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated.
Corel and WordPerfect are registered trademarks of Corel Corporation.
Lotus and Lotus Notes are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation.
Microsoft, Outlook, Windows, Windows NT, Visual Basic, and PowerPoint are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft
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Sony and Memory Stick are regitered trademarks of the Sony Corporation
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iPAQ is a registered trademark of the Hewlett-Packard Company

Dave Barry in Cyberspace, © Copyright 1996 by Dave Barry, published by Crown Publishers.
3001: The Final Odyssey, © Copyright 1997 by Arthur C. Clarke, published by HarperCollins Publishers.
Dogbert's Top Secret Management Handbook, © Copyright 1996 by United Feature Syndicate, Inc., published by
HarperBusiness, a division of HarperCollins Publishers.
Success Is a Journey: 7 Steps to Achieving Success in the Business of Life, © Copyright 1999 by Jeffrey J. Mayer, published by
McGraw Hill.
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, © Copyright 1972 by Roald Dahl, published by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., and Penguin
Books.
The Captain of Battery Park, © Copyright 1978 by Eugene Pool, published by Addison-Wesley.

50-A11A-10053

Contents
CHAPTER 1

Introduction 1
About this guide 2
What’s new in Version 7? 3
What should I expect from Dragon NaturallySpeaking? 4

CHAPTER 2

Installation and Training 5
System requirements 5
Plugging in the microphone 6
Installing the software 7
Creating a new user 9
Setting up your microphone 11
Training a new user 13
Adapting to your writing style 15

CHAPTER 3

Starting to Dictate 17
Starting Dragon NaturallySpeaking 17
Turning on the microphone 17
Starting to dictate 18
Getting Help 21
Troubleshooting 22
The DragonBar 23
Using QuickStart 25

CHAPTER 4

Working on your Desktop 27
Programs, documents and folders 27
Switching between open windows 28
Opening and closing menus 28
Selecting buttons, tabs, and options 29
Selecting icons on the desktop 30
Resizing and closing windows 31
Scrolling in windows and list boxes 31
Opening lists and making selections 32
Pressing keyboard keys 32
Moving the mouse pointer and clicking the mouse

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

iii

Contents
CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 6

Formatting 61
Capitalizing text 61
Formatting text 64

CHAPTER 7

Working with Applications 67
Working with e-mail 67
Working with Microsoft Internet Explorer 70
Working with Microsoft Word 76
Working with Microsoft Excel (Preferred and higher)

CHAPTER 8

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special
Characters 83
Dictating numbers 83
Punctuation 91
Dictating hyphenated words 93
Dictating compound words 94
Dictating names 95
Dictating abbreviations and acronyms 96
Dictating e-mail and Web addresses 96
Dictating special characters 97
Switching Recognition Modes 101

CHAPTER 9

Using the Command Browser 103
Supported Applications 103
Starting the Command Browser 104
Finding specific commands 105
Training commands 108
Working with Custom Commands (Preferred and higher)

CHAPTER 10

Correcting and Editing 41
Correcting mistakes 41
Selecting text by voice 45
Moving around in a document 48
Copying, cutting, and pasting text 50
Deleting text 50
Spelling as you dictate 52
Playing back your dictation (Preferred and higher)
Using text-to-speech 57

109

Improving Accuracy 115
The Accuracy Center 115
Tools to improve your acoustics 116
Tools to Manage Commands 118

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Contents
Tools to improve your vocabulary 118
Training a word or command 129
Using the Performance Assistant 130
CHAPTER 11

Managing Users 131
Creating a new user 131
Opening a user 132
Renaming a user 133
Deleting a user 133
Backing up and restoring a user 134
Importing and exporting users 136

CHAPTER 12

Using Portable Recorders (Preferred and higher) 137
Installing recorder software 138
Creating a user adapted to your recorded speech 140
Dictating into your recorder 144
Transcribing recorded dictation 145
Correcting mistakes 151
Using the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder as a microphone 151

CHAPTER 13

Automate Your Work (Preferred and higher)
Viewing and editing commands 154
Creating new commands 154
Deleting custom commands 159
Importing and exporting commands 160
Changing the command group and availability 160

CHAPTER 14

Customizing Dragon NaturallySpeaking 161
Correction options 161
Startup/Shutdown options 163
View options 165
Hot key options 166
Miscellaneous options 169
Formatting options 170

APPENDIX
INDEX

153

Commands List 173
207

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

CHAPTER

Introduction
D

ragon NaturallySpeaking lets you talk to your computer instead of typing. As
you talk, your words are transcribed onto your screen and into your documents
or e-mail messages.
Talking to a computer while it types what you say is called dictating. You can dictate
into Microsoft® Word, Corel® WordPerfect®, e-mail programs, personal information
organizers, and virtually any other program in which you normally type.
You can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to:
■

Compose letters, memos, and send e-mail messages. You can cut and paste
inside your documents as well as revise and format text. Just think about what
you want to say, and then say it into the microphone.

■

Enter data into forms or spreadsheets. Most people can dictate numbers faster
than they can type. Using Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional or higher
editions, you can create custom voice commands to let you move from field to
field on your form by voice.

■

Work on the Web. You can search the Web, access information, and navigate
Web pages by speaking URLs and links.

■

Start programs and open menus.

■

Use handheld recorders to dictate while you are away from your computer.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking can then transcribe what you said. (Available in
Preferred and higher editions.)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Introduction

About this guide
This guide covers all editions of Dragon NaturallySpeakingNaturallySpeaking. This
includes:
■

Essentials

■

Standard

■

Preferred

■

Professional

■

Professional Solution Series

Most of the information presented in this guide is applicable to all the editions.
Differences between the editions is noted in the text.
Conventions used in this guide
1 This guide contains many examples of words and phrases you can say when
using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. These examples appear in italics with
quotation marks, for example: “Format That Bold.”

Some procedures also include sample text for you to dictate. Sample text
appears in a different typeface, with punctuation in square brackets. For
example:
US/Canada: When talking to a computer [comma] try to say every word clearly
without trailing off at the end of a sentence [period]
Other Dialects: When talking to a computer [comma] try to say every word
clearly without trailing off at the end of a sentence [full stop]

This guide applies to the five English dialects that ship with Dragon
NaturallySpeaking:
■

US English

■

UK English

■

Australian English

■

Indian English

■

Southeast Asian English

US English uses US spelling, punctuation, and time and currency formats. We
recommend US English for Canadian users since this dialect formats numbers
(including times, telephone numbers, and currency) in North American formats.
All other dialects use UK spelling, punctuation, and time and currency formats
(some number settings depend on your Windows Regional Settings). Where
2

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Introduction
multiple dialects are used in dictation examples, those dialects appear in a
different font style. For example:
You can also correct a longer phrase by saying “Correct [text] Through [text]” (US/
Canada) or “Correct [text] To [text]” (Other Dialects).

This guide uses US spelling and punctuation for consistency.

This guide also includes tips and notes to help you use the software more
effectively. Tips and notes appear like this:

TIP If you pause correctly, but Dragon NaturallySpeaking still types a command as dictation, you
can force it to recognize what you say as a command by holding down the CTRL key.
NOTE With Numbers Mode on, Dragon NaturallySpeaking tries to interpret everything you say as
a number. If you dictate words, the results will be unpredictable. However, you can still navigate
menus and switch between programs by voice when Numbers Mode is on.

What’s new in Version 7?
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 7 includes the following new features:
■

New Performance Center
The Performance Center guides you through troubleshooting and performance
optimization to be sure you're getting the most out of Dragon
NaturallySpeaking.

■

Improved Command Browser
The new Command Browser gives you more flexibility when creating and
managing your custom commands. The Command Browser is available in all
editions, but functionality varies by edition.

■

Improved Text and Graphics Commands (Available only in Professional and
higher editions)
Text and Graphics commands can now optionally match text to the font of the
document you're creating or include special formatting and bitmaps, allowing
you maximum flexibility.

■

Support for Additional Input Devices
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 7 now supports certified Pocket PC devices
as well as additional digital handheld recorders, array microphones and cordless
microphones.

■

RealSpeak V2 (Available only in Preferred and higher editions)
Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 7 now includes ScanSoft's RealSpeak V2.

■

Full Support for More Applications:
■

Outlook Express: Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically learns the
contact names in your Outlook Express address book. (Available only in
Standard and higher editions)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Introduction
■

AOL 6, 7 and 8: Full Natural Language Command support.

■

WordPerfect 10: Full compatibility and Natural Language Command
support (Available only in Standard and higher editions)

■

Microsoft Excel (Available only in Preferred and higher editions)

■

Microsoft Access (Available only in Preferred and higher editions)

■

Natural Punctuation (Available only in Standard and higher editions)
You can have Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically insert periods and
commas in dictated text.

■

Support for network installations and maintenance (Available only in
Professional and higher editions)
Dragon NaturallySpeaking is available with an MSI file for network
installations, and has been certified for SMS and Active Directory Services
environments. (Available only in Professional and higher editions)

■

Ability to automatically launch NaturallySpeaking at system startup time.

■

Vocabulary Optimizer (Available only in Standard and higher editions)
The Vocabulary Optimizer examines e-mail and documents to analyze sentence
structure and word use frequency, and then adjusts the recognition engine to
match your writing patterns.

What should I expect from Dragon
NaturallySpeaking?
One reason to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking is to do your writing more quickly;
creating letters, reports, and other documents by voice. Another is to reduce the
stress associated with keyboarding. Or maybe you just like the idea of being able to
lean back in your chair, put your feet up on the desk, and still get work done.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking is good for all these reasons, but making it work well
requires some effort from you. Dragon NaturallySpeaking learns about your voice
and pronunciation as you use it. When you use words the program doesn’t know, it
will misrecognize them. By correcting your mistakes, you help Dragon
NaturallySpeaking improve its ability to recognize your way of speaking.

Do I still need my keyboard and mouse?
Although you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to do almost everything on your
computer by voice, some things are still easier to do by mouse or keyboard.
If using a mouse and keyboard is an option for you, try experimenting with using
your voice and using your hands for different tasks, to see what works best. If using a
mouse and keyboard is not an option, see “Working on your Desktop” on page 27.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

CHAPTER

Installation and Training
T

his chapter describes how to install, set up, and train Dragon Naturally
Speaking.

System requirements
To run Dragon NaturallySpeaking, your system must meet the following
requirements:
■

Intel® Pentium® III 500MHz or greater (or equivalent AMDTM processor)
NOTE Dragon NaturallySpeaking will not install on machine with a processor of less than
500MHz.

■

128 MB RAM for Essentials, Standard, and Preferred editions
256 MB RAM for Professional edition and Solution series.

■

300 MB free hard disk space for a typical installation; 700 MB for a full
installation.

■

Microsoft® Windows® ME, Windows® 98SE, Windows® NT 4.0 with Service
Pack 6 or higher, Windows® 2000, or Windows® XP.

■

16-bit Creative® Labs Sound Blaster®, or compatible sound card capable of and
set to 16bit, 11KHz for Audio Recording

■

Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 5 or higher (free download available at
www.microsoft.com.

■

CD-ROM drive (8x or faster) required for installation.

■

ScanSoft-approved noise-canceling headset microphone (included)

■

Speakers - optional for playback of recorded speech and text-to-speech
features. (Available only in Preferred and higher editions)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training

Multiple users on one computer
Dragon NaturallySpeaking is licensed on a “per individual” basis. You are
permitted to install the software on more than one computer (for example, on
a desktop and a laptop computer, or on a work computer and a home
computer), although you may not use the software concurrently on more than
one computer, and you are permitted to create multiple voice profiles, so long
as each voice profile is for you. If someone else desires to create or use another
voice profile, however, that person must purchase a separate license for
Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Volume license agreements are available.

Plugging in the microphone
To use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you will need to plug in your microphone.
1

Insert the microphone plug into the MIC input jack of your sound card.
Microphones and sound cards vary, but the microphone jack is usually red and
has a picture of a microphone. If your sound card does not have a MIC jack, use
the LINE IN jack.
If you are not sure how to plug in your microphone, consult the documentation
that came with your computer. Note the following:
Also, if you have a USB or array microphone (supported in Preferred and higher
editions), follow the instructions that came with it instead of this description.

Insert the headphone plug into the LINE OUT jack on your sound card. If your
sound card does not have a LINE OUT jack, use the SPEAKER or
HEADPHONE jack.

NOTE If you already have speakers for your computer, you can also use these to playback
recorded speech instead of your headphones.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training

Installing the software
Before installing Dragon NaturallySpeaking:
■

Close all open applications.

■

Turn off or disable any antivirus software; installation can sometimes trigger a
false virus report.

NOTE You must have Administrator rights to install or uninstall Dragon NaturallySpeaking on
Windows NT, Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Administrator rights are not required to create a user
or use the software after installation. This also applies for an upgrade installation.

Upgrading from a previous version
Upgrading from Version 5:
You can upgrade your English users from any edition of Dragon
NaturallySpeaking Version 5 to Version 7. The installation automatically
migrates your english Version 5 user files and vocabularies to Version 7. If
you upgraded from:
■

Version 5 English, the Version 5 English software will no longer be
functional.

■

A non-English or multilingual Version 5, the software will remain fully
functional, but the english Version 5 users will no longer be available in
Version 5. Your non-English users files will not be upgraded and will
still be available.

Upgrading from Version 6:
You can upgrade from any edition of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Version 6
to Version 7. When upgrading from Version 6, you can choose to
automatically migrate your V6 user files and vocabularies to Version 7. Once
V7 is installed, Version 6 will no longer be functional.

To install Dragon NaturallySpeaking:
1

Insert the Dragon NaturallySpeaking CD into your CD-ROM drive.
If the installation does not start automatically, use the Windows Explorer to
find and double-click setup.exe on your CD-ROM drive.
Follow the on-screen instructions during installation.

Provide your customer information, including the serial number supplied with
your NaturallySpeaking installation information.

Choose your destination location. If there are no previous version of Dragon
NaturallySpeaking on your system, the default directory is:

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training

C:\Program Files\ScanSoft\NaturallySpeaking
If you have Version 5 or 6 on your system, Version 7 will install to the previous
version’s directory.
4

Choose your Setup Type (Preferred and higher editions)
Most users in the US should choose “Typical Installation” and click Next. This
installs Dragon NaturallySpeaking with the US (American) English user files.
To install non-US English user files, choose “Custom Installation” and follow
the instructions below. Pick Custom Installation if you want to have more control
over which components to install.
NOTE If you decide not to install some Dragon NaturallySpeaking components by selecting a
Custom installation, you can install them later by running the Setup program again and choosing
Modify.

Installing non-US user files (Preferred and higher)
To install user files for UK (British) English, Australian English,
Indian English, or Southeast Asian English, choose “Custom
Installation” from the setup screen and click Next.
Select the user file for the dialect you want and click Next to
continue installation.

The user files for each region contain both spellings and
pronunciations specific to that region. All users who wish to dictate
US English spellings—including users with accents—should install
the US (American) English user files.
8

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training
5

(Upgrade only) If you are upgrading from Version 5 or 6, the Version 7
installation prompts you to upgrade your users. You may be prompted later to
re-train some of your existing users.

Continue following the on-screen instructions. The setup program will copy
the files for Dragon NaturallySpeaking to your computer.

When prompted, make sure to register your copy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
Once registered, we can notify you of product updates and other offers.

At the end of the installation, you can enable the Dragon NaturallySpeaking
QuickStart option. By enabling Quickstart, NaturallySpeaking launches at
system startup time and adds the NaturallySpeaking Quickstart icon to the
Windows task bar. For more information on the QuickStart option, see “Using
QuickStart” on page 25.

Click Finish to complete the installation. The program may ask you to reboot
your computer.

Creating a new user
When you launch the software for the first time, the New User Wizard starts and
leads you through creating a new user. For example:

NOTE If you upgraded a single user from a previous version, NaturallySpeaking loads that user. If
you upgraded multiple users, NaturallySpeaking displays the Open User dialog box.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training

Creating a user
1

To create a user, you must type a name in the Your Name field. The software
automatically picks the best speech model and vocabulary settings for your
system. For more information, see “About vocabularies and languages” below.

Select your dictation source. If you are using a USB microphone or another type
of input device, choose the appropriate option from the “Dictation source”
drop-down list.

Click Next to continue.

About vocabularies and languages
Languages

Some editions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking version 7 let you to create and train
users in multiple languages. If you have purchased an edition with support for more
than one language, you can add additional languages by choosing "Custom Install"
during Setup. For Professional and higher editions, if you didn't select additional
languages during Setup, you can also select an additional language when you create a
new user. In this instance, you will need the Dragon NaturallySpeaking CD to
install the language files before you can create the user.
Vocabulary

Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses a vocabulary to recognize words correctly based not
only on the sound of the words, but on their context.
The Vocabulary list is available only if your edition and language let you choose
among different types of vocabularies. Check the list to see the available choices.
Vocabulary size

When you create a set of user files, Dragon NaturallySpeaking recommends the
vocabulary that best fits your computer's speed and memory. For most users, this
recommendation should be followed.
Depending on your edition, you may see an Advanced button. Experienced users
may want to click the Advanced button to specify a different vocabulary size:

■

Medium: for computers with 128 MB of RAM.

■

Large: for computers with more than 256 MB of RAM.

■

Empty Dictation: a vocabulary with a language model but without any words.
Empty Dictation is designed for experienced users or re-sellers who want to
create highly specialized vocabularies. (Professional and higher editions)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training
Speech Model

Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses the speech model to adapt to your voice during
training. When you create a set of user files, Dragon NaturallySpeaking
recommends the speech model that best fits your computer's speed and memory.
Depending on your edition, you may see an Advanced button. Experienced users
can use the Advanced dialog box to choose between different speech models. See
the online help for more information.

Setting up your microphone
Click Next to have the New User Wizard lead you through setting up your
microphone.

Positioning your microphone
The New User Wizard first explains how to position your microphone:

Once you have correctly positioned the microphone, click Next to continue.

Position the microphone
Positioning the microphone is important. If the microphone is out of place, Dragon
NaturallySpeaking may not be able to hear you clearly and may make more
mistakes.
Consistent position is also important. Make sure that you position the microphone
the same way each time you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training

Using a headset microphone
■

Position the microphone about a half-inch (approximately the width of your
thumb) from your mouth and a little off to the side. The microphone should not
touch your mouth, but it can be almost touching your lips.

■

If you need to move the microphone out of the way, you can lift the "boom" up
and over your head, rather than bending it out of position or removing the
headset.

Using a handheld microphone (Preferred and higher)
■

Hold the microphone one to three inches from your mouth and a little off to the
side.

■

If the volume display on the DragonBar turns red, try holding the microphone
slightly farther from your mouth.

Using an array microphone (Professional and higher)
■

Position the array between 18 and 30 inches from and pointed at your mouth.

■

Avoid blocking the path between your mouth and the array, for example by
holding a book or paper in front of your face.

■

Avoid having any source of noise or signal other than your voice directly facing
the array within at least 15 feet.

Check your volume
When the “Adjust Your Microphone: Volume Check” screen appears, click the
“Start Volume Check” button and then read aloud the text displayed in the box.
When the program beeps to indicate it has finished checking the volume, click Next.

Sound quality check
When the “Adjust Your Microphone: Quality Check” screen appears, click “Start
Quality Check” and then read aloud the text displayed in the box.
The program beeps when it has finished evaluating the sound quality of your
system. If Dragon NaturallySpeaking displays “PASSED,” click the Next button to
continue.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training

Training a new user
You must now train Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize your voice.
NOTE For more information on training a mobile user, see “Using Portable Recorders
(Preferred and higher)” on page 137.

A yellow arrow shows you where to start reading. To take breaks while you're
training the program, click Pause.

To advance through the first two screens, you must say the sentences without
pausing. For the rest of the screens, it's okay to pause in the middle of a
sentence.
When the words change color, it means the computer has heard and recognized
them. If you keep reading the same words, and the computer still doesn't get it,
just click Skip. Otherwise, click Next to continue.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training

Choose a text to read aloud and click OK.

You only need to read for about five minutes to train NaturallySpeaking to
recognize your voice.

You can take breaks during this training by clicking Pause. Don't worry if you
make mistakes or laugh. You should try to read exactly what you see on the
screen, but it's okay if you read something incorrectly. The computer will either
ignore the mistake or display the yellow arrow so you read the text again.
The progress bar shows how much text you have left to dictate.
NOTE During training, dictating punctuation is not necessary.

When you’ve read enough, the New User Wizard displays a congratulations
message. When you click OK, NaturallySpeaking starts adapting to your voice.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training

Adapting to your writing style
After adapting to your voice, the New User Wizard prompts you to adapt Dragon
NaturallySpeaking to your writing style.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking can analyze your writing style to increase your overall
recognition accuracy during dictation. This tool scans documents in your My
Documents directory. These documents include Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect,
text and rich text files (.rtf).
Adapting to your writing style can add 5 to 30 minutes to user training. Make sure
all other programs are closed when you run this step.
NOTE Though we recommend that you run this part of the New User Wizard, if you plan to skip
this part of User creation, select "Skip this step" rather than Cancel.

Click Start to continue. While scanning your system, the New User Wizard displays
its status. When NaturallySpeaking is done adapting to your writing style, click
Next.
You are now ready to dictate.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Installation and Training

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

CHAPTER

Starting to Dictate
N

ow that you’ve installed your software and completed training, you’re ready to
dictate your first sentence.

Starting Dragon NaturallySpeaking
If Dragon NaturallySpeaking is not already running, you can start it by:
■

Double-clicking the Dragon NaturallySpeaking icon:

■

Selecting Programs>Dragon NaturallySpeaking from the Start menu.

■

Right-clicking the QuickStart taskbar tray icon
and selecting Start
NaturallySpeaking, if the QuickStart option is enabled. For more information
on using the QuickStart option, see “Using QuickStart” on page 25.

Turning on the microphone
Before you can dictate, you need to turn on the microphone. You turn on the
microphone by:
■

Clicking the microphone icon on the DragonBar. You can click this icon again
to turn it off.

Microphone
■

Pressing the plus (+) key on the numeric keypad to turn the microphone on,
and then press it again to turn the microphone off.

■

Clicking the microphone icon in the Windows task bar.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Starting to Dictate
The button and the volume meter on the DragonBar change to show if the
microphone is off or on.
Shows that the microphone is off
Shows that the microphone is on

NOTE Once the microphone is off, you cannot turn it on again by voice.

Sleeping and waking up
To make Dragon NaturallySpeaking stop listening temporarily:
1

Say "Go to Sleep" or "Stop Listening."
Dragon NaturallySpeaking ignores everything except the "Wake Up" or "Listen
To Me" commands.

To reactivate the microphone, say "Wake Up" or "Listen To Me."

You can also press the numeric (+) key to turn on the microphone.

Starting to dictate
To begin dictating, start a word processor (such as Microsoft® Word or Corel®
WordPerfect®) and begin a new document. Make sure your text insertion point is at
the start of the new document.

DragonPad
You can use the DragonPad, a simple word processor included with
Dragon NaturallySpeaking. To open the DragonPad, from the Tools
menu on the DragonBar, click DragonPad.
TIP Remember to click in the window you want to talk to before you speak.

Start talking. As you talk, text displays in the Results box while Dragon
NaturallySpeaking figures out what you said. The Results box is a small yellow
window that appears on-screen as you dictate. For example:

The words in the Results box may change as the program considers different
interpretations of what it heard.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Starting to Dictate
The Results box displays a line that changes from yellow to green as you speak,
indicating the volume of your dictation.
NOTE When Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognizes what you said as a command, the Results box
displays a bold blue border.

You can also anchor the Results box permanently in one place. From the Tools
menu of the DragonBar, click Options, then click the View tab and enable the
Anchor option.
Don’t worry about mistakes at this point; Dragon NaturallySpeaking improves as
you use it.

Using Natural Punctuation
Dragon NaturallySpeaking can automatically add periods and commas at the
appropriate places in your dictation without you having to explicitly speak that
punctuation. The Natural Punctuation feature can be useful in helping you get
used to dictation by focusing on what you are saying rather than how your speech is
punctuated.
Natural Punctuation inserts only periods and commas. You have to dictate other
punctuation marks. Even with Natural Punctuation turned on, you can still dictate
periods and commas. As you become more adept at dictation and want more control
over where punctuation appears, you may want to explicitly dictate all your
punctuation.
NOTE You can turn Natural Punctuation on and off by voice by saying "autopunctuation on" and
"autopunctuation off" or by selecting Options from the Tools menu of the DragonBar and clicking
"Automatically add commas and periods" on the Formatting tab.

For more information on Natural Punctuation see “Using Natural Punctuation” on
page 91.

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Starting to Dictate

Dictating punctuation
You can dictate punctuation at any time while you are using Dragon
NaturallySpeaking, even when Natural Punctuation is enabled.
Use the following list as a guide to dictating the most common punctuation marks.
(For a complete list of punctuation, see page 194.)
TO E N T E R

S A Y ( U S / C a na d a )

S AY ( O t he r D i a l e c t s )

comma

period

full stop

exclamation point or
exclamation mark

exclamation mark

question mark

hyphen

colon

Starting new lines and paragraph
While you are dictating, you can use the following commands to duplicate the action
of pressing the Enter key once (to add a new line) or twice (to add a new paragraph).
TO

SAY

Add a new line

"New Line"

Add a new paragraph

"New Paragraph"

Saying "New Paragraph" presses the Enter key twice and capitalizes the next word you dictate.

Tips for dictating text

■

To erase the last thing you said, say "Scratch That."

■

You can repeat "Scratch That" to undo a sequence of phrases.

■

To undo the effects of a command, say "Undo That." If “Undo That” fails to
undo an action, try repeating the command until you completely undo the
operation.

■

To stop a recognition in progress (and turn the microphone off), click the small
red button inside the Results box.

■

You can change the very last phrase you spoke by saying "Bold That," "Cap
That," "Correct That," and so on; you do not have to select the text first.

■

To remove a trailing space after a word, you can say "Delete Previous
Character."

■

You can create a spoken form for words you prefer not to say aloud. For
example, you can create a command that types "Snookums" whenever you say
"Mary's nickname."
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Starting to Dictate
■

To clear (deselect) your last selection, say "Unselect That."

For information on correcting any mistakes, see Chapter 5, “Correcting and
Editing.”

Printing and saving your dictated text
Printing

From the File menu of your word processor, use the mouse to choose Print. Or say
“Click File,” pause, and say “Print.” You can also simply say, “Print Document” or
“Print File” if the Natural Language Commands are enabled. See “Startup/
Shutdown options” on page 163. Also see “Using the Command Browser” on page
103.
Saving

From the File menu, choose Save. You can also say “Click File” and then say “Save.”
Remember, you have to pause between the “Click File” and the “Save” commands
to have Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognize them as two separate commands. If
the Natural Language Commands have been enabled, you can say “Save Document.”

Getting Help
To access the online Help for Dragon NaturallySpeaking, click the Help menu on
the DragonBar and choose Help Topics. Alternately, you can say “Give Me Help.”
You can print individual Help topics with the Print button in the Help window. To
open the online Help links, just say their names. The links will be displayed next to
the application window and will give you examples of the most common commands
that work in the application you are currently using.

“What Can I Say?”
Saying “What Can I Say?” will bring up the Sample Commands window. The
Sample Command window displays a small selection of useful commands that
Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognizes for the current context, whether it is a
particular program you are using or the Windows desktop.
Additional commands are also summarized in the Commands List Appendix on
page 173.

To open the Sample Command Window
Choose Sample Commands from the Help menu on the DragonBar or say “What can
I say”. The Sample Commands window opens, displaying a selection of commands
next to the window you are working in.

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Starting to Dictate

The contents of the
Sample Commands
window change
depending upon what
application is currently
active.
For example, when you
switch between Microsoft
Word and Microsoft
Outlook, the contents of
the Sample Commands
window changes
accordingly

If you want to see additional commands that are available to you, click Command
Browser at the top of the Sample Commands window. The Command Browser is
described in more detail on page 103.
Notes
■

A list of Global commands (available everywhere) appears if there are no sample
commands available for a specific program.

■

Commands marked with an asterisk (*) are available only if the Enable Natural
Language Commands check box is selected on the Startup/Shutdown tab of the
Options dialog box.

Tutorial
To start the Tutorial, choose Tutorial from the Help menu on the DragonBar. The
Tutorial includes a number of lessons covering the basics of Dragon
NaturallySpeaking.

Troubleshooting
If you are having problems using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, or if you are getting
unexpected results, please refer to the “Resolving Problems” and “Tips” section of
the online help.

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Starting to Dictate

The DragonBar
The DragonBar gives you access to Dragon NaturallySpeaking functions and
features.

Change
position

Microphone

Menus

Status

Ext

The Sound menu and the Extras toolbar is available only in Preferred and higher
editions.

Microphone button and volume display
When the microphone is on, the Volume Display shows the sound level. Yellow
means silence or that your speaking too softly, green means you are speaking at a
proper level, and red means you are speaking to loudly.
Volume display

Extras toolbar (Preferred and higher edition)
If present in your edition, you can click the Extras button
on the far right of the
DragonBar to open the Extras toolbar. The Extras toolbar displays buttons for handheld recorder transcription and playing back your dictation.
Start Playback

Correction

Stop Playback

Fast Playback

Skip Forward

Skip Back

Transcribe

Correction

Clicking the Correction button opens the Correction menu to teach the computer
what you said. See chapter 4, “Correcting and Editing.”
Transcribe

Use this button to transcribe your speech from a handheld recorder. See chapter 15,
“Using Portable Recorders (Preferred and higher).”
Start Playback, Fast Playback, and Stop Playback

When you select text and click the Start Playback button, you hear a recording of
your dictation. A yellow arrow displays on your screen during playback, following
what you said. Click the Fast Playback button to play the recording at a faster
speed. Click the Start Playback button to return to a normal speed. Click the Stop
Playback button to stop the recorded speech playback.
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Skip Back and Skip Forward

Use these buttons to skip backward or forward one utterance. To Dragon
NaturallySpeaking, an utterance is a group of words said together without pausing.
The Extras menu items can be displayed in the main DragonBar. See “View
options” on page 165.

Changing the DragonBar position
To change the position of the DragonBar, click the Dragon icon at the far left of the
DragonBar. A menu displays which lets you move the DragonBar as follows:
SELECT...

TO . . .

Docked to Top mode (default)

lock the DragonBar to the top of the screen

Docked to Bottom mode

lock the DragonBar to the bottom of the screen

Floating mode

freely position the DragonBar

Cling mode

make the DragonBar appear just above the window
into which you are dictating.

Tray Icon Only mode

hide the DragonBar completely and only display
the Microphone icon in the Windows task bar.

NOTE You can also hide the DragonBar by saying “Switch to Tray Icon Only Mode.” To make a
hidden DragonBar reappear, right-click on the small microphone in the lower right corner of the screen.
From the menu that appears, click Restore Previous DragonBar Mode.

Controlling Dragon NaturallySpeaking with voice commands
You can operate Dragon NaturallySpeaking with voice commands. For example, to
show the Extras toolbar, say “Show Extras Bar.” For a list of other voice commands
that control Dragon NaturallySpeaking, see “Controlling the DragonBar” in the
Appendix, page 174.

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Starting to Dictate

Using QuickStart
The NaturallySpeaking QuickStart taskbar tray icon
gives you quick access to
Dragon NaturallySpeaking and recent users. Right-clicking the QuickStart icon
displays the QuickStart menu. For example:

NOTE This option is installed at the end of Dragon NaturallySpeaking Setup process.

