[comp.sys.mac] Software for DEST scanner

landman%hanami@Sun.COM (Howard A. Landman x61391) (09/06/89)

I recently got a Dest PC Scan 1000 (with OCR upgrade to 1010), and the
Publish Pac software.  The scanner itself seems pretty good, but I'm
not happy with the software:

	It has limited (and ugly) dithering methods which work O.K.
	for Laserwriter output but look poor for Imagewriter output.

	The OCR works poorly for text which is smaller than 12 pt
	typewriter, or in italics, or in any font that it isn't
	pre-programmed for, and it gets extremely slow when it's
	having problems.  It's also not trainable.

	Since Dest is bankrupt, no new/improved version is forthcoming.

So: I am in the market for software that

	Can handle the Dest scanner,

	Does reasonable OCR on typical professional journals
	or is trainable to do so, and

	Allows for image processing with reasonable dithering

I would also be interested in dithering software which operates independently,
especially if it can produce reasonable 72 dpi images; and in more general
OCR software that has a lot of control over what a "character" is and what
actions to take when one is recognized.

	Howard A. Landman
	landman@sun.com