If you have ever wanted to convert paper or PDF documents to editable files then this is a program that warrants your serious consideration.   I had known about Optical Character Recognition for quite a while but had avoided it on my misguided perception that it would likely be inaccurate and difficult to use.  Was I ever wrong.

For basic operations OmniPage16 Pro is flexible, simple, and straightforward to use.  To convert an intricate document, it has the power and complexity to do that as well. 

Through the process of Optical Character Recognition, text graphics of the document or image are converted to text files that can be edited just as if you had typed them in.  Images in your documents can be retained in a variety of image formats.  It can even appropriately capture data in table format.   Output can be converted to plain text, text with images retained, and text and images in as close to the original layout as possible.  Output formats include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, text, WordPerfect, PDF, HTML, audio, XPF and others.  The text can be read aloud, with a speech function that does a surprisingly nice job.

The source of the data can be a scanned document, a digital photo of a document, or a PDF file.  Files it can interpret include:  TIFF, PCX, DCX, BMP, JPEG, JB2, JP2, GIF, PNG, XIFF, MAX, PDF, XPS.

Three layouts or views are offered: Classic, Flexible, and QuickConvert.  I initially chose QuickConvert because it was designed for beginners and prominently showed the most important conversion options.  Classic and Flexible views are designed for more advanced users and display more options.  One can easily switch between views from the menu bar.

After the choice of views, another window pops up with a menu of "How To Guides".  These are a series of mini instruction sets for common functions.  Both the Views box and the "How To Guides" boxes have checkboxes to prevent their future display when the user is ready to move beyond them.

When finished with the "How To Guides",  the main interface is displayed.  The left side is a white window which gives the options for the source and output files as well as selections for the type of formatting the document will have. There are prominent buttons at the top that guide the user through the required steps.  For many documents all that is needed is to select the "Get and Convert" button and select the file(s) to convert.  OmniPage16 Pro does a remarkable job selecting the text blocks, rotating the document, and compensating for distortions such as wavy pages in digital photographs.

Of course, OmniPage's results will improve with better input.  The first file I converted was 100% text on clear paper and crisp type that had been captured on a scanner.  OmniPage16 Pro broke it down into appropriate zones and converted the text with 100% accuracy.   It even matched the fonts of the source to matching fonts in the converted Microsoft Word document.  Another conversion was of a 16-page article that had been photocopied and then digitally photographed.  There were some rough areas in the source document that OmniPage understandably had a difficult time converting.  Considering the distortions and variability in the source material I provided, OmniPage16 Pro did a remarkable job.

This program is quite robust with a wide array of options to select areas to convert (zones) and to clean and adjust the source document for the best results.  OmniPage16 Pro can do these functions automatically and it will usually do a fine job.  When it has difficulty, or for full control, controls can be set manually.

After the document is converted, the OCR Proofreader opens and highlights the series of words not cross-referenced to one's chosen dictionary.  This is similar to spell checking in Microsoft Word, except the discrepancies are given one at a time, and the corresponding image of the text from the original source is displayed in a box near the interpretation in the converted text.  OmniPage stores corrections in a "Training File" so it can learn and adapt to the material provided for conversion.

Conveniently, OmniPage adds a section to the right-click menu.  Use Explorer to browse through files and right click on a photo containing text.  Select OmniPage and then either choose the desired format for the output or open the ConvertNow Wizard for greater customization options.  The text from the photo is then automatically saved to a file in that directory without OmniPage opening its full program.

PDF Create is a program within the OmniPage Professional package that allows saving a document as a .pdf file.  I found it to work quickly, easily, and with fidelity.

"Form data extraction" is a new feature in OmniPage Pro 16.  It allows scanning forms and images to extract just the information filled in on the form such as text and checked boxes.

While this program can be used by anyone who handles data, it is enhanced for legal documents, with the ability to recognize legal formats and the editing option to redact (black out) text.

The OmniPage Batch Manager can be used to schedule scanning and conversion jobs at a pre-selected time. With an Automatic Document Feeder (ADF) scanner multi-page projects can be done during off-hours without tying up valuable and limited resources.

The User's Manual is quite clear and comprehensive.  It is available in electronic format, downloadable from the Web site, and the printed version is included with the disks in the original box.