Enabling QuickStart
By enabling QuickStart, NaturallySpeaking launches automatically at system
startup time and adds the NaturallySpeaking icon to the Windows taskbar.
There are two ways to enable QuickStart:
■

During installation. The final installation screen includes the option to enable
QuickStart.

■

From the Options dialog box. From the Tools menu on the DragonBar, click
options and then click the Startup/Shutdown tab. To enable QuickStart, select
“Launch in QuickStart mode on Windows startup.” See page 26 for more
information.

You must re-start Windows for the QuickStart option to take effect.

Shutting off QuickStart
To permanently disable QuickStart, de-select it from the Startup/Shutdown tab of
the Options dialog box. You must re-start Windows for this option to take effect.

Temporarily Disabling QuickStart
To temporarily disable QuickStart, right-click the QuickStart taskbar tray icon
and select “Exit NaturallySpeaking QuickStart.” This removes the QuickStart
taskbar tray icon from the Windows taskbar. When you re-start Windows, the
QuickStart taskbar tray icon re-displays. You can also re-start QuickStart without restarting Windows by selecting Start->Programs->Startup->Dragon
NaturallySpeaking.

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Starting to Dictate

Using QuickStart
You access QuickStart by right-clicking the QuickStart taskbar tray icon. This
displays the QuickStart menu.
SELECT...

TO...

Start NaturallySpeaking

Start NaturallySpeaking
If you have only one user defined, NaturallySpeaking
opens with that user loaded. If you have more than one
user, the Open User dialog box displays and
NaturallySpeaking starts once you select a user to load.

Open User…

Display the Open User dialog box. Once you select (or
create) a user, NaturallySpeaking starts.

Open Recent User

Open a menu listing your most recently loaded users.

Help

Open the Help menu

Close DragonBar

Unload all users and closes the DragonBar

Exit NaturallySpeaking
QuickStart

Remove the QuickStart taskbar tray icon from the
Windows taskbar and closes NaturallySpeaking if it is
currently running. You must re-start Windows to re-start
the QuickStart feature.

If the QuickStart icon becomes unavailable for any reason, you can always start the
program from the Windows Start Menu.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

CHAPTER

Working on your Desktop
T

his chapter describes how to control almost everything on your computer with
Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice commands.

NOTE If you are using Microsoft® Windows NT® version 4, you will need Service Pack 6 or later in
order to be able to use most of the voice commands described in this chapter. If you are using
Microsoft® Windows NT® 4 with a Service Pack lower than 6, then you will not have Active Accessibility
installed on your system and an error message will appear. However, pressing keys by voice (page
32), and moving the mouse by voice (page 36) will work regardless of what Microsoft® Windows NT®
Service Pack you have.

Programs, documents and folders
Using voice commands, you can start programs and open documents and folders
that appear in your Start menu or desktop.
You can’t start Dragon NaturallySpeaking by voice. However, you can automatically
start Dragon NaturallySpeaking in sleep mode whenever you start Windows. See
“Startup/Shutdown options” on page 163 for more information.

Starting a program
To start a program from the Start menu, say “Start” and then the name of the
program exactly as it appears on the menu or submenu of the Start menu. You can
also say the name displayed below the icon on your desktop.
For example, to start Microsoft® Internet Explorer®, say “Start Internet Explorer.”

Opening documents and folders from the Start menu
To open a document or folder from the Start menu, say “Start” and then the name
of the document or folder exactly as it appears on the menu.
For example, to open a document named sales.doc, you could say “Start Sales dot
doc.” To open a document named journal.wpd, you could say “Start journal dot w p
d.”
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Working on your Desktop
To open a document or folder from your Windows® desktop, just say “Start” and
then the name below the icon. For example, to open a folder named “Projects,” say
“Start Projects.”

Say “Start Projects”

Switching between open windows
You can switch between the windows you have open by saying “Switch to” and then
say the name of the program or document window exactly as it appears in the title
bar.
For example, if Microsoft® Word® is running, you can switch to it by saying “Switch to
Microsoft word.”
You can also switch between open windows by saying “Switch to Previous Window”
(same as pressing ALT +TAB ) and “Switch to Next Window” (same as pressing
ALT +SHIFT +TAB ).
S AY T H I S

Switch to Next Window

Switch to the next application.

Switch to Previous Window

Switch to the previous application.

Switch to Microsoft Word

Make Microsoft® Word the active application.

Switch to (name of
application)

Switch to the open application you specify. Say the
name of the application as it appears in the title bar
of the application window.

Opening and closing menus
You can activate any menu by saying the menu name.

To open a menu:
1

Open a program window (for example, Microsoft® Word) and make it active.

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Say the name of the menu you want to open (for example, say “File”). If the
command does not work, try saying “Click” and then the name of the menu you
want to open (for example, say “Click File”).
Say “File or
“Click File”
Say “Save”

In this example, the File menu should open. If the command doesn’t work (for
example, if the word “click” is typed into your document), you may have
paused in the middle of the command.

Say the name of a menu item to activate it (for example, say “Save”).

To close a menu, say “Cancel.”

TIP To open the Start menu, say “Click Start” or “Click Start Menu.”
NOTE If commands are often typed into your document instead of recognized as commands, you
can make Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognize commands only when they are preceded by saying
“Click.” To do this, select the “Require ‘Click’ to select menu or control” check box on the Miscellaneous
tab of the Options dialog box, described on page 169.

Selecting buttons, tabs, and options
When Dragon NaturallySpeaking is running, you can select any button, check box,
text box, or other dialog box option you see by saying it’s name. If that doesn’t
work, say “Click” and then its name.
For example, to select a check box labeled “Toolbar,” say “Toolbar” or “Click
Toolbar.” To clear the check box (deselect it), say its name again.

Say “Wrap to window” or
“Click Wrap to window”

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Say
“Toolbar” or
“Click
Toolbar”

Working on your Desktop
You can select tabs by saying the name of the tab, alone or preceded by “Click.” In
the dialog box pictured, you could say “Options” or “Click Options” to select the
Options tab. You can also move between tabs by saying “Go to Next Tab” and “Go to
Previous Tab.”
NOTE In some programs, you may not be able to select dialog box items by saying their names. If
this happens, the following method of selecting items may work: say “Tab Key” repeatedly to move to
the item you want, then say “Press Space Bar” to select it. See also “Moving the mouse pointer and
clicking the mouse,” on page 36.

Selecting icons on the desktop
You can use voice commands to select icons on the Windows® desktop.

To select an icon on the desktop:
1

Switch to the Windows® desktop. To do this by voice, minimize all open
applications and place the mouse pointer over the desktop icon. Say “Mouse
Click” to make the desktop active.

Say the name of the icon (for example, “My Computer”). Dragon
NaturallySpeaking types the icon name and Windows® selects it.

To select another icon, say “Move” and then the direction (up, down, left, right)
and number of icons (up to 20).

For example, say “Move Right 1,” “Move Down 2,” or “Move Up 3.”
Say “My Computer”
to select My
Computer
Say “Move Right 1”
to select My
Briefcase

Say “Move Down 2”
to select Recycle Bin

After you select an icon, you can say “Press Enter” to start or open it and “Press Shift
F10” to display its menu (as if you right-clicked the icon with the mouse.)

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Working on your Desktop
You can also use voice commands for these actions. See “Marking and dragging
objects” on page 38.

Resizing and closing windows
To resize and close windows, say “Click” and then one of the following window
commands:
S AY T H I S

Click Minimize or
Click Control Menu
(pause) Minimize

Minimize the active window.

Click Maximize or
Click Control Menu
(pause) Maximize

Maximize the active window.

Click Restore or
Click Control Menu
(pause) Restore

Restore window to previous size.

Click Close or
Press ALT F4

Close the active program.

Press CTRL F4

Close the active document, not the whole
program (works in many programs).

Click Start Menu or
Click Start or
Press CTRL ESC

Open the Windows® Start Menu.

NOTE “Click” is NOT optional for the Control menu commands.
TIP If you have trouble getting Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize any of the window
commands, you can open the Control menu by saying “Click Control Menu” and then say them.

Scrolling in windows and list boxes
You can scroll vertically in a window (for example, an online Help window) or list
box by saying “Move Down” and “Move Up” and then a number of scroll bar arrow
clicks (up to 20). For example, say “Move Down 4” or “Move Up 10.”
You can scroll horizontally by saying “Move Left” and “Move Right” and then a
number of scroll bar arrow clicks (up to 20). For example, say “Move Left 10” or
“Move Right 5.”

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Opening lists and making selections
You can activate any list box by saying the list box name.

To open a list box:
1

Say the name of the list box you want to open.

Say "Show Choices," "Drop List," or "Open List." The list box opens to show all
the choices available in the list.

To make a selection from an open list
1

Say the full name of the selection.

Say "Move Down" or "Move Up" and the number of places your selection is from
the current selection.

Pressing keyboard keys
You can activate Windows® menus and controls by pressing keys. With Dragon
NaturallySpeaking you can “press” any key on your keyboard by voice. You can
press letters, numbers, modifier keys (SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT ), and so on.
You can say “Press,” “Press Key,” or “Type”—all three voice commands work the same
way.
NOTE “Scratch That” will not erase keystrokes dictated with the Press Key commands. You must
select the text by voice or mouse and delete it or say “Press Delete.”

Pressing letters
You can press any letter on your keyboard by saying “Press” and then the letter.
When you’re pressing letters, you must say “Press” before each one. For example, to
enter “txt,” say “Press t,” “Press x,” “Press t,” pausing between letters.
TIP You can also spell words using Spell mode. See “Switching Recognition Modes” on page 101 for
more information.

For similar-sounding letters (such as b, d, and v), you can use the International
Communications Alphabet (page 178) to “spell” the letter keys, for example, “Press
alpha” or “Press bravo” or say “Press d as in David,” and so on (you can also say “Press

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working on your Desktop
d for David,” and so on) as you would if you were spelling something to another
person over the phone.
SA Y

THEN

Press

a
b
any letter a–z or any international alphabet word alpha
through zulu
a as in Albert/Alice/alpha
b as in Bill/Buffalo/bravo
c as in Cathy/Carl/Charlie
d as in David/daughter/delta
e as in Edgar/enter/echo
f as in Frank/fancy/foxtrot
g as in George/gopher/golf
h as in Henry/helmet/hotel
i as in Iris/Ireland/India
j as in John/justice/Juliet
k as in Karen/kitchen/kilo
l as in Larry/lemon/lima
m as in Mickey/magic/Mike
n as in Nancy/nobody/November
o as in Otto/over/Oscar
p as in Paul/people/papa
q as in Quentin/question/Quebec
r as in Robert/Rachel/Romeo
s as in Sam/Singapore/sierra
t as in Terry/Tyler/tango
u as in Ursula/unit/uniform
v as in Valerie/visit/Victor
w as in Wendy/wake/whiskey
x as in Xavier/Xerxes/xray
y as in Yolanda/Yvonne/yankee
z as in Zachary/zookeeper/zulu
(you can also say “for” instead of “as in”)

NOTE You can say “Press c” or “Press Charlie” but you cannot say “Press Cathy” or “Press Carl.”

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Capitalizing a letter
You can capitalize a letter by saying “Press Cap” and then the letter.
For example, to enter “28K” say “twenty eight” and then “Press Cap K” (or “Press Cap
K for Karen”).

Pressing numbers
You can press numbers (0 to 9) by saying “Press” and then the number. For example,
say “Press 8.”

Pressing key combinations
When you’re pressing keys, you can press any combination of the modifier keys
(SHIFT, CTRL, and ALT ) at the same time as another key, such as a letter. For
example, you can say:
■

“Press Control Z” (undoes last action)

■

“Press Alt F” (opens File menu)

■

“Press Shift Tab” (moves backward through dialog box options)

NOTE Dragon NaturallySpeaking ignores the command “Press Control Alt Delete” (the keyboard
shortcut for restarting a computer).

Pressing function and numeric keypad keys
To press a function key (F1 to F12 ), say “Press Function” and then the name of the
key. For example, say “Press Function 1” to bring up the online Help.
To press the keys on the numeric keypad, say “Press Keypad” and then the name of
the key. For example, you can say “Press Keypad Minus” to press the keyboard
shortcut that opens the Correction Menu. See the complete list below:
SAY

THEN

Press

Keypad 1
Keypad 9 (you can say any number from 0 to 9)
All Dialects: Keypad Point (.)
US/Canada: Keypad Period (.)
Other Dialects: Keypad Full Stop (.)
Keypad Slash (/)
Keypad Asterisk (*)
Keypad Minus (-) (opens the Correction menu)

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SA Y

THEN

Keypad Plus (+) (turns the microphone on or off)
Keypad Star (*) (opens the NaturallySpeaking menu on the
DragonBar)
Keypad Enter
NOTE Num Lock must be on for the “Press Keypad” commands to work. You can say “Press Num
Lock” to turn Num Lock on.

Pressing other keys
Here’s a list of other keys you can press by voice:
SA Y

THEN

Press

Up Arrow
Down Arrow
Right Arrow
Left Arrow
Home Key
End Key
Page Up
Page Down
Insert Key
Delete Key
Control Key
Shift Key
Alt Key
Print Screen
Scroll Lock
Pause Key
Num Lock
Caps Lock

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Moving the mouse pointer and clicking
the mouse
Dragon NaturallySpeaking provides hands-free mouse control with MouseGrid and
the mouse motion voice commands. You can use these features to position the
mouse pointer anywhere on the screen, click the mouse buttons, and drag objects—
all by voice.

Moving the mouse pointer with MouseGrid
You can position the mouse pointer anywhere on the screen by using MouseGrid.
You can move the pointer relative to the full screen or the active window.

To use MouseGrid:
1

Say “MouseGrid” to place the MouseGrid over the full screen (as in this
example) or say “MouseGrid Window” to place it over the active window. For
example:

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Working on your Desktop
2

Say a grid number from 1 to 9 to position the pointer in that numbered area. In
this example, to position the pointer over the Recycle Bin, say “4.” A smaller
MouseGrid will appear in the chosen grid square.

To zoom in over the desired area, say another grid number. In this example, say
“4” to place the pointer over the Recycle Bin icon.

Continue to say the respective grid number to zoom in until the mouse pointer
is over an icon or other object. You can use voice commands to click the mouse
or mark and drag the object. See the following sections for instructions.

Say “4” to place
a smaller
MouseGrid over
grid square
number 4.

TIP You can undo the last MouseGrid action by saying “Undo That.”

To close MouseGrid, say “Cancel.”

Moving the pointer with the “Mouse” command
You can move the mouse pointer up, down, left, or right a short distance (a few
millimeters) by using the mouse pointer commands.
You can combine moving the mouse pointer and clicking the mouse in a single
voice command. For example, you can say “Mouse Up 3 Click” or “Mouse Right 2
Double Click.”

To move the pointer:
1

Say “Mouse” followed by the direction and number of times to move it (up to
10). For example, say “Mouse Up 5” or “Mouse Left 10.”

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2

When the pointer is over an icon or other object, you can use voice commands to
click the mouse or mark and drag the object.

Clicking the mouse
You can click, double-click, left-click, and right-click the mouse buttons by voice.

To click the mouse:
1

Position the mouse pointer over the object you want to select (for example, say
“MouseGrid 9 1” or “Mouse 2”).

Say “Mouse Click,” “Mouse Double Click,” “Mouse Left Click,” or “Mouse Right
Click.”

When an object is selected, you can mark and drag the object (as described in the
next section).

Marking and dragging objects
You can mark an object and drag it to a different location by voice.

To mark and drag an object:
1

Position the mouse over the icon or object you want to drag and then say “Mark”
(for example, say “MouseGrid 9 1 Mark”).

Move the mouse pointer to where you want to drag the object and then say
“Drag” (for example, say “MouseGrid 6 3 Drag”).

TIP Instead of “Drag,” you can also say “Control Drag” and “Shift Drag” to drag while holding
down the CTRL or SHIFT key.

Moving the pointer with the mouse motion commands
In addition to the mouse movement methods described above, you can also move
the mouse by using the mouse motion commands. Say, for example, “Move Mouse
Right.” The mouse pointer will begin moving to the right and will keep moving until
you say “Stop.”

Enabling the mouse motion commands
To use the mouse motion commands:
1 From the Tools menu on the DragonBar, choose Options and then the Startup/
Shutdown tab.
2

Select “Enable mouse motion commands” and click OK.

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3

Click the Speed button to choose how fast the mouse pointer moves when you
use a mouse motion command.

The mouse motion commands

Here is a summary of the available mouse motion commands.
SA Y

Move Mouse
Mouse Move
Drag Mouse
Mouse Drag

THEN A

THEN A SPEED

D IR E C T IO N

( O PT I ON AL )

Up
Down
Right
Left
Upper Left
Lower Left
Upper Right
Lower Right

Fast
Faster
Much Faster
Very Fast
Slow
Slower
Much Slower
Very Slow

While the mouse is moving, you can say any of the commands above. You can also
say:
■

“Stop” or “Cancel” to stop the mouse from moving

■

“Up,” “Down,” “Left,” “Right,” “Upper Left,” “Lower Left,” “Upper Right,” or
“Lower Right” to change the direction in which the mouse is moving

■

“Faster,” “Much Faster,” Slower,” or “Much Slower” to change the speed at which
the mouse is moving

■

“Click,” “Double Click, “Right Click,” or “Left Click” to click the mouse buttons

■

“Go to Sleep,” “Stop Listening,” or “Microphone Off” to turn the microphone off

To specify which mouse button (left, right, or center) is being held down during
mouse drags or if you want the SHIFT, CTRL , or ALT key held down during the
mouse drag, use one of these commands before saying one of the drag commands in
the table above:
■

Left

■

Middle (requires a three-button mouse)

■

Right

■

Shift

■

Control

■

Alt

■

Right Shift

■

Right Control

■

Right Alt

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working on your Desktop
For example, to drag with the SHIFT key held down, you could say “Shift Mouse Drag
Up.” To drag with the right ALT key held down (the ALT key on the right side of the
keyboard), you could say “Right Alt Drag Mouse Upper Left.”

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

CHAPTER

Correcting and Editing
W

hen Dragon NaturallySpeaking types the wrong words, you should correct
these mistakes. By giving the program the right word, you actually teach the
program not to make the same mistakes again.
Correcting mistakes requires some extra effort, but it saves you time in the long run
by making Dragon NaturallySpeaking more accurate. You’ll probably need to
correct mistakes often when you first start dictating, and then less frequently as the
program learns from your corrections.
Make it a habit to correct mistakes to continue to improve the accuracy of the
program. Make sure you save your speech files when prompted, to preserve the
adjustments the program makes.
TIP You must select a word before typing over it. Using the backspace key and retyping (or saying
“Scratch That”) will not enable the software to learn from corrections and improve recognition
accuracy. For accuracy to improve, you must first select text and then correct it or overwrite it with the
words you said.Mrs.

Correcting mistakes
There are a number of ways you can correct the misrecognitions in a document. The
following techniques describe the most basic methods, but you can combine these
techniques in any manner that suits your working style.

Correcting text with the keyboard
1

Move the insertion point to the beginning of the dictation you want to correct.

Press the Correction hot key to display the Correction menu. By default, this is
the minus (-) key on the numeric keypad. You can change the hot key
assignment on the Hot keys tab of the Options dialog box. You can also click
the Correction button on the Extras toolbar of the DragonBar.

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Correcting and Editing
3

If one of the alternatives is correct, press the Down Arrow key to highlight that
choice and then press Enter to accept it. If no alternative is correct, just type or
say the correct text.

Continue until all the text is correct.

Correcting text using voice commands
1

Say "Select" or “Correct” and the text that is incorrect, the Correction menu
appears with a number of alternatives.
■If

one alternative is correct, say "Choose" and the number of that alternative.

■If

none of the alternatives is correct, say "Spell That," spell the correct word or
words into the Spell dialog box, and then say "OK."
Selecting a large amount of text or an entire document and then saying “Spell
That” can produce unpredictable results.
2

Verify that the correct text appears in the document in place of the
misrecognized text and continue to the next misrecognition.

Correcting text while playing back dictation (Preferred and
higher editions)

Move the insertion point to the beginning of the dictation you want to correct.

Click Play That Back on the Sound menu of the DragonBar or click the Start
Playback button on the Extras toolbar. You can also say, “Play that back”.

When the playback of your dictation reaches a recognition error, press the
correction hot key. By default, this is the minus (-) key on the numeric keypad.

If one of the alternatives is correct, press the Down Arrow key to highlight that
choice and then press Enter to accept it. If no alternative is correct, just type or
say the correct text and press the Correction hot key again. Playback will
continue automatically from the point where you stopped.

Continue until all the text is correct.

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Correcting and Editing

Using the Correction menu
The Correction menu shows Dragon NaturallySpeaking’s best guess of the
alternatives to the words you dictated and selected.
In the following example, Dragon NaturallySpeaking heard the word “quick” as
“clinic.”

Say “Choose 2” to
replace “clinic” with
“quick.”
You can also say
“Spell That” to spell a
word or “Cap That”
to capitalize it.

In this example, you would choose the correct word from the Correction menu by
saying “Choose” and the number next to your choice.
TIP You can change the number of choices displayed to you. In the Options dialog box, click the
Correction tab and increase the number in “Show no more than n choices.” If you want to display your
choices without the Correction menu taking up too much space on the screen, select the “Show only the
choices” option. See “Correction options” on page 162.

When the Correction menu list appears, you can also choose to:
■

spell the word (in this example, say “Spell That q-u-i-c-k”). Selecting a large
amount of text and then saying “Spell That” can produce unpredictable results.

■

Pressing the Correction hot key (-) while the Correction menu is open will
display the Spell Dialog box.

■

listen to a recording of what you just said (say “Play That Back”)

■

capitalize it (say “Cap That,” in this example, to get “Clinic”)

■

say “Unselect That” to cancel the selection and close (dismiss) the Correction
menu

■

ignore the Correction list and keep dictating (in the example above, just say
“quick,” which replaces the selected text)

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TIP If you prefer not to see the Correction menu every time you select text by voice, you can turn it
off. In the Options dialog box, click the Correction tab to display the Correction options, then clear the
check box “‘Select’ commands bring up Correction menu.”

To help you quickly find the alternative you want, the recognition choices in the
Correction menu appear in boldface where they differ from the word you’ve
selected. (This is only applicable when you’ve selected more than one word at a
time.)

The words that are
different from the
selection appear in
bold, to help you find
the correct alternative
quickly.

If you select any leading or trailing spaces (including paragraph marks) along with
the text you want to correct, choosing one of the alternatives in the Correction dialog
box deletes those leading and trailing spaces.

Correcting Punctuation
Note the following when correcting punctuation:

■

When you select a phrase (more than one word) that has punctuation, make sure
to dictate that punctuation. For example, say you initially dictated, "Today is
Thursday I have a meeting at 11 o'clock" and the text was transcribed as "Today
is Thursday, I have a meeting at 11 o'clock." If you want to change the comma to
a period, say "Select Thursday comma". If the correct punctuation appears in the
Correction dialog box, select it. Otherwise you can dictate over the selection, for
example by saying "Thursday period".

■

When you select punctuation, the Correction menu may include alternate
punctuation. For example:

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Correcting and Editing
■

If Natural Punctuation is turned on, when you select a phrase that has
punctuation added by NaturallySpeaking, the choices will include punctuation
changes. For example:

NOTE When you select a word that has adjacent punctuation added by the Natural Punctuation
feature, the selection will extend to include that punctuation.

Selecting text by voice
Using Select-and-Say®
You can revise your dictation without correcting it by selecting the text using the
“Select” command and then saying new words to replace the selected text.

To use Select-and-Say®:
1

Dictate the sentence below:
US/Canada: Let’s meet for lunch on Tuesday [period]
Other Dialects: Let’s meet for lunch on Tuesday [full stop]

Say “Select lunch on Tuesday.” The words “lunch on Tuesday” should be
highlighted on the screen.

Say “dinner on Wednesday.” These words should replace “lunch on Tuesday.”

Since “Tuesday” and “Wednesday” sound completely different, Dragon
NaturallySpeaking will know you are not correcting a recognition mistake but rather
revising your dictated text.
TIP You can also select punctuation marks.

Say: “Select period” (US/Canada) or “Select full stop” (Other Dialects). If there’s
more than one period or full stop, you can say “Select Again” to select a different
one.

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Correcting and Editing
5

To replace the period or full stop with an exclamation mark, say “exclamation
mark.”

TIP It is often easier for Dragon NaturallySpeaking to find the matching text if you select a short
phrase rather than individual words. If you select some words that are already correct, just say them
again along with the ones you want to change.

Selecting the same text again
If the words you’re trying to select appear more than once on the screen and Dragon
NaturallySpeaking selects the wrong ones, just say “Select Again.” The program then
looks for another instance of the same word or words.
You can also say “Select Again” if Dragon NaturallySpeaking selects a word that
sounds like the word you want, but is not the correct one (for example, “two”
instead of “too”).

Unselecting words
If the wrong text is selected, say “Unselect That.”
You can also “unselect” words by moving your insertion point (by mouse or voice) to
another part of your document. For example, say “Go to End of Line” or click
somewhere else in your document.

Selecting a longer phrase
You can select a longer phrase by saying “Select [text] Through [text]” (US/Canada) or
“Select [text] To [text]” (Other Dialects). For [text], substitute the actual word or words
at the beginning and the end of the range of wrong words. For example, you could
correct the underlined words in the following sentence:
With a little practice, who will develop a habit of dictating an unclear, steady voice,
and the computer will understand you better.
by saying:
(US/Canada) “Select who Through unclear” or “Select who will Through an unclear”
(Other Dialects) “Select who To unclear” or “Select who will To an unclear”

Then dictate the correct text:
“you will develop the habit of dictating in a clear”
The final corrected sentence reads:

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Correcting and Editing
With a little practice, you will develop the habit of dictating in a clear, steady voice,
and the computer will understand you better.
NOTE If you’re correcting more than one word, the words must all be in sequence (next to each
other). You can’t use a single command to correct words that are in different parts of your document.

Selecting your whole document
To select all the text in your document, say “Select Document” or “Select All.” This
command is useful when you want to change the font or the way text is aligned.
When you want to copy all the text in a document to another window, the easiest
way to do it is with the “Copy All to Clipboard” command. (See “Copying text to
other programs,” on page 50.)
NOTE When a lot of text is selected, the “Scratch That” and “Cut That” commands don’t work, nor
can you overwrite the selection by dictating new text. This prevents you from accidentally deleting a
large part of your document. To remove a large selection, you can say “Delete That” instead.

Selecting an entire paragraph or line
You can select the current paragraph by saying “Select Paragraph.” To select the
current line, say “Select Line.”
You can also select a number of paragraphs or lines (up to 20). For example, you can
say “Select Previous 5 Paragraphs.”
SA Y

THEN

Select

Paragraph

2...20 Paragraphs

Forward

Line

Back

2.20 Lines

Last

Selecting a word or character
You can select the current word by saying “Select Word.” To select a character, say
“Select Next Character” or “Select Previous Character.”
You can also select a number of words or characters (up to 20). For example, say
“Select Previous 2 Words.”
SA Y

THEN

Select

Word

2...20 Words

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Correcting and Editing

SAY

THEN

Forward

Character

Back

2...20 Characters

Last

Moving around in a document
When you’re editing a document, you can move around in it by voice. After you
place the insertion point where you want it, you can dictate more text, select text,
copy and paste, or apply formatting.

Going to the top or bottom of a page or document
You can move to the top or bottom of the current page by saying “Page Up”
(equivalent to pressing the PAGE UP key) or “Page Down” (equivalent to pressing the
PAGE DOWN key).
You can move to the top or bottom of your document by saying “Go to Top” or “Go to
Bottom.”
SAY

THEN

Go to

Top

Move to

Bottom
Top of Document
Beginning of Document
Start of Document
Bottom of Document
End of Document

Going to the beginning or end of a line
You can move to the beginning or end of the current line by saying “Go to Beginning
of Line” or “Go to End of Line.”
SAY

THEN

Go to

Beginning of Line

Move to

Start of Line
End of Line

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Correcting and Editing

Placing the insertion point before or after a specific word
You can place the insertion point before a specific word by saying “Insert Before” and
then the word or words. You can place the insertion point after a word by saying
“Insert After” and then the word or words.
After you move the insertion point where you want it, you can dictate more text,
paste text, add punctuation, and so on.

To place the insertion point before a specific word:
To move the insertion point before the word “lets” in the sentence below, say
“Insert Before lets” (or “Insert Before lets me talk”). Remember not to pause between
any of the words.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets me talk instead of type.

To place the insertion point after a specific word:
To move the insertion point after the word “talk” in the sentence below, say “Insert
After talk” (or “Insert After lets me talk”).
Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets me talk instead of type.

Moving up or down a paragraph or line
You can move up or down a paragraph by saying “Move Up a Paragraph” or “Move
Down a Paragraph.” You can also move up and down a number of paragraphs (up to
20). For example, you can say “Move Up 3 Paragraphs.”
You can move up or down a line by saying “Move Up a Line” or “Move Down a Line.”
You can also move up and down a number of lines (up to 20). For example, you can
say “Move Down 3 Lines.”:
SA Y

THEN

Move

a Paragraph or 1 Paragraph

Back

2...20 Paragraphs

Down

a Line or 1 Line

Forward

2...20 Lines

Moving right or left a word or character
You can move to the right or left of a word by saying “Move Right a Word” or “Move
Left a Word.” You can also move right or left a number of words (up to 20). For
example, you can say “Move Right 3 Words.”
You can move to the next or previous character by saying “Move Right a Character” or
“Move Left a Character.” You can also move forward and backward a number of
Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Correcting and Editing
characters (up to 20). For example, you can say “Move Left 4 Characters” or “Move
Back 6 Characters.”
SAY

THEN

Move

Right

a Word or 1 Word

Forward

2...20 Words

Left

a Character or 1 Character

Back

2...20 Characters

Copying, cutting, and pasting text
You can move text from one place to another by using the “Copy That,” “Cut That,”
and “Paste That” commands.

To copy, cut, or paste text:
1

Select the text you want to copy or cut.

Say “Copy That” or “Cut That.”

Move the insertion point to where you want to paste the text.

Say “Paste That.”

Deleting text
Deleting the last words you dictated
You can erase the last words you dictated by saying “Scratch That.” When you say
this command, Dragon NaturallySpeaking deletes the last thing it typed into your
document. This may be a full sentence, a phrase, or just one word, if that’s all you
said before pausing.
You can say “Scratch That” up to 10 times to delete the last few things you said. If
you repeat the command, you must pause before saying it again. You can also say, for
example, “Scratch That 5 Times.”

Going back as you dictate
When you’re dictating, sometimes you may hesitate or think of a better way to say
something right after you’ve said it. When this happens, you can use the “Resume
With” command to return to where you were before the mistake.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Correcting and Editing
Just say “Resume With” followed immediately by the word or words to which you
want to return. Then, continue dictating. Any text after the new position of the
insertion point will be replaced with your new dictation.
NOTE When using the “Resume With” command, remember not to pause in the middle. Say
“Resume With” and then immediately say the words to which you want to return. These words must be
in the last three or four sentences (100 characters) you said; you can’t use “Resume With” to return to
an earlier part of your document.

To go back as you dictate:
1

Suppose you dictate this sentence: “I have a deadline this week, but we could meet
for lunch… um… er… next Wednesday.”

To correct the sentence, return to the last correct words you remember
dictating. For example, say “Resume With meet for lunch.” (Remember not to
pause in the middle.)

