PageKeeper Pro 3.0
PageKeeper Pro 3.0
| by Dale Farris, President, Golden Triangle PC Club November 2000 What is PageKeeper Pro (PK)? PageKeeper Pro 3.0 (PK Pro) is a neat program designed to organize and retrieve scanned documents, Word files, Web pages, and any document in any file format. It saves you time by automatically filing, with the Smart Folder feature, documents the way you want. When you are looking for a file, PageKeeper Pro (PK Pro) works like a search engine and displays all the documents that meet your particular search criteria. After it finds the document, simply click on it and it opens. PageKeeper Pro (PK Pro) will allow you to manage documents from any source, including scanners, digital cameras, a hard disk, and Web sites. With PageKeeper, you no longer need to manage your document manager. Instead, let PageKeeper Pro's FolderWatch feature automatically track any changes you make. With PageKeeper Pro (PK Pro), you can get paper documents off your desk, by scanning them into the program. Once added, the program lets you organize these documents into folders, arrange various related documents into groups, preview and copy the contents of the documents, make annotations on the documents, open documents in their own application, and find documents. Built into PageKeeper Pro is a suitable Optical Character Recognition (OCR) component, the PageKeeper Scanner, that allows you to scan documents into the PageKeeper's default folder, or a folder you define. You can scan a black-and-white document, a grayscale photo, a color document, or a color photo. Or, you can also use the PK Scan button, that is installed with the application. You choose Start, Programs, Caere Applications, PageKeeper Scan to open this PK Scan feature. You then place the document you want to scan in your scanner, and select the option in the PK Scan list. You select Scan to start scanning the document, which then places the resulting data into the \pkdatapath and the \document folders in the PK program folder. The \pkdatapath folder contains the index files for the program's database, and the \document folder contains sample documents and other documents you might have saved in this location. When you use the program to automatically file and update existing files that are already resident on a computer, you are not adding actual physical files to the PK program. You are creating links to wherever the files are on your computer. PK then keeps track of these links, even when you edit these documents or move them around. However, if you scan an editable document into the program and use its OCR features, this means the file is then saved in the PK folders, rather than other folders a user can use. In either case, if the system crashes, for whatever reason, and you lose the PK program, you will lose all the relative data in the program's folders about the files you had used the program to help manage for you. Keeping track of document changes, such as edits to documents, is one of the neater aspects of this program, as it will automatically update its relevant thumbnail and the data in the index of these files. This means that the PageKeeper Jobs application must be running in the background when you work with your computer, in order for it to be able to do what it is designed to do. This resident program, PageKeeper Jobs, will by default automatically start when your start your computer. Documents that reside on network or removable drives cannot be accessed through PageKeeper, if you do not currently have access to those drives. However, the program will retain links to those documents so you can use them the next time you have access to those drives. If the program loses its link to a document, such as when you might move the document while PageKeeper Jobs is closed, you will be prompted to reestablish the link the next time you try to work with that document in PageKeeper. Key Features Scan and manage paper documents Manage word processing files and other documents Folder Watch feature lets you specify folders on hard drive to track Capture Web pages Display thumbnail representations of documents Organize documents into folders and into "clipped-together" groups Automatically organize documents with Smart Folders Find documents with advance search Rank search results and highlight search words Preview documents Mark documents with 3M Post-it Software Notes and other annotations Get editable text from documents with OCR technology Open documents directly from PageKeeper Automatically file documents Automatically keep track of edits Scan Wizard Bring in Web pages No proprietary file formats Converts proprietary PaperPort MAX files Street Prices $26.95 from BlueSquirrel - one license for PK Pro $64.95 from BlueSquirrel - price for bundling of PK Pro and ClickBook 2000 $29.99 from ScanSoft - one license for PK Pro This price includes a fully functional, licensed copy of 3M's Post-it Software Notes application, that is automatically installed with PageKeeper Pro. You can use Post-it Notes to add text annotations to documents in PageKeeper Pro. Note: PageKeeper Pro 3.0 is now owned by the ScanSoft company, which acquired the Caere Corporation, the company that originally developed this program and the well known, feature-rich OCR program, Omni Page Pro 10. The BlueSquirrel company has negotiated an arrangement with ScanSoft to sell PageKeeper Pro 3.0 separately, as well as in a bundle with BlueSquirrel's super print utility program, ClickBook 2000. Click here for a review of ClickBook 2000. System Configuration Windows 95, 98, NT 4 