The license allows installation on multiple, specific computers provided that use is not concurrent.  The license agreement discloses that it may use one's Internet connection to verify that the copy is legitimate.  After installation Microsoft .NET Framework 3.0 must be installed in order to save  DOCX, XPSX, PPTX, and XPS files.  OmniPage16 Pro tries to run 5 different programs at Windows startup.  At least one of these (agent) is disclosed in the manual as being set to run at startup by default, and is needed for scheduled jobs.

I run a small business and there have been many occasions where I have had a paper document in hand that I would like to edit and use.  The only solutions I had until now were to retype it myself or hand it off to my secretary for the same.  Often I would pass or place it on my long "to-do" list and never quite get around to bothering with it.   Now, with OmniPage16 Pro in hand, all I need to do is to scan or digitally photograph the document and let OmniPage do the tedious work of converting it to a format I can edit and work with.

Overall, I am very impressed with the power, complexity, and ease of use of this program.  It has a clean, understandable interface.  The help section, manual, and other resources are clear and helpful.  One can do useful work with it right out of the box and there is great depth to the program that can be tapped to do more complex tasks. 

Reviewer 3

It has been years since we first heard talk of the future paperless office. Today, with an eye toward the environment being "green" no longer simply a fringe idea but a commonly agreed-to necessity, we find that being able to reduce our dependency on paper whenever possible and save a tree or two in the process is a practical reality.  One of the most practical ways to do this requires a desktop scanner and decent optical character recognition (OCR) software to convert what was on paper into digital images stored on your computer.

Nuance's OmniPage16 Pro is the undisputed OCR market leader.  It digitizes one's hard copy documents, allows editing them if needed, and stores them all with a minimum of fuss. Nuance says its latest version is its most accurate and fastest.  For those who have not used OmniPage for years, are still using an older version, or have never used OCR software, here is your opportunity to examine and take a look into the latest flagship version, OmniPage16 Pro.

As a professional writer and research scholar, an OCR program is a necessity more than a luxury and the hunt for the perfect OCR program is, for me, what the hunt for the perfect bowl of chili may be for others.  I use an OCR program almost daily in my work, so I need a program that is accurate, dependable, accurate, and has the flexibility and features to allow me to not only scan and edit digitalized documents but the means of organizing those documents as well.  OmniPage 16 Pro not only meets those criteria but also provides superior formatting capabilities; PDF conversion; the ability to automate workflow through the use of customized templates; automatic redaction of text; multiple document support; the ability to separate and scan each page from books, magazines, or journals; and even provide voice readback and the ability to publish audio books from my scanned images.  For me, however, the most exciting feature was the new Digital Camera 3DC Technology that would allow me to capture text or images with a digital camera and scan those images into my computer as digitized and editable documents.

OmniPage seems capable of taking care of everything one might want to do with a document; from a legal filing or a medical record, to a marketing piece, to any generic kind of form, whether paper-based or electronic. Besides creating PDF documents, there's a broad range of file types one can save to, even disparate types like typical text-based formats, image formats, and even a simultaneous audio file of the content. There are toolbar add-ins for the obvious Microsoft Office programs such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and the user can convert from paper or electronic format to PDF, or even edit PDF files directly and save or edit them in a number of different ways.  One of the most remarkable new features in OmniPage16 Pro is the ability to scan text from a picture taken with a digital camera.  It brings back memories of those early James Bond movies where Bond would take a picture of a page from a document to be later enlarged for examination.  Now one can take the same picture from a document or the page of a book or a magazine, then import that JPG image into OmniPage16 Pro.  From there it can be converted into text for further editing.  The mind boggles with the possibilities-some a bit mischievous! There's also batch processing, custom workflows, and so on. OmniPage is truly a monstrously feature-rich and flexible piece of software.

To get started, I spent considerable time looking over the Web pages for OmniPage16 Pro. This product is so feature-rich that even a cursory explanation requires a sizable amount of reading. OmniPage uses "zones," that define what a chunk of a content is: text, image, form field, etc.  This is how the software can interpret a document's various regions, run OCR on the text zones, and allow for scanner enhancement technology (SET) on the image zones. But how true are the Web site's intimations that OmniPage is truly able to create a paper-free environment, workflow design, content repurposing, scanning accuracy and editing?

