scan ah and manual

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2007 - 2008 by High-Logic, all rights reserved.

Scanahand 1.0


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All rights reserved. No parts of this work may be reproduced in any form or by any means - graphic, electronic, or

mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems - without thewritten permission of the publisher.

Scanahand is a trademark of High-Logic.Microsoft, Windows and OpenType are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in theUnited States and/or other countries.Apple, the Apple Logo and Macintosh are registered trademarks and TrueType is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.registered in the United States and other countries.Adobe and PostScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated which may be registered in certain jurisdictions.All other trademarks and registered trademarks are the sole property of their respective owners.The Unicode Character Database is provided as is by Unicode, Inc.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, the publisher and the author assume noresponsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of information contained in this documentor from the use of programs and source code that may accompany it. In no event shall the publisher and the author be

liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damage caused or alleged to have been caused directly orindirectly by this document.

April 2008

Scanahand Manual



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IContents


Table of Contents

Part I Getting Started................................................................................................................................... 21 Welcome to Scanahand 1.0

................................................................................................................................... 22 Technical Support

................................................................................................................................... 23 Registration

................................................................................................................................... 34 Credits

Part II Quick Start Tutorial

................................................................................................................................... 51 Your First Font

Part III The User Interface

................................................................................................................................... 111 Overview

................................................................................................................................... 112 Scan Setup

................................................................................................................................... 123 Font Setup

................................................................................................................................... 134 Customizing Scanahand

.......................................................................................................................................................... 13Keyboard Shortcuts

.......................................................................................................................................................... 13Options

......................................................................................................................................................... 13General

......................................................................................................................................................... 14Template

......................................................................................................................................................... 15Warnings

Index 17


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Part

I


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Getting Started 2


1 Getting Started

1.1 Welcome to Scanahand 1.0

Introduction

Scanahand allows you to generate a font without the need to know all of the technical detailsinvolved. All you need is a printer, a scanner, and a black marker or felt-tipped pen. It is alsopossible to use Scanahand without using a printer and scanner, but then you'll have to drawcharacters through image processing software.

Make sure you have the latest version of Scanahand:

http://www.high-logic.com/

1.2 Technical Support

Online User Manual

The user manual is also available online:

http://www.high-logic.com/scanahand/manual/index.html

Forum

The forum is available to you for support and information about managing and designingfonts. This forum has become a place where all users of Scanahand can share their

knowledge. Membership of the forum is free. There's a good chance other people haveasked the same questions as you, so you may be able to find the answers you need.Feedback and suggestions are also welcome in the forum.

http://forum.high-logic.com/

Frequently Asked Questions

View the most frequently asked questions (and answers) about Scanahand here:

http://www.high-logic.com/scanahand/faq.html

1.3 Registration

Evaluation

During the trial period, Scanahand runs in reduced functionality mode. After usingScanahand for a 30-day trial period, you must register and pay for it, or remove it from yoursystem. Registering unlocks all functionality for the specific edition and makes your copylegal. It also helps support our efforts to develop innovative products to best serve your


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Scanahand Help3


needs. Thank you for your support of Scanahand!

Why Register?

When you buy a license of Scanahand 1.0 it entitles you to the following benefits: For 12 months free updates of all versions of Scanahand.

All future versions of Scanahand 1.x.

Direct e-mail support from the developers.

To Register

The quickest and most convenient way to register is online via credit card. Other supportedpayment methods like checks and cash are also supported. For more details take a look atour registration page:

http://www.high-logic.com/register.html

1.4 Credits

Scanahand contains several unmodified libraries that are available under MPL.

Graphics32 from http://sourceforge.net/projects/graphics32;

JCL and JVCL from http://www.delphi-jedi.org/;

VirtualShellUtilities from http://www.mustangpeak.net/;

FastMM from http://fastmm.sourceforge.net/


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Part

II


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Scanahand Help5


2 Quick Start Tutorial

2.1 Your First Font

Scanahand is software that generates a font out of your handwriting. To be more precise, itallows you to print out a template (a grid). After you've filled out the template, you scan itback into Scanahand, which will then convert all characters into a font that can be used onWindows and Mac OS X.

This short introduction explains how to generate a font with Scanahand. Besides a computerrunning Microsoft Windows you will need a printer, a scanner, and a black marker orfelt-tipped pen.

Step 1 - Print and fill out the empty template

To print the empty template, just click the Print button as shown below. A Print Setup dialog

is shown. Most likely the correct printer is already selected, so just press the Ok button.

Take the printed template from the printer, and fill it out. Use a suitable pen (e.g. a blackpermanent marker of fine or medium thickness) to draw the characters the way that you


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Quick Start Tutorial 6


normally write. The output of ballpoint pens will be too thin to give a satisfactory result. Makesure you draw your characters into the designated cells and ensure you don't touch the gridlines while drawing the characters.

