Skimpy support; slim price
Unfortunately, FineReader's documentation introduces its own flaws. The included instructions are sparse, and the manual contains no index. FormFiller comes with no printed documentation at all, leaving you to roam adequate but superficial digital help files that it installs onto your hard drive. Abbyy offers little documentation for FineReader, just the printed manual, help files, and a tutorial on your hard drive. Nor is there a toll-free number for technical support, though the help you get--free via a toll call, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. PT, except holidays--is polite, accurate, and to the point.
Considering that you often get decent OCR software free with a new scanner, FineReader's $299 standard price tag is a bit steep. Fortunately, the program costs a far more reasonable $149 if you own any OCR package, including those you get with scanners.
Right for the job
FineReader 6.0 Professional thoroughly accomplishes its primary task: helping you convert paper documents into files you can edit on your computer. It deftly retains formatting and layout details and, for the most part, accurately translates text and makes it easy to correct errors. It is a clear cut above the stripped-down OCR utilities bundled with most scanners, and is on a par with its main competitor, ScanSoft's OmniPage 11.0. FineReader even outperforms OmniPage in some areas, including wrapping text around graphics that are embedded in a column. If you must input large documents or books into your computer, this versatile tool will save you hours or days of work.
User reviews
- Average user rating: 4.0 stars out of 4 reviews
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