The software installation from the CD is simple and straightforwardand went smoothly with only onme deviation.

Once OmniPage16 Pro is installed and activated, a scanner must be set up to work with it. The Scanner Setup Wizard should run automatically, though in my case it didn't. The Wizard downloaded the latest scanner database from Nuance, which didn't include my HP OfficeJet 7210, a current and popular All-in-One. I had to run the program's diagnostics to get it recognized, which involved scanning text, grey scale and color documents - about five minutes work.  Otherwise, the program offers three ways to customize the GUI: casual, advanced, or first-time OmniPage user.

After selecting a view, a dialogue box presents an array of How-To-Guides.

The biggest problem with nearly all OCR software is the editing layout.  Keeping everything exactly as it was in the scanned document is of paramount importance-especially when editing the document.  With no words ending where they shouldn't or starting outside of the margins, sticking text in boxes, moving text to silly places, and creating columns where there were none. OmniPage does an excellent job avoiding these pitfalls when compared to other OCR software, but it is far from perfect. With simple documents, it does an excellent job, keeping the main body of the text on the base page.  But it still tends to use boxes a but too freely and does not do well recognizing headers and footers for what they are.  With more complex documents, I found it also has difficulty recognizing fonts outside the normal such as Ariel; although, it does have the ability to learn from mistakes for fonts used often.  As for the actual recognition of words and letters, Nuance claims its program is "nearly 100% accurate." It does an excellent job but it is not perfect, but "nearly" is their claim and "nearly" it certainly is.  OmniPage 16 seems to have, for example, some problem distinguishing between an "f" and a "t." The words "if" and "it" were repeatedly missed notwithstanding that the software told me the scan was "100% accurate."  And as both are legitimate words, the built-in proofreader misses them just as will any spell-check program-which, of course, necessitates proofreading the document yourself to check it for errors, something unfortunately common with all OCR software.

One area where OmniPage excels without question is that of speed. First, says Nuance, the new version is between 16 and 27 per cent more accurate than before, while at the same time being up to 46 per cent faster. OmniPage did complete the recognition in just over two seconds, which is quick, and even a more complex page with graphics and boxed text took under 10 seconds. This page needed more preparation before I could get an editable document with a reasonable likeness of the original. I had to outline the areas of the page that I wanted treated as text, rather than leaving OmniPage on automatic. Even here, there were noticeable discrepancies. Some were understandable, such as misreading of colored text from the original; while others, such as differences in font and text style, were less acceptable. Some of the text had been put in boxes on the Word 2003 page I created, while the rest was made into the body of the text. Furthermore, there were a variety of indents and line spaces, even though all the text had the same left-hand margin in the original. So, if a page has graphics, one might need to inform the program just what areas of the document to treat as text, but for most users this is a minor inconvenience.

Of course, not all objects can be scanned.  They might be too big, attached to a wall, or in a location where there is no scanner.  The advent of the digital camera means that all of these objects can now be easily captured but being able to then extract text from images was only one technological hurdle to overcome.  The other obstacle is that these images are taken in three dimensions, unlike a scanner that only has two dimensions.  So OCR technology must be able to recognize text that is not aligned, or has been taken at an angle or from a curved surface.  OmniPage 16 Pro can now compensate for these distortions and successfully extracts the required text using its new "3D Capture for Digital Cameras." Now your wife might not enjoy the humor of seeing you take a picture of your wedding license, scan it, and then edit to change her name to another's, nor would I suggest using this feature for the countless other nefarious ways possible, but for the researcher this feature is absolutely indispensable. In my research there are countless times when I am faced with an historical document or rare books that, due to there age or pricelessness are not able to be photocopied and cannot be removed from their location.  Now, armed with a digital camera and with OmniPage16 Pro software waiting at home, I can easily capture those texts or documents as images, and then convert them to text using OmniPage where I can then study them at leisure in the comfort of my study. Again, for the serious researcher or historian or collector, and certainly for the student, this feature is priceless, and for me it alone is worth the price of the program.  By the way, I used both an inexpensive (under $100.00) two-megapixel camera as well as a top-of-the-line Nikon and OmniPage was able to produce excellent results with both images.  I did find that once you "told" OmniPage that the image being scanned was from a camera, it was necessary to brighten the image using the "set" feature with OmniPage; otherwise, it would make several errors.  With the image brightened, however, there were no errors.