Pentium or higher processor 16MB RAM for Win 95 (32MB recommended), 32MB for Win 98 and NT 4 150MB hard disk space during install (at least 100MB must be on the drive where Windows is installed) SVGA or VGA with 256 colors monitor CD ROM drive for install Windows compatible pointing device Compatible scanner, if you plan to scan documents Note: The hard disk space requirements will grow as you continue to add more files to the PK folders. Supported Scanners Adara, Agfa, Canon, Epson, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, LaCie, Microtek, Mustek, Plustek, Ricoh, ScanPaq, Sony, Storm, TWAIN, Umax, Visioneer Supported Digital Cameras Canon, Casio, Epson, Kodak, Minolta, Olympus, Sony With the ever increasing array of scanners and cameras now on the market, customers can contact BlueSquirrel technical support for help with making PageKeeper Pro integrate with newly released equipment. Comments About Use The PageKeeper Pro Desktop appears when you start the program, and this will operate slowly the first time, because it will customize the Application toolbar to contain the applications that it finds installed on your system. You can add documents that exist on a hard drive to PageKeeper folders, by selecting New, Document from Disk, in the File menu. You select the folder in the program to add the document, and then add the file to the folder. Choosing the View button in the Action toolbar then displays the document in PageKeeper. Adding folders is as simple as adding folders in Windows Explorer. First, select the PageKeeper folder, then choose New, Folder, from the File menu. This folder can now store documents. Moving files from folder to folder is also as simple as selecting the file, or group of files, using either the Shift+Click or the Ctrl+Click procedure, and then dragging these into the other folder. Or, you can also use the standard Edit, Cut, and Edit, Paste options. The Smart Folder option is a neat way of setting up folders that will notify you when your criteria for the folder has been met. Select New, Smart Folder, from the File menu, and then you determine the criteria for this folder. For example, if you selected the word orange in the Content tab, then this Smart Folder will file all documents that contain the word orange in their content. This automatic filing system is set up with PageKeeper's Folder Watch and Smart Folder features. Folder Watch will automatically add documents to PageKeeper and Smart Folder will automatically file the documents for you. Cool! The PageKeeper View feature allows you to preview documents, add annotations to them, and copy their content. If you have selected a Web page to store in a PageKeeper folder, then you can open this page directly from PageKeeper if you are currently connected to the Web. Adding a note is also easy, and uses the included 3M Post-it Software Notes technology. In addition to using these 3M Post-it Software Notes, the other annotation features include colored highlights, lines and freehand scribbles. From inside the View frames, you choose the Select Content button on the Annotation toolbar, and then drag the mouse around the desired area in the document. A box then surrounds the selected area, and then you follow the standard Edit, Copy commands to copy the selected area to the Clipboard, that can then be pasted into any other text-editing application, like Word or WordPerfect. The program also supports simple drag and drop, to move a file from the Windows desktop or Windows Explorer directly into a PageKeeper folder. Or, once the program is installed, Right Click a document and choose Send To PageKeeper to send it to the PageKeeper default folder (My Folders). Clipping related documents together into one folder is as easy as clicking on one file, and then Ctrl+Clicking on the other. Then, choose the Clip Documents Together option in the Tools menu, and these clipped files are represented by a thumbnail that can be named. Searching for files can be done with any file in any folder in PageKeeper. Click the My Folders icon, and then start the PageKeeper Find feature, in the Tools menu. You can set criteria, including the content of a file, its properties, image, or look in. You can search for similar documents, search within search results, search for old documents to discard, sort search results by relevancy, locate search words in retrieved documents, reuse search criteria, save search criteria to a folder, and store search results in a folder. In addition to adding existing documents on a drive to a PageKeeper folder, you can also scan paper documents directly into a folder, as well as import images directly from a digital camera right into a PageKeeper folder. When you scan a document into PageKeeper, the document is saved as an image file to a default location on the computer. A thumbnail link is added to PageKeeper's folder system. Proprietary files that you file in a PageKeeper folder can be opened from within PageKeeper in their own application, and Web pages saved in a folder can also be opened if your Internet connection is open. In addition, if you have the appropriate applications set up on your computer, you can print, mail, and fax documents from PageKeeper. For this program to do its job, the PageKeeper Jobs application will have to be running in the background. Depending on how many other resident files are loaded when the computer boots, this may or may not pose a problem. Since all these programs are open and running, this presents a greater potential for file conflicts and system crashes. Be sure to note the minimum