Then, dictate the rest of the sentence. For example, say “next Wednesday at
noon.”

Deleting specific words
You can delete text by selecting it and saying “Delete That.”

To delete text:
1

Select the text you want to delete.

Say “Delete That.”

You can also say “Scratch That” to do the same thing.

Deleting the next or previous paragraph or line
You can delete the next or previous paragraph by saying “Delete Next Paragraph” or
“Delete Previous Paragraph.” You can delete the next or previous line by saying
“Delete Next Line” or “Delete Previous Line.”
You can also delete a number of paragraphs or lines (up to 20). For example, you can
say “Delete Previous 5 Paragraphs.” See the complete list below:
SA Y

THEN

Delete

Paragraph

2...20 Paragraphs

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Correcting and Editing

SAY

THEN

Forward

Line

Back

2...20 Lines

Last

Deleting the next or previous word or character
You can delete the next or previous word by saying “Delete Next Word” or “Delete
Previous Word.” You can delete the next or previous character by saying “Delete Next
Character” or “Delete Previous Character.”
You can also delete a number of words or characters (up to 20). For example, you can
say “Delete Previous 5 Words.” See the complete list below:
SAY

THEN

Delete

Word

Forward

2...20 Words

Character

Back

2...20 Characters

Last

2...20 Characters

NOTE Another way to delete the previous character is by saying “Backspace.” This is equivalent to
pressing the BACKSPACE key. You can “press” it multiple times (up to 20) by saying, for example,
“Backspace 5.”

Spelling as you dictate
With the Spell command in Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you can easily spell a word
or phrase you want to dictate into your document. This can be useful if you are
dictating a word that is not likely to be in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary,
such as a proprietary term, a proper name, or a non-English word. Say, for example,
“Spell b-u-o-n space g-i-o-r-n-o.” The word you spelled appears right in your
document.
You must say “Cap” if the word contains a capital letter. For example, say “Spell Cap
R-u-m-p-e-l-s-t-i-l-s-k-i-n” to type “Rumpelstilskin.”

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Correcting and Editing
If you say “Spell” by itself, without any letters after it, the Spell dialog box opens.

You can then speak the letters and Dragon NaturallySpeaking will type them or you
can correct any errors in the word you spelled.
When spelling, you can say numbers and special characters as well as letters. For
example, to dictate an automobile license plate number, you could say “Spell y-h-m6-0-9.” Dragon NaturallySpeaking would type “yhm609.” Say “Spell Cap-m-a-c-m-il-l-a-n-trademark” to get “MacMillan™” in your document.
Spelling a word adds that word to the active vocabulary. Words that contain
numbers are not added to the vocabulary.
TIP To dictate unusual text such as automobile license plate numbers or product codes, you can also
switch to Spell mode by saying “Switch To Spell Mode,” and then dictate letters.

You can make the Spell dialog box appear whenever you use the Spell command by
setting the “Spell” commands bring up the Spell dialog box option on the Correction tab
in the Options dialog box. See page 161 for more information.
You can also access the Spell dialog box when using the "Select" or “Correct”
commands.
For a list of how to spell special characters, see the Spelling topic in the online Help
or the “Commands List” on page 173.

Playing back your dictation
(Preferred and higher)
Playback commands work in the DragonPad, Microsoft Word 97, 2000 and 2002,
Corel WordPerfect 8 and 9, and Lotus Notes.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Correcting and Editing
Although Dragon NaturallySpeaking never makes a spelling mistake, the mistakes it
does make can be challenging to find and fix. Sometimes, what the program types
looks very different from what you actually said.
To make correcting mistakes easier, Dragon NaturallySpeaking records your voice
as you dictate. You can play back your voice whenever you cannot tell by looking at
your document what you originally said.
NOTE Unless you have Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional or a higher edition, playback is
available only until you close a document. After you close a document, Dragon NaturallySpeaking
deletes the recorded dictation for that document. See page 56 for information on saving dictation for
later correction (Professional and higher editions).

Playing back dictation in the Correction dialog box
When you’re working in the Correction dialog box, click the Play Back button or say
“Play Back” to play the dictation that goes with the words you’re correcting. Then
edit the text to match what you said.
You can set up Dragon NaturallySpeaking to play back dictation automatically
whenever you open the Correction dialog box. On the NaturallySpeaking menu,
point to Advanced, click Options, and then click the Correction tab. Select
“Automatic playback on correction.”
Sometimes, there’s no dictation to play back. For example, you cannot play back
text that wasn’t entered by voice, such as words you typed or pasted into your
document.
NOTE Even when you have entered text by voice, you cannot play it back after you have cut it,
copied it, pasted it, or otherwise moved it around in the document.

If you have Dragon Naturally Speaking Professional or a higher edition, you can save
your dictation with your document for later playback (see “Dictate now, correct
later” on page 56). Otherwise, you cannot play back dictation after closing a
document.
If dictation is not available, the Play Back button is dimmed (grayed out). When
playback is not available, you may find text-to-speech useful for checking your work.
See “Using text-to-speech” on page 57.

Playing back dictation in a document
To help you check your work for mistakes, you can play back a line, a paragraph, a
selection, or the whole document. After playback starts, you can stop it as soon as
you notice a mistake and automatically open the Correction dialog box.

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The Playback toolbar is an extra section of the DragonBar that is normally hidden.
To see the Playback toolbar, click the double chevron icon
on the DragonBar to
open the Extras toolbar (Preferred and higher editions).
Start Playback

Correction

Stop Playback

Fast Playback

Skip Forward

Skip Back

Transcribe

To play back dictation:
To play back dictation, do any of the following:
■

Select the text you want to play back, and say “Play That Back.”

■

Click the Start Playback button on the Playback toolbar.

■

Move the insertion point to the text you want to play back and say any of the
following commands:
SAY

Play Back Line

Play back dictation for the current line.

Play Back Paragraph

Play back dictation for the current paragraph.

Play Back Document

Play back dictation for the whole document.

Play Back Window

Play back dictation for the text in view.

Play Back to Here

Play back dictation from the top of the document
window to the insertion point.

Play Back from Here

Play back dictation from the insertion point to the
bottom of the document window.

To stop playback:
To stop playback, do any of the following:
■

Click the Stop Playback button on the Playback toolbar.

■

Click anywhere in the document window.

■

Press the ESC key.

(It’s not possible to stop playback by voice, because the computer cannot hear
speech input when it’s playing back dictation.)

To skip backward or forward:
You can skip backward or forward in your document by a few words by clicking the
Skip Backward and Skip Forward buttons. To skip backward or forward, do one of
the following:

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

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To stop playback and correct a mistake:
To stop playback and correct a mistake, do any of the following:
■

Click the Correction button on the Playback toolbar.

■

Press the minus (-) key on the numeric keypad.

This stops playback and simultaneously opens the Correction dialog box. There you
can correct the text for the last phrase played back.
NOTE By default, Dragon NaturallySpeaking stores about 30 minutes of dictation (40 MB). If you
want to be able to store more dictation, you can change the amount of disk space that’s set aside for
storing it. On the NaturallySpeaking menu, point to Advanced, click Options, and then click the
Miscellaneous tab. Increase the number in the “Disk space reserved for speech data” box.

Dictate now, correct later
When you dictate into the DragonPad, you can save your dictation with your text so
either you or someone else can correct it later. You must create and edit your file in
the DragonPad to be able to play back dictation. This feature is available in Dragon
NaturallySpeaking Professional and higher editions.
You can save dictation with your document if you select the Prompt to Save
Dictation with Document box on the Startup/Shutdown tab of the Options dialog.
The first time you save a document in DragonPad during an editing session, Dragon
NaturallySpeaking asks you whether you want to save your speech data. If you save
your speech data, you can reopen the document at a later time and play back your
dictation. If you do not save your speech data, your dictation is stored only during
the current editing session.
Correcting your own dictation

If you save your dictation, you can open your file later and play back and correct the
text as if you had just dictated it.
Correcting someone else's dictation

You can play back someone else's dictation and correct the text to match the
dictation. You can do this in two ways:
■

You can correct the dictation using your user files.

■

You can correct the dictation using the document author's user files.

Correcting with your user files

You should use this correction technique if you regularly correct another person's
text by voice and it is not important to maximize the author's recognition accuracy.
When you use your user files, you can correct the dictation just as you would correct
your own dictation, using any combination of voice commands and keyboard typing.
Even though you are correcting someone else's dictation, your work won't reduce
56

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recognition accuracy for either you or the person who dictated the text. But your
corrections to the other person's dictation won't improve recognition either.
Correcting with the document author's user files

You should use this correction technique if you do not need to correct by voice and
it is important to maximize the author's recognition accuracy.
TIP This technique works if all work is done on a single computer. Consult your Dragon
NaturallySpeaking reseller about ways to dictate on one computer and correct on another.

If you correct dictation using the author’s user files, you must not correct by voice,
or you may reduce that person’s recognition accuracy. You can, however, improve
the author’s recognition accuracy if you make corrections by using the keyboard and
mouse with the Quick Correct list or Correction dialog box. See the following
procedure for details.

To correct using someone else's user files:
1

Make sure you are not wearing the microphone headset, or that the microphone
is not turned on or plugged in. This will ensure that you don't accidentally
reduce the accuracy of someone else's user files by using your voice.

Make sure the DragonPad Extras toolbar is displayed so you can see the
playback command buttons.

Open the user files of the person whose text you will correct.

In DragonPad, open the document to correct.

Use the buttons on the Extras toolbar to play back dictation.

Select the text you want to correct by mouse or keyboard.

Press the correction hot key (normally the minus [-] key on the numeric key
pad) or click the Correct button on the DragonBar Extras toolbar. The Quick
Correct list or Correction dialog box appears with the selected text.

Use the keyboard to correct the text.

Save the text and the user's speech files when you are done.

Using text-to-speech
Text-to-speech is available in Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred and higher
editions.

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You can use text-to-speech to have text on your screen (not your current dictation)
read aloud in a computer voice. For example, you can have a document that you (or
someone else) dictated read back while you listen for mistakes and sections you may
want to revise.
Text-to-speech is available only in the DragonPad, Microsoft Word, and Corel
WordPerfect. You can, however, copy and paste text from other programs and then
use text-to-speech.

To start text-to-speech:
To start text-to-speech, do any of the following:
■

Select the text you want to hear (a line, a paragraph, and so on), and then say
“Read That.”

■

Select the text you want to hear, and then select Read That from the Advanced
submenu (or right-click in your document and click Read That from the
shortcut menu).

■

Move the insertion point to the text you want to hear and say any of the
following commands:
SAY

Read Line

Read back the current line.

Read Paragraph

Read back the current paragraph.

Read Document

Read back the whole document.

Read Window

Read back the text in view.

Read to Here

Read back from the top of the document window to the
insertion point.

Read from Here

Read back from the insertion point to the bottom of the
document window.

To stop text-to-speech:
To stop text-to-speech, do any of the following:
■

From the NaturallySpeaking menu, point to Advanced and click Stop Playback/
Reading.

■

Right-click in your document and click Stop Playback/Reading from the
shortcut menu.

■

Press the ESC key.

You can control the speed, pitch, volume, and other text-to-speech settings. From
the NaturallySpeaking menu, point to Advanced, click Options, and then click the
Text-to-speech tab.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Correcting and Editing

Notes on correcting with another author’s user files
This technique works if all work is done on a single computer. Consult your Dragon
NaturallySpeaking reseller about ways to dictate on one computer and correct on
another.
To display the DragonBar Extras toolbar, click the double chevron icon
on the
DragonBar. You cannot display the Extras toolbar if the DragonBar is in cling
mode.
In the Quick Correct list, you can use the mouse or keyboard to select any of the
commands displayed below the correction choices. For example, you can click
“Spell That” to open the Correction dialog box and spell the word.
You may want to select the following on the Correction tab of the Options dialog
box:
■

“Correct” command brings up Correction dialog box

■

Automatic playback on correction box

With these settings, Dragon NaturallySpeaking will automatically play back the
author's dictation for each text selection you correct. The Quick Correct list does
not play back dictation.
When you correct someone else's dictation, make sure that the amount of disk space
you have reserved for storing dictation is at least as large as the amount allocated for
the user that created the text. You allocate the disk space on the Miscellaneous tab
of the Options dialog box.
Saving dictation with documents can take up a lot of disk space, typically more than
a megabyte per minute of dictation. To save this space, delete any dictation you no
longer need. Dragon NaturallySpeaking saves dictation in a file with the same name
as the document, but with the extension .dra. For example, if you dictate a
document called MyDoc.rtf and save your dictation, Dragon NaturallySpeaking
saves your dictation in a file called MyDoc.dra in the same directory as your
document.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Correcting and Editing

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

CHAPTER

Formatting
Y

ou can bold text, change font sizes and styles, capitalize text, and apply other
formatting by voice.

Many Dragon NaturallySpeaking formatting commands work for text that is
selected (highlighted) in your document. To select text by voice, say “Select” plus
the words you want to select. See “Selecting text by voice” on page 45 for
information.

Types of commands
Most of the commands listed in this chapter are global—they are available in
virtually every application. In addition to the global commands listed here,
Dragon NaturallySpeaking includes many commands for editing and
formatting that work in common applications. For more information on
finding these commands see page 103.
NOTE You can change the formatting properties of a word (such as whether Dragon
NaturallySpeaking should type a space before or after the word, or whether the word is capitalized in
a title) by using the Word Properties dialog box, described in “Changing word properties” on page
126.

Capitalizing text
Capitalizing the first letter of the next word you dictate
Dragon NaturallySpeaking capitalizes many words automatically. It capitalizes the
first word in a sentence (following a period, question mark, or exclamation mark). It
capitalizes the first word after you say “New Paragraph” (though not when you say
“New Line”) and it capitalizes proper names (when these words are already in the
Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary in capitalized form).
NOTE You can change the spacing and capitalization rules for a word in the Word Properties
dialog box. See “Changing word properties“ on page 126 for more information.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Formatting
When you’re dictating, you can capitalize words that aren’t automatically capitalized
by saying “Cap” and then the word. For example, say “Cap zelda” to get “Zelda.”
TIP If saying “Cap ” doesn’t work, try say “Cap Next .”
TIP To dictate the word “cap,” for example, in this sentence: “The company is putting a cap on
salary increases,” you must say “the company is putting a” then say “Spell c-a-p,” and then say “on
salary increases.” In this way, Dragon NaturallySpeaking knows that you do not want to capitalize any
of the words within the sentence.

Capitalizing consecutive words
When you want to capitalize consecutive words (for example, if you’re dictating a
book title), you can turn capitals on and then turn them off when you’re finished.
This is usually easier than saying “Cap” before each word. Another way to do
consecutive capitalization is to dictate the words, pause, and then say “Capitalize
That” or “Cap That.”

To capitalize consecutive words:
1

Say “Caps On” to turn capitals on.
NOTE When “Caps On” is active, Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses title case. This means it
capitalizes all words except for articles and prepositions (such as “the” and “to”).

Dictate the words you want capitalized. For example, say: “success is a journey
[colon] seven steps to achieving success in the business of life”
Dragon NaturallySpeaking types: “Success Is a Journey: Seven Steps to
Achieving Success in the Business of Life”

Say “Caps Off” to turn capitals off.

Dictating the next word in all capital letters
When you’re dictating, you can enter a word in all capital letters by saying “All Caps”
and then the word.
For example, say “All Caps please” to get “PLEASE.”

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Formatting

Dictating consecutive words in all capital letters
When you want to dictate consecutive words in all capitals, you can turn all capitals
on and then turn them off when you’ve finished.

To dictate consecutive words in all capitals:
1

Say “All Caps On” to turn all capitals on (like pressing the CAPS LOCK key).

Dictate the words that you want to appear in all caps. For example, say “the
end”. Dragon NaturallySpeaking types “THE END”

Say “All Caps Off” to turn all capitals off.

Dictating the next word in all lowercase letters
When you’re dictating, you can enter a word in all lowercase letters by saying “No
Caps” and then the word.
For example, say “No Caps Jennifer” to get “jennifer.” (Dragon NaturallySpeaking
normally capitalizes this and other proper names.)

Dictating consecutive words in all lowercase letters
When you want to dictate consecutive words in lowercase letters (for example,
names of computer files or e-mail addresses), you can turn the “no capitals” feature
on and then turn it off when you are finished. This is usually easier than saying “No
Caps” before each word.

To dictate consecutive words in all lowercase letters:
1

Say “No Caps On” to turn no capitals on.

Dictate the words you want to appear in all lowercase.

Say “No Caps Off” to turn no capitals off.

Capitalizing (or uncapitalizing) text already in your document
You can change the capitalization of text already in your document by selecting it
and then saying “Capitalize That,” “Cap That,” or “All Caps That,” or “Uncapitalize
That,” “Uncap That,” or “No Caps That.”

To capitalize or uncapitalize text:
1

Select the text you want to change.

Say “Capitalize That,” “Cap That,” or “All Caps That,” or “Uncapitalize That,”
“Uncap That,” or “No Caps That.”

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Formatting

Formatting text
You can use voice commands to specify any combination of font name, size, and
style, in that order. These commands change text you dictate from then on or text
you have selected.
To set a new style for text you are about to dictate, use the “Set Font” and “Set Size”
commands. To change the style of text you have already selected, use the “Format
That” command.

Changing the font as you dictate
While dictating, you can change the font face, size, and style by saying “Set Font”
followed by the font attributes you want. For example, you can say “Set Font Times”
or “Set Font Arial 12 Bold.” When you continue dictating, the new text appears with
the font attributes you set.
Changing font face
SAY

THEN

Set Font

Arial
Courier
Courier New
Garamond
Helvetica
Palatino
Times
Times New Roman

Changing font size

Say “Set Size” and then a size from 4 to 100 points. For example, say “Set Size 18.”
Then, continue dictating.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Formatting
Changing font style
SA Y

THEN

Set Font

Bold
Italics
Bold Italics
Underline
Strikeout
Plain or Plain Text or Normal or Regular

Changing a combination of font face, size, and style

Say “Set Font” and then the attributes you want (listed in the previous sections).
You can specify any combination of font face, size, and style, but you must specify
these attributes in that order (font face, then size, then style). See the list of
examples below:
■

“Set Font Arial”

■

“Set Font Arial 12” or “Set Font Arial 12 Point”

■

“Set Size 12 Bold”

■

“Set Font Arial Bold”

■

“Set Font Bold”

NOTE If you’re changing only the font size, use the “Set Size” commands, not the “Set Font”
command.

Changing the font later
You can go back and change the font face, size, or style of text by selecting it and
then using the “Format That” commands. “Format That” works on selected text
with the same combinations of font face, size, and style as the “Set Font” commands
(see the tables in the previous section.)

To change the font:
1

Select the text you want to change.

Say “Format That” and then the font attributes you want to apply as described
in the previous section. For example, say “Format that Arial 18.”

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Formatting

Bold, italics, and underlining
You can apply formatting to text in your document by selecting it and then saying
“Bold That,” “Italicize That,” or “Underline That.” You can also say “Strikeout That.”

To add bold, italics, and underlining:
1

Select the text you want to change.

Say “Bold That,” “Italicize That,” Underline That,” or “Strikeout That.”

To remove formatting:
1

Select the text you want to change.

Say “Restore That” to remove formatting.

Aligning text
You can change how text is aligned by placing your insertion point in the text and
saying “Center That,” “Left Align That,” or “Right Align That.”

To align text:
1

Move the insertion point to the text you want to align.

Say “Center That,” “Left Align That,” or “Right Align That.”

You can also use the following commands on selected text: “Format That Centered,”
“Format That Left Aligned,” and “Format That Right Aligned.”

Bulleted text
To add bullets to text, place your insertion point in the text and say “Format that
Bullet Style.” To remove bullets, say “Format that Bullet Style” again.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

CHAPTER

Working with Applications
T

his chapter describes using Dragon NaturallySpeaking with most popular email programs, Microsoft® Internet Explorer, Microsoft® Word, and Microsoft®
Excel.

NOTE If you are using Microsoft® Windows NT® version 4, you will need Service Pack 6 or later in
order to be able to use most of the voice commands described in this chapter. If you are using
Microsoft® Windows NT® 4 with a Service Pack lower than 6, then you will not have Active Accessibility
installed on your system and an error message will appear. However, pressing keys by voice (page
34), and moving the mouse by voice (page 38) will work regardless of what Microsoft® Windows NT®
Service Pack you have.

What can I say?
Saying “What Can I Say?” will bring up the Sample Commands window.
The Sample Command window displays a small selection of useful
commands that Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognizes for the current
context, whether it is a particular program you are using or the Windows
desktop.
For more information, see “What Can I Say?” on page 21.

Working with e-mail
Dragon NaturallySpeaking contains built-in commands for the following e-mail
applications:
■

America Online® versions 6, 7, and 8. Only one version of version 8 is
supported. Please check our Web site for the correct version information:
www.ScanSoft.com/NaturallySpeaking/support/

■

Microsoft® Outlook® versions 97, 98, 2000, and 2002 (Professional and higher
editions)

■

Microsoft® Outlook® Express versions 5 and 6 (Professional and higher editions)

■

Lotus® Notes® 5 and 6 (Professional and higher editions)

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications
The e-mail commands described in this chapter are designed to work in these five
applications. To use them, make sure Dragon NaturallySpeaking and your e-mail
application are both running.

If you use a different e-mail program
If you use an e-mail application that is not listed above, you can still
compose, edit, and send e-mail using the global (use anywhere) commands
described in “Working on your Desktop” on page 27.
TIP If you use Microsoft® Outlook®, Outlook® Express, or Lotus® Notes®, you can add the contact
names in your address book to your vocabulary, which improves accuracy when you dictate these
names. You can also have Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically scan your sent e-mail messages so
it can better learn your writing style. For instructions on how to do this, see “Increase accuracy from email” on page 121.

Checking for new e-mail
To check for new mail, say “Check For New Mail” or “Check For E-Mail.” You must be
connected to the Internet to check your e-mail.
TIP You can say “Mail,” “Message,” “Memo,” or “E-Mail” interchangeably in any of the e-mail
commands.

Opening and closing e-mail
To open an e-mail message, select it and say “Open Mail” or “Open That.” To close
an open message, say “Close Mail.”
TIP You can also move to the message and select it by “pressing” function and arrow keys by voice
(see “Pressing keyboard keys” on page 32) or using the mouse movement commands (see page 36).

Composing e-mail
To compose a new message, say “New Mail” or “New Message.” Once the new blank
message appears, you can navigate to any field by voice and start dictating.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications

To navigate e-mail fields:
SA Y

THEN

Go to or

To Field

Move to

CC Field
BCC Field
Body Field
First Field
Last Field
Next Field

To dictate an e-mail message:
1

Say “New Mail.” The new message opens on your screen.

Say “Go to To Field.” Pause (to make sure you are in the correct field), then
dictate the recipient’s e-mail address, for example, “jeff at a-o-l dot com.” If you
are entering more than one address, separate each one by saying “semicolon” or
“comma”; depending on your application.

Say “Go to CC Field” or “Go to BCC Field,” pause, and dictate the addresses of
the people who should receive copies or blind copies of your message
(optional).
TIP In many e-mail programs, you can also say just “Subject” or “BCC” to move to the
respective field by that name.

Say “Go to Subject Field,” pause, and dictate the subject of your message, for
example, “Planning a trip to see you.”

Say “Go to Body Field,” pause, and begin dictating the body of your message.

TIP For instructions on dictating e-mail addresses and Web URLs, see “Dictating e-mail and Web
addresses” on page 96.

Sending and printing e-mail
Once your message is ready to send, you can simply say “Send Mail” to send your email on its way. To print a message, say “Print Mail” and the message will be sent to
your printer.

Forwarding and replying to e-mail
To forward a message selected in your Inbox, simply say “Forward Mail,” then
dictate the recipient’s address in the To Field of the new message.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications
Select a message and say “Reply to Mail” to create a new message addressed to the
sender. To reply to everyone on the mailing list, say “Reply To All.” Then move to
the Body Field and dictate your reply.

Deleting mail
You can delete the currently selected message by saying “Delete Mail.” This
command will work on all selected messages, so make sure you have selected only
those you want to delete.
NOTE If you use Microsoft® Word as your e-mail editor in Microsoft® Outlook®, some e-mail
commands will not work when viewing or editing a e-mail message. In addition, you cannot select
menu items by voice in the e-mail message window with Microsoft® Word as your default editor.

Working with Microsoft Internet Explorer
You can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to control Microsoft® Internet Explorer® and
browse the Web by voice. Just say the name of a link to click on it. To use this
feature, you must have Microsoft® Internet Explorer® version 5.0 or later installed.
You can use voice commands to:
■

Go to any Web page on the Favorites menu

■

Enter a Web address (URL) in the Address bar

■

Go back to the previous Web page or forward to the next

■

Click links, buttons, and images

■

Scroll in a Web page

■

Select check boxes and other options

■

Enter text in a text box (such as a Search box)

To use Microsoft® Internet Explorer® by voice, simply start Microsoft® Internet
Explorer® while Dragon NaturallySpeaking is running. To start Microsoft® Internet
Explorer® ‘‘by voice, say “Start Internet Explorer.”
NOTE Any program that embeds the Microsoft® Internet Explorer® application, such as the Dragon
NaturallySpeaking online Help, can also be used by voice.

Going to favorite Web pages
You can use voice commands to go to any Web site saved in your Favorites list by
saying “Click Favorites” to displays the Favorites menu. Once the Favorites menu is
displayed, simply say the site name exactly as it appears in the Favorites menu.
You can also jump to a site directly by saying “Start ” or “Open
.”
70

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications
TIP If Dragon NaturallySpeaking misunderstands your command and opens the wrong page, you
can return to where you were by saying “Go Back.”

To add a page to the Favorites menu:
1

Go to the page you want to add to the Favorites menu.

Say “Click Favorites” to open the Favorites menu.

Say “Add to Favorites” to open the Add Favorites dialog box.

Type or dictate a name for the page. Select a short name, so it will be easy to
open the page by voice.

Save the page anywhere on the Favorites menu.

Click OK or say “Click OK” to close the Add Favorites dialog box.

Entering a Web address in the Address bar
You can dictate Web addresses (URLs) by saying “Go to Address.” Follow these
steps.

To enter a Web address:
1

Say “Go to Address” to move to the Address bar.

Dictate the Web address (for example, say “w w w dot company dot com”). Most
URLs are not case sensitive, but you may need to say “Cap” if the Web address
contains capital letters. For more information about dictating Web addresses,
see “Dictating e-mail and Web addresses” on page 96.

Say “Go There” to open the page (same as pressing the ENTER key).

Address bar

TIP You can also say “Click Go” instead of “Go There.”

Going back to the previous Web page or forward to the next
You can Say “Go Back” or “Go Forward” to do the same the Back and Forward
buttons do in Internet Explorer.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications
Here’s a list of all the voice commands you can use to control the Microsoft® Internet
Explorer® toolbar.
SAY

Go To Address

Move the insertion point to the Address box.

Click Go or
Go There

Go to the Web address in the Address box.

Go Back

Go back to the previous Web page (same as clicking the Back
button).

Go Forward

Go forward to the next Web page (same as clicking the
Forward button).

Stop Loading

Stop a Web page from loading (same as clicking the Stop
button).

Refresh or Reload

Refresh the current Web page (same as clicking the Refresh
button).

Go Home

Go to your home page (same as clicking the Home button).

Entering text in a text box
When Dragon NaturallySpeaking is running, you can dictate text into Search boxes
and other text boxes on a Web page.

To enter text in a text box:
1

Say “Type Text” to move to the first text box on the page.
TIP You can also say “Edit Box” or “Text Field” instead of “Type Text.”

If the page has more than one text box, they will be numbered like this
. (See
the following procedures for examples.) Choose the number you want, or move
to the next or previous text box by saying “Next” or “Previous.”

When the insertion point is in a text box, you can dictate text.

In text boxes, you can also correct recognition mistakes by voice, just as you do when
you’re dictating into a document.

Clicking links, buttons, and images
You can click the text links and buttons on a Web page simply by saying the link or
button name.
If the text link or button name is long, you don’t need to say all of it. Just say enough
to distinguish it from other links on the page.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications

To click a text link:
1

Say the text link (it must be visible on the screen). For example, to click the
link Finance and Budget on the Web page pictured below, say “Finance and
Budget.”

An arrow appears briefly to indicate which link was selected and then the
page opens.
TIP You can also say “Click” and then the link text. For example, you could say “Click News
and Events.” Sometimes saying “Click” first is more reliable than just saying the link text alone.

If more than one link matches what you said (for example, if there are two links
on the page that contain the word “Internship”), Dragon NaturallySpeaking
numbers all the links on the page like this
.

Say “Choose” plus the number of the link you want. For example, say “Choose
2.”

Say “Choose 1”
to click the first
link containing
“Internship,” or
say “Choose 2”
to choose the
second link.

NOTE On secure Web pages this feature is disabled. You cannot select links on secure pages by
voice.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications

To click an image:
1

When you say “Image” (or “Click Image”), Dragon NaturallySpeaking numbers
all the images on the page like this
.

Some Web pages,
like this one, display
text as graphic
images. When you
say “Image,” Dragon
NaturallySpeaking
numbers each
image.
To click the “Travel
resources” link, say
“Choose 10.” To
click the Spanish
flag, say “Choose
13.”

Click the image you want by saying, for example, “Choose 3.”

TIP If Dragon NaturallySpeaking misunderstands your command and opens the wrong page, you
can return to where you were by saying “Go Back.”

To click a button:
Say the button name. For example, to click the button pictured below, say “Search.”
Speech recognition

You can also say “Click” and then the button name. For example, you could say
“Click Search” (or “Click Search Button”).
To unselect the button, you must select a different one.

To click a check box, list box, or radio (option) button:
1

Say “Check Box,” “List Box,” or “Radio Button” to number the buttons like this
. Then choose the number you want, as in the previous procedure.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications
Here is a table of commands you can use for clicking links, images, check boxes,
lists, and buttons.
SAY

Type Text or Edit Box

Go to the first place on a Web page where you can
enter text.

Click Check Box or Check
Box

Number all check boxes on the page and go to the first
one.

Click Image or Image

Number all images with links on the page and go to
the first one.

Choose 2

Select the image, option, button, and so on from the
numbered list of choices. You can say any number that
appears in the list.

Click Radio Button/Radio
Button

Number all option (radio) buttons on the page and go
to the first one.

Click List Box or List Box

Number all boxes with a list of choices (drop-down
lists) on the page and go to the first one.

Show Choices

Open a list of choices.

Hide Choices

Close a list of choices.

Choose Thursday or
Thursday

Choose an entry from a list of choices, in this example,
Thursday.

Show Choices or Drop List
or Open List

Opens the list box to show all the choices available in
the list.

Frames and panes
When you’re viewing a Web page that uses frames, say “Next Frame” or “Previous
Frame” to move between the different frames.
To move between different Microsoft® Internet Explorer® panes, say “Next Pane” or
“Previous Pane.” Panes are different windows within the Microsoft® Internet
Explorer® application, such as “Search” and “Tip of the Day.”

Scrolling in a Web page
When Dragon NaturallySpeaking is running, you can scroll in a Web page by voice.
You can use voice commands to go to the top or bottom of a page or to move up or
down a screen or line at a time.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications
You can also start automatic scrolling by saying “Start Scrolling Down” or “Start
Scrolling Up.” Automatic scrolling is convenient when you want to read a Web page
without using the mouse or keyboard. See the complete list of commands below:
SAY

Go to Bottom

Scroll to the end of the Web page.

