add to del.icio.us
Stumble It!
Welcome to Transcript 2.3, a program designed to help you to transcribe the text on digital images of documents.
Transcript is free for private non commercial use. In all other cases it costs 15 euro.
By paying you will get access to a number of very useful additional program features.
To forestall misunderstandings: this program does not convert the image to text! It only tries to help you to do it.
Below you can read more about Transcript but see also the following links:
Transcript came into being because of my dissatisfaction with using a seperate editor and picture viewer when transcribing digital images of old documents. I always had to switch between the editor and my image viewer when I needed to move the image so the next part would be visible.
I thought that it should be easier when this could be done from within one program. I couldn't find a program that did this though, so I decided that I would try to write such a program myself, and here is the result.
The basic idea is very simple. Divide the screen in two parts. In the upper half the image is shown and in the lower half you can edit the text. (As this is not an OCR program, the program does not convert the text. You have to do the transcription yourself.) The size of those windows can be changed as you wish.
From within the editor you can move the visible part of the image in many ways using shortcuts. You can also use keys to move to the previous or next image in the same directory. Besides that it is of course possible to use most of the common editor functions also found in other editors.
Transcipt has furthermore many options and additional functions which are designed to help make it easier for the user to transcribe an image.
By default the program remembers the exact position in the text and image where you were last time and goes back to that position when you start the program.
Transcript has an extensive help file containing context sensitive help. Use F1 to view this help file. It is advisable to read at least the most important items in this help file before you start using the program.
Important to know:
The editor part of Transcript uses the standard in Windows available RichEdit dll. This only supports a subset of all possible editor commands.
When you open a rtf of MsWord document made with a full features editor like MsWord you should be aware that when saving it form within Transcript some editing elements will be lost!
When saving a file made with Transcript itself there will of course be no problems.
Editor elements that are not supported are among others:
Windows 95 or higher and preferrably RichEd20.dll version 5.30 or higher, though older versions (should) work without problems except that some RichEdit capabilities will not be visible (like justify, tab leaders, any tabs which are not left aligned and probably more).
For PDF support you will also need to install
Ghostscript separately.
Here is a more direct link to the
downloads
of Ghostscript (choose the GPL GhostScript Windows exe). At the moment the
newest available version for Windows is 8.64 (always use gs864w32.exe even
for 64 bits Windows, when you use 64 bits Windows it is probably necessary to
use the latest beta version of Transcript to detect GhosScript).
Note: there are some other programs which also use Ghostscript, notably some pdf printer drivers, so you may already have it installed on your system. If Ghostscript already is installed then Transcript will automatically detect it when starting.
By using this program you are agreeing to abide by the following license. Note: this is a translated version of the license. Whenever there are inconsistencies between the translation and the original dutch license, the original dutch version will be considered the correct license.
Transcript is free for private non commercial use only. For all purposes except stated above this program costs 15 euro, to be paid to the author J.G. Boerema.
Donations however are always welcome as a stimulation for my efforts to enhance this program.
When selling transcriptions made using my program this fee is always obligatory even when sold at costprice.
You can now use paypal to pay the registration fee or to send me a donation. Use the paypal button next to this text or login to your paypal account and go to the Send Money tab. As e-mail address use jgboerema@gmail.com and as currency use euros. With an amount of at least 15 euro you will get a registration code. Category of purchase: Goods (other).
The preferred method of payment is using my
Dutch Rabobank bankaccount (your bank knows how to do international payments).
My international bank account numbers are:
BIC: RABONL2U
IBAN: NL 75 RABO 0302 9205 87.
When you have paid please send me an e-mail. As soon as I have received the money I will send you a registration code with which you can access all pro features of Transcript.
Transcript is supplied without any guarantees in whatever form imaginable: usage is completely for your own risk. If your laws don't allow this then I don't allow you to use my program.
The author doesn't accept anhy liability for whatever damages that may directly or indirectly be caused by Transcript.
Though if you encounter any problems please contact me and I will try my best to help.
When you need help, please be als detailed as possible in describing your problems. You should also mention your Windows version and other running programs that may have a relation to the problem. The more detailed you are, the better the chance I can help.
The author is the only one who is allowed to distribute this program. Links to my site are very welcome but you may not link directly to the program downloads without my prior written consent.
Paysites and sites needing registration though are not allowed to put a link to my Transcript page. Every site linking to me must allow a direct link to the page where that link can be seen.
If you really want to use a direct download link or want to put my program for download on your site you need to ask for and receive my consent.
Distribution on cd, dvd or whatever other medium will in principle only be allowed (for which you always need my consent beforehand) if it is done at or below costprice.
Exception: making a copy for someone without internet access is allowed when done at no costs.