One of the most unique features I have seen anywhere is the ability of OmniPage to turn text into speech.  You can now scan in a text document and your computer will read it back to you in a somewhat pleasant and surprisingly accurate and non-robotic male voice.  I was quite surprised at the number of tones and inflections the voice synthesizer was able to produce-especially from a product of this type.  I did have to try repeatedly to get it to work but my patience was rewarded and the program was able to read back text one line at a time.  Better still, OmniPage 16 allows you to save that voice document as a WAV file for audio reproduction.  This can be a real boon for sharing your work with sight-impaired or blind colleagues.

Overall, this is an excellent product.  If you go with the Professional version reviewed here you get PDF Creator (PDF generator) and PaperPort 11 (a digital document management and search tool), two must-have tools for me. The Pro version also has advanced work-flow capabilities, powerful mark-up features, and the ability to process and create forms. Finally, it also works with FTP (File Transfer Protocol) sites.  In fact, there are simply too many features to detail them all here and unfortunately OmniPage offers no trial version so you will want to spend some time at the OmniPage Web site as I did before getting started.

I had absolutely no performance issues with this product. I've thrown about 2000 pages at the program so far and it seems extremely solid. No matter what I did: batch processes, multi-format saves, folder conversion, text to audio, digital image capture, multi-threading, and on and on, the program performed flawlessly time after time.  It is also much faster than competing software, even with the "Accuracy" checkbox set (as it is by default). The results of MRC (compressed) PDFs now look as good as non-MRC PDFs, which is great since MRC can save disk space (25% is a routine number for large black-and-white scans and it can potentially be a lot more).  While the software is designed to take advantage of dual-core processors, it performed flawlessly on my rather old and clunky office computer as well as my more powerful home computer.

With a product as complex and as feature-rich as OmniPage16 Pro, it's important if not imperative to have top-notch support and Nuance does make this available.  From their Web site all manner of support options can be accessed: a nice knowledge base system, a download section, a user guide section, and a forum-style community help section.  There are also several entry points into help and support from within the OmniPage Help menu.  There is also phone support, and based on my single experience it is staffed with dedicated, professional, and highly-informed technicians who know their product inside and out.  Unfortunately, it is over phone support that my love affair with Nuance has cooled.  I have for sometime now taken great issue and been quite vocal in my criticism of companies who refuse to provide free support for their products and who, instead, use support as an additional cash cow to further bleed their customers. As much as I love the OmniPage 16 program, it would be dishonest of me to ignore the fact that Nuance, for all of its professional and innovative design, is sadly in this category.  The only technical phone support (and there is no email support) costs a usurious $19.95 per call after the first single "free" call. This would even be unacceptable to this writer if it was a typical $29.95 priced software program, but at $499.99 for OmniPage 16 Professional, this charge-per-support incident is simply outrageous and indefensible.  Now, it is at this point that I normally always refuse my recommendation because of this issue and I am inclined to do so here as well; however, because I gave this product such a vigorous testing and because it performed flawlessly and because it really has no equal currently in the OCR software field, I am going to recommend this product on the basis that you are well aware of this onerous support policy.  I am also suggesting to Nuance that if you believe this product is worth the $499.00 you are charging for it, and if it is as superior as you claim and I found it to be, what are you afraid of that you must charge this outrageous fee, or any fee for that matter, for support?  I realize that support can be a costly expense, but only if much support is needed.  Based on my experiences with this product, Nuance's support personnel could be, not unlike that Maytag repairman, the "loneliest guy in town.   To be quite honest Nuance has only one competitor, Abby FinePrint.  And while their product is slightly higher in price, they do offer free support.  Why marginalize a truly excellent product by allowing OmniPage to somehow seem less the bargain than a lesser product simply over the issue of support?

Aside from the above, however, if you have a scanner you must have OmniPage16 Pro  If you do not have a scanner, you need to go buy one so that you can use OmniPage.  This may be one of the most flawless programs I have tested and in my 25 years of searching for the perfect OCR software program, my search has ended-at least for now.  OmniPage16 Pro is not perfect but then nothing is; however, it comes closer to that ideal than any other OCR program on the market today.