Go to Top

Scroll to the beginning of the Web page.

Page Down

Scroll down one screen (same as pressing the Page
Down key).

Page Up

Scroll up one screen (same as pressing the Page Up
key).

Line Down

Scroll down one line (same as clicking the down arrow
in the scroll bar once).

Line Up

Scroll up one line (same as clicking the up arrow in the
scroll bar once).

Start Scrolling Down

Start automatic scrolling toward the end of the page.

Start Scrolling Up

Start automatic scrolling toward the beginning of the
page.

Speed Up

Increase scrolling speed. (Say it again to speed up
more.)

Slow Down

Decrease scrolling speed. (Say it again to slow down
more.)

Stop Scrolling

Stop automatic scrolling.

While a Web page is scrolling, you can click by voice the text links and buttons you
see if the page is moving slowly enough. The page will continue to scroll, however,
unless you say “Stop Scrolling” before saying the link.

Working with Microsoft Word
Dragon NaturallySpeaking provides a large number of commands that work with
different versions of Microsoft Word. Since the number of valid commands is so
large, you should just try saying what you want to do. If you get unexpected results,
say "Undo That" to undo the action and try a different way to say the command.
Alternatively, you can open the Command Browser or the sample command window
For more information. The Command Browser is described in more detail on page
103.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications

Using other word processing programs
Dragon NaturallySpeaking works with other popular word processing
programs other than Microsoft Word, for example Corel WordPerfect.
As with Microsoft Word, you should just try saying what you want to do; you
can always say "Undo That." NaturallySpeaking built-in commands that
work with Corel WordPerfect as well as “global” commands that work in all
applications. To see a list of these commands, see the “Commands List”
appendix of page 173. You can also use the Command Browser for more
information on these commands; for more information see “Using the
Command Browser” on page 103.

Creating, opening, and closing a document
You can use the following voice commands to perform basic document operations
using Microsoft Word:
TO

SAY

Start Microsoft Word

Create a new document

Create New File
or
Open New File

Open an existing document

Open File
or
" dot ", for
example, "My Document Dot Doc".
or
Click Open

Save a document as a .doc file

Save Changes
You may need to dictate a file name if this is
the first time the file has been saved.
Click Save

Close a document

Close File
or
Close Document

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications

Selecting text
You can use the following voice commands to select text in Microsoft Word
TO

D O T H E F O L L O W IN G

Select a word, line, or
paragraph

Move the insertion point to the word, line, or
paragraph you want to select and say, "Select
Word/Line/Paragraph."

Select an adjacent word, line
or paragraph

Move the insertion point to either before or after
the word, line, or paragraph you want to select
and say, "Select Next/Previous Word/Line/
Paragraph."

For more information on selecting text, see “Correcting and Editing” on page41.

Formatting text
You can use the following voice commands to format text in Microsoft Word:

SAY

Change text properties

Set Word/Line/Paragraph to Strikeout
or
Underline this Word/Line/Paragraph
or
Italicize Next Words
or
Bold This Page

Change font properties

Turn on Bold and Italics
or
Format That Regular
or
Unitalicise That

Change font name and point
sizes

Set the Font to Twenty Four Points Times in the
Word/Line/Paragraph
or
Increase/Decrease the Font Size to Eighteen or
Points in the Word/Line/Paragraph
or
Set the Font to Courier in the Selection/Word/
Line/Paragraph/Page/Section/Document
or
Decrease Selection by Two Points

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications

SAY

Create and delete bullet points or
list numbers

Set the paragraph to Bulleted/Numbered
or
Delete Bullets From the Document
or
Unnumber the Selection

Working with tables
You can use the following voice commands to work with tables in Microsoft Word:
TO

DO THE FOLLOWING

Create a table

Move the insertion point to the location where you
want to create a table
Say "Add a Table"
or
Create a Table, for
example, "Create a Five by Seven Table"

Add rows and columns

Say: Add a New Row/Column
or
Add Rows/Columns, for example, "Add
Three Columns"

Delete rows and columns

Delete the Column, for example,
"Delete the Third Column"
or
"Delete this Column"

Move by cells, columns,
rows, or tables

Right/Left/Up/Down Columns
or
Right/Left/Up/Down Rows
or
Go Right/Left/Up/Down Rows
or
rows to the Right/Left/Up/Down
or
Go To Last/First Cell/Row/Column
or
Go To Next/Previous Table

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications

Working with Microsoft Excel
(Preferred and higher)
Dragon NaturallySpeaking provides a large number of commands to use with
different versions of Microsoft Excel. Using these commands, you can avoid the
multiple menu-selection and mouse-movement steps associated with the traditional
Microsoft Windows interface. Because the number of valid commands is so large,
you should just try saying what you want to do. If you get unexpected results, say
"Undo That" to undo the action and try a different way to speak the command.
Alternatively, you can open the Command Browser or the sample command window
for more information. The Command Browser is described in more detail on page
103.
You can also use Select-and-Say commands and built-in commands to enter and
revise content and to navigate between cells in Microsoft Excel. For more
information on using Select-and-Say, see “Selecting text by voice” on page 45.

Dictation and Editing Modes
There are two modes for using voice commands in Microsoft Excel. The two modes
are described below.
Dragon Quick Edit Mode

Quick Edit Mode allows you to enter new content into a cell, overwrite the current
contents of a cell, or format the entire contents of a cell. When you select a cell and
begin dictating, a yellow background appears to indicate that the dictated text will
be inserted into the cell. If the cell currently contains text, the new dictated text will
overwrite the existing text. If you want to format the contents of a cell, select the
cell, or select a portion of the cell’s contents using Select-and-Say commands, and
say a formatting command, such as “Set Font Arial 10 Point Bold”. Line and
Paragraph commands, such as “New Line” or “Move Left 3 Rows” change the focus to
another cell in Quick Edit Mode.
Dragon Full Edit Mode

Full Edit Mode allows you to edit the existing contents of a cell. If you want to add
to or edit the current contents of a cell, select the cell and say “Edit Cell” or “Press
F2” to open the cell for editing. When you enter Full Edit Mode, the background
color changes to blue. Entering Full Edit Mode is analogous to double-clicking a
cell. Line and Paragraph commands, such as “New Line” operate within the selected
cell in Full Edit mode.

Using Select-and-Say
In general, Select-and-Say is available in cells except when you type something into
a cell before you dictate and when you enter Full Edit Mode. For example:
80

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications
■

If you dictate into a cell, then type some characters, and dictate more text into
that cell, Select-and-Say is available.

■

If you type at the beginning of a cell and dictate some text or numbers, Selectand-Say is not available.

■

Once you have edited a cell using any combination of typing and dictation,
when you move back to that cell by voice, Select-and-Say is available in the
entire cell.

Moving Around a Worksheet
You can use the following commands to navigate between cells in a worksheet:
C O M M AN D

F UN C T IO N

Press Left, Right, Up, Down
or Move Left, Right, Up,
Down

Move to the next cell. If you are currently editing
the cell, saying any of these commands completes
the cell entry and moves to the next cell. If the cell
is open for editing, these commands move the
cursor within that cell. You can also add a number
to any of these commands, as in “Move Down 3
Rows”.

Next/Previous Row/Column

Move to the next or previous row or column.

Start of Row/Column

Move to the first cell in a row or column.

Row, Column, Row/Column
coordinates

Move to the specified row or column. For example,
“Column H”. Move to a cell defined by a column
and a row. For example, “Column D, Row 30” or
“D 30”.

New Line

Move down one cell in Quick Edit mode. Move to
new line within the current cell in Full Edit Mode.

Create New Worksheet,
Workbook

Add a new worksheet or workbook.

Apply

Complete a cell entry and stay in the cell.

Press Enter

Complete a cell entry and move down one cell.

Press Escape or
Press Cancel

Cancel a cell entry and remain in the cell.

Open Excel Help

View the Microsoft Excel online help.

TIP If column letters are not being recognized correctly, try using the alpha-bravo version of the
letters, as in “Move to Cell Alpha 3”.

Editing and Formatting Content
Use the following commands to format a worksheet and the text and numbers you
enter. The following commands are samples. Other commands that use similar

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Working with Applications
words should also work, such as saying “Make Row Height 5” in place of “Set Row
Height 5”
NOTE If the numbers you dictate are transcribed as words, you can switch to Numbers Mode by
saying “Numbers Mode On” or by choosing Numbers Mode from the Words menu on the DragonBar.
COMMAND

F UN C T IO N

Press F2, Edit Cell

Switch to Full Edit Mode. The selected cell is opened
for editing and the insertion point is placed at the
end of the line.

Set Row Height, Column
Width

Change the height of a column or the width of a
row. For example, “Set Column Width to 5”.

Right/Left/Center Align Cell,
Row, Column

Format the contents of the selection right aligned, left
aligned or center aligned.

Color/Shade This Cell

Open the Format Cell dialog box with the Patterns
tab selected so you can choose a color.

Format This Cell, Row,
Column

Open the Format Cell dialog box so you can make
selections by voice.

Clear Cell/Row/Column

Clear the contents of the specified region.

Performing Operations
Use the following commands to enter formulas and to perform other Microsoft Excel
operations by voice. These commands are samples. Other commands that use similar
words should also work.

COMMAND

F UN C T IO N

Average the selected cells

Compute the average of the selected cells and enter
the result in the selected cell.

Divide cell x by cell y

Divide one cell by another. For example, “Divide cell
A2 by A4”.

Multiply cell x by ten percent

Multiply the contents of cell x by 10% and enter the
result in the selected cell.

Compute End
Formula

Compute a formula. For example, “Compute Five
Plus Seven Times Three End Formula.”

Recalculate

Recalculate the formula in the selected cell and
overwrite the existing value with the new value.

Sort This Column Ascending,
Descending

Sort the selected column.

Hide/Unhide selection

Hide or unhide a selection.

Lock/Unlock selection

Lock or unlock a selection.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

CHAPTER

Dictating Names, Numbers,
Punctuation & Special
Characters
T

his chapter describes how to dictate numbers, punctuation, Web addresses, and
a few other special items.

NOTE If Dragon NaturallySpeaking is not formatting a word as you would like, you can change
the formatting properties of the word by using the Word Properties dialog box. See “Changing word
properties” on page 126.

Dictating numbers
In most cases you can dictate numbers, including postal codes, as you normally say
them. Dragon NaturallySpeaking will display either a number (“3”) or the word
(“three”), based on the context. To force recognition of digits as numerals instead of
text without using the Numbers Mode, say "Numeral" before you say the digit, for
example, say "Numeral Three" to get 3. When dictating numbers:
■

You can use or omit the word "and" as part of a number. For example, say "one
hundred fifty" instead of "one hundred and fifty" to get the number 150.

■

You can use "oh" and "zero" interchangeably to get 0.

■

If you want a comma in a four-digit number, you must speak it explicitly.
Numbers with five or more digits automatically include commas, with the
exception of US ZIP codes.

■

For a decimal point, say “point.”

TIP If you want to dictate only numbers, you can switch to “Numbers Mode.” See “Switching
Recognition Modes” on page 101 for more information.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters

TO E N T E R

SAY

one
numeral one

five
numeral five

seventeen

twenty three

179

one hundred seventy nine
one seventy nine

5423

five thousand four hundred and twenty three

5,423

five [comma] four twenty three

12,537

twelve thousand five hundred and thirty seven

142,015

one hundred and forty two thousand and fifteen

35.23

thirty five [point] two three

0.03

All Dialects: zero [point] zero three
Outside US/Canada: nought [point] nought three

43.28%

forty three [point] twenty eight [percent sign]

02460

oh two four six zero

02460-1458

oh two four six zero [hyphen] one four five eight

2 3/4

two and three fourths

11/32

eleven over thirty two

$99.50

ninety nine dollars and fifty cents

45.35

£120.35

45 Euros and thirty-five cents
pound sterling sign one hundred and twenty point thirty five
[All Dialects]

NOTE If you are having problems dictating numbers, currency, times, or dates, make sure that your
Regional Settings match the language (dialect) you selected when you created your user.

Changing the format of a number

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking enters a number in a format you don’t want, you can
use voice commands to convert it to a numeral or to spell it out.
For example, you can change “seven dollars” to “$7” (US/Canada) or “seven
pounds” to “£7” (Other Dialects) by saying “Format That Number.”
And you can change “$7” to “seven dollars” (US/Canada) or “£7” to “seven pounds”
(Other Dialects) by saying “Format That Spelled Out.”

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters
These commands change the last number dictated or a selected number.
SAY

TO C H AN G E

Format That Number

one to 1
first to 1st
nineteenth to 19th
5 million to 5,000,000
five million to 5,000,000
eight dollars to $8 (US/Canada)
seven pounds to £7 (Other Dialects)

Format That Spelled Out

4th to fourth
27 to twenty-seven
5,000,000 to five million

NOTE The “Format That Number” and “Format That Spelled Out” commands work for numerals
and currency, but not for dates, times of day, telephone numbers, and most fractions.

Using Numbers Mode
Any time you need to dictate a series of numbers and do not want Dragon
NaturallySpeaking to recognize them as words, you can turn on Numbers Mode.
This could be useful, for example, if you are dictating in a spreadsheet program,
such as Microsoft® Excel®.
To turn on Numbers Mode, say “Start Numbers Mode” or “Numbers Mode On.” To
turn off Numbers Mode, say, “Stop Numbers Mode” or “Numbers Mode Off” or “Switch
to Normal Mode.”
For more information on Numbers Mode and more ways to turn Numbers Mode on
and off, see the section “Switching Recognition Modes” on page 101.

Dates
You can dictate most dates the way you would normally say them. Say “oh” or “zero”
to enter 0. In dialects other than US/Canada, you can also say “nought.”
TO E N T E R

SAY

22 January 1999

twenty two January nineteen ninety nine

April 9, 2001

April 9 [comma] two thousand and one

14/07/85

fourteen [slash] oh seven [slash] eighty five

3/11/02

three [slash] eleven [slash] zero two

3/11/2002

three [slash] eleven [slash] two thousand and two

April 1st

April first

March 22nd

March twenty second

the 1980s

the nineteen eighties

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters

Times of day
Dictate the time of day the way you would normally say it.
US/Canada: Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically types the colon (:) if you say
“a m” or “p m” when dictating the time. Say “o’clock” or “colon zero zero” to enter:00.
TO E N T E R

SAY

8:30

eight [colon] thirty or eight [numeric colon] thirty

7:45 AM

seven forty five a m

10:22 PM

ten twenty two p m

3:00

three o’clock or three [colon] zero zero

5:00 PM

five o’clock p m

TIP Dragon NaturallySpeaking will recognize times more accurately if you say “numeric colon”
instead of “colon” when dictating times.

Other Dialects: Dragon NaturallySpeaking automatically types the point (.) if you
say “a m” or “p m” when dictating the time, depending on the regional setting. Say
“o’clock” or “point zero zero” to enter .00.
TO E N T E R

SAY

8.30

eight [point] thirty

7.45 AM

seven forty five a m

10.22 PM

ten twenty two p m

3.00

three o’clock

5.00 PM

five o’clock p m

NOTE The format of “a.m.” and “p.m.” depends on your computer’s regional Windows® settings.

Telephone numbers
North American phone numbers

Say US and Canadian phone numbers as you normally would, pausing briefly
between each group of numbers.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters
You don’t need to dictate hyphens for most phone numbers (numbers that are 7, 10,
or 11 digits long). Dragon NaturallySpeaking will add them automatically.
TO E N T E R

SAY

965-5200

nine six five fifty two hundred

617-965-5200

six one seven nine six five fifty two oh oh

1-800-555-1212

one eight hundred five five five one two one two

(617) 965-5200

[open parenthesis] six one seven [close
parenthesis] nine six five five two zero zero

1-212-555-1212

one two one two five five five one two one two

Telephone numbers outside North America

To dictate other phone numbers, including European phone numbers, you must
say all the punctuation, including the hyphens, spaces, and parentheses.
TO E N T E R

SAY

(01628) 894150

[open parenthesis] oh one six two eight [close
parenthesis] eight nine four one five oh

027 629 8944

oh two seven [space bar] six two nine [space
bar] eight nine four four

61-7-4695-2055

six one [hyphen] seven [hyphen] four six nine
five [hyphen] two zero five five

(65) 2778590

[open parenthesis] six five [close parenthesis]
two seven seven eight five nine zero

TIP In dialects other than US/Canada, you can say “bracket” instead of “parenthesis.”

Fractions
You can dictate most common fractions the way you would normally say them. To
dictate 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/7, 1/8, 1/9, 1/10, and 1/16 or a multiple of these
fractions, just say the fraction normally.
TO E N T E R

SAY

1/2

one half

1/4

one fourth or one quarter

15/16

fifteen sixteenths or fifteen over sixteen

3 7/8

three and seven eighths or three and seven over eight

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters
If the denominator (bottom number in the fraction) is greater than 10, you can enter
the fraction by saying “slash” or “over” between the two numbers.
TO E N T E R

SAY

9/12

nine [slash] twelve or nine over twelve

5 3/56

five [space bar] three [slash] fifty six

130/70

one thirty over seventy

A few common fractions can also be displayed on your computer as special characters
(such as ¼, ½, or ¾) instead of two numbers separated by a slash character (such as 1/
4, 1/2, or 3/4). For information about dictating fraction characters, see “Dictating
uncommon special characters” on page 98.

Roman numerals
You can dictate Roman numerals by saying “Roman numeral” and the number. For
large numbers, say the number in small combinations (as in the examples shown
here).
TO E N T E R

SA Y

Roman Numeral one

Roman Numeral four

Roman Numeral five

Roman Numeral ten

Roman Numeral fifty

Roman Numeral one hundred

Roman Numeral five hundred

Roman Numeral one thousand

XXIV

Roman Numeral twenty Roman four

XXXI

Roman Numeral thirty Roman one

MCMXCVII

Roman Numeral one thousand
Roman Numeral nine hundred
Roman Numeral ninety
Roman Numeral seven

TIP Don’t pause after the word “Roman Numeral” when you’re dictating a Roman numeral. If you
pause, Dragon NaturallySpeaking may enter, for example, “Roman numeral three” instead of “III.”

Postal and ZIP Codes
Dragon NaturallySpeaking can automatically formats postal codes. This feature is
controlled from the Formatting tab of the Options dialog box. For more information,
see “Formatting options” on page 170.
88

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters
US ZIP Codes

You can dictate US five-digit ZIP codes just as you dictate any group of numbers.
When dictating nine-digit ZIP codes, you must say the hyphen.
TO E N T E R

SAY

01886

oh one eight eight six

94704-1150

nine four seven oh four [hyphen] one one five oh

UK and Canadian Postal Codes

You can dictate UK postcodes by saying “Postcode” followed by the letters and
numbers that make up the postcode. For Canadian postal codes, say “Postal code”
followed by the letters and numbers that make up the postal code. Spacing and
formatting will happen automatically.
TO E N T E R

SAY

NG3 2HX

Postcode n g three two h x

E10 7BD

Postcode e ten seven b d

EC2Y 4LK

Postcode e c two y four l k

K1A 0M5

Postal code k one a zero m five

X0A 0H0

Postal code x oh a oh h oh

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters

Currency and coin
You can dictate your own currency as you would normally say it.
Currency in US/Canada (US English dialect)
TO E N T E R

SAY

$58.00

fifty eight dollars and zero cents

$1.75

one dollar and seventy five cents

$5.25

five dollars and twenty five cents

$3.9 billion

three point nine billion dollars

forty five euros

99.50

ninety-nine euros and five cents

£ 2.20

pound sterling sign two point two oh

£ 5 million

pound sterling sign five million

Currency in Other Dialects (UK, Australian, Indian, and Southeast Asian English)
TO E N T E R

SAY

$58.00

dollar sign fifty eight

$1.75

dollar sign one point seventy five

4.25

four euros and twenty five cents

3.9 billion

three point nine billion euros

£ 45

forty five pounds

£ 99.50

ninety nine pounds and fifty pence

£ 2.20

two pounds twenty

£ 5 million

five million pounds

NOTE Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses the currency symbol ($, £, and so on) specified in your
Windows Regional Settings as your default currency.

Dictate other currencies by first saying the currency symbol followed by the digits.
US/Canada: If your Regional Settings are set to the United States or Canada, your
default currency is $ (dollar). If you want to dictate a dollar currency amount, dictate
it the way you normally do. If you want to dictate a pound sterling currency amount,
say, for example, “pound sterling sign fifty eight” (to enter £ 58), and so on.
TIP In US/Canada, you must say “pound sterling sign” to enter £, since “pound sign” means # in the
U.S. vocabulary. In all other dialects, you can say “pound sign” to type £.

Other Dialects: If your Regional Settings are set to the United Kingdom, your
default currency is £ (pound sterling). If you want to dictate a pound sterling
90

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters
currency amount, dictate it the way you normally do. If you want to dictate a dollar
currency amount, say, for example, “dollar sign fifty eight” (to enter $58) and so on.
NOTE Australian users can say “fifty eight dollars” to dictate $58, since the Australian default
currency is $ in Windows Regional Settings.

Punctuation
Using Natural Punctuation
Dragon NaturallySpeaking can automatically add commas and periods at the
appropriate places in your dictation without your having to explicitly speak that
punctuation. This Natural Punctuation feature can be useful in helping you get
used to dictation by focusing on what you are saying rather than how your speech is
punctuated.
Natural Punctuation only inserts periods and commas. You still have to dictate other
punctuation marks. Even with Natural Punctuation turned on, you can still dictate
periods and commas. As you become more adept at dictation and want more control
over where punctuation appears, you may want to explicitly dictate all your
punctuation.
For information on correcting punctuation, see Correcting Punctuation on page 44.
TIP Periods will only appear at the end of a sentence once you have started the next utterance or
said "New Line" or "New Paragraph"

Enabling and disabling automatic punctuation
Natural Punctuation is turned on by default.
There are two ways of turning Natural Punctuation on and off:
1

Select Options from the Tools menu of the DragonBar and click "automatically
add commas and periods" on the Formatting tab. For more information on this,
see page 170.

By saying "autopunctuation on" and "autopunctuation off". Turning Natural
Punctuation on and off by voice sets the option on the Formatting tab listed
above. If your disable Natural Punctuation by voice, it stays disabled until to
enable it again.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters

Dictating Punctuation
You can enter the punctuation marks and symbols listed below in text you dictate.
For a list of all punctuation marks, see page 194 in the Appendix.
TO E N T E R

SAY

comma

period
dot
point
[each one has different spacing characteristics]

question mark

exclamation mark (All Dialects)
exclamation point (US/Canada)

“

open quote
close quote

‘

open single quote
close single quote

(

open paren (US/Canada)
left paren (US/Canada)
left parenthesis (All Dialects)
open parenthesis (All Dialects)

)

close paren (US/Canada)
right paren (US/Canada)
right parenthesis (All Dialects)
close parenthesis (All Dialects)

‘

apostrophe

‘s

apostrophe-ess

hyphen
minus sign

-- [double
hyphen]

dash
space bar

You can use the Vocabulary Editor to view or change the formatting properties of the
punctuation. For more information, see “Changing word properties” on page 126.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters

Words that end with ’s
To dictate a word ending with (apostrophe) ’s, just say it as you normally would.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking will often add it. If Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t
include the ’s, you can add it later.
TO E N T E R

SAY

We took Mary’s car

that’s enough

it’s time to go

Including ’s as you dictate

When you want to make sure that Dragon NaturallySpeaking types a word with ’s,
say “apostrophe ess” after saying the word. For words that already end in “s,” say
“apostrophe” after the word, as in the second example shown here.
TO E N T E R

SAY

We took my brother’s car

We took my brother [apostrophe ess] car

I met my friends’ children

I met my friends [apostrophe] children

TIP You can add ’s to a word by selecting it and then saying it again with “apostrophe
ess.“

Dictating hyphenated words
Many hyphenated words and phrases are already in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking
vocabulary. To dictate a word or phrase that is usually hyphenated, just say it as you
normally would.
TO E N T E R

SAY

long-lasting

long lasting

up-to-date schedule

up to date schedule

Tokyo-based company

Tokyo based company

nine-year-old boy

nine year old boy

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters

Including hyphens as you dictate
To hyphenate words that Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t hyphenate
automatically, just say “hyphen” wherever you want a hyphen.
TO E N T E R

SAY

speech-recognition software

speech [hyphen] recognition software

power-sharing agreement

power [hyphen] sharing agreement

Elizabeth Walker-Smith

Elizabeth Walker [hyphen] Smith

You can hyphenate words you just dictated with the command “Hyphenate That.”
Select the words you want to hyphenate and say “Hyphenate That.” If you say this
command when no words are selected, Dragon NaturallySpeaking will usually
hyphenate the last few words that you said.

Removing hyphens
You can remove a hyphen by selecting it and replacing it with a space.

To remove a hyphen:
1

Say “Select hyphen.”

Say “Space Bar.”

Preventing hyphens
You can prevent Dragon NaturallySpeaking from entering a hyphen by pausing
where the hyphen would normally be.
For example, to type “long lasting” (normally hyphenated) say “long,” then pause for
a moment, and then say “lasting.” Or you can say “long space bar lasting” without
pausing, to insert a space in place of the hyphen.

Dictating compound words
Dragon NaturallySpeaking joins compound words (such as “notebook”)
automatically, based on standard usage. To dictate a compound word, just say it as
you normally would.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters

Compounding words as you dictate
To compound words that Dragon NaturallySpeaking doesn’t join automatically, just
say “No Space” between the words.
TO E N T E R

SAY

unitednations

united [No Space] nations

WorldWide Web

[Cap] world [No Space] [Cap] wide [Cap] web

You can also dictate consecutive words without spaces by turning “no spaces” on
and then turning them off when you’ve finished.

To dictate consecutive words without spaces:
1

Say “No Space On” to turn spaces off.

Dictate the words you want to appear without spaces.

Say “No Space Off” to turn spacing back on.

Compounding words later
You can compound the last words you said or compound selected words by saying
“Compound That.” This command removes all spaces between selected words. Or, if
no words are selected, it removes all spaces in the last utterance. Any tabs or line
breaks are also removed.

To compound words:
1

Select the text you want to join. For example, if you want to join the words
“Web TV,” say “Select Web TV.”

Say “Compound That.”

Dictating names
Many names of people, places, and events are already in the Dragon
NaturallySpeaking vocabulary. For example, you can dictate “Martin Luther King,”
“New York Times,” and “Boston.”
To dictate a name, first try dictating the name. Dragon NaturallySpeaking
automatically capitalizes the names it knows. If Dragon NaturallySpeaking
incorrectly types the name, correct it by keyboard or by voice (see “Correcting and
Editing” on page 41).

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters
If the program continues to type a name incorrectly after you’ve corrected it several
times, train the word individually using the Train Word dialog box. See “Training a
word or command” on page 129.

Dictating abbreviations and acronyms
Dragon NaturallySpeaking knows many common abbreviations (such as NYC and
BBC) and acronyms (such as NATO). To dictate an abbreviation or acronym, just
say it as you normally would.
TO E N T E R

SAY

US/Canada: Dr.
Other Dialects: Dr

Doctor

U K (say each letter)

RSVP

R S V P (say each letter)

HTML

H T M L (say each letter)

8 cm

eight centimeters

US/Canada: pp. 27–33
Other Dialects: pp 27–33

pages 27 hyphen 33

NATO

NATO (say as one word)

NASDAQ

NASDAQ (say as one word)

If Dragon NaturallySpeaking types the full word instead of the abbreviation or
acronym, enters the wrong word, or includes incorrect punctuation, just correct it in
your document by voice or by keyboard.

Dictating e-mail and Web addresses
Dictate e-mail and Web addresses as you would normally say them. Dragon
NaturallySpeaking automatically formats them for you.
TO E N T E R

SAY

Virginia@aol.com

Virginia at a o l dot com

info@samplecompany.com

[No Caps On] info at sample
company dot com [No Caps Off]

http://www.scansoft.com

[No Caps On] h t t p w w w dot
scansoft dot com [No Caps Off]

Here are some guidelines for dictating e-mail and Web addresses:
■

When you say “h t t p” or “w w w,” Dragon NaturallySpeaking knows to format
the next words you say as a Web address.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters
■

Say the following abbreviations by pronouncing them as words:
“co,” “com,” “gov,” “mil,” “net,” and “org.”

■

Say the following abbreviations by saying each letter:
“a c,” “b n, “c a,” “e d u,” “ie” “h k,” “i d,” “i n,” “j p,” “m y,” “p h,” “s g,”
“t h,” and “u k.”

■

Use the “No Caps On” and “No Caps Off” commands to enter an e-mail or Web
address in all lowercase letters. For more information about controlling
capitalization, see “Dictating consecutive words in all lowercase letters” on
page 63.

TIP You can create Text and Graphics custom commands for e-mail and Web addresses you use
often. See “Automate Your Work (Preferred and higher)” on page 153.

Dictating special characters
Dictating common special characters
The following special characters are in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary.
To dictate these characters, just say their names.
TO E N T E R

SAY

ampersand or and sign

asterisk

at sign

backquote

caret

degree sign

dollar sign or dollar
euros or euro sign

percent sign

registered sign

section sign

™

trademark sign

plus sign

minus sign

open euro quote

close euro quote

All Dialects: hash sign or sharp sign
US/Canada: number sign or pound sign

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Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters

TO E N T E R

SAY

US/Canada: pound sterling sign
Other Dialects: pound sign or pound

:-)

smiley face

:-(

frowny face

;-)

winky face

For more complete lists of special characters, see “Entering punctuation and special
characters” on page 194 or the online Help.

Dictating uncommon special characters
If you use uncommon special characters in your writing (for example, a doubledagger sign ‡), you can enter them by voice using the Spell command. If you use a
special character frequently, you can also add it as a new word using the Vocabulary
Editor.
For the complete list of special characters and their names, see the Special
Characters topic in the online Help and the following sections in the Appendix:
■

“Publishing symbols” on page 179

■

“Accented and international characters” on page 181

■

“Mathematical symbols” on page 181

■

“Currency symbols” on page 179

To dictate a special character:
1

Just say “Spell”plus the name of the character. For example, if you want to enter
a double-dagger sign (‡) into your document, say “Spell double dagger.”

To add a special character to the vocabulary:
If you frequently want to dictate an unrecognized special character (for example,
double-dagger sign - ‡) into your document, you could add “double dagger” as a new
word in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary. Follow these steps:

In your document, dictate the phrase you want to use to enter the special
character (for example, say “double dagger”). Dragon NaturallySpeaking enters
the words into your document.

Say “Spell That” to open the Spell dialog box.

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Dictating Names, Numbers, Punctuation & Special Characters
3

Say the name of the special character. (In this example, say “double dagger” to
enter ‡.)

Click or say “OK.” Dragon NaturallySpeaking types the special character (‡) in
your document and adds it to your vocabulary.

To give a special character a spoken form, choose View/Edit from the Words
menu on the DragonBar. This opens the Vocabulary Editor.

From the Display drop-down list at the bottom of the Vocabulary Editor,
choose Custom Words Only. You will see the special character you just entered
under the Written form column, as shown in this illustration.

The special character
you dictated is
shown in the Written
form column.

Click on the special character to select it. In the illustration above, the special
character is already selected.

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8

In the Spoken form field, type the name you want for this character and click
Add.

Click Train. The Train Words dialog box opens.

Type the character’s
name (for example,
“double dagger”) in
the “Spoken form”
field.

