ClaroRead Chrome V13 Released

Posted on 7th August, 2017 by Claro Admin

We have updated our ClaroRead Chrome extension with a new feature, document conversion, and made a change to better support site licence users.

Document conversion

We know that you sometimes need to convert an inaccessible file – maybe a TIFF or JPEG scan of a paper document, maybe an inaccessible PDF file – into a readable, accessible format, like Word or accessible PDF. Then you can read it in any software, or send it to someone else to use.

ClaroRead Chrome Extension now lets you do this by accessing our ClaroRead Cloud OCR service online. On the ClaroRead Chrome toolbar you’ll now see a drop-down on the Scan button (you’ll need to turn on the Scan button if you have not already!)

Then click on the ClaroRead Cloud OCR button that appears on the dropdown:

You’ll then be taken to our ClaroRead Cloud OCR web app, where you can select your inaccessible file and it will be uploaded, OCR/scanned, and returned to you as accessible PDF, Word or plain text.

Note that this document conversion feature is only available to Premium users – anyone paying for ClaroRead Chrome through a site licence or personal account, or anyone who has ClaroRead for Windows or Mac. If you are interested in upgrading, see the ClaroRead Chrome webpage for options.

PDF handling

ClaroRead Chrome opens PDF files in a special way to make them readable. If you’re deploying ClaroRead Chrome across a site you may not want ClaroRead Chrome to do this, even though you want to deploy ClaroRead Chrome to every user.

In V13, if you or a user turn off all the speech options in ClaroRead Chrome – click and play, echoing typing, speak on select, and scan from screen – then ClaroRead Chrome will no longer open PDF files and will leave it entirely to Chrome.

If you have reasons to use the native PDF handling in Chrome – additional extensions, for example – then this may be of use to you.

ClaroRead Plus versus ClaroRead Pro Video

Posted on 14th December, 2016 by Claro Admin

One of the most common queries we get for ClaroRead for PC is “What’s the difference between ClaroRead Plus and ClaroRead Pro?” And indeed they have similar features – reading, proofing, and scanning/OCR. ClaroRead Pro also has “Advanced Scanning” – but what does that mean?

Of course, there is a comparison chart to help, but we thought it might be helpful to create a short video to explain the key differences – the proofing dialog and the advanced save options. View it here or watch it on YouTube:

Claro ScanPen Android Released

Posted on 7th November, 2016 by Claro Admin

We are delighted to announce the launch of our first native Android app, Claro ScanPen for Android. Just like the iPad or iPhone version, you can take a photo with your Android phone or tablet, wait a couple of seconds, and then simply select any text in the photo to hear it read back to you!

Claro ScanPen requires no Internet connection and is super-fast and easy to use, providing access to exam papers and other printed material. It supports ten languages: English, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish.

Finally, we hope that our Android version is as well-received as Claro ScanPen for iOS, so to help it along we’ve made it completely free until the end of 2016. After that you only need a one-time in-app purchase of £2.99 – and you can check it out for fifteen days free trial any time.

ClaroPDF V1.4.2 Released

Posted on 26th May, 2015 by Claro Admin

The latest version of ClaroPDF is now available in the App Store!

What’s New in V1.4?

Photo to PDF: You can now convert photos and other images to fully accessible Text PDF files that can be spoken, searched, copied and highlighted*. Using this new feature, you can now turn paper into speakable PDF files that you can annotate.

Find out more about this new feature in our Exploring Photo to PDF article.

Convert to Text PDF: As well as converting photos, you can also convert any PDF file in ClaroPDF into a fully accessible Text PDF file. Along with making these PDF files speakable, it will also compress them, reducing file size.
*50 pages can be converted using the 50 included credits. Further credit can be purchased in app.
Sync with iCloud: You can now sync ClaroPDF with your iCloud account. This lets you store and synchronise your PDF files and annotations across multiple devices. Sync with iCloud can also act as a document backup so you can keep your documents safe.
Save as PDF app extension: Save as PDF lets you convert text, images and webpages to PDF files from Safari and almost any other app that handles text, images or webpages. When converted, these new PDF files will appear in your documents list inside ClaroPDF.
New voice ranges: The Acapela and CereProc voice ranges are now available to download for ClaroPDF, allowing even more accents and dialogues. These new voices are available as in app purchases. This new version of ClaroPDF also comes with a free download of the Scottish Heather CereProc voice, which you can download from inside ClaroPDF.
Improved annotations import/export: The import/export annotations feature in ClaroPDF now has the standard .xfdf file format to allow greater compatibility with other applications.
Improved switch mechanism: The switch control in ClaroPDF has been updated to allow greater compatibility with more bluetooth switch devices.
Organised Settings menu: The Settings menu in ClaroPDF has now been condensed into separate section windows, with the main settings remaining on the main Settings page. This makes the Settings menu easier to read and quicker to navigate.

