Re: iPad 3
Understood.
Setting PDF aside for a second, let me try modifying my idea/request a bit, to address photos instead. This approach provides a potentially broader, more useful solution.
My current method is to just move the pdf into the iPad into some PDF reader (GoodReader usually). No OCR content. Then I just take screen-captures of the pages of interest. So you get to class, take 5 or 10 snapshots for the course work you are about to embark and they are sitting in your saved photos.
Pleco OCR is fast, overall very accurate (as long as the original photo/ screen capture was clean enough) - just takes a second or two. Really great. And in many ways more accurate than typically OCRed PDF files as Pleco allows you to on the fly adjust the size of the OCR area box.
But, by far the large percentage of time, and the sloppiest part of the process, is when its time to review the next photo. You have to bail out of your OCRed "Photo", go looking for the next photo, hope you find the right one (many times since its just text, its difficult to tell so you open it and its wrong), restart the OCR, reposition the box, etc.
My thought is, it would be really useful is there was a way in Photo OCR Block Read mode where you can just open a photo, Pleco-OCR it (like you do now).. BUT, there would be a new function where you can simply swipe or arrow to the next or previous photo. I figure that anyone taking multiple photos for OCR interpretation is likely taking the photos in order.
And as for the OCR Highlight box, it would just be left in the same position as the previous photo. Of course the user could then reposition if desired or necessary.
Some Scenarios:
Scenario 1 - I am going to go to my school. iPad in my backpack, iPhone in my hand. In the lobby of my apartment is a new 5 page document posted by building management. I don't have the time (or full Chinese skillset!), so I take pictures of the document with my iPhone, one picture for each page. Then I get to the Wifi-enabled place I'm going (most are) and iCloud moves all the photos to the iPad via Photostream without me doing anything. Then I open Pleco on the iPad, and the documents are ready be imported and read.
Scenario 2 - In class, my teacher wants us to reference a PDF document I already have in my iPad. In this case, I simply open the PDF on the iPad and screen capture the pages of interest. (letter size or a4, both work well with iPad full screen capture that is brought into Pleco Reader. Pleco OCRs the doc, and I can page to the next one.
Scenario 3 - Video stills with Chinese Subtitles - not a movie, but if you could get the video stills with subtitles, you could study the sentences in Pleco while having the benefit of the video context. Swipe to the next "still" and the OCR region has already been defined based on the last photo.
mikelove said:
radioman said:
With specific regard to the reader, is there any progress on a PDF reader function for those PDFs that have been OCRed? (or have you come up with another way to skin that cat?). I would be happy to test a beta version, or an alpha... pre alpha, etc.
That's probably only going to happen later in the year - it'd be a nice feature, but I think supporting EPUB is going to have to take priority since we're getting a lot more requests for that of late.