Click Go and say the name of the character, as shown in the Train Words dialog
box. For example, say “double dagger.”

Click Done to close the Train Words dialog box.

The Vocabulary Editor now has two words in the vocabulary with the same
written form. One has a spoken form and one does not. Click on the word that
does not have a spoken form and click Delete. This leaves the word that does
have a spoken form in your vocabulary.

Click the word (the
special character)
with no spoken
form.

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13

Click Close to close the Vocabulary Editor.

Now when you dictate the character name (in this example, “double dagger”),
Dragon NaturallySpeaking should enter the special character, not the words.
TIP You can perform this operation more quickly by directly opening the Vocabulary Editor, and
directly adding the written and spoken form.
NOTE You can change the formatting properties of a word (such as whether Dragon
NaturallySpeaking should type a space before or after the word) by using the Word Properties dialog
box. See “Changing word properties” on page 126.

Switching Recognition Modes
Dragon NaturallySpeaking lets you use different recognition modes in your
dictation. Dragon NaturallySpeaking uses normal mode by default. In normal mode,
the program distinguishes between words, numbers, and commands.
In addition to normal mode, there are four additional modes:
■

Numbers mode—The software recognizes only numbers, commands, and
punctuation. If you are dictating only numbers (including currencies), working
in this mode will increase recognition accuracy.

■

Spell mode—The software recognizes only letters, numbers, commands, and
punctuation. In Spell Mode, Dragon NaturallySpeaking allows you to say any
combination of letters, digits, or symbols you might need dictate part numbers
or license plate numbers. You can also say keystrokes such as space bar or
backspace key. Spell Mode is also useful for dictating internet or Web
addresses.

■

Command mode—The software interprets everything you say as a command
and nothing is interpreted as dictated text.

■

Dictation mode—The software interprets everything you say as dictation and
nothing is interpreted as a command, except for a few commands such as “New
Line” and “New Paragraph.”

To changes modes, you can:
1

Select the Words menu on the DragonBar and click the name of the mode you
want.

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2

Switch modes by voice by saying one of these commands:
MO D E

TO T U R N O N , S A Y

TO TURN OFF, SAY

Numbers Mode

Numbers Mode On or
Start Numbers Mode or
Switch to Numbers
Mode

Numbers Mode Off or
Stop Numbers Mode or
Switch to Normal Mode

Spell Mode

Spell Mode On or
Start Spell Mode or
Switch to Spell Mode

Spell Mode Off or
Stop Spell Mode or
Switch to Normal Mode

Command Mode

Command Mode On or
Start Command Mode
or Switch to Command
Mode

Command Mode Off or
Stop Command Mode
or
Switch to Normal Mode

Dictation Mode

Dictation Mode On or
Start Dictation Mode or
Switch to Dictation
Mode

Dictation Mode Off or
Stop Dictation Mode or
Switch to Normal Mode

Turning a mode off by voice is the same as switching back to normal mode.
NOTE You cannot dictate fractions in number mode.

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Using the Command Browser
he Command Browser is the most comprehensive place to find which
command work in Dragon NaturallySpeaking. The Command Browser lets
you view both“global”(available everywhere) commands and application-specific
commands for editing, formatting, and controlling specific applications. These
application-specific commands let you avoid the multiple menu-selection and
mouse-movement steps associated with the traditional Microsoft Windows
interface.

Since the number of valid commands is large, you should just try saying what you
want to do. Try finding a way of saying commands that is easy to remember and that
works in Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
You use the Command Browser to:
■

View and train both global and application-specific commands. Global
Commands are the commands Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognizes regardless
of the context. Application-specific commands let you control the applications
on your computer.

■

Create and modify custom commands. Custom commands are commands that
have been added to the built-in command set. (Preferred and higher editions)

■

Change the availability of custom commands. (Preferred and higher editions)

■

Import and export custom commands. (Professional and higher editions)

Supported Applications
In addition to the global commands, the Command Browser displays commands for
the following applications:
■

America Online® 6, 7, and 8

■

Corel® WordPerfect® 10 (Standard Edition and higher)

■

DragonPad and DragonBar

■

Lotus® Notes 5 (Professional Edition and higher)

■

Microsoft® Chat

■

Microsoft® Excel 97, XP, and 2000 (Preferred Edition and higher)

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■

Microsoft® Express 5 and 6 (Standard Edition and higher)

■

Microsoft® Internet Explorer® versions 5 and 6 (Standard Edition and higher)

■

Microsoft® Outlook 98, XP, and 2000 (Professional Edition and higher)

■

Microsoft® Paint

■

Microsoft® Powerpoint 97, XP, and 2000 (Professional Edition and higher)

■

Microsoft® Windows Explorer 98, XP, and 2000

■

Microsoft® Word 97, XP, and 2000 (Standard Edition and higher)

■

Microsoft® Wordpad

NOTE All editions display commands for these applications but support for these commands
depends on your edition.

Starting the Command Browser
To open the Command Browser, click Command Browser from the Tools menu on
the DragonBar. To launch the Command Browser by voice, say "Start the Command
Browser." You can also start the Command Browser from the Accuracy Center.
What you see
depends on your
version. For example,
Script and Manage
are displayed only in
the Preferred and
higher editions.

When the Command Browser starts, it first displays a list of Global Commands.
Global Commands are those commands available in every application. You can train
these commands so that Dragon NaturallySpeaking will understand you better, but
you cannot change or remove most of these commands from your system.

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Finding specific commands
To see what commands are available for specific applications, click the pull-down
menu next to the field labeled Current command context. For example:

There may be more than one entry for any given application. Each entry is defined
by Application Name - Window Caption. For example, Microsoft Outlook 2000 Message (Rich Text) would show you the commands available in the following
Outlook Message window:
Window
caption
name

Finding commands
To see if a specific command is available:
1

Click the pull-down menu for the Current command context and select the
appropriate application context. The Command Browser displays all the
commands supported in the selected context.

Click the Filter button. This displays the Choose Word screen:

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3

Type or dictate in the specific command(s) you are looking for, one word at a
time, in the "Choose Word" box.

Press the space bar or click Add until you have added as much of the specific
command as you can to the "Current list of words" box.

If you type or dictate a word and nothing happens, this means that the word is not valid in any
command in the current context.

When you are finished adding keywords, click or say "Done" or press or say
"Enter". This displays the commands containing the words you entered, if any.

TIP Try to be as specific as possible when entering commands.

Example

To see if the command "set that to bold" exists in Microsoft Word 2000:

106

Select Microsoft Word 2000 - Message from the Current command context menu.

Click Filter.

Type or dictate the words "set", "that", and "bold" one word at a time in the
"Choose Word" field.

Click Find or press Enter. The Command Browser displays the set of
commands valid in the chosen context; in this case all those commands that
contain the words “set,” “that” and “bold”:

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Expanding commands
Some commands will not be fully expanded; either due to their complexity or
because only partial information was entered in "Choose Word" field. To expand a
command:

BUTTON

Refine

Optional

Select the command in the Command Browser.

Use one of the following buttons to act on the selected command. The
examples all assume that Global Commands is selected in the Current command
context.

A C T IO N

E X A MP L E

Refine shows just the current selection
and expands the selection. At this
point, the selection can resolve to a
single command or a list of similar
commands that you may need to
refine further. Using refine may be
helpful if you have many displayed
commands and want to look at only
one. In many cases, clicking Refine
will show you the commands you
want.

Scroll down the list of Global Commands and select
…mode on. Click Refine.
...mode on refines to:·

Optional expands optional
statements. Optional statements are
parts of the command you don't have
to say for the command to work.
Optional statements are shown in
brackets: [ ].

Scroll down the list of Global Commands and select
close [the] list. This expands to:·

Or expands Or statements. Or
statements are used to indicate a
number of alternative commands. Or
statements are usually preceded or
followed by other commands. Or
statements are shown by a separator
bar, |, and are usually enclosed by
parenthesis.

Scroll down the list of Global Commands and select
close [the] (window | dialog | component). This
expands to:·

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■

command mode on·

■

dictation mode on·

■

numbers mode on·

■

spell mode on

■

close list·

■

close the list

■

close component·

■

close dialog·

■

close the component·

■

close the dialog·

■

close the window·

■

close window

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BUTTON

Ellipses

Undo All

ACTION

EXAMPLE

Ellipses expands ellipsis. Ellipses
indicate that more expansion is
possible.

Scroll down the list of Global Commands and select
…mode off. This expands to:·

Undo All reverses all operations and
re-displays the list of commands in the
currently selected context with your
filtering criteria in place.

■

command mode off·

■

dictation mode off·

■

numbers mode off·

■

spell mode off

Click or say “Undo All” for any of the examples
above. The full list of global commands display.

Training commands
If Dragon NaturallySpeaking consistently misrecognizes a specific voice command
(for example, it hears "Paste That" as "Paste dot"), you can train it to recognize your
pronunciation of the command.
1

Open the Command Browser (say "Command Browser" or click Command
Browser on the Tools menu of the DragonBar).

In the Command Browser, select the current command context from the
Current command context list.

Locate the command you want to train and select it using the steps described in
the Finding specific Commands section.

Click:
BUTTON

To immediately train the selected command. Follow the directions on
the Train Words dialog box that appears.
Train
Adds the command to a list of commands to the Train List for later
training. By selecting Train Later, you activate the Train List button.
Train Later

Train List
108

Displays the Train Words dialog box with a list of commands to be
trained.Note: If you close the Command Browser while you still
have words in the Train List, you will be warned that you could lose
those commands.

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Working with Custom Commands
(Preferred and higher)
Dragon NaturallySpeaking comes with a limited set of custom commands that you
can use "as is" to fit your needs.
You can view these custom commands only in the Preferred and higher editions.
The ability to create, modify, delete, import, and export custom commands
depends on your edition. The differences in editions is listed in each section.

Viewing Custom Commands
1

Open the Command Browser (say "Command Browser" or click Command
Browser on the Tools menu of the DragonBar).

Click the Script button. This displays the command grammars where custom
commands are available. By default, the custom global commands are
displayed:

To change the command grammar, select a grammar from the Current
command grammar list.

The Scripting window shows the following types of custom commands:
ICON

DESCRIPTION

Advanced Scripting, which allows people familiar with programming
languages such as Microsoft® VBA to program commands that can
perform virtually any function on the computer with voice commands.
(Professional and higher editions)
Text and Graphics, which you can use to enter text and graphics of your
choosing. (Preferred and higher editions)
Step-by-Step, which lets you activate menu and keystroke commands to
control your application. (Professional and higher editions)
Macro Recorder, which lets you record a sequence of mouse movements
and keystrokes. (Professional and higher editions)

You can expand each command by clicking the plus sign next to that command or
by double-clicking the command name. The name of the command is what you say
to execute that command. A variable in the commands is shown in brackets <>. The
command name can be displayed as two parts:
■

Parts of the command name

■

Values for any variables

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NOTE The displayed command name corresponds to the MyCommand name in the MyCommands
Editor.

Creating a new command
You can automate your work by creating custom commands that let you type text,
insert graphics, or activate menu and keystroke commands in any application.
(Preferred and higher editions)
1

Open the Command Browser (say "Command Browser" or click Command
Browser on the Tools menu of the DragonBar).

Click the Script button. This displays the command grammars where custom
commands are available. By default, the custom global commands are displayed.

Select a grammar from the Current command grammar list to select a context
where the new command will be used.

Click the New button. This displays the MyCommands Editor. Use the editor
to name the command and assign properties to it. For information on how to use
the MyCommands dialog box, click the Help button on the dialog box, or see
the MyCommands section listed below.

You can also base a new command on an existing command. For more information,
see Modifying a command below.
You can also use Tools>Add New Command from the DragonBar to create a new
command.

Modifying a command
To modify an existing command:

110

Open the Command Browser (say "Command Browser" or click Command
Browser on the Tools menu of the DragonBar).

Click the Script button. This displays the command grammars where custom
commands are available. By default, the custom global commands are displayed.

Use the Current command grammar list to select the program or context in
which the command is found. A list of commands display.

From the list, select the command that you want to modify.

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Using the Command Browser
5

Click:
B UT T O N

D E S C R IP T IO N

Edit button

This displays the MyCommands Editor with current
command. Use the editor to modify the command's
properties.For information on how to use the
MyCommands dialog box, click the Help button on the
dialog box, or see the MyCommands section listed
below.

New Copy button

This displays the MyCommands Editor with current
command, but with a unique name. For example, if you
chose go to sleep in Global Commands, the new copy
would be named go to sleep 2. Use the editor to modify
the command's properties.For information on how to use
the MyCommands dialog box, click the Help button on
the dialog box, or see the MyCommands section.

Click Save when you are done.

Deleting a command
You can delete commands that you have either created or imported.
1

Open the Command Browser (say "Command Browser" or click Command
Browser on the Tools menu of the DragonBar).

Click the Script button. This displays the command grammars where custom
commands are available. By default, the custom global commands are
displayed.

Use the Current command grammar list to select the program or context in
which the command is found. A list of commands display.

From the list, select the command that you want to delete.

Click the Delete button

Confirm that you want to delete the command. The command disappears from
the Command Browser.

NOTE You cannot delete many application-specific commands, Natural Language Commands, or
other built-in commands.

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Importing and exporting commands
(Professional and higher editions)
You can share custom commands with other users by exporting them to a file and
then having the other user import that file. If you have created several users on your
computer, this allows you to use these commands no matter which user you
currently have open.
The ability to import and export commands is available only in Professional and
higher editions.

Exporting commands
1

Open the Command Browser (say "Command Browser" or click Command
Browser on the Tools menu of the DragonBar).

Click the Manage button. This displays the groups where custom commands are
available. By default, the groups Dragon, User-defined, and all are available.
Use the plus (+) icon to expand the commands. For example:

Select one or more commands to export by selecting the box to the left of the
command name; causing a check to appear.
NOTE You can select an entire group by selecting the box to the left of the group name.

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Click Export:. This displays the Choose a file to export to… dialog box.

In the Choose a File to Export to… dialog box you can:
■

Choose a File name from the ones listed, click Save, and then Click either
Overwrite, Merge, or Cancel on the Exporting MyCommands dialog box
that appears. Overwrite replaces the commands in the existing file with the
ones you selected. Merge adds the commands you selected to the ones
already in the file.

■

Enter a new file name and click Save.
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Using the Command Browser

Importing Commands
1

Open the Command Browser (say "Command Browser" or click Command
Browser on the Tools menu of the DragonBar).

Click the Manage button. This displays the groups where custom commands
are available. By default, the groups Dragon, User-defined, and All are
available.
Use the plus (+) icon to expand the commands.

Click Import

Use the "Choose a file to import from" dialog box to navigate to the location of
the voice command file, for example, My_Commands.dat, which you want to
import.

Click Open. The status of the import process and any error messages appear in
the Import Status dialog box.

On the Importing MyCommands dialog box, select the commands you want to
import and click the Import button. You may notice a delay, depending on the
size of the file you are importing. For more information, click Help.

After importing a voice command file, you can use all the custom voice commands it
contains in addition to any custom voice commands that were already in your voice
command file. You can also edit commands that are contained in the imported file.

Changing the command group and availability
You can change the group or availability of a selected set of commands.
The command group is a category where you place the command. You use these
groups to locate the command in the Command Browser. By default, the groups
Dragon and User-defined are available. To create your own group, select Userdefined and type over it with a group name of your choosing.
The Availability defines where the command will be available:
■

Global: The command will be available in every application.

■

Application-specific: The command will be available in the application you
specify. When you select this option, the applications currently open appear. If
the application you want is not open, use the Browse button to locate the
application on your computer.

■

Window-specific: The command will be available in the window you specify.
When you select this option, the Window list appears. If the window you want
is not in the list, you must close the MyCommands Editor dialog box, open the

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Using the Command Browser
window you want, and reopen the MyCommands Editor dialog box to see the
window listed.

Changing the command group and availability
1

Open the Command Browser (say "Command Browser" or click Command
Browser on the Tools menu of the DragonBar).

Click the Manage button. This displays the groups where custom commands are
available. By default, the groups Dragon, User-defined, and All are available.
Use the plus (+) icon to expand the commands.

Select one or more commands to modify by selecting the box to the left of the
command name. A check appears when you select the command.
NOTE You can select an entire group by selecting the box to the left of the group name.

114

Click Edit Properties. This displays the MyCommands Properties dialog box.
For more information about this, see the My Commands Properties Dialog
section in MyCommands or click Help on the MyCommands Properties dialog
box.
In the MyCommands Properties dialog box, you can:
■

Change the group in which the command is found.

■

Create a new group. To create your own group, select the Group name and
type or dictate over it with a group name of your choosing.

■

Change where the command will be available.

When you are done, click Save.

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CHAPTER

Improving Accuracy
A

s you speak to Dragon NaturallySpeaking, it makes its best estimate as to
what you are saying and it will make some mistakes. This chapter describes
what you can do to improve you recognition accuracy.
You can take concrete steps toward improving your accuracy, which is one of the
most important factors in using the program productively.

The Accuracy Center
The Accuracy Center provides a "home page" for taking advantage of all the Dragon
NaturallySpeaking tools available to ensure excellent recognition.
From the Accuracy Center, you can access the tools that Dragon NaturallySpeaking
provides to improve accuracy. To open the Accuracy Center, click Accuracy Center
on the Tools menu of the DragonBar. In the Accuracy Center, either click or say the
name of the link you want. Each tool in the Accuracy Center is described below.

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“Which tool should I use”t
If you are not sure where to begin or how to use the Accuracy Center, click the first
link, “Which tool should I use?” The Accuracy Assistant will display a series of
questions that will help you find the best tool for your needs.
NOTE You can also access the Accuracy Assistant by clicking Improve my accuracy on the Help
menu of the DragonBar.

Tools to improve your acoustics
Check your audio settings
You can check the volume level of your microphone and your sound card by clicking
or saying “Check your audio settings” in the Accuracy Center. This runs the Audio
Setup Wizard, which checks the volume level of your microphone and sound card.
TIP You will need to run “Check your audio settings” if you change microphones.

Run the Acoustic Optimizer
As you make corrections and perform additional training, Dragon NaturallySpeaking
stores this data in an archive and uses it to enhance recognition accuracy. The
Acoustic Optimizer accumulates this data from session to session. This has several
advantages over normal adaptation and correction:
■

The Acoustic Optimizer uses much more data to enhance the user file and is
therefore more accurate.

■

The Acoustic Optimizer allows you to change your mind about saving
corrections and supplemental training to your user file if you find that your
recognition accuracy is not enhanced or is even degraded by your changes.

■

Because it can take as long as an hour to incorporate the acoustic data into your
user files, you can plan to run the Acoustic Optimizer at the most convenient
time for you.

If you plan to run the Acoustic Optimizer, be sure that the "Store corrections in
archive" option is selected on the Miscellaneous tab of the Options dialog box.
Otherwise you may see a message that there is not enough data for the Acoustic
Optimizer to process. The "Store corrections in archive" option should be selected.
To tell the software to make use of this information, in the Accuracy Center window,
click the “Run the Acoustic Optimizer” link. The Acoustic Optimizer can take

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several hours to complete its work, so run it at the end of your workday or when you
don’t need to use the computer for other tasks.

▲ Click the Go button to start the Acoustic Optimizer.

How often you should run the Acoustic Optimizer depends on how much you
dictate. Run the Acoustic Optimizer about two weeks after you begin using Dragon
NaturallySpeaking and then once each month as you continue to use it.

Scheduling the Acoustic Optimizer
The Acoustic Optimizer Scheduler allows you to run the Acoustic Optimizer at a
time that is convenient for you. Because the Acoustic Optimizer requires a
significant amount of your computer's resources to run, you should schedule the
Optimizer to run at a time when the computer will not be needed for any other task.
To schedule the Acoustic Optimizer, click or say “Schedule Acoustic Optimizer to
run later” from the Accuracy Center. Use the lists to set the date and time you want
the Acoustic Optimizer to run and click OK.
NOTE If your operating system requires a password to run (such as Windows NT, Windows 2000,
or Windows XP) a dialog box will appear asking for your Windows user name and password. This
dialog box will not appear if you are using Windows 98 or Windows ME. Dragon NaturallySpeaking
does not store this username or password.

Perform additional training
Additional training will help to improve your recognition accuracy. Consider doing
additional training when:
■

You have used Dragon NaturallySpeaking for a few days. By then, you will be
accustomed to dictating, and supplemental training should reflect how you
actually dictate.

■

You move to an environment that is significantly noisier or quieter or that has
different background sounds.

■

You change your microphone or sound card.

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To perform additional training:
1

From the Accuracy Center, click or say "Perform additional training."

Follow the same guidelines as when you trained the first time.

When you are finished, click Finish.

Tools to Manage Commands
Launch the Command Browser
From the Accuracy Center, click or say “Launch the Command Browser” to display
the Command Browser. The Command Browser lets you see many of the commands
available in your edition of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. In the Command Browser,
you can also create new commands customized to speed up your work. For more
information on the Command Browser, see page 103.

Tools to improve your vocabulary
When Dragon NaturallySpeaking gets a word wrong, it’s often because the word is
not in the vocabulary. This is more likely if the word is an uncommon name or
specialized term. The tools described in this section let you teach Dragon
NaturallySpeaking these new words.

Add a single word to your vocabulary
To add any word to the vocabulary, click or say “Add a single word to your
vocabulary.” When the Add Individual Word dialog box appears, type or say the
word you want to add and click or say “Add.”

When you check “I want to train the pronunciation of this word,” Dragon
NaturallySpeaking displays the Train Word dialog box where you tech the program
how you pronounce the new word you’ve added.
NOTE You can also access the Add Individual Word dialog box by clicking New from the Words
menu on the DragonBar.
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Add words from your documents to the vocabulary
You can have Dragon NaturallySpeaking analyze your documents to analyze your
writing style and the words you use most often.
This procedure will add:
■

Words that match backup dictionary words that have the same capitalization,
for example, Punxsutawney (uppercase) or jackstraws (lowercase)

■

Unexpected capitalizations of words found in the active or backup dictionaries,
for example, “I’ll see you at the Meeting today”

■

Words with at least one uppercase letter that are not in the backup dictionary,
for example, eBusiness and Brooklynese, or a name, such as Rusinow

NOTE The program expects to find capitals at the beginning of sentences, or in a sequence of
words that are all capitalized or have initial caps, such as a book title. It does not expect to find
capitals in the middle of words or sentences.

This procedure will not add words written entirely in lowercase that are not in the
backup dictionary.

To Add Words from Documents
You must have Microsoft® Word installed to process Microsoft® Word files and you
must have Corel® WordPerfect® installed to process Corel® WordPerfect® files.
1

From the Accuracy Center, click or say “Add words from your documents to the
vocabulary”. This displays the Add Words from Documents dialog box.

Click or say “Add Document.” Navigate to the documents you want to add and
select them. For example:

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3

(optional) Click or say “Add Folder.” This will add all the documents in the
folder you select.
TIP Once you have selected the documents, you can often achieve very good results by
skipping directly to Step 6.

120

(optional) To view any document in the list, select it and click or say “View
Document.”

(optional) Check or say “Preview new words before adding them to the vocabulary” to
open the Preview Words dialog box and display the new words found in the
document.

When you are finished, click OK to continue with the Add Words process.

(optional) If you chose to preview words, a checklist of words displays (from all
the documents in the list) that are not in your current vocabulary. For example:

■

Clear any check box to remove a word from the list.

■

Add only words you think you’ll use frequently, not ones you’re unlikely to
need.

■

Don’t add capitalized words unless you plan to dictate the capitalized form of
the word often (for example, a pet’s name “Fluffy”).

Click “Done” to scan the documents for the words you want to add to the
vocabulary. Your speech files will be updated and saved automatically.

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Increase accuracy from e-mail
To increase accuracy, you can analyze your sent e-mail as well as add the names of
the people in your e-mail address book. The following e-mail applications are
supported:
A PP L IC A T I O N :

S UP P O R T E D I N :

Microsoft® Outlook® Express

Standard and higher editions

Microsoft Outlook

Professional and higher editions

Lotus Notes
®

Professional and higher editions

To add contact names:
1

From the Accuracy Center, click or say “Add contact names to the vocabulary.”
The Increase Accuracy from E-mail dialog box opens. Click Next to continue.

Select the e-mail program you use from the choices provided. After selecting
one or more e-mail programs and the appropriate options, select Next. For
example:

■

Scanning the contents of your sent e-mail can take several minutes if you
have a large amount of e-mail in your program's Sent mail folder.

■

Depending on how your system is set up, you may be prompted to supply a
password.

■

The “Improve my speech files from my e-mail writing style” option lets
you analyze the e-mails that you’ve already sent for your style. For best
accuracy when writing e-mail, leave this option selected.

Once e-mail processing is complete, the dialog box displays a list of contact
names to add to your vocabulary. Check the contacts you would like to add to
your vocabulary and click Next.

Check the contacts for which you would like to train the pronunciation and
click Next. A check mark indicates that you want to train the word.

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5

For each contact you selected to train, Dragon NaturallySpeaking brings up the
Train Words dialog, where you can speak the name of the contact. Once you
train a name, the next name you selected appears in the dialog box until you
have trained the entire list of selected names.

Once you are done, Dragon NaturallySpeaking adapts your speech files based
on your selections.

Add a list of words to your vocabulary
Using the “Add a list of words to your vocabulary feature”, you can add many new
words to the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary at the same time. This feature is
useful when adding words from employee lists, product code lists, and similar
documents.

To add a list of words:

122

Create a text (.txt) file and enter each word or phrase you want to add to the
vocabulary on a separate line. Make sure words are spelled correctly. Each word,
phrase or name that you add must be on a separate line.

From the Accuracy Center, click or say “Add a list of words to your vocabulary.

Click Browse and select the.TXT file that contains the new words you want to
add.

Click Add. Dragon NaturallySpeaking will add the words in the document you
selected.

If you want Dragon NaturallySpeaking to add words from more documents,
repeat steps 3 and 4.

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6

When you’ve finished selecting and processing the documents you want, click
Done.

View or edit your vocabulary
The Vocabulary Editor shows you all the active words (the most commonly used
words) in the Dragon NaturallySpeaking vocabulary. You can open Vocabulary
Editor to find out whether a word is in the active vocabulary. If it’s not there, you
can add it. If it is, you can create a different spoken form.
You can also use the Vocabulary Editor to
■

Add words that are spoken one way but written a different way. This feature
lets you add a word that, for example, types your phone number whenever you
say “phone number line.”

■

Change the formatting properties of a word, such as whether Dragon
NaturallySpeaking should type a space before or after the word. You can do this
by using the Word Properties dialog box. See “Changing word properties” on
page 126.

By choosing the appropriate option from the Display list, you can view:
■

All words: displays all the words in the current vocabulary.

■

Custom words only: displays only words added to the vocabulary by the user.

■

Words with spoken forms only: displays only words with spoken forms that are
different from their written forms.

■

Words with formatting properties only: displays only words with special
formatting properties that influence how they appear in the transcription of
dictated text.

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To edit your vocabulary:
1

From the Accuracy Center, click or say “View or edit your vocabulary.” You can
also click View/Edit on the Words menu on the DragonBar. The Vocabulary
Editor displays.

Words you have added are marked with a colored star
(not including any words
that were previously in the backup dictionary). To see only the words you have
added, click “Show custom words only.”
A word’s written form is what Dragon NaturallySpeaking types when you say the
word. The spoken form is how you say the word. For example, the spoken form for
“Sgt.” is “Sergeant.”
TIP Want to check to see if a word is already in the vocabulary? Type the first few letters of the word
into the Written form box. If the word is in the vocabulary, it will appear on the screen.

Type the new word or phrase into the Written form box. Leave the Spoken form
box empty, unless the word or phrase is not pronounced the way it’s spelled (as
in the example pictured). If so, see “View or edit your vocabulary” on page 123.

Click Add

Click Close to close the Vocabulary Editor.

Notes:
■

124

If the spoken form is blank, you must say the written form for the word to be
recognized.

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■

Some special words have a blank written form. These words are special
dictation words built into Dragon NaturallySpeaking. You cannot add your own
words with a blank written form.

■

Words with a written form that begins with a number (for example, "99th" or a
fraction like "½") appear in the list before words that begin with the letter "a".
To see these words, you must scroll the list up.

To create a spoken form for a word or phrase:
Creating a spoken form can be useful in automating some words or phrases that you
dictate frequently. To create a spoken form:
1

Find the word you want in the list by typing the first few letters in the Written
form box of the Vocabulary Editor.

NOTE If the word you want to edit doesn’t appear in Vocabulary Editor, it means the word isn’t in
the active vocabulary. You need to add it to the active vocabulary before you can edit it. (See “View or
edit your vocabulary” on page 123.)

Select the word.

Type the new spoken form into the Spoken Form box. Make sure you type it
exactly as is it pronounced.

(optional) Make any changes, such as punctuation or capitalization, to the
Written Form box.

Click Add. This adds the word with your changes.

If the word was already in the active vocabulary before you edited it, you should
then delete the original word.
Creating a spoken form can be useful in automating some words or phrases that you
dictate frequently. For example, you can define a spoken form for a phone number
that you frequently use instead of dictating a string of numbers.
Here are some examples of words with different written and spoken forms. Look in
the Vocabulary Editor window for more examples.
W RI T T E N F O R M

S P O K E N FO R M

eBusiness

ee business

Daniell

Daniel with two ells

Niamh

Nev

CINCPAC

sink pack

mdbowman@company.com

my e-mail address

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WRITTEN FORM

SPOKEN FORM

Robert F. Kennedy

R. F. K.

Waldron, Lichtin & Foust

Waldron Lichtin and Foust

(617) 965-5200

my phone number

To delete a custom word from your vocabulary
Normally, you do not need to delete words from the active vocabulary. If a word is
regularly confused with another one that you never use, however, you might want to
delete the word you never use.
To delete a word, select it and click Delete. (You can select multiple words by
holding down the CTRL key while you click. Clicking while holding the SHIFT key
will select consecutive words.)
Some common words (like “the”) cannot be deleted, since Dragon
NaturallySpeaking wouldn’t understand you very well without them.

Changing word properties
You can use the Vocabulary Editor to you change the formatting properties of a
word, For example, you can change whether Dragon NaturallySpeaking should type
a space before or after the word, or whether the word should be capitalized when
used in a title.

To change the properties of a word:

126

From the Accuracy Center, click or say “View or edit your vocabulary.” You can
also click View/Edit on the Words menu on the DragonBar. The Vocabulary
Editor displays.

Find the word whose properties you want to modify and select it,

Click the Properties button to open the Word Properties dialog box. The
Property column lists the different possible properties for a word, namely, the
spacing, capitalization, and other ways a word behaves when it is recognized and
printed in your document.

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.

The word whose
properties you are
editing.
Click on the word
property you want in
the Properties
column.
The Example column
lists example words
for each Property.

Click OK to close the Word Properties dialog box.

Click Close to close the Vocabulary Editor.

For more information on word properties, see the Dragon NaturallySpeaking online
Help.

Run the Vocabulary Optimizer
The Vocabulary Optimizer analyzes your writing style to increase your recognition
accuracy during dictation. This tool scans the following for appropriate words to use
when building the vocabulary:
■

Documents in your My Documents directory. This includes Microsoft Word,
Corel WordPerfect, text and rich text files (.rtf).

■

E-mail you have sent from Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, and
Lotus Notes.

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To start the Vocabulary Optimizer:
1

On the Tools menu of the DragonBar, click or say “Accuracy Center.”

