[comp.sys.mac.apps] How can I extract text from a PICT?

tony@tui.marcam.dsir.govt.nz (Tony Cooper) (06/06/91)

I want to extract a table of numbers from a PICT file without typing in all
the numbers by hand. The best way I have so far is to change the file to a
TEXT file and edit it by hand. The numbers are in there surrounded by junk.
I was wondering if anyone knew a good way of doing this automatically.

The nearest I have found is that MacDraw II can spell check the PICT and
it checks all the text to do it. If I could persuade it to save all the
text into a file that would do the trick.

Thanks,
Tony Cooper
sramtrc@albert.dsir.govt.nz

klefstad@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu (Sue Klefstad) (06/07/91)

tony@tui.marcam.dsir.govt.nz (Tony Cooper) writes:

>I want to extract a table of numbers from a PICT file without typing in all
>the numbers by hand. The best way I have so far is to change the file to a
>TEXT file and edit it by hand. The numbers are in there surrounded by junk.
>I was wondering if anyone knew a good way of doing this automatically.

>The nearest I have found is that MacDraw II can spell check the PICT and
>it checks all the text to do it. If I could persuade it to save all the
>text into a file that would do the trick.

Perhaps massive overkill, but an OCR (optical character recognition)
program would do this.

-- 
-
Sue Klefstad    Ill. Natural History Survey    s-klefstad@uiuc.edu

jeffe@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (george) (06/07/91)

:>I want to extract a table of numbers from a PICT file without typing in all
:>the numbers by hand. The best way I have so far is to change the file to a

:Perhaps massive overkill, but an OCR (optical character recognition)
:program would do this.
:

somewhat less overkill.. SuperGlue will do this nicely.



--
-george            george@mech.seas.upenn.edu

gillies@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Don Gillies) (06/08/91)

There is a simple way to extract text from a PICT.  Do you have access
to a modem and a remote computer?  Try printing your PICT to the
imagewriter in "DRAFT" mode, to the modem port, "cat"ting it to a file
on the remote machine (in UNIXspeak).  The printer driver will bypass
all the lines in the PICTure.  Then download the file from the remote
machine.

There is also a printer driver called "Daisy" that prints to a daisy
wheel printer; if the imagewriter idea doesn't work, consider using
daisy.  I have used daisy in this way before, so I know it works.
However, sometimes "Daisy" will overstrikes characters if the font is
too small and the characters are too close together, losing some
information from your PICT.

Don Gillies	     |  University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
gillies@cs.uiuc.edu  |  Digital Computer Lab, 1304 W. Springfield, Urbana IL

-- 

peirce@outpost.UUCP (Michael Peirce) (06/09/91)

In article <1991Jun6.141300.5216@am.dsir.govt.nz>, tony@tui.marcam.dsir.govt.nz (Tony Cooper) writes:
> I want to extract a table of numbers from a PICT file without typing in all
> the numbers by hand. The best way I have so far is to change the file to a
> TEXT file and edit it by hand. The numbers are in there surrounded by junk.
> I was wondering if anyone knew a good way of doing this automatically.
> 
> The nearest I have found is that MacDraw II can spell check the PICT and
> it checks all the text to do it. If I could persuade it to save all the
> text into a file that would do the trick.

Make sure everything is ungrouped.  Then select the text tool and
select all.  This should select all the text items.  Cut this.  Then
select all again, press the delete key to remove everything that is
left (DON'T USE CUT).  Now paste back the text.  This leaves you with
just the text.

--  Michael Peirce         --   outpost!peirce@claris.com
--  Peirce Software        --   Suite 301, 719 Hibiscus Place
--  Macintosh Programming  --   San Jose, California 95117
--           & Consulting  --   (408) 244-6554, AppleLink: PEIRCE

harv@harvs.UUCP (Patrick L. Harvey) (06/09/91)

In article <0B01FFFB.hmxoc7@outpost.UUCP>, peirce@outpost.UUCP (Michael Peirce) writes:
> 
> In article <1991Jun6.141300.5216@am.dsir.govt.nz>, tony@tui.marcam.dsir.govt.nz (Tony Cooper) writes:
> > I want to extract a table of numbers from a PICT file without typing in all
> > the numbers by hand. The best way I have so far is to change the file to a
> > TEXT file and edit it by hand. The numbers are in there surrounded by junk.
> > I was wondering if anyone knew a good way of doing this automatically.
> > 
> > The nearest I have found is that MacDraw II can spell check the PICT and
> > it checks all the text to do it. If I could persuade it to save all the
> > text into a file that would do the trick.
> 
> Make sure everything is ungrouped.  Then select the text tool and
> select all.  This should select all the text items.  Cut this.  Then
> select all again, press the delete key to remove everything that is
> left (DON'T USE CUT).  Now paste back the text.  This leaves you with
> just the text.
> 
You can open the PICT from Interleaf and the text is immediately editable
inside the graphic.  You can cut it or export it as rtf or whatever.

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