Installer version
The installer checks to see if Transcript is already installed. When that's the case it will uninstall that version afther you give your permission. Optionally the installer create a shortcut on your desktop and in a program group under the start button in the program files menu.
Zip version
Unzip the downloaded file to a directory of your choice. Preferrably an empty directory under "Program Files".
Do not put the files in a folder with other files or programs to prevent the possibility of problems. If you want you can make a shortcut to Transcript.exe on your Desktop and/or in the Programs menu.
To begin: start the program Transcript.exe.
This program does not save anything in the Windows registry. Everything is stored in a configuration file Transcript.ini which since version 2.2 resides in a subfolder of your "Application Data" folder.
The zip version of 2.3 can be copied over an older version without problems. All settings will be retained.
If you used the installer to install the program you should run the uninstall program. This can be done in two ways. Either go to control panel - software and click Transcript, or go to Start menu - program files - Transcript - Uninstall Transcript. The program will automatically be removed.
The configuration file Transcript.ini however will not be deleted so your old settings will be available when you install a newer version. If you don't plan on using Transcript again you can delete that file manually.
If you used the zip version you can delete all files in the directory where you installed Transcript and the directory itself, provided you didn't put any other files there that are not related to Transcript.
When uninstalling either with the uninstaller or by hand it should be evident that you should first close the program Transcript.
The following is absolutely not necessary for using my program! It is only meant for other programmers who are interested in the components I used in my program.
I a very grateful for the makers of the following components who made it possible for me to make Transcript the way it is now.
This program contains JVCL and JCL source code. You can get this code on the following websites:
http://homepages.codegear.com/jedi/jvcl/
http://homepages.codegear.com/jedi/jcl/
I changed one of the JVCL components: JvgLanguageLoader. In accordance with the license everyone who wants can get the sourcecode of these components. E-mail me if you want that.
The image component uses Graphics32, see:
http://graphics32.org/
http://g32.org/graphics32/index.html
The Twain (scanner) component I used is an adaption of Colin Wilson's Twain component and can be found here:
http://www.wilsonc.demon.co.uk/delphi_6.htm
For the making of this helpfile I used the free program HelpMaker which is available at http://www.vizacc.com.
Also thanks to Jaap Medema and Henri Roodveldt for their ideas and suggestions.
add to del.icio.us
Stumble It!
By using this program you are agreeing with the license.
Note: I really appreciate it when you link to my program Transcript, but please do not link directly to the zip and exe files! (See the distribution conditions.)
The registered version of Transcriptie costs only 15 euro and has some useful extra features. Don't forget to send me an e-mail otherwise I won't know where to send the registration code! Besides using paypal you can also transfer the money to my bank account by international money transfer.
Installer Transcript English (1513 KB).
Installer Transcript French (1533 KB). French translation by Luc Lochtmans. (Translation updates will be announced in my Transcript forum.)
Installer Transcript German (1520 KB). German translation by Wolfgang Hauer. Note: only the program interface has been translated (updated May 4, 2008), the helpfile is still in English (is being worked on, will be announced on the forum when ready).
Installer Transcript Danish (1518 KB). Danish translation by Leif Bærtelsen. Note: only the program interface has been translated, the translation of the helpfile is being worked on.
Installer Transcript Finnish (1520 KB). Finnish translation by Pekka Valta. Note: only the program interface has been translated, the translation of the helpfile is being worked on.
Installer Transcript Dutch (1542 KB).
Installer Transcript all languages (English, French, German, Danish and Dutch) (2147 KB).
7-zip version of Transcript including all languages (1942 KB) - (What is 7-zip).
Download and info Transcript beta version (2.3.2 build 77 - June 14, 2009)
Zip with the Finnish (Suomi) language file (13 KB). (Add the contents of the zip to the Transcript program folder. After that go to Options (F11), language tab and select Suomi and press OK. An installer version will be added later.)
At the moment there are no more languages available. Volunteers who translate Transcript into another language get the registered version for free. Always contact me first for the latest updated language files and to see if someone else is already translating it in your language.
The following plugins are available. After dowloading they should be un7zipped and placed in the Transcript program folder. After restarting Transcript the plugins can be used.
Download Exif viewer plugin (7-zip) - English version (300 KB). With this plugin you can view the exif information that many digital camera's add to every image, like creation date, dimensions, camera settings etc.
Download Image viewer plugin (7-zip) - English version (384 KB). Sometimes it will be convenient to be able to quickly look at another image or you may have an image with an alphabet of old letters. Guess what, this plugin will let you do that.
Copyright © 2003-2009 J.G. Boerema
Transcript main page - Transcript Forum - My Dutch genealogy website - Transcript in het Nederlands - E-mail