In the Accuracy Center click or say "Run the Vocabulary Optimizer." This
displays the Vocabulary Optimizer dialog box:

Select:

■

E-mail to have Dragon NaturallySpeaking build a language model from the
contents of your sent e-mail, so that it can better recognize the phrasing and
word order you typically use in your communication.

■

Documents to have Dragon NaturallySpeaking build a language model from the
contents of any Microsoft Word, Corel WordPerfect, text and rich text format
file in your MyDocuments folder.

Click or say “Start” to continue. A status bar displays while the Vocabulary
Optimizer scans your system.

Click or say “Done” when the Vocabulary Optimizer finishes.

Notes:

128

■

Your sent e-mail must be from either Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook
Express, or Lotus Notes or the Vocabulary Optimizer cannot scan it.

■

Documents older than 90 day and documents less than 512 bytes are not
processed.

■

Because the scanning process can take a long time and use much of your
computer's memory and processing power, it is best to run the Vocabulary
Optimizer only when you are not using your computer for other purposes.

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Managing your vocabularies
Click the last link in the Accuracy Center, “How to manage and personalize your
vocabularies,” to open an online Help topic about vocabularies. (To display the
Accuracy Center, click Accuracy Center on the Tools menu of the DragonBar.)
The Professional and higher editions of Dragon NaturallySpeaking allow one user
to create multiple vocabularies. This can be useful if you dictate on several
unrelated topics—for example, if you dictate medical reports part of the time and
dictate a e-mail at other times. In this case, you could create separate vocabularies
for medical dictation and for your personal writing, thereby increasing accuracy.
Multiple vocabularies share the same pronunciations but have different words and
word usage information. This means that you do not need to train for each
vocabulary. Your acoustic information resides in your user files. You can imagine
vocabularies as subdirectories of your user files, with one set of acoustic files that
works across all your vocabularies. For additional information about using multiple
vocabularies, see the online Help.

Training a word or command
Sometimes Dragon NaturallySpeaking will misrecognize a word or command more
than once, even after you correct the program’s misrecognition. When this happens,
use the Training dialog box to easily train the word or command.

To train a word or command:
1

Click Train on the Words menu of the DragonBar to open the Training dialog
box.

Type the word or command you want to train (capitalization does not matter).

▲ In this example, the word to be trained is “Springdale.”

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3

Click Train to open the Train Words dialog box.

Click Go.

Say the word or command you are training.

Click Done.

Using the Performance Assistant
The Performance Assistant helps you determine how to increase the speed with
which Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognizes your speech.
The Performance Assistant is presented as a series of questions. As you answer
questions about how you normally use Dragon NaturallySpeaking and click or say
the corresponding link, you will get help with specific techniques to customize
Dragon NaturallySpeaking for better performance.
To start the Performance Assistant, click or say "Performance Assistant" from the
Dragon Bar Help menu.
As you answer questions about how you normally use Dragon NaturallySpeaking
and click or say the corresponding link, you will get help with specific techniques to
customize Dragon NaturallySpeaking for better performance.

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CHAPTER

Managing Users
ore than one person can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking on the same
computer. You can even dictate in different languages or dialects (Preferred
and higher editions).

Each person who wants to use the program needs to create a new set of user speech
files and train Dragon NaturallySpeaking to understand his or her voice. A single
person might want to have more than one set of user speech files (called a user) if,
for example, you dictate into a mobile recorder or in more than one language.

What are user speech files?
Your user speech files contain all the information that Dragon
NaturallySpeaking gathers about you: your pronunciation, your vocabulary,
how often you use certain words, and your preferences (whether you want
one or two spaces after a period or a full stop, for example).
This chapter explains how to set up Dragon NaturallySpeaking so that more than
one person can use it, and describes how to open, rename, delete, back up, and
restore users.

Creating a new user
When someone new wants to use Dragon NaturallySpeaking, that person needs to
follow the steps described in this section to create a new user.

To create a new user:
1

From the NaturallySpeaking menu, select Manage Users.

In the Manage Users dialog box, click New.

Follow the steps in the New User Wizard.

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Creating a user on a portable device
You can create a user on a portable device or removable device, such as a Zip drive.
Before creating the user, make sure the device is attached to your computer.
1

From the NaturallySpeaking menu, select Manage Users.

Click Open User from the NaturallySpeaking menu.

Select Browse and pick the appropriate location.

Click New to create the user. Follow the steps in the New User Wizard.

Viewing user properties
Opens the User Properties dialog box, where you can view information about the
selected user, including the language, dictation source, speech model, and what
steps you have taken to set up this user.
Use this dialog box to view information about a user, including the language,
dictation source, speech model, and what steps you have taken to set up this user.
Open this dialog box by selecting a user on the Manage User dialog box and clicking
Properties.

Opening a user
When someone else has been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, you need to open
your own user before you start using the program. Or, if you have more than one user
of your own (for example, you have a separate user for your portable recorder),
always remember to switch to the appropriate user before you start.

To open a user:
1

From the NaturallySpeaking menu, select Open Users.

Select a user and click Open.

This loads your speech files. These files include information about your
pronunciation that Dragon NaturallySpeaking needs to recognize your voice.

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Renaming a user
You can change the name of a user at any time.

To rename a user:
1

From the NaturallySpeaking menu, select Manage Users.The Manage Users
dialog box opens.

Select a user and click Rename.

Type a new name and click OK.
The name can contain up to 128 characters, including spaces. Special characters
are not allowed in user names.

To close the Manage Users dialog box, click Cancel.

TIP You cannot rename the currently open user. If you have only one user and want to rename that
user, you must first export and then import that user. NaturallySpeaking will prompt you to change the
name. You can then delete the user under the old username. See page 136 for more information.

Deleting a user
If you know you will not need a user that you have created, you can delete it and
free up hard-disk space. Removing a user can’t be undone, so make sure you don’t
need it before you remove it.

To delete a user:
1

From the NaturallySpeaking menu, select Manage Users.The Manage Users
dialog box opens.

In the Manage Users dialog box, select the user you want to delete and click
Delete.

A dialog box will appear asking if you really want to permanently remove this
user. To confirm, click “Yes.” To cancel, click “No.”

If you want to delete the current user, you must close it first by opening a different
user. There must be at least one user on the computer, so if you’ve got only one,
you can’t delete it.
NOTE Always use the Delete button to delete users. Don’t remove folders from the
\...NaturallySpeaking\Users folder on your hard disk. Using the Delete button is the only way to
completely remove all information about a user from your computer.

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Backing up and restoring a user
When you make changes to your user (for example, by adding words to the
vocabulary), Dragon NaturallySpeaking prompts you to save your user speech files.
The program automatically makes a backup copy every fifth time you save your
speech files.
You can change the frequency of automatic backups or turn this feature off. On the
NaturallySpeaking menu, point to Advanced, click Options, and then click the
Miscellaneous tab.

Change this number to set how
often you want to back up your
speech files automatically.

To back up a user:
You can only back up the current user. You cannot back up a user simply by
selecting it in the Manage Users dialog box; you must open the user first.
1

From the NaturallySpeaking menu, select Manage Users.

In the Manage Users dialog box, select the user you want to back up.

Select Backup from the From the File menu. The File menu is located in the
upper left corner of the Manage Users dialog box.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking makes a backup copy in a default location on your
computer.

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If you made recent changes to your user (for example, added words to the
vocabulary), Dragon NaturallySpeaking prompts you to save these changes before it
makes the backup.

Restoring a backup copy of a user
If you make unwanted changes to your speech files (for example, you process the
wrong documents in Vocabulary Builder), you can restore the last backup copy of
your user.

To restore a user:
1

From the NaturallySpeaking menu, select Manage Users.

In the Manage Users dialog box, select the user you want to restore. For
example, “Elmo.”

Select Restore from the From the File menu. The File menu is located in the
upper left corner of the Manage Users dialog box.
Dragon NaturallySpeaking restores the last backup that was made and saves it
with a different name, for example, “Elmo - Restored1.”

Open the restored user to begin working with it.

Delete the older version (in this example, the user named “Elmo”) and rename the
one you just restored.

Changing the backup location
You can specify where NaturallySpeaking stores your user files and backs them up.
You can define any location for which you have read and write permissions,
including portable or removable drives and CD burners.
NOTE You can use a network device for the backup location but not for a portable user location.

To set a back up location:
1

Select Options from the Tools menu

Select the Miscellaneous tab.

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3

Select the Backup Location button. This displays the Backup Location dialog
box:

Click Change to pick a different location. This displays the “Browse for Folder”
dialog box.

Select the location where you want to back up your user files and click OK.
The default backup location is
C:\Program Files\ScanSoft\NaturallySpeaking\Users\user_name\

Importing and exporting users
Importing and exporting users is available only in the Preferred and higher editions.

To export a user:
1

From the NaturallySpeaking menu, select Manage Users.

In the Manage Users dialog box, select the user you want to export.

Select Export from the From the File menu. The File menu is located in the
upper left corner of the Manage Users dialog box. This displays the “Browse for
Folder” dialog box.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking makes a backup copy in a default location on your
computer.

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Using Portable Recorders
(Preferred and higher)
f you have Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred or a higher edition, you can
dictate into a portable recorder and then use Dragon NaturallySpeaking to
transcribe your recorded speech.

To prepare Dragon NaturallySpeaking for use with a recorder, follow these steps:
■

Install the recorder software (required only for certain recorders).

■

Create a user specifically adapted to the sound of your recorded speech.

Once you have created a user, follow these steps whenever you want to use your
recorder with Dragon NaturallySpeaking:
■

Dictate into your recorder

■

Transcribe the recorded dictation

■

Correct mistakes

Supported recorders
Dragon NaturallySpeaking supports specific recorders that have been certified
by ScanSoft, including:
■

Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder

■

Many Sony® recorders, including the Sony® Memory Stick® IC recorder
ICD-MS, the Sony® IC recorder ICD-BP, and the Sony® ICD-R100.

■

Many Panasonic recorders, including RR-US and RR-XR series.

■

Pocket PC devices, including the Compaq iPAQ. (If you are using a iPAQ
3830 with 32 MB of memory, you may need more memory to store both
the training text and additional recordings.)

For a complete list of supported recorders, see the following Web site:
http://www.scansoft.com/naturallyspeaking/support/

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Installing recorder software
Some recorders require additional software to work with Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
If you are using a:
■

Sony® ICD-BP recorder, you must install the Sony® Digital Voice Editor
software. For more information, see the documentation that came with your
recorder.

■

Sony® Memory Stick™ IC Recorder ICD-MS, you must install the Sony®
Memory Stick™ Voice Editor or the Sony® Digital Voice Editor Version 2.01. For
more information, see the documentation that came with your recorder.

■

Sony® ICD-R100 recorder, you must install the ICD-PCLINK software. For
more information, see the documentation that came with your recorder.

■

A Panasonic® IC recorder, you must install the Panasonic® Voice Editor. For
more information, see the documentation that came with your recorder.

■

A Pocket PC (for example, a Compaq iPAQ), you must install the ScanSoft
Voice Recorder software. See below for more information.

■

A Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder, you can install the Voice It® Link software,
which is not required, but can enhance the recorder’s usability. This software is
available on your Dragon NaturallySpeaking CD but it is not automatically
installed when you install Dragon NaturallySpeaking. See below for more
information.
Use the Voice It® Link software to perform functions for your Dragon
NaturallyMobile recorder that you can’t perform from the Dragon
NaturallySpeaking Transcribe dialog box. Note that for normal transcription
from the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder, you don’t need to have this software
installed.

Pocket PC: Installing ScanSoft Voice Recorder
If you are using a Pocket PC device like the Compaq iPAQ as a mobile recorder, you
can install ScanSoft Voice Recorder either at the same time you install Dragon
NaturallySpeaking, or at a later time.

To install ScanSoft Voice Recorder at the same time you install
Dragon NaturallySpeaking:

138

If you don’t already have ActiveSync 3.5 on your desktop, you must install it.
See http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/downloads/activesync35.asp for
more information.

Connect your PocketPC device to your computer using the device's USB
connection (or the COM port for NT systems).
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3

Install Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

At the end of the installation process, a message will appear stating that the
Setup program has detected a PocketPC device connected to the computer and
asks if you want to install ScanSoft® Voice Recorder.

Click Yes.

Follow the instructions to install ScanSoft Voice Recorder on your device.

ScanSoft® Voice Recorder is automatically installed on your device.

Installing ScanSoft Voice Recorder after you install Dragon
NaturallySpeaking:
1

If you don’t already have ActiveSync 3.5 on your desktop, you must install it.
See http://www.microsoft.com/mobile/pocketpc/downloads/activesync35.asp
for more information.

Connect your PocketPC device to your computer using the device's USB
connection (or the COM port for NT systems).

Place the Dragon NaturallySpeaking CD in your computer's CD reader.

Open the Voicerec folder on the Dragon NaturallySpeaking CD.

Double-click on Setup.exe and follow the instructions on the screen.

ScanSoft® Voice Recorder is installed on your device.

Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder: Installing Voice It Link
1

Put the Dragon NaturallySpeaking CD in the CD-ROM drive of your
computer.

Using Windows® Explorer, go to the VOICEIT folder of the Dragon
NaturallySpeaking CD. The folder is on the top-level directory of the Dragon
NaturallySpeaking CD.

Double-click Setup and follow the instructions of the Setup Wizard.

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Creating a user adapted to your
recorded speech
Before you can use Dragon NaturallySpeaking with a handheld recorder or mobile
device, you must create a user specifically adapted to the sound of your recorded
speech. You do this by running the New User Wizard and selecting one of the
recorder options as the dictation source.
NOTE Steps 1 and 2 assume that you have already created a headset microphone user. If you have
not previously created a user for Dragon NaturallySpeaking, then the New User Wizard will appear
when you first start the program and you can skip to step 3.

To create a user:

140

From the NaturallySpeaking menu on the DragonBar, click or say “Open User.”

In the Open User dialog box, click or say “New.” The New User Wizard guides
you through the steps of creating a user. As you complete the steps, click Next
whenever you are ready to continue.

On the Create User screen, enter a unique name for the user. Then select the
appropriate recorder type from the Dictation source list.

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Use the following table as a guide for selecting a Dictation source and deciding
what to do next.

D I C T A T IO N S O U R C E

HOW TO PROCEED

Dragon NaturallyMobile
recorder connected to serial
port

Use the recorder as a microphone attached to your
computer with the supplied serial cable. Do not
proceed any further with the training instructions in
this chapter. Instead, use the instructions for new
user training that begin on page 13. Also see
“Using the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder as a
microphone” on page 151.

Sony® IC recorders

Go to step 4.

Panasonic IC recorder

Go to step 4.

Olympus Digital recorders

Go to step 4.

Pocket PC device used as
digital recorder

Make sure that the power option "Turn off device if
not used for " and “Turn off backlight if device is
not used...” are not activated on your Pocket PC so
that you can record for 10 minutes without
interruption.
Go to step 4

Recording device plugged into
Line-In jack

Be sure the recorder is connected to your computer
with a cable plugged into your sound card, and
proceed to step 4.

Digital recorder using sound
files (.wav) on disk (includes the
Sony® ICD-R100 recorder)

Go to step 4.

The New User Wizard starts to guide you through training for the mobile user.
Click Next to continue.
For the Pocket PC, choose the “Start a New Training Recording” option.

On the Training - Recording your speech screen, select the text you would like
to read from the list of choices. Click View if you want to read the text from the
screen. Click Print if you want to send the text to your printer so you can read it
while away from your computer.

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Printing out the text you selected to read may greatly help reading the text
while using a handheld recorder.

After you have recorded approximately 15 minutes of your reading the text
selection, click Next.

Recording with ScanSoft Voice Recorder on a Pocket PC
If you are using the ScanSoft Voice Recorder on a Pocket PC, do the following
on the Pocket PC:
■

Tap File and then tap Training.

■

Tap the name of the text file you want to record and then tap OK.

■

Tap the Record button on the screen or press your device's Record button
and begin reading the text on the screen or from a print-out. Read for at
least 10 minutes. Do not stop the recording when you make a mistake.
You will get a message when enough training data is collected.

■

Attach the Pocket PC to your computer.

NOTE If you do not have enough available memory for 10 minutes of recording, a message box
will warn you. Open the Pocket PC Main menu, tap Settings, tap the System tab, and then tap the
Memory icon. Drag the Memory slider to the right until you have at least 12 MB of memory free for
Storage.

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7

The screen that appears and what you do next depends on the recorder type
you have selected.
R E C O R D E R TY PE

HOW TO PROCEED

Sony® Memory Stick™ IC
Recorder ICD-MS

Click the “Sony Memory Stick Voice Editor” or
“Sony Digital Voice Editor” button and follow the
instructions on the screen.

Sony® ICD-BP recorder

Click the “Digital Voice Editor” button and follow
the instructions on the screen.

Panasonic IC recorder

Click the “Panasonic Voice Editor” button and
follow the instructions on the screen.

Pocket PC

In the "Select training recording" screen, select the
location of your training file. Click Next to adapt
the file.

Recording device plugged into
Line-In jack

Be sure that the recorder is connected to the line-in
jack on your computer and (optionally) select the
Detect end of recording and automatically adapt
user files box. If you do this, choose the number of
seconds of silence before the wizard assumes that
the recording is finished. Then click Start Recording
and start your recorder to play back your dictation.

Olympus recorder

Transfer the.wav file to your computer’s hard disk
and then use the Browse button to locate the file. If
you are not sure how to transfer recorded data to
your computer, see the documentation for your
recorder. Finally, click Next and follow the
instructions on the screen.

Digital recorder using sound
files (.wav) on disk (includes
the Sony® ICD- R100 recorder)

Transfer the .wav file to your computer’s hard disk
and then use the Browse button to locate the file. If
you are not sure how to transfer recorded data to
your computer, see the documentation for your
recorder. Finally, click Next and follow the
instructions on the screen.

Depending on your system, it can take up to 60 minutes to adapt your user for
mobile recording. You do not have to sit at your computer while the program is
adapting to your recorded voice.

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Dictating into your recorder
You can start dictating once you have trained Dragon NaturallySpeaking to
recognize your recorded speech.
When you dictate into your recorder, you should follow the same guidelines you use
when talking directly to the computer.
Here are some additional tips for getting good results:
■

If you talk directly into a built-in microphone, always hold your recorder at the
same distance from your mouth. Some users report that it is easier to rest the
recorder on their jaw for the most consistent results. Be sure to hold the recorder
at the same distance you used when you dictated the training text.

■

Don’t change the recording volume setting on your recorder (if it has one). Keep
the same setting you used during training.

■

For a better quality recording, consider connecting your headset microphone to
your recorder, rather than talking into the built-in microphone. Most recorders
include connection for an external microphone a mike-in connection.

Using the ScanSoft Voice Recorder on a Pocket PC
To start ScanSoft Voice Recorder:
■

On the Start menu, tap ScanSoft Voice Recorder.

Tap the appropriate button to record, pause, stop, or play.
The amount of available recording time appears in the upper right in the
Available box. The amount of available time depends on the amount of
memory in your Pocket PC device.
For more information, see the ScanSoft Voice Recorder Help file on the
Pocket PC.

■

The restricted command set
When you are dictating into a recorder, most of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking voice
commands cannot be used effectively because they require that you see the results
on a computer screen. The restricted command set, however, can be used without
visual feedback when you are dictating into your recorder. These are the commands
in the restricted command set:

144

■

New Paragraph

■

New Line

■

Tab Key

■

Cap [word] or Cap Next [word]

■

All Caps [word]

■

No Caps [word]
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■

No Space [word]

■

Caps On/Caps Off

■

All Caps On/All Caps Off

■

No Caps On/No Caps Off

■

No Space On/No Space Off

■

Scratch That

■

Resume With

TIP “Resume With” is particularly useful when you are using a recorder. It lets you return to where
you want to go within a recording if you misspeak or change your mind after dictating a phrase. For
more information, see “Going back as you dictate” on page 50.

Later, when you transcribe your recorded dictation, you can choose to make Dragon
NaturallySpeaking ignore all commands except the restricted command set. This
prevents potentially damaging recognition errors (for example, a phrase being
incorrectly interpreted as the command “Delete Previous 5 Paragraphs,” which would
actually delete the previous five paragraphs from your transcription). For more
information on how to do this, see the “The Advanced Settings dialog box” on page
148.

Transcribing recorded dictation
Connecting a recorder to your computer
Before Dragon NaturallySpeaking can transcribe your recorded dictation, you must
connect your recorder (or, in some cases, your recorder’s memory card) to your
computer. Connect your recorder in the same way as you did when you created a
user trained for your recorded speech.
The following procedures describe the different methods you use for transcription,
depending on the type of recorder you are using. Use the method that is appropriate
for your recorder.

Transcribing from a handheld recorder or Pocket PC
Dragon NaturallySpeaking has features specifically adapted to work with the
Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder, Sony® IC recorders, Panasonic® IC recorders, and
Pocket Pcs. To transfer files from these recorders, use the following procedure.

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To transcribe recorded dictation:
1

Start Dragon NaturallySpeaking. (You don’t need to turn the microphone on.)

Open the user adapted (trained) for your recorded speech. (Click Open User
from the NaturallySpeaking menu on the DragonBar, select the user you want,
and click Open.)

From the Sound menu on the DragonBar, click Transcribe Recording. (If the
Extras toolbar is displayed, you can click the Transcribe button instead.) What
you see next depends on the type of recorder you have.

Transcribe a Recording dialog box

If you have Pocket PC, Panasonic IC recorder, or a Sony IC recorder, the Transcribe
a Recording dialog box opens. The illustration below shows the text for Transcribe a
Recording dialog box when you have a Sony® Memory Stick™ IC Recorder:)

Recorder icon

Click the recorder icon.
If you want to change the target window of the transcription, specify which
commands Dragon NaturallySpeaking will understand or change the recorderspecific options, and click the Advanced button. For a more detailed description of
the options, see the “The Advanced Settings dialog box” on page 148.
Transcribe From... dialog box

If you have recorder using sound files (.wav) like the Sony ICD-R100, the
Transcribe From... dialog box opens. For example:

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Click the Browse button to locate the sound file.
NOTE If you are transcribing a wave file, make sure the file is in the following format: PCM,
11.025 or 22.050 kHz, 16 Bit, Mono.

If you want to change the target window of the transcription, specify which
commands Dragon NaturallySpeaking will understand or change the recorderspecific options and click the Advanced button. For a more detailed description of
the options, see the “The Advanced Settings dialog box” on page 148.
4

What you see next, depends on your recorder:

NOTE After transcription, your recorded speech should appear on the screen. If text doesn’t
appear, see “Troubleshooting” on page 150.
Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder or the ScanSoft Voice Recorder

If you are using the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder or the ScanSoft Voice
Recorder, the Select Files for Transcription dialog box opens.

With the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder or the ScanSoft Voice Recorder, select
the file or files you want to transcribe, and click the Transcribe button. You can only
transcribe the.uwv format with this dialog
You can also select the memory location of the Pocket PC folder if the file you want
is not displayed in the list. You can store recording in either the device's internal
memory or in a memory card, if you have one attached to your device.

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Dragon NaturallyMobile recorders

With the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder, select the file or files you want to
transcribe and click the Transcribe button.
Pocket PCs

With Pocket PCs using the ScanSoft Voice Recorder, select the file or files you want
to transcribe and click the Transcribe button. You can only transcribe files in the
.uwv format from the this dialog box. To transcribe .wav or .eur files, open the
Transcribe a Recording dialog box, and choose “Other Sources” and then “Audio
File from Pocket PC”
Sony Memory Stick or ICD-BP recorders

If you are using the Sony® IC Recorder, the Sony® Memory Stick™ Voice Editor or
Digital Voice Editor dialog box opens.
In the Sony® Voice Editor or Digital Voice Editor screen, click the Voice
Recognition tool
on the toolbar or the Voice Recognition option on the File
menu.
Panasonic IC recorders

If you are using a Panasonic IC recorder, the Panasonic Voice Editor dialog box
opens. In the Panasonic Voice Editor, click the Dragon button.
Recorders using sound files (.wav)

If you are using a recorder that uses sound files (.wav) and you clicked the Browse
button to locate the file, the Open dialog box displays.
Locate the files you want to transcribe and click the Transcribe button to begin
transcription.
Recorders plugged into the Line-In jack

If your dictation source is “Recording device plugged into Line-In jack,” press the
Play button on your recorder.
NOTE If you are playing back recorded dictation through the Line-In jack, transcription stops
automatically by default as soon as the computer hears 10 seconds of silence.

Drag-and-drop transcription
You can transcribe a wave file (.wav) by dragging the file to the DragonPad window
or onto the DragonBar. By doing this, NaturallySpeaking starts to transcribe the
wave file automatically.

The Advanced Settings dialog box
The Advanced Settings dialog box allows you to change how Dragon
NaturallySpeaking transcribes the dictation from your recorder. The options you see
when you open the dialog box depend on the type of recorder you are using. The

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illustration shows the Advanced Settings dialog box that appears when you are
transcribing from the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder.

The following sections describe the options on the Advanced Settings dialog box:
Destination

You can choose to specify that the recording should be transcribed into the
DragonPad window or into a selected window you click in after closing the
Transcribe a Recording dialog box. Make sure the window you select accepts text.
Commands

You can choose either the All Commands, Restricted Commands, or Dictation Only
option.
■

“All Commands” enables all Dragon NaturallySpeaking commands during
transcription. Any command recognized in the recording is carried out.

■

“Restricted Commands” disables all but the restricted command set during
transcription. If other commands are recognized, they are entered as text. This
prevents potentially damaging misrecognitions (for example, a phrase being
misrecognized as “Delete Previous Paragraph”). For more information about
the restricted command set, see page 144.

■

“Dictation Only” disables all commands during transcription, except for
dictation commands. If the recording contains commands, they are entered as
text in the document.

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Communication options (for the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder only)
■

“Select the Baud Rate to connect to the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder”
specifies the communication speed between your computer and your recorder.
Generally, the speed should be set to the highest number (115,200). If you are
having communication errors, try selecting a lower number.

■

“Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder is on ” specifies the
serial communications (COM) port that corresponds to the connector where you
plugged in your recorder. If you have a problem connecting to your recorder, try
selecting a different COM port. The default COM port is COM1.

Miscellaneous options (for Line-In recorders only)

“When using a Line-In recorder, stop transcribing after seconds of silence”
instructs Dragon NaturallySpeaking to finish transcribing a recording after it detects
a certain number of seconds of silence. You can enter any value between 1 and 99
seconds, but it should be long enough that Dragon NaturallySpeaking will not think
you have finished when you are only pausing. Then, when you are dictating, be sure
not to pause for more than the number of seconds you choose. At the end of your
dictation, be sure that you record silence for at least that number of seconds.

Troubleshooting
If text doesn’t appear on the screen, check the following:

150

■

If you are using the Transcribe a Recording dialog box, did you click in a
window after closing it? If you aren’t transcribing in the DragonPad window, you
must click in the window in which you want the text to appear.

■

If you selected Through the Line-In Jack as your source, did you remember to
press the play button on your recorder? Is your recorder properly connected to
the computer?

■

Are you playing the right part of the recording? Listen to the source file to make
sure it contains dictation.

■

If you are using an analog recorder, have you changed the volume setting on
your recorder since running training? If so, check the audio volume and quality
again. From the Tools menu on the DragonBar, click Accuracy Center, then
“Check your audio settings.”

■

Is your recorder working properly? Check the power source. If you are using a
battery, make sure it is fully charged.

■

If you are transcribing a wave file, make sure the file is in the following format:
PCM, 11.025 or 22.050 kHz, 16 Bit, Mono.

■

If you are having difficulties transcribing text from the Dragon NaturallyMobile
recorder, consult the troubleshooting section of the online Help files for the
Voice It® Link software. See the procedure “Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder:
Installing Voice It Link” on page 139 for information on installing the Voice It®
Link software.

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Correcting mistakes
After Dragon NaturallySpeaking transcribes your dictation, make sure you correct
any mistakes. To help you check for mistakes, you can play back your recorded
voice as you read what Dragon NaturallySpeaking transcribed. Listening to your
dictation as you read the transcription will help you identify misrecognized words or
phrases. For more information, see “Correcting and Editing” on page 41

Using the Dragon NaturallyMobile
recorder as a microphone
If you have a Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder, you can use it as a microphone
when it is connected to the computer. This feature is convenient for editing your
transcribed text by voice.

To use the recorder as a microphone:
1

Open the user you created for the Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder, if it is not
already open.

Make sure the recorder is connected to the serial port of your computer.

Click the Microphone button on the DragonBar so the microphone is on (

Wait until the recorder display reads “Mic On.” This takes about two or three
seconds after you click the Microphone button.

Begin speaking, holding the built-in microphone of the recorder almost
touching the corner of your mouth and a bit to the side. Do not hold the
recorder so that the microphone is directly in front of your mouth.

When you have finished, click the Microphone button again so the microphone
is off.

NOTE Turning off the microphone in this way does not turn off the recorder. To conserve your
batteries, turn off the recorder by pressing the Power button.

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CHAPTER

Automate Your Work
(Preferred and higher)
f you have Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred or a higher edition, you can
create your own custom voice commands using the MyCommands Editor. These
commands let you automate repetitive text entry and graphics insertion tasks while
working in virtually any Windows application. In some editions of Dragon
NaturallySpeaking you can use the MyCommands command-and-control and
advanced scripting features to create customized macros and scripts to speechenable applications and to control them by voice.

There are four types of commands you can create.
■

Text and Graphics, which you can use to enter text and graphics of your
choosing. (Preferred and higher editions)

■

Macro Recorder, which lets you record a sequence of mouse movements and
keystrokes. (Professional and higher editions)

■

Step-by-Step, which lets you activate menu and keystroke commands to control
your application. Step-by-Step commands are useful for controlling applications
and for multistep tasks. (Professional and higher editions)

■

NOTE If you’d like to use Step-by-Step, Macro Recorder, or Advanced Scripting commands and
you have Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred or lower edition, you can upgrade to a higher edition
of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. For more information on how to upgrade, see page 215.
TIP In addition to the custom commands described in this chapter, there is another way to create a
command that types up to 128 characters of text. You can use the Vocabulary Editor to create a new
word that has a written form that is different from its spoken form; for instructions, see ”View or edit
your vocabulary” on page 123. You can use this technique for phone numbers, URLs, and short
phrases.

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MyCommands edition differences

The following information will help you determine whether your edition of Dragon
NaturallySpeaking supports creating and editing MyCommands.
EDITION

SUPPOR TS...

Essentials & Standard

Not supported

Preferred

The creation of Text and Graphics commands only.

Professional and above

All custom command types

Viewing and editing commands
You use the Command Browser to view and edit the commands available to you.
These commands are the commands you create as well as the commands included
with Dragon NaturallySpeaking that you can modify.
For more information, see “Working with Custom Commands (Preferred and
higher)” on page 109.

Creating new commands
There are two ways to create a new command:
■

Using the Command Browser. For more information, see “Creating a new
command” on page 110.

■

Select Tools>Add New Command from the DragonBar.

Both methods display the MyCommands Editor. See the section below for more
information on using the MyCommands Editor.

Using the MyCommands Editor (Preferred and higher)
You use the MyCommands Editor to create and edit your voice commands. You use
this dialog box to specify the command type, name, and other aspects of the
command you are creating. You also can create and modify what the command does.

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Note that not all command types are available in all editions of Dragon
NaturallySpeaking.

To create a new command:
1

Type a name for your new command in the MyCommand name box. This is
what you will say to execute the command.

Optionally, you can type a description for this command in the Description
field.