Note: The six "- ? -" cells, located on the left side of the Signature cell, are not assigned yet.

So you can leave them empty.All cells (except the signature cell) contain horizontal guidelines (actually four little marks onboth left and right side of each cell) that should help you write the characters in the rightdimensions, and in the best possible position in each cell. These guidelines, represent thecap height (C), x-height (x), the baseline (b), and the descender (d). The image belowillustrates how to get the best results.

In the first row the characters are drawn with the recommended size and position. As youcan see, most characters are placed on the baseline. The small letter "g" goes below thebaseline. Capital letters and digits have the same size. Try not to draw your characters asshown in the second row. The capital letter "A" is positioned on the descender, the smallletter "a" is too large, the small letter "e" has exaggerated connecting strokes, the small

letter "f" is too small, the small letter "g" goes outside the cell, small letter "s" is drawn with alarge-tip marker, and digit "8" is too small.

Step 2 - Scan in the completed template

When you've drawn all characters, put the template as straight as possible on the scannerbed.

Click on the "Completed Template" icon on the left, and then press the Scan button. A ScanSetup dialog is shown. Ensure the correct scanner is selected. A 300 dpi scan resolution isrecommended, but if your characters contain little details (e.g. thin strokes) you should use ahigher resolution. Press the Ok button to start the scan process. Click on the "Rotate 180Degrees" toolbar button if you accidentally placed the filled-in template into the scanner,upside-down.


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Scanahand Help7


Step 3 - Generate and install the font

Click on the "Font" icon on the left, and then press the Generate button.

On the Font Setup dialog, fill in the Name and Copyright fields. The Name field is veryimportant, as that name will appear as the font name in all applications. Don't change theconversion settings, as those are set to recommended values (Auto and Smooth). Press theOk button.


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Quick Start Tutorial 8


During the font generation process, Scanahand detects the template, and places thecharacters into your font. Upon completion, you instantly get to preview your finished font.


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Scanahand Help9


Finally click the Install button to make the font available to all applications (Microsoft Word,etc.) on your computer. If you are running Windows Vista (or higher) it will prompt you forpermission to allow the installation. Be sure that you allow the installation to continue.


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Part

III


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Scanahand Help11


3 The User Interface

3.1 Overview

The default layout of Scanahand will look like the image below.

3.2 Scan Setup

Select the scanner and a scan resolution between 300 and 600 dpi. A 300 dpi scanresolution is recommended, but if your characters contain little details (e.g. thin strokes) youshould use a higher resolution. If you prefer to make advanced settings through the scannerdriver, enable the checkbox.


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The User Interface 12


3.3 Font Setup

Fill in the Name and Copyright fields. The Name field is very important, as that name will

appear as the font name in all applications.

Scanahand needs to find out what pixels belong to the characters. The threshold value isused to make that decision. Usually the Auto value gives best results, but you can alsochoose between Low, Medium, and High. The Low threshold removes all light colored pixels,while the High threshold includes all light colored pixels. When you use the High thresholdyou get slightly fatter characters, but you risk inclusion of unwanted pixels.

Based on the filter value, Scanahand will add or remove additional pixels to improve thegenerated contours. Both the Smooth and Super filter polish the outlines. This usually this

results in more rounded contours.

Recommended values for the conversion settings are Auto threshold, and Smooth filter.


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Scanahand Help13


3.4 Customizing Scanahand

3.4.1 Keyboard Shortcuts

You can quickly accomplish tasks you perform frequently by using these keyboard shortcut

keys.

Press To

F1 Help

F5 Go to Empty Template

F6 Go to Completed Template

F7 Go to Font

3.4.2 Options

3.4.2.1 General

You can customize Scanahand through the Options window (Select Options from theTools menu).


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On Start... Shows the Welcome dialog when Scanahand is started.

Measurementunits

Allows you to set the measurement units used for the templatemargins.

3.4.2.2 Template

To change font related settings, select Options from the Tools menu and then click theFonts tab.


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We recommend enabled warnings for novice users.

Update Reminder This setting ensures you get a reminder that tells you to check forupdates.


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Scanahand Help17

2007 2008 b Hi h L i ll i ht d

Index

- D -Decimal 13

- F -Features 2

Folders 13

Fonts 14

- H -Handwriting 5Hexadecimal 13

- M -Mailing List 2

Manual

PDF 2

- R -Register 2

- S -Scanahand

buying 2

getting help 2

manual 2

user interface 11

Shortcut 13

Smart font operations 14

Support 2

System tray 13

- T -Toolbar icons 13

- W -Warnings 15

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