system configuration requirements below, and as always, the more RAM and the faster the processor, the better this and any program will operate. In addition, the more these resident programs that are designed to be active all the time, running behind the scenes, the more potential problems one can have. In most cases, file conflicts and system crashes can be simply eliminated by eliminating this feature with these programs. However, doing this defeats the purpose of the program, so one is left with little choice sometimes, other than to just decide which of these features is absolutely essential. As hard as the software vendors work to prevent these problems, there is no guarantee than all these programs that are designed to run in the background will always co-exist with all the others with no problems. This is just not that likely. Installation and Setup PageKeeper Pro 3 can convert document databases from these versions of PageKeeper and Visioneer PaperPort: PageKeeper Standard 3.0 and PageKeeper Lite 3.0; PageKeeper 2.0, 2.01, and 2.1; Visioneer PaperPort Deluxe 4.0 and 5.1-5.3. During conversion, PageKeeper Pro transfers documents to its own folder system. If you have PageKeeper Standard 3.0, PageKeeper Lite 3.0, or PageKeeper 2.x installed, it is recommended that you uninstall these and restart your computer before installing PageKeeper Pro 3.0. If you want to transfer your current PageKeeper database to PageKeeper Pro, you must keep the database folder structure intact. You can safely uninstall your older version of PageKeeper without altering its database folder structure, as long as you do not manually delete or move the database folders or their contents. If you have PaperPort Deluxe 4.0 or 5.1-5.3 installed, and you want to transfer your current database to PageKeeper Pro, you must keep the full application installed and keep the folder structure intact until conversion is complete. You can uninstall PaperPort after successfully converting its database, if you no longer plan to use it. If you have and plan to use a scanner with PageKeeper Pro, make sure it is connected, turned on and compatible with your system. Caere Scan Manager is installed during PageKeeper installation. This sets up your scanner (or another input device, such as a digital camera) so you can use it with PageKeeper Pro. During installation, Caere Scan Manager prompts you to select your scanner manufacturer and model, or other input device. After installation, you can use Caere Scan Manager to set up additional scanners with PageKeeper and change various scanner settings. Caere Scan Manager is located in the Windows Control Panel. When a document is scanned and saved in a PK folder, the thumbnail image is actually either a .jpg or .gif file that can be viewed and printed. PK can store data for up to 10,000 records (one piece of paper scanned is one record), and its PK Scan features must be running independent of any other existing scanner application that a user might also have installed on their machine. You do have to make sure the scanner is not in use by any other application, and this includes any other OCR program, such as Caere's own Omni Page Pro 10. To uninstall PageKeeper, use the standard Windows Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove option to select PageKeeper and then click Remove. If the PK Jobs application is open, you will be prompted to close it. The PK uninstall program does not remove the PK installation folder or its subfolders. The default PK installation folder is PageKeeperPro30, and its subfolders include \document, \pkdatapath, \system, and \temp. Make sure you first move any folders you want to keep from the PK folders, before you delete the PK installation folder and subfolders. To uninstall Caere Scan Manager, go through the same standard Windows Add/Remove steps and select Caere Scan Manager to then remove it. You must uninstall the Post-it Software Notes program separately. The Blue Squirrel Family Blue Squirrel develops and markets innovative software to enable users to be more productive with information. In addition to PageKeeper Pro (a ScanSoft product), Blue Squirrel also sells ClickBook 2000, a nifty print utility, TechSeeker, an online technical assistance utility, WebWhacker 2000, an offline browser that saves Web page text, graphics and HTML links directly to a hard drive, and The Offline Educator, a utility that will Internet-enable entire classrooms. In addition, they also sell Grab-a-Site, an industrial-strength, file-based offline browsing utility that helps download entire Web sites while retaining the original filenames and directory structure, LinkSync, an accessory for both the Netscape and IE browsers that permits you to merge bookmarks and favorites from the two browsers without producing duplicates, GrabNet, a browser companion tool that lets you collect and organize information from the Web, and Internet Automation System, a tool designed to reduce time connected to the Internet. By the way, the first product from this company was called SQURL ("Search and Query URL's"), so they used a squirrel as their mascot. They wanted the squirrel to stand out, so they made him blue, and now their mascot is the one and only Blue Squirrel. Contact Sheri Paddock Director of Marketing sherip@bluesquirrel.com Blue Squirrel 170 W. Election Drive, Suite 125 Draper, Utah 84020 1-800-403-0925 1-801-523-1063 sales@bluesquirrel.com www.bluesquirrel.com/storefront Blue Squirrel Technical Support: 1-801-523-1065 support@bluesquirrel.com ScanSoft Technical Support http://support.caere.com |