Follow @ClaroPDF on Twitter for the latest news and hints & tips.

Check out The Codpasts recent review of our ClaroSpeak Plus App!

Exploring Photo to PDF

Posted on 26th May, 2015 by Claro Admin

Exploring Photo to PDF in ClaroPDF
We are excited to announce the new Photo to PDF feature in ClaroPDF V1.4. This powerful new feature allows you to turn photos of papers, worksheets, books, etc into PDF files that can be spoken, searched and fully annotated.

The new Photo to PDF feature is accessed from the Open button in ClaroPDF:

Pressing this will allow you to choose an existing photo from your library, or take a new one using your device’s camera. Once you have selected a photo, give your PDF file a name:

Press Save, and ClaroPDF will create an image PDF from the photo that you selected:

With your new image PDF, you can perform simple annotation drawings on it:

As mentioned above, this new PDF is an image PDF, this means it doesn’t yet contain any text. If you try to press play to speak the PDF or tap the search button to search the PDF, a message will pop up informing you that this PDF is an image PDF and needs to be converted:

If you want to convert this image PDF to a text PDF, you can press Yes in this message box, or you can choose Convert PDF from the ClaroPDF Save as menu:

When you select this option, a new message will pop up, informing you of the amount of credits it will cost to convert this PDF file. The cost is one credit per page:

When you select Yes to convert your PDF file, ClaroPDF will send your PDF off to our ClaroPDF Cloud OCR server to convert it. An internet connection is required for the conversion process. A progress bar will appear on the top toolbar to let you know the current progress:

The conversion is done in the background so you are still free to use ClaroPDF whilst the conversion is underway.

When the conversion has finished, you will be prompted for a file name. Enter a name and press Save:

Once you press Save, ClaroPDF will open your new text PDF and you speak it, search it and fully annotated it:

There are also some new settings for this new feature to help you maximise your conversions. The Settings menu in ClaroPDF has now been reorganised and you can find the settings for the conversions under Text PDF Conversion:

The main setting in here is Convert to Text PDF in Cloud. This is switched off by default. If you switch this on, then ClaroPDF will automatically prepare to convert your photos to text PDFs when you select one using Photo to PDF. With this setting switched on, you don’t have to manually Select Save as -> Convert PDF… to convert your PDF to a text PDF.

In the Text PDF Conversion settings, you can also view your current credits and add more if you need some. The first time each user runs ClaroPDF, they will be credited with 50 free credits so they sample the Text PDF Conversion feature.

In the advanced section of Settings, there is a new setting called PDF image detection. This is switched off by default. If you switch this on, then whenever you open an image PDF, ClaroPDF will tell you that it is an image PDF. This is useful if you are getting PDF files from external sources and you don’t know if you can speak/annotate them or not:

ClaroSpeak New Release

Posted on 7th May, 2014 by Claro Admin

The ClaroSpeak text-to-speech App now brings the ‘Capture Text From Photo’ option and Google Drive to all ClaroSpeak users.

With ClaroSpeak’s advanced ‘Optical Character Recognition’ (OCR), users can easily photograph a document or screen-shot an image with text, and have this text extracted into ClaroSpeak. Add OCR, via in-App purchase, for just £1.99.

The ClaroSpeak update now includes Google Drive and Google Docs. Easily save, load and open files to your Google Drive account or open Google Docs in ClaroSpeak.

ClaroSpeak is a quality text-to-speech App for proofreading text through listening, helping with reading and literacy development, creating audio files from any text and scanning any document to convert the text into editable text. ClaroSpeak offers the option of visual highlighting in sync with the spoken words – and a great range of colour and font settings to allow for optimum reading.

ClaroSpeak Reviews And Quotes

ClaroSpeak “This App is absolutely brilliant! I’m currently doing a degree & have M.E, so at times I am unable to read when experiencing a relapse. I have the PC version of ClaroSpeak, I thought i’d try the App version, so glad I did. I am able to upload all module notes & open to Claro via Dropbox. This App has really helped me with my studies. I have it on my iPad & iPhone, I just listen, make notes where necessary, even on the go.” PhonexRising78 (App store)

Claro Software Blog

Tag Archives: OCR