Pick a group into which to place the command. You use these categories to
locate the command in the Command Browser. By default, the groups Dragon
and User-defined are available. To create your own group, select User-defined
and type over it with a group name of your choosing. The new group name will
appear in the list the next time you create a command.

If you plan on creating many commands, use group names that will make it easy
for you to find and manage your commands.

Define the Availability, or where the command will be available:

■

Global—the command will be available in every application. For example, if
you are creating a command to type your address, you probably want it to be
available globally so that the command can be used in all applications.

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■

Application-specific—the command will be available in the application you
specify. When you select this option, the Application list appears. This list
displays all the applications open on your system. If the application you want is
not open, use the Browse button to locate the application on your computer or
open the application as you would normally.

■

Window-specific—the command will be available in the window you specify.
When you select this option, both the Application list and Window list appears.
If the application window you want is not in the list, open the application and
check the list again.

Use the Command Type list to choose the type of command you want. The
available Command Types depend on your version.

Create the content for your command. See the sections below for more
information.

For information on Macro Recorder commands or Advanced Scripting commands, see the Dragon
NaturallySpeaking online Help.

Creating Text and Graphics commands (Preferred and higher)
To create a Text and Graphics command, begin by following the steps in “Creating
new commands” on page 154. Then follow the procedure described below.
1

In the Content box, supply the text, formatted text, bitmap, or combination of
all three that this command will insert into a document.
You can type or dictate plain text into the Content box and press keys such as
Tab or Enter. To format text, use the formatting buttons underneath the
Content box or a keyboard shortcut, such as CTRL-b for making text bold. You
can also copy formatted text from another application. For bitmaps, create the
bitmap in another application and paste it here.

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The example below creates a command called “home address” that types a street
address.

You can change the formatting of the text in the Content box with the
formatting buttons below the Content box.
To have the text in the Content: field entered into documents with the same
font style and size as the text preceding it in the document, select the Plain
Text check box. This setting is not valid for graphics.

Click Save to save your new command.

Switch to the application you want and test your new command by saying its
name. For example, switch to Microsoft® Word and say “home address.” Your
address should appear in your Word document. As with all commands, make
sure to pause before and after saying the command.

Notes:
■

Text and Graphics commands create rich text (.RTF format) text that includes
formatting information that you specify. Programs that cannot accept .RTF
format text, such as Notepad, will only show a plain text version of the
command's contents.

■

Make sure to test your command. For example, if you are in graphics program
and you say “home address,” the command may not work if the graphics program

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does not accept keystrokes. Also, application-specific commands work only in
the specific applications for which they were defined.
■

New commands are saved only when you save your user files. To save your user
files, select Save User files from the NaturallySpeaking menu or say “Save User
Files.”

Creating Step-by-Step commands (Professional and higher)
To create a Step-by-Step command, begin by following the steps in “Creating new
commands” on page 154. Then do the following:
1

Select Step-by-Step in the Command Type list.

Select a type of step from the list in the lower-left corner of the MyCommands
Editor dialog box, as shown below.

Select a type of
step from the list.

There are eight different types of steps:

158

■

Keystrokes: acts as if you pressed a particular key.

■

Open (application): Open a particular application or document or switches to
that application or document if it’s already open.

■

Wait: Do nothing for a specified time. This step is useful, for example, to pause
while an application opens.

■

Type Text: Type the text you specify.

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■

Send Keys: Type a sequence of keys including CTRL , ALT, and SHIFT key
sequences.

■

Stop Listening: Put Dragon NaturallySpeaking into sleep mode.

■

Microphone On: Turn the microphone on.

■

Microphone Off: Turn the microphone off.

For more information about each type of step, see the online Help.
3

Click the Insert button.

Depending on the type of step, Dragon NaturallySpeaking may ask you for
more information. For example, for a Keystrokes step, you’ll be asked to enter
the keystroke you want. Press the keystroke or dictate the keystroke using the
“Press” command. Click OK.

Continue adding steps (repeat items 2 through 4 above). To edit a step, select it
and click Edit. To delete a step, select it and click Delete.

Click Save to save your new command.

Switch to the application in which you want to use the command and test your
new command by saying its name.

NOTE New commands are saved only when you save your user files. To save your user files, select
Save User files from the NaturallySpeaking menu or say “Save User Files.”

Deleting custom commands
You use the Command Browser to delete commands that you have either created or
imported. By clicking the Script button, you can display and then delete these
commands.
For more information, see “Deleting a command” on page 111.

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Importing and exporting commands
You can share custom commands with other users by exporting them to a file and
then having the other user import that file. If you have created several users on your
computer, this allows you to use these commands no matter which user you
currently have open.
You use the Command Browser to import and export commands. By clicking the
Manage button, you can display the commands to import and export.
For more information see “Importing and exporting commands (Professional and
higher editions)” on page 112.

Global: The command will be available in every application.

■

Window-specific: The command will be available in the window you specify.
When you select this option, the Window list appears. If the window you want is
not in the list, you must close the MyCommands Editor dialog box, open the
window you want, and reopen the MyCommands Editor dialog box to see the
window listed.

For more information, see “Changing the command group and availability” on page
113.

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Customizing Dragon
NaturallySpeaking
U

sing the Options dialog box, you can customize Dragon NaturallySpeaking to
specify hot keys, customize how text is formatted, start Dragon
NaturallySpeaking with the microphone on, change how frequently your user files
are backed up, and make many other changes to the standard behavior.
To open the Options dialog box, click Options on the Tools menu of the
DragonBar, or say "View Options."

Correction options
Use this tab to control how correction and spelling features work.

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Correction options

The Correction options affect the Correction menu, which is the list of alternate
recognitions that appears when you select words in your document.
■

"Select" commands bring up Correction menu: causes the Correction menu to
appear every time you select a word or phrase using “Select” in the text you are
dictating.

■

"Correct" commands bring up Spell dialog box: causes the Spell dialog box to
appear every time you correct a word or phrase using “Correct” in the text you
are dictating.

■

Automatic playback on correction: automatically enables the playback of your
dictation when you make a correction.

■

Show only the choices: displays only the alternative words or phrases on the
Correction menu rather than the additional commands. This reminds you of
what you can say as well as taking up less space on your screen.

■

Anchor: locks the Correction menu in its current location until you drag it to a
new location. Clearing this box lets the Correction menu float around the
window as you select text by voice.

■

Enable double-click to correct: opens the Correction menu when you doubleclick a word to select it. Double-clicking to correct is useful if you are revising
your dictation by mouse and keyboard, rather than by voice. Not available in all
applications.

■

Store corrections in archive: Determines whether or not a list of your corrections
are stored for later incorporation into your user files by the Acoustic Optimizer.
Click the Archive size button to specify how much data is stored. If this option is
not selected before you run the Acoustic Optimizer, you may see a message that
there is not enough data for the Acoustic Optimizer to process. Be sure that this
option is selected whenever you use Dragon NaturallySpeaking for an extended
period of time.

■

Click the Archive Size button to change the archive size by dragging a slider
from 30 minutes of stored corrections (the minimum size) to 180 minutes of
stored corrections (the maximum).

■

Show no more than n choices: Controls the maximum number of choices that
can appear in the Correction menu.

TIP If you find that the Correction menu often does not contain the correct word, try increasing the
number of choices displayed.

Other options

The second group of options in this dialog box lets you set additional correction
preferences.
■

162

"Select" commands search backwards: causes the selection commands ("Select
" and "Select Again") to search for matching text backward from the
insertion point. Clear this box if you want the Select commands to search

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for the nearest occurrence from the insertion point, and the Select Again
commands to continue searching in the resultant direction.
■

"Spell" commands bring up Spell dialog box: causes the Spell dialog box to
appear when you speak a spelling command ("Spell " or "Spell That
"). If you pause after saying the command "Spell" the Spell dialog box
will appear even if this box is not selected.
For more information about spelling commands, see “Spelling as you dictate”
on page 52.

Restore defaults

Click this button to restore the values of the Correction tab to what they were when
you installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Startup/Shutdown options
Use this tab to set options that control Dragon NaturallySpeaking when it starts and
when you exit the program. Unless otherwise indicated, changing these options
only affects the current user; any other users keep their existing settings.

Startup options
■

Launch in QuickStart mode on Windows startup: causes Dragon
NaturallySpeaking to load in the background when you start your computer or
log in to your operating system, depending on your version of Windows. When
Dragon NaturallySpeaking is loaded in QuickStart mode the microphone icon
appears in the system tray. When you start Dragon NaturallySpeaking in

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QuickStart mode, it is available for use more quickly than when you start it in
normal mode. See page 25 for more information.
■

Microphone on (asleep) at startup: automatically puts the microphone in sleep
mode when you start the program. You must say "Wake Up" or "Listen to Me"
before Dragon NaturallySpeaking will recognize dictation or other commands.
This option is useful if you have a trouble using the keyboard.

■

Launch DragonPad at startup: opens DragonPad when you first start Dragon
NaturallySpeaking.

■

Enable Natural Language Commands: allows the use of commands you can use
with most word processors. This feature uses an additional 16 megabytes of
memory. Preferred and higher editions.

■

Enable special commands in Internet Explorer: allows the use of commands
designed specifically for use with Internet Explorer. Any change to this option
does not take effect until you restart Dragon NaturallySpeaking and then start
Internet Explorer.

■

Enable mouse motion commands: allows you to use mouse motion commands
such as "Move Mouse left," "Faster," and "Slower." Click the Speed button to
select a mouse motion speed between 2 (slowest) and 25 (fastest). The mouse
motion commands are useful if you have problems using the mouse.
For more information on mouse motion commands, see “Moving the pointer
with the mouse motion commands” on page 38.

Shutdown options
■

Automatically save user files without asking: saves your user files when exiting
Dragon NaturallySpeaking without displaying a dialog box asking you to
confirm that you want the user files saved.

■

Save recorded dictation with document: Use this list to have Dragon
NaturallySpeaking always save dictation files when you save a document
without asking, ask you with a prompt, or never save dictation files. Saving
dictation allows you to play back your speech after the original dictation session.
Saving dictation can take up a lot of disk space, possibly over a megabyte per
minute of speech. (Professional and higher editions).

Restore defaults

Clicking this button restores the values of the Startup/Shutdown tab to what they
were when you installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

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View options
Use the View tab to control the behavior and appearance of the DragonBar and the
Results box. Changing these options only affects the current user; any other users
keep their existing settings.

DragonBar options
■

Preview: illustrates the selected DragonBar mode.

■

Mode: controls the appearance of the DragonBar. The choices are:
Docked to Top

The DragonBar appears along the top of the screen.

Docked to Bottom

The DragonBar appears along the bottom of the screen.

Floating

The DragonBar appears as a window on top of any
other open window on your screen. You drag the
DragonBar to reposition it.

Cling

The DragonBar is attached to the top of the currently
active window.

Tray Icon Only

The DragonBar appears only as a microphone icon in
the system tray. Right-click on the icon to see the
DragonBar menu.

■

Show messages: displays useful hints that appear in the DragonBar periodically.

■

Show Extras: displays the extras toolbar automatically every time you start the
DragonBar. (Preferred and higher editions)

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Results Box
■

Beep after recognition: Dragon NaturallySpeaking beep each time it recognizes
a word or phrase.

■

Anchor: Locks the Results box in its current location until you drag it to a new
location. Clear this check box to allow the Results box to float around the
window as you dictate.

■

Auto-hide delay: Adjusts the length of time before the Results box disappears
after a recognition. From a list, you can choose to never hide it or never show it,
or you can set a delay after which it automatically hides itself. The default
setting is Never Hide.

Restore defaults

The Restore defaults button restores the values of the View tab to what they were
when you installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Hot key options
Use the Hot keys tab to specify hot key assignments. Changing these options only
affects the current user, all other users keep their existing settings.

166

■

Microphone on/off: Changes the hot key that turns the microphone on or off.
The default is the plus key (+) on the numeric keypad.

■

Correction: Changes the hot key that opens the Correction menu. The default is
the minus key (-) on the numeric keypad.

■

Force command recognition: Changes the hot key that forces words to be
recognized as commands rather than dictation words. The default is the CTRL
key.
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Customizing Dragon NaturallySpeaking
■

Force dictation recognition: Changes the hot key that forces words to be
recognized as dictation words rather than commands. The default is the SHIFT
key.

■

DragonBar menu: Changes the hot key that opens the NaturallySpeaking
menu on the DragonBar. The default is the asterisk key (*) on the numeric
keypad.

■

Microphone sleep/on: Changes the hot key that causes the microphone to go to
sleep or wake up. When the microphone is asleep, the only command it will
recognize is "Wake Up," which turns the microphone back on. The default is
the slash key (/) on the numeric keypad.

■

Press-to-talk: Changes the hot key that causes the microphone to turn on for as
long as you hold down the key and turn off as soon as you release it.

■

Playback: Changes the hot key that causes Dragon NaturallySpeaking to play
back your dictation so you can more easily identify what you meant to say
during correction. The default is the SHIFT key plus the minus key (-) on the
numeric keypad. Preferred and higher editions.

■

Fast Playback: Changes the hot key that increases the play back speed. The
default is the SHIFT key plus the asterisk key (*) on the numeric keypad.
Preferred and higher editions.

Restore defaults

The Restore defaults button restores the values of the Hot keys tab to what they
were when you installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking. Click the Related Topics
button to see a list of the default hot keys.
NOTE If you are using a laptop computer that does not have a numeric keypad, you should assign
different hot keys before you use them, as the defaults will be difficult to use or may not work.

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Text-to-speech options (Preferred and higher editions)
Use the Text-to-speech tab to adjust the attributes of text-to-speech playback.
Changing these options only affects the current user; any other users keep their
existing settings.

Attributes
■

Volume: Adjusts the volume of text-to-speech playback.

■

Pitch: Adjusts the pitch of text-to-speech playback if supported by your version
of Text-to-Speech.

■

Speed: Adjusts the speed of text-to-speech playback.

■

Voice: Determines the voice to use for text-to-speech playback. You can select a
voice from the list if you have more than one installed on your system.

Preview

Enter or paste text in this box to preview text-to-speech playback.
■

Read text: Click Read Text to start playback of the text in the Preview box.

Unload text-to-speech

Removes the text-to-speech engine from memory. Dragon NaturallySpeaking loads
the text-to-speech engine the first time you use a text-to-speech command after
starting Dragon NaturallySpeaking. The text-to-speech engine should not affect
performance, so generally you will not need to unload it.
Restore defaults

Clicking this button restores the values of the Text-to-speech tab to what they were
when you installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
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Customizing Dragon NaturallySpeaking

Miscellaneous options
Use this tab to set miscellaneous options. Unless otherwise indicated, changing an
option only affects the current user; any other users keep their existing settings.

■

Pause required before commands: Adjusts the time interval considered to be a
pause before you speak commands. The default setting is 250 milliseconds (.25
second). You should normally leave this at its default setting.

■

Speed vs. Accuracy: Adjusts the number of words and phrases that the program
examines in order to find a word match. The more words examined, the greater
the possibility of an accurate match at the expense of using more memory and
taking a longer time to recognize your speech. You can use the Speed vs.
Accuracy slider to influence the performance of Dragon NaturallySpeaking. As
a general rule, you should move the slider farther to the right on faster
machines than on slower ones.

■

Use Active Accessibility for menu and dialog control: Selecting this check box
specifies that Dragon NaturallySpeaking should use Microsoft Active
Accessibility features, which are required by some versions of Windows to
control the menus and dialog boxes of certain applications by voice.
This option is dimmed if Active Accessibility is not installed or if your version
of Windows does not require it. Changing this option affects all users.

■

Require "Click" to select menu or control: requires you to speak the word
"Click" to select a menu command or Windows control. By default, this feature
is turned off.

■

Use screen reader compatible menus: allows a screen reader to read menu items
out loud to vision-impaired users. Some of screen readers have trouble reading

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Customizing Dragon NaturallySpeaking
menus unless this option is turned on. If this option is on, the small icons next to
menus items will disappear.
■

Disk space reserved for recording: Adjusts the amount of disk cache space set
aside for any overflow from your computer's memory (RAM) of your actual
dictation. Increase the amount of disk space if you want to save more dictation
data. If you do not want to keep your dictation (to conserve disk space) set the
amount to 0 MB.

■

Automatically back up user files every "n" saves: Adjusts how often your user
files are automatically backed up. See “Backing up and restoring a user” on page
134 for instructions.

■

Backup Location: Click this button to open a dialog box in which you can
specify where the program will store backup user files. The default location is
the Natspeak folder although you can define any location for which your version
of Windows has both read and write permission, including portable devices such
as Zip drives and CD burners.

Restore defaults

Clicking the Restore defaults button restores the values of the Miscellaneous tab to
what they were when you installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

Formatting options
Use this tab to set options that affect your dictation. Changing these options only
affects the current user, all other users keep their existing settings.

■

170

Insert two spaces after period: Adds two spaces after the end of a sentence.
Clear this check box to add only one space.
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Customizing Dragon NaturallySpeaking
■

Automatically format telephone numbers, currency, times, and other numbers:
Turns on automatic number formatting, which lets you dictate numbers in a
natural manner. If this option is not selected you must dictate most numbers,
including time, telephone numbers, and currency, by explicitly specifying the
digits and format characters such as commas, periods, or dollar signs. Note that
the exact formatting of numbers and currency depends on the settings on the
Number and Currency tabs of the Windows Control Panel Regional Settings
Properties sheet.

The following four options are available only if the "Automatically format telephone
numbers, currency, times, and other numbers" option is selected.
■

Automatically format Web and E-mail addresses: Turns on automatic e-mail
and Web address formatting, which lets you dictate these addresses in a natural
manner. It concatenates names in Web and e-mail addresses and recognizes the
word "at" as the @ sign.

■

Allow pauses while speaking numbers and addresses: Allows number
formatting to work if you pause while speaking a number.

■

Use ISO currency symbols: Select this box to have Dragon NaturallySpeaking
use the currency character and format specified on the Currency tab of the
Regional Settings tool in your Windows Control Panel. You can open your
Windows Control Panel by clicking Start on the Windows task bar, and then
clicking Control Panel.

■

Use abbreviations and contractions: Select this box to have Dragon
NaturallySpeaking recognize contractions and most standard abbreviations
while transcribing your dictation. If you clear this box, Dragon
NaturallySpeaking will transcribe spoken contractions in a more formal
manner. For example, if you say "Don't go near the water.", Dragon
NaturallySpeaking will transcribe "Do not go near the water."

Other Options:
■

Format postal codes: Allows automatic formatting of Canadian and UK postal
codes in your dictation.

■

Automatically add commas and periods: tells Dragon NaturallySpeaking to add
commas and periods (full stop outside US/Canada) at the appropriate places in
your dictation without your having to explicitly speak that punctuation.
Dictation with this feature turned on should duplicate the same natural pauses
for commas and periods that you typically use in conversational speech. If
commas and periods consistently do not appear where they should, try
changing the length of your pauses. For example, if you normally speak rapidly,
try to lengthen the time of your pauses to indicate the need for punctuation.
Even with this setting turned on, you can still dictate punctuation.

Restore defaults

The Restore defaults button restores the values of the Formatting tab to what they
were when you installed Dragon NaturallySpeaking.
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Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

APPENDIX

Commands List
his appendix lists some of the Dragon NaturallySpeaking commands. Most of
the commands listed here are described in detail elsewhere in this guide. For
more information about commands, follow the page references provided throughout
the appendix. This appendix does not list all the Dragon NaturallySpeaking
commands. To see many more commands, use the Sample Commands window (see
page 21) and the Command Browser (see page 103).

Which commands work in which programs?
Some commands work only in certain types of programs. For example, “Set Font
Bold” works only in programs where you can make text bold. The best way to find
out if a command works in your application is to try it within an application. You can
also use the Command Browser to see if a command will be recognized in your
application. See page 103 for more information on the Command Browser.
TIP If you say a command that does not work in the program you are using, the DragonBar may
show a message, for example, “Formatting commands cannot be used here.”

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APPENDIX

Commands List

Controlling the microphone
S AY

Go to Sleep or
Stop Listening

Make the microphone stop listening temporarily.

Wake Up or
Listen to Me

Reactivate the microphone when it’s sleeping.

Microphone Off

Turn the microphone off. (You cannot turn it back on by
voice.)

Controlling the DragonBar

174

S AY

Give Me Help

Open the Dragon NaturallySpeaking online Help.

Display Sample
Commands

See a list of available commands in the currently open
applications.

Save Speech
Files

Save your user files.

Select Tray Icon
Only Mode

Hide the DragonBar. You can show it by clicking on the
microphone icon in the system tray (on the lower right
of most computer screens) and choosing Restore
Previous DragonBar mode.

Manage Users

Open the Manage Users dialog box.

Train My User

Perform additional training to improve accuracy.

Check Audio

Open the Audio Setup Wizard.

Show The
Accuracy
Assistant

Open the Accuracy Assistant window.

Open Accuracy
Center

Open the Accuracy Center window.

Bring Up
Command
Browser

Open the Command Browser window.

Create
Command

Make a new command.

Modify Custom
Commands

Change an existing command.

Edit Vocabulary

Open the Vocabulary Editor.

View
NaturallySpeaking Options

Open the Options dialog box.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

APPENDIX

Commands List

S AY

Show Extras Bar

Display the Extras toolbar on the DragonBar.

Hide Extras Dar

Removes the Extras toolbar

Start
DragonPad or
Open
DragonPad

Open the DragonPad word processor.

Give Me Help

Display Dragon NaturallySpeaking online Help.

What Can I Say

Display the Sample Commands List.

Close
NaturallySpeaking

Exit the Dragon NaturallySpeaking program.

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APPENDIX

Commands List

Controlling the DragonPad
S AY

Save Document

Save the current document.

Save File As

Save the current document in a different location or
using a different name.

Print Document

Print the current document.

Print Page 1 to
3

Print the page range you specify.

Display Toolbar

Display the DragonPad toolbar.

Start Playback

Have your dictation played back to you.

Find Word

Use the Find tool.

Quit
DragonPad

Exit the DragonPad.

Adding paragraphs, lines, and spaces

176

S AY

New Line

Press the ENTER key once.

New Paragraph

Press the ENTER key twice. (Capitalizes the next word
automatically.)

Tab Key

Press the TAB key.

Space Bar

Press the space bar.

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APPENDIX

Commands List

Selecting text
Selecting specific words
SAY

Select glass

Select a specific word or words that are
visible on screen, in this example, the word
glass.

Select Again

Select the same text again but in a different
place that is also visible on screen.

US/Canada: Select It was
Through night
Other Dialects: Select It
was To night

Select a range of words visible on screen. In
this example, It was a dark and stormy night
is the selected text.

Unselect That

Unselect (clear) selected text.

For more information about these commands, see “Selecting text by voice” on page
45.
Selecting an entire line or paragraph
SA Y

THEN

Select

Line

Paragraph

Forward

2...20 Lines

Back

2...20 Paragraphs

Last

For more information about these commands, see “Selecting an entire paragraph or
line” on page 47.
Selecting a word or character
SA Y

THEN

Select

Word

Character

Forward

2...20 Words

Back

2...20 Characters

Last
TIP You can also say “Select Word,” “Select Line,” “Select Paragraph,” or “Select Character.”

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APPENDIX

Commands List
For more information about these commands, see “Selecting a word or character” on
page 47.
Selecting a document
SAY

Select Document or
Select All

Select all the text in your document.

Correcting text
SAY

Select [text]

Select the text you specify and display the
Correction menu.

Select That

Select the last utterance.

Correct That

Correct the selected text or the wrong utterance.

Spell

Spell a word (brings up the Spell dialog box).

Spell g-l-a-s-s

Spell the next word, in this example, glass.

Spell That g-l-a-s-s

Correct either the last thing you said or selected
text by spelling the correction, in this example,
glass.

For more information about these commands, see “Correcting mistakes” on page 41
and “Spelling as you dictate” on page 52.
International Communications Alphabet

When spelling in the Spell dialog box, you can use the International
Communications Alphabet to enter letters. For a complete list of alphabet choices,
see the online Help.

178

FOR

SAY

FOR

SAY

Alpha

November

Bravo

Oscar

Charlie

Papa

Delta

Quebec

Echo

Romeo

Foxtrot

Sierra

Golf

Tango

Hotel

Uniform

India

Victor

Juliett

Whiskey

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

APPENDIX

Commands List

FOR

SA Y

FOR

SAY

Kilo

Xray

Lima

Yankee

Mike

Zulu

NOTE When spelling, you can also say “letter,” as in “letter alpha,” or “a as in alpha.”

Publishing symbols

When spelling in the Spell dialog box, you can enter the following special characters
by voice. (If the program has trouble recognizing a character, try using the longest
available spoken form.)
TO E N T E R

SAY

™

trademark sign or trademark

registered trademark sign or registered trademark or
registered sign or registered

†

dagger

‡

double dagger

paragraph sign or paragraph

section sign or section

—

em dash

–

en dash

soft hyphen

(nonbreaking
space)

nonbreaking space or nonbreakable space or no break
space or unbreakable space

Currency symbols

SAY

dollar sign or dollar

cent sign or cent

pound sterling or sterling or sterling sign

yen sign or yen
(or EUR)

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euro sign or euro
179

APPENDIX

Commands List

TO E N T E R

SAY

guilder sign or guilder

general currency or general currency sign or
international currency or international currency sign

Accented and international characters

When spelling in the Spell dialog box, you can enter the following special characters
by voice. (If the program has trouble recognizing a character, try using the longest
available spoken form.)

180

TO E N T E R

SAY

´ (acute)

accent acute or acute

` (grave)

accent grave or grave or backquote

˜ (tilde)

accent tilde or tilde

¨ (umlaut)

accent umlaut or umlaut or dieresis

ˆ (circumflex)

accent circumflex or circumflex

¸ (cedilla)

accent cedilla or cedilla

á, Á, é, É, í, Í, ó, Ó,
ú, Ú, ý, Ý

a accent acute or a acute
Cap e accent acute or Cap e acute
and so on

à, À, È, è, ì, Ì, ò, Ò,
ù, Ù

a accent grave or a grave
Cap e accent grave or Cap e grave
and so on

ã, Ã, ñ, Ñ, õ, Õ

a accent tilde or a tilde
Cap n accent tilde or Cap n tilde
and so on

ä, Ä, ë, Ë, ï, Ï, ö, Ö,
ü, Ü, ÿ, Ÿ

a accent umlaut or a umlaut
Cap e accent umlaut or Cap e umlaut
and so on

â, Â, ê, Ê, î, Î, ô, Ô,
û, Û

a accent circumflex or a circumflex
Cap o accent circumflex or Cap o circumflex and
so on

ç, Ç

c accent cedilla or c cedilla
Cap c accent cedilla or Cap c cedilla

å, Å

a angstrom
Cap a angstrom

inverted exclamation point or
inverted exclamation mark

inverted question mark

open angle quotes or begin angle quotes
US/Canada: open euro quotes

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APPENDIX

Commands List

TO E N T E R

SA Y

close angle quotes or end angle quotes
US/Canada: close euro quotes

eszet or German sharp or German sharp s
or sharp s

oe ligature or ligature oe or oe diphthong

ae ligature or ae diphthong or ligature ae

Icelandic eth or eth

Icelandic thorn or thorn

masculine ordinal

feminine ordinal

s wedge

„

double comma

Mathematical symbols

SAY

one quarter sign or one quarter or quarter sign or quarter

one half sign or one half or half sign or half

three quarters sign or three quarters

multiply sign or multiply or times sign or times

divide sign or divide

plus or minus sign or plus or minus or plus minus sign or
plus minus

‰

per thousand or per mille

broken vertical bar

logical not sign or logical not or not sign or not

macron sign or macron

degree sign or degree

superscript 1

superscript 2 or squared or square

superscript 3 or cubed or cube

Greek mu or micro

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APPENDIX

Commands List

TO E N T E R

SAY

o slash

centered dot or middle dot or center dot

‚

alternate comma

Deleting and undoing
SAY

Delete That

Delete selected text. (For more information, see
“Deleting specific words” on page 51.)

Backspace

Press the BACKSPACE key. To press it more than
once, say Backspace 2, Backspace 3, and so on (up to
20).

Undo That or
Undo Last Action

Undo the last action.

Scratch That

Erase the last thing you said or selected text. You can
say “Scratch That” up to 10 times to keep erasing
previous words or phrases. (For more information, see
“Deleting the last words you dictated” on page 50.)

Resume With
Dear Susan

Search backward to find a specific word or words, so
you can continue dictating from that point. In this
example, resume dictating with Dear Susan. (For more
information, see “Going back as you dictate” on page
50.)

Deleting the next or previous line or paragraph
SAY

THEN

Delete

Paragraph

2...20 Paragraphs

Forward

Line

Back

2...20 Lines

Last

For more information about these commands, see “Deleting the next or previous
paragraph or line” on page 51.

182

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APPENDIX

Commands List
Deleting the next or previous word or character
SA Y

THEN

Delete

Word

Forward

Character

2...20 Words

Back

2...20 Characters

Last

For more information about these commands, see “Deleting the next or previous
word or character” on page 52.

Moving around in a document
Going to the top or bottom of a document
SA Y

THEN

Go to

Top

Move to

Top of Document
Beginning of Document
Start of Document
Bottom
Bottom of Document
End of Document

Going to the top or bottom of a page
SA Y

Page
Up

Move up one page (equivalent to pressing the PAGE UP
key).

Page
Down

Move down one page (equivalent to pressing the PAGE
DOWN key).

For more information about these commands, see “Going to the top or bottom of a
page or document” on page 48.

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APPENDIX

Commands List
Going to the beginning or end of a line
SAY

THEN

Go to

Beginning of Line

Move to

Start of Line
End of Line

For more information about these commands, see “Going to the beginning or end of
a line” on page 48.
Placing the insertion point before or after a specific word
SAY

Insert Before glass

Place the insertion point before a specific word or
words that are visible on screen. In this example, the
insertion point is placed before glass.

Insert After glass

Place the insertion point after a specific word or
words that are visible on screen. In this example, the
insertion point is placed after glass.

Insert Before That

Place the insertion point before selected text that is
visible on screen.

Insert After That

Place the insertion point after selected text that is
visible on screen.

For more information about these commands, see “Placing the insertion point
before or after a specific word” on page 49.
Moving up or down a paragraph
SAY

THEN

Move

a Paragraph or 1 Paragraph

Down

2...20 Paragraphs

Back
Forward

For example, you can say “Move Up a Paragraph” or “Move Down 6 Paragraphs.” For
more information about these commands, see “Moving up or down a paragraph or
line” on page 49.

184

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APPENDIX

Commands List
Moving up or down a line
SA Y

THEN

Move

a Line or 1 Line

Back

2...20 Lines

Down
Forward

For example, you can say “Move Up a Line” or “Move Down 6 Lines.” For more
information about these commands, see “Moving up or down a paragraph or line”
on page 49.
Moving right or left a word
SA Y

THEN

Move

Right

a Word or 1 Word

Forward

2...20 Words

Left
Back

For example, you can say “Move Right a Word” or “Move Forward 6 Words.” For
more information about these commands, see “Moving right or left a word or
character” on page 49.
Moving right or left a character
SA Y

THEN

Move

Right

a Character or 1 Character

Forward

2...20 Characters

Left
Back

For example, you can say “Move Right a Character” or “Move Left 6.” For more
information about these commands, see “Moving right or left a word or character”
on page 49.

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APPENDIX

Commands List

Copying, cutting, and pasting text
SAY

Copy Selection

Copy selected text to the Clipboard.

Cut Selection

Cut selected text.

Copy That

Copy the selected text to the Clipboard.

Cut That

Cut the selected text.

Paste That

Paste the contents of the Clipboard.

Copy All to Clipboard

Copy all the text in your document to the
Clipboard.

For more information about these commands, see “Copying, cutting, and pasting
text” on page 50.

Capitalizing text
Capitalizing or uncapitalizing text already in your document
SAY

Cap That or Capitalize
That

Capitalize the selected text or the last thing
you said.

Format That Capitals or
Format That Initial Caps
or Format That Cap or
Format That Caps

Capitalize the selected text.

All Caps That

Make the selected text all capitals.

Format That All Caps or
Format That Uppercase

Make the selected text all capitals.

No Caps That

Make the selected text lowercase.

Format That No Caps or
Format That Lowercase
or Uncapitalize That or
Uncap That

Make the selected text all lowercase.

For more information about these commands, see “Capitalizing (or uncapitalizing)
text already in your document” on page 63.
NOTE In many applications the commands “Cap That,” “Capitalize That,””All Cap That,” and “No
Caps That” work on the selection and on the last thing you said. All other capitalization commands
work only on selected text.

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Commands List
Capitalizing or uncapitalizing the next word you say
SAY

Cap glass
or
Cap Next glass

Start the next word with a capital, in this example,
Glass.

All Caps glass

Type the next word in all capitals, in this example,
GLASS.

No Caps Jack

Type the next word in all lowercase, in this example,
jack.

No Space glass

Type the next word without a space before it; for
example, window No Space glass = windowglass.

For more information about these commands, see “Capitalizing text” on page 61.
Capitalizing or uncapitalizing consecutive words
SAY

Caps On

Turn initial caps on.

Caps Off

Turn initial caps off.

All Caps On

Turn all capitals on.

All Caps Off

Turn all capitals off.

No Caps On

Turn all lowercase on.

No Caps Off

Turn all lowercase off.

No Space On

Turn no spaces on.

No Space Off

Turn no spaces off.

For more information about these commands, see “Capitalizing text” on page 61.

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APPENDIX

Commands List
Hyphenating or compounding text
S AY

Hyphenate That

Hyphenate either the last thing you said or
the selected text.

Format That With Hyphens

Hyphenate the selected text.

Compound That

Compound either the last thing you said or
the selected text.

Format That Without Spaces

Compound the selected text.

Formatting text
Adding or removing bold, italics, and underlining
SAY

Bold That

Apply bold to the selected text.

Italicize That

Apply italics to the selected text.

Bold Italicize That

Apply bold and italics to the selected text.

Underline That

Apply underlining to the selected text.

Restore That or
Format That Plain or
Format That Normal
or Format That
Regular

Remove formatting from the selected text.

For more information about these commands, see “Bold, italics, and underlining” on
page 66.
Changing font face
SAY

THEN

Set Font

Arial

Format That

Courier
Courier New
Garamond
Helvetica
Palatino
Times
Times New Roman

For more information about these commands, see “Changing font face” on page 64.
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APPENDIX

Commands List
Changing font size
SA Y

THEN

Set Size

Format That Size

10 point

Set Font Size

12
any point size from 4 to 100, as well as 120

For more information about these commands, see “Changing font size” on page 64.
Changing font style
SA Y

THEN

Set Font

Bold

Format That

Italics
Bold Italics
Underline
Strikeout
Plain or Plain Text or Normal or Regular

For more information about these commands, see “Changing font style” on page
65.

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APPENDIX

Commands List
Changing a combination of font face, size, and style
SAY

THEN

Set Font

Times

Bold

Format That

Times New
Roman

10 point

Italics

Times New
Roman

(any point
size from 4 to
100, as well
as 120)

Bold Italics

Arial

(any point
size from 4 to
100, as well
as 120)

Underline

Courier

(any point
size from 4 to
100, as well
as 120)

Plain or Plain
Text or
Normal or
Regular

For more information about these commands, see “Changing a combination of font
face, size, and style” on page 65.
Aligning text
SAY

Center That or Format
That Centered

Center the current paragraph.

Left Align That or Format
That Left Aligned

Left align the current paragraph.

Right Align That or Format
That Right Aligned

Right align the current paragraph.

For more information about these commands, see “Aligning text” on page 66.

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APPENDIX

Commands List

Entering numbers
TO E N T E R

SAY

five or numeral five

twenty three

179

one hundred (and) seventy nine or one seventy nine
NOTE: The word “and” is optional.

5423

five thousand four hundred (and) twenty three

5,423

five [comma] four twenty three

12,537

twelve thousand five hundred and thirty seven

142,015

one hundred and forty two thousand and fifteen

35.23

thirty five [point] two three

0.03

All Dialects: zero [point] zero three
Outside US/Canada: nought [point] nought three

43.28%

forty three [point] twenty eight [percent sign]

22 January 1999

twenty two January nineteen ninety nine

April 9, 2001

April nine comma two thousand and one

14/07/85

fourteen [slash] oh seven [slash] eighty five

6/12/00

six [slash] twelve [slash] double oh or six [slash] twelve
[slash] double zero
NOTE: If you say “oh oh,” you must then say “Format
That Number” to remove the extra space.

1/22/2000

one [slash] twenty-two [slash] two thousand

8:30

eight [colon] thirty

4:45 am

four forty five a m

10:22 pm

ten twenty two p m

5:00 PM

five o’clock p m

£45

US/Canada: pound sterling sign forty five
Other Dialects: forty five pounds

$99.50

ninety nine dollars and fifty cents

£5 million

US/Canada: pound sterling sign five million
Other Dialects: five million pounds

$3.9 billion

US/Canada: three point nine billion dollars
Other Dialects: dollar sign three point nine billion

1/2

one half

1/4

one fourth or one quarter

15/16

fifteen sixteenths or fifteen over sixteen

3 7/8

three and seven eighths or three and seven over eight

9/12

nine [slash] twelve or nine over twelve

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APPENDIX

Commands List

TO E N T E R

SA Y

5 3/56

five [space bar] three [slash] fifty six

130/70

one thirty over seventy

Roman Numeral five

XXIV

Roman Numeral twenty Roman four

Telephone numbers
TO ENTER

SAY

617-965-5200

six one seven nine six five fifty two hundred

1-800-555-1212

one eight hundred five five five one two one two

(617) 965-5200

[open parenthesis] six one seven [close
parenthesis] nine six five five two hundred

1-212-555-1212

one two one two five five five one two one two

(01628) 894150

open parenthesis oh one six two eight close
parenthesis space bar eight nine four one five oh

027 629 8944

oh two seven space bar six two nine space bar
eight nine four four

61-7-4695-2055

six one hyphen seven hyphen four six nine five
hyphen two zero five five

(65) 2778590

open parenthesis six five close parenthesis two
seven seven eight five nine zero

NOTE You can say North American phone numbers (of 7, 10, or 11 digits) without hyphens by
pausing briefly between each group of numbers. To dictate other phone numbers, including European
phone numbers, you must say all the punctuation, including the hyphens. For more information, see
"Telephone numbers” on page 86.

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APPENDIX

Commands List
Postal and ZIP codes
TO ENTER

S AY

02460

oh two four six zero

02460-1458

oh two four six zero [hyphen] one four five eight
NOTE: The hyphen is not optional.

K1A 0M5

Postal Code k one a oh m five or
Postal Code kilo one alpha zero mike five

X0A 0H0

Postal code x oh a oh oh o or
Postal code x-ray zero alpha zero hotel zero

SL7 1LW

Postal Code s l seven one l w or
Postal Code sierra lima seven one lima whiskey

For more information about entering numbers, see “Dictating numbers” on page
83.
Changing number format
SAY

Format That Number

Convert a number from text to numeric format
(for example, convert one hundred to 100).

Format That Spelled Out

Convert a number from numeric to text format
(for example, convert 100 to one hundred).

Start Numbers Mode/
Numbers Mode On

Tell Dragon NaturallySpeaking to recognize all
your dictation as numbers, typed as numerals.

Stop Numbers Mode/
Numbers Mode Off

Resume normal dictation of text and numbers.

For more information about these commands, see “Dictating numbers” on page 83.

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APPENDIX

Commands List

Entering punctuation and special characters

194

TO E N T E R

SAY

TO E N T E R

SAY

ampersand or
and sign

asterisk

’

apostrophe

’s

apostrophe s

at sign

backquote

‘

open single quote
or begin single
quote

’

close single quote
or end single quote

“

open quote
open quotes or
begin quote or
begin quotes

”

close quote or
close quotes or
end quote or
end quotes

backslash

slash or
forward slash

:(space)

colon

numeric colon

,(space)

comma

numeric comma

caret

—

dash

dot or point

US/Canada: period
Other Dialects: full stop

dollar sign

...

equal sign

US/Canada:
exclamation point
All Dialects:
exclamation mark

hyphen or numeric
hyphen

{

open curly bracket
or left curly bracket
US/Canada:
open brace or left
brace

}

close curly bracket
or right curly
bracket
US/Canada:
close brace or right
brace

[

open square
bracket or left
square bracket
US/Canada:
open bracket or left
bracket

]

close square
bracket or right
square bracket
US/Canada:
close bracket or
right bracket

ellipsis
euro sign/euro

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

APPENDIX

Commands List

TO E N T E R

SAY

TO E N T E R

SAY

(

All Dialects:
open parenthesis or
left parenthesis
US/Canada:
open paren or
left paren
Other Dialects:
open bracket or
left bracket

)

All Dialects:
close parenthesis
or right parenthesis
US/Canada:
close paren or
right paren
Other Dialects:
close bracket or
right bracket

open angle bracket

less than

close angle bracket

greater than

minus sign

number sign or
hash sign or
sharp sign
US/Canada:
number sign or
pound or
pound sign

percent sign

plus sign

US/Canada:
pound sterling sign
Other Dialects:
pound sign or
pound

question mark

section sign

;

semicolon

(space)

space bar

(tab)

tab key

tilde

underscore

vertical bar

:-(

frowny face

:-)

smiley face

;-)

winky face

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APPENDIX

Commands List

Playing back and reading text
Playing back dictation
SAY

Play That Back or Play That
or Play Selection

Play back the selected text.

Play Back Line

Play back dictation for the current line.

Play Back Paragraph

Play back dictation for the current paragraph.

Play Back Document

Play back dictation for the whole document.

Play Back Screen

Play back dictation for the text in view.

Play Back to Here or
Play Back Up to Here

Play back dictation from the top of the
document window to the insertion point.

Play Back from Here or
Play Back Down from Here

Play back dictation from the insertion point
to the bottom of the document window.

For more information about these commands, see page 53.
Using text-to-speech
SAY

Read Line

Read back the current line.

Read Selection

Read back the selected text.

Read Paragraph

Read back the current paragraph.

Read Document

Read back the whole document.

Read Screen

Read back the text in view.

Read to Here or
Read Up to Here

Read back from the top of the document window
to the insertion point.

Read from Here or
Read Down from Here

Read back from the insertion point to the bottom
of the document window.

For more information about these commands, see page 57.

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APPENDIX

Commands List

Working with your desktop and windows
Starting programs and opening documents and folders
SAY

Start Calculator

Start a program on your Windows® Start menu or
desktop, in this example, Calculator.

Start Mail

Start your default e-mail program.

Start proposal.doc

Open a document on your Windows® Start menu or
desktop, in this example, proposal.doc.

Start My
Documents

Open a folder on your Windows® Start menu or
desktop, in this example, My Documents.

Click Start or Click
Start Menu

Open a menu, in this example, the Start menu.

Give Me Help

Open Dragon NaturallySpeaking online Help.

What Can I Say

Display the Dragon NaturallySpeaking Sample
Commands for the application you are currently
working in.

For more information about these commands, see “Programs, documents and
folders” on page 27 and “Opening documents and folders from the Start menu” on
page 27.
Switching windows
SAY

Switch to Internet Explorer

Switch to a different program window, in
this example, Internet Explorer.

Switch to Previous Window

Switch to the previous window (equivalent
to pressing ALT+TAB).

Switch to Next Window

Switch to the next window (equivalent to
pressing ALT+SHIFT+TAB).

Switch to DragonPad

Switch to the DragonPad window.

For more information about these commands, see “Switching between open
windows” on page 28.

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APPENDIX

Commands List
Opening and closing menus
SAY

Click File or
File

Open a menu or activate a menu command, in this
example, the File menu.

Cancel

Close an open menu.

For more information about these commands, see “Opening and closing menus” on
page 28.
Selecting buttons, tabs, and options
SAY

Click OK or OK

Activate a button or option, in this example, OK.

Click Properties or
Properties

Activate a tab in a tabbed dialog box, in this
example, the Properties tab.

Go to Next Tab or
Move to Next Tab or
Click Next Tab or
Next Tab

Switch to the next tab in a tabbed dialog box.

Go to Previous Tab or
Move to Previous Tab
or Click Previous Tab
or Previous Tab

Switch to the previous tab in a tabbed dialog
box.

For more information about these commands, see “Selecting buttons, tabs, and
options” on page 29.
Resizing and closing windows
SAY

Click Maximize

Maximize the active window.

Click Minimize

Minimize the active window.

Click Restore

Restore the active window to its previous size.

Click Close

Close the active window.

Click Control Menu

Open the Control menu for the active window.

Click System Menu

Open the System menu for the active window.

For more information about these commands, see “Resizing and closing windows”
on page 31.

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APPENDIX

Commands List

E-mail commands
The following commands work only when you are in a supported e-mail program.
For more information, see “Working with e-mail” on page 67.
E-mail commands
SAY

Check For New Mail or
Check For Mail or
Check For E-mail or
Check Mail or
Refresh Mail

Check the Inbox for new messages.

Create Mail or
Create New Mail or
New Mail or
New E-mail or
New Message

Create a new e-mail message.

Open Mail or
Open E-mail or
Open That

Open the selected e-mail message.

Close Mail or
Close E-mail or
Close That

Close the selected e-mail message window. This
command does not close your main e-mail
program.

TIP You can say “Mail,” “E-mail,” “Message,” or “Memo” in any of the commands specific to email.

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199

APPENDIX

Commands List
The following commands work if you have a message selected in your Inbox or if
you are currently in an e-mail message.
Replying to, forwarding, sending, printing, and deleting e-mail
SAY

Reply Mail or
Reply Message or
Reply To E-Mail or
Reply To Message

Reply to the sender of the current message.

Reply to All

Reply to all recipients of the current message.

Forward Mail or
Forward E-Mail or
Forward Message

Forward the current message.

Send Mail or
Send E-Mail or
Send Message

Sends the current message.

Send Now or
Send Mail Now

In AOL only, sends the current message
immediately.

Send Later or
Send Mail Later

In AOL only, sends the current message later.

Print Mail or
Print E-Mail or
Print Message

Prints the current message.

Delete Mail or
Delete E-Mail or
Delete Message

Deletes the current message.

The following commands let you move around when editing e-mail. You can also use
the regular text editing commands to compose your messages.
Editing a message

200

SAY

Go To To Field or To

Move to the To field. In AOL only, you can say
“Send To.”

Go To CC Field or CC

Move to the CC field. In AOL only, you can say
“Copy To.”

Go To BCC Field or
BCC

Move to the BCC field.

Go To Subject Field or
Subject

Move to the Subject field.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

APPENDIX

Commands List

SAY

Go To Body Field or
Body

Move to the Body field.

Go To First Field or
First

Move to the first field of the view.

Go To Next Field or
Next

Move to the next field of the view.

Go To Previous Field
or Previous

Move to the previous field of the view.

Go To Last Field or
Last

Move to the last field of the view.

TIP You can also say “Move To” instead of “Go To” in any of the commands above.

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APPENDIX

Commands List

Using Lotus Notes
Lotus® Notes® commands are available only in Dragon NaturallySpeaking
Professional and higher editions. These commands let you control and navigate
using Lotus® Notes®.
Basic commands
SAY

Move to Tab 1..10

Move to the respective Lotus® Notes® tab.

Next Message

Open the next message in the list.

Previous Message

Open the previous message in the list.

Next Unread

Open the next unread message.

Open Document

Open the selected document.

Close Document

Close the selected document.

Click Move to Folder

Click the toolbar button named Move to Folder.

What Field Is This

Display the Notes Field ID.

Format That

Display the text properties dialog for selected text
in a Notes document.

Refresh View

Update the view.

TIP You can say “Move To” or “Go To” the name of any Lotus® Notes® field, such as “Move To
Home Phone” in your address book to go to the Home Phone field.

You can also use Dragon NaturallySpeaking e-mail commands when composing email in Lotus® Notes®. Use the standard Dragon NaturallySpeaking editing
commands to work with text that you enter.
NOTE You cannot select paragraphs in Lotus® Notes® or format text using the Set Font and Format
That commands.

For more information about Lotus® Notes®, see the online Help.

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APPENDIX

Commands List

Using Microsoft Internet Explorer
Navigating the Web
SAY

Go to Address

Move to the Address box.

Click Go or Go There

Go to the Web page specified in the Address
box (same as pressing the ENTER key).

Open United Nations

Go to a Web page on your Favorites list, in this
example, United Nations.

Refresh or Reload

Refresh the current Web page (same as clicking
the Refresh button).

Click Help on
Searching or Help on
Searching

Follow the link or click the button, in this
example, Help on Searching.

Click Contact Us or
Contact Us

Follow the link that appears in an image when
the mouse moves over it, in this example,
Contact Us.

Choose 2

Select an alternative from the numbered list and
enter it in your document. You can say any
number that appears in the list.

Next Match or Next

Select the next matching link or object on the
page.

Previous Match or
Previous

Select the previous matching link or object on
the page.

Click That or That One

Click the selected link, edit box, and so on.

Stop Loading

Stop loading a Web page (same as clicking the
Stop button).

Go Back

Load the previous Web page in your history list
(same as clicking the Back button).

Go Forward

Load the next Web page in your history list
(same as clicking the Forward button).

Go Home

Go to your home page (same as clicking the
Home button).

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203

APPENDIX

Commands List
Moving around a Web page
SAY

Page Down

Scroll down one screen (same as pressing the
PAGE DOWN key).

Page Up

Scroll up one screen (same as pressing the
PAGE UP key).

Line Down

Scroll down one line (same as clicking the down
arrow in the scroll bar once).

Line Up

Scroll up one line (same as clicking the up
arrow in the scroll bar once).

Go to Top

Scroll to the beginning of the Web page.

Go to Bottom

Scroll to the end of the Web page.

Start Scrolling Down

Start automatic scrolling toward the end of the
page.

Start Scrolling Up

Start automatic scrolling toward the beginning
of the page.

Stop Scrolling

Stop automatic scrolling.

Speed Up

Increase scrolling speed. (Say it again to speed
up more.)

Slow Down

Decrease scrolling speed. (Say it again to slow
down more.)

Next Frame

Go to the next frame in a multiframe page.

Previous Frame

Go to the previous frame in a multiframe page.

Next Pane

Go to the next pane in the browser application.

Previous Pane

Go to the previous pane in the browser
application.

Working with forms

204

SAY

Type Text or Edit Box

Go to the first place on a Web page where you
can enter text.

Click Check Box or
Check Box

Enumerate all check boxes on the page and go
to the first one.

Click Image or Image

Enumerate all images with links on the page
and go to the first one.

Choose 2

Select the image, option, button, and so on
from the enumerated list of choices. You can say
any number that appears in the list.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

APPENDIX

Commands List

SAY

Click Radio Button/
Radio Button

Enumerate all option (radio) buttons on the
page and go to the first one.

Click List Box or List Box

Enumerate all the boxes with a list of choices
(drop-down lists) on the page and go to the first
one.

Show Choices

Open a list of choices.

Hide Choices

Close a list of choices.

Cancel Choices

Deactivate a list of choices, leaving the most
recent choice selected.

Choose Thursday or
Thursday

Choose an entry from a list of choices, in this
example, Thursday.

You can use standard editing commands to work with text that you enter in a Web
form.
For more information about Microsoft® Internet Explorer® commands, see
“Working with Microsoft Internet Explorer” on page 70.

Working hands-free
Pressing keyboard keys

For lists of commands you can use to press keyboard keys, see “Pressing keyboard
keys” on page 32.
Moving the mouse pointer and clicking the mouse

For lists of commands you can use to move the mouse pointer and click the mouse,
see the mouse movement commands starting on page 36.

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

205

APPENDIX

206

Commands List

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Index
A

abbreviations 96
accuracy
improving 115
Accuracy Assistant 116
Acoustic Optimizer 116
acronyms 96
Active Accessibility 169
active vocabulary 123
add a word 118
adding paragraphs, lines, and spaces
Advanced Settings dialog box 148
All Caps Off 63
All Caps On 63
All Caps That 63
All Caps [text] 62
America Online 67
American English 8
apostrophe ’s 93
applications
opening 27
switching 28
Audio Setup Wizard 11
Australian English 8
automating your work 153

bookmarks. See Favorites
British English 8
bulleted text 66
buttons, selecting 29

C
Cap That

63
62
Capitalize That 63
Capitalize That 63
capitalizing text 186
already in a document 63
applying lowercase 63
consecutive words 62-63
next word 61
Caps Off 62
Caps On 62
Center That 66
characters
deleting 52
moving to next/previous 49
selecting 47
check boxes, selecting 29
clicking the mouse 38
Command Browser 103, 118
Command Mode 101
Cap [word]

176

backing up a user 134
BACKSPACE key 52
back-up location
changing 135
Bold That 66, 188
bold, adding or removing

188

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207

Index
commands
browsing available commands 103
training 129
undoing 182
using with a recorder 144
which ones work in which programs 173
See also custom commands
See also the Appendix for a list of commands
commas
autoimatically adding 91
Compound That 95
compound words 94-95
contact names, adding 121
contractions. See apostrophe ’s
Copy That 50, 186
copying text 50
Correct [text] Through [text] 3, 46
Correct [text] To [text] 3, 46
correcting
commands for 178
Correction menu 41
Correction options 162
creating a new user 9
currency 90
custom commands
creating 154
deleting 159
Step-by-Step 158
Text and Graphics 156
types of 153
viewing 154
custom words, deleting 124
custom words. See Vocabulary Editor
Cut That 47, 50, 186
cutting text 50

dates 85
deferred correction 56
Delete That 51
deleting commands. See custom commands, deleting

208

deleting text
backing up and resuming dictation 50
characters 52
last words dictated 50
lines 51
paragraphs 51
specific words 47, 51-52
deselecting text 46
dialects
dictating currency 90
dictating times of day 86
spelling and punctuation conventions 2
dictate now, correct later 56
Dictation Mode 101
dictation, saving for later playback 56
documents
moving to top/bottom 48
opening 27, 197
selecting all text in 47
dollar sign 90
Drag-and-drop transcription 148
Dragon NaturallyMobile recorder 138, 147-148
used as microphone 151
DragonBar 17, 23
Extras toolbar on 23
hiding 165
options 165
Tray Icon Only mode 165
DragonPad 18

Edit Vocabulary 123
e-mail 67, 199
adding contact names 121
checking for new 68
closing 68
composing 68
deleting 70
dictating 69
forwarding 69
navigating fields 69
opening 68
printing 69
replying to 69
sending 69
transferring dictation 69

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Index
hyphens 94
preventing 94
removing 94

e-mail addresses, dictating 96
ENTER key 176
errors, reducing 115
ESC key 55, 58
Euro symbol, changing 171
Extras toolbar 23, 59

Favorites, in Web pages 70
folders, opening 27-28, 197
fonts, changing 64
Format That 65
Format That Centered 66
Format That Left Aligned 66
Format That Number 84
Format That Right Aligned 66
Format That Spelled Out 84
Formatting options 170
formatting text 64, 188
applying bold 66
applying italics 66
applying underlining 66
changing font face, size, and style
removing formatting 66
fractions 87
frames 75

G
Give Me Help

Go to Beginning of Line
Go to Bottom

Go to End of Line

48
18, 174
Go to Top 48

ICD-PCLINK 138
icons, selecting 30
improving performance. See accuracy
Indian English 8
Insert After [text] 49
Insert Before [text] 49
installation 7
installing recorder software 138
International Communications Alphabet 32, 178
Internet addresses 96
Internet Explorer
adding a favorite Web page 71
clicking check boxes, list boxes and radio
buttons 74
clicking images 74
clicking named buttons 74
commands for 203
dictating URLs 71
entering a Web address 71
entering text in a text box 72
following links 72
frames and panes 75
going back or forward in Web pages 71
going to a favorite Web page 70
scrolling in a Web page 75
Italicize That 66, 188
italics, adding or removing 66, 188

Go to Sleep

H
handheld recorder. See recorder
help
online 21
homophones, tips for selecting 46
Hot key options 166
Hyphenate That 94
hyphenated words 93
dictating 94

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

K
keyboard shortcuts
stopping playback 55-56, 58
keyboard, pressing keys 32, 34-35

L
Left Align That 66
lines
adding 176
deleting 51
moving to beginning/end of 48
moving up/down 49
selecting 47

209

Index
list boxes 31-32
Lotus Notes 67, 202
lowercase, applying 63

M
macros. See custom commands
making selections
list boxes 32
measurements. See abbreviations
menus, opening and closing 28, 198
microphone
on/off key, changing 166
plugging in 6
proper positioning 11
sleep mode 18
turning on and off 17, 174
turning on/off 174
Microsoft
Excel 80
Internet Explorer 70
Outlook 67
Outlook Express 67
Word 76
minus (-) key 56
Miscellaneous options 169
modes 101
money 90
mouse
clicking 38
motion commands, enabling 164
moving the pointer 36-38
MouseGrid 36
Move to Bottom 48
Move to Top 48
moving around a document 183
before/after specific words 49
to beginning/end of line 48
by paragraphs or lines 49
scrolling 31
to top/bottom of page 48
by words or characters 49
multiple users 6
MyCommands. See custom commands

210

N
names
adding 121
dictating 95
Natural Punctuation 19, 91
new commands. See custom commands, creating
new features in version 6 3
New Line 176
New Paragraph 176
New User Wizard 131, 140
new user, creating 9
No Caps Off 63, 97
No Caps On 63, 97
No Caps That 63
No Caps [text] 63
No Space 95
No Space Off 95
No Space On 95
numbers 83, 191
changing formats 84
currency 84, 90
dates 85
fractions 87
Roman numerals 88
telephone numbers 86
times of day 86
Numbers Mode 85

Olympus Digital Recorders 141
Olympus DS-150/650 Recorder 143
opening
documents 197
e-mail 68
folders 27, 197
opening and closing menus 198
opening applications 27
Options dialog box 161
options, selecting 29

P
Page Down

48
48
pages. See moving around a document
Panasonic IC recorder 138

Page Up

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Index
paragraphs
adding 176
deleting 51
moving up/down 49
selecting 47
Paste That 50, 186
pasting text 50
Pause Required Before Commands control 169
Performance Assistant 130
performance, improving 130
periods
automatically adding 91
periods, spacing after 170
phone numbers 86, 192
Play That Back 55
playback controls 53, 196
playing back dictation 53, 196
correcting mistakes 56
in the Correction dialog box 54
in a document 54
skipping backward 55
skipping forward 55
stopping 55-56
storage space for 56
portable devices
creating users on 132
portable recorder
using Dragon NaturallySpeaking with 137
possessives. See apostrophe ’s
postal and ZIP codes 88
pound sterling 90
problems dictating currency or time 84
programs, opening. See opening applications
proper names, dictating 95
properties of words 126
punctuation 19, 91, 194
automatic 91

QuickStart 25

R
Read That 58
reading text 196

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

recorder
correcting mistakes 151
installing software for 138
transcribing with 145
transcribing with Drag-and-drop 148
Regional Settings control panel 84
removing Version 5 7
Restore That 66, 188
Restoring 135
restoring a user 135
restricted command set 144
Resume With 50, 145
revising text. See Select-and-Say
Right Align That 66
Roman numerals 88

’s 93
saving dictation 56
storage space for 59
saving speech files 134
Scratch That 47, 50
scrolling 31
scrolling, in Web page 75
searching while selecting 46
Select Again 46
Select All 47
Select Document 47
Select [text] 45
Select-and-Say
selecting text 45
again 46
changing search direction 163
characters 47
commands for 176
a document 47
lines 47
paragraphs 47
punctuation 45
specific words 46-47
Set Font 64-65
Set Size 64
Shutdown options 164
Skip Backward 55
Skip Forward 55
Skip Word button 14
211

Index
sleeping 18
software installation 7
Sony ICD-BP recorder 143
Sony ICD-R100 recorder 138, 141
Sony Memory Stick IC Recorder ICD-MS 138, 143
Sony Memory Stick Voice Editor 138
Southeast Asian English 8
Space Bar 176
spaces
after periods 170
spaces, adding 176
speakers, plugging in 6
special characters 97, 179-181, 194
Speed vs. Accuracy control 169
Spell Mode 101
Spell That 42
Spell [text] 52
spelling
as you dictate 52
errors 54
spoken forms 124
creating 125
starting applications. See opening
applications
starting programs 197
Startup options 163
Step-by-Step commands. See custom commands
Stop Listening 18
Strikeout That 66
student voice models 10
switching windows 28, 197

T
Tab key 30, 176
tabs (dialog box), selecting 29
tape recorder. See recorder
teenage voices 10
telephone numbers 86, 171
Text and Graphics commands. See custom commands
text-to-speech 57-58, 196
times of day 86
training
commands 129
for recorded speech 141
words 129

212

troubleshooting 22
recorder transcription 150
typeface, changing 64

UK English 8
Uncapitalize 63
Uncapitalize That

63
66, 188
underlining, adding or removing 188
Undo That 182
unselecting text 46
Upgrading 7
URLs, dictating 71
user files
creating 9, 140
multiple users 6
users
backing up 134
creating new 131, 140
deleting 133
on portable devices 132
opening 132
renaming 133
restoring from a backup copy 135
speech files 131, 134
users. See user files
Underline That

Version 5, removing 7
View options 165
vocabularies
editing 123
managing 129
vocabulary
adding contact names 121
Vocabulary Editor 123
vocabulary tools 118
Voice It Link 138
volume setting, on a recorder 144

Wake Up 174
Web addresses 71, 96
What Can I Say 21
what’s new in version 6

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Index
windows
closing 198
resizing 198
switching between 28
Word Properties dialog box 126
words
adding 118-119
adding a list 122
changing properties 126
deleting 47, 51-52
moving to next/previous 49
placing insertion point before/after
selecting 46-47
training 129
written forms 124

years 85

Z
ZIP codes

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

213

Index

214

Dragon NaturallySpeaking User’s Guide

Technical Support
If you purchased your product directly from a certified ScanSoft Applications Solutions Partner,
contact them directly for technical support.
The answers to many Dragon NaturallySpeaking technical support questions can be found on
our Web site at www.ScanSoft.com/NaturallySpeaking/support/.

Information and Sales
ScanSoft, Inc.
9 Centennial Drive
Peabody, MA 01969
USA
Web: www.ScanSoft.com/Contact/

Training and Customization
Professional training and customization services from a ScanSoft-certified Applications Solutions
Partner can help you achieve the maximum return on your investment. If you would like to unleash the full potential of Dragon NaturallySpeaking software, please contact one of our Partners
for training, customization, and more.
ScanSoft Application Solution Partners are the best in the industry; distinguished by their expertise, experience, and commitment to providing top-level services for Dragon NaturallySpeaking
speech recognition products.
For details on ScanSoft Application Solutions Partners near you, please visit:
www.ScanSoft.com/NaturallySpeaking/locator/

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