On 22/02/2008 11:27, Harold Fuchs wrote:
On 22/02/2008, *Howard* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>> wrote:
I`ve done that.
I`ve been to at least 5 different calc tuitorial sites and can`t find
anything about extracting whatever I need from a image opened in calc.
As I understand it a .otg file is a *graphics* or *image* file. In
which case you *cannot* extract the data using Calc.
There is a fundamental difference, which is quite hard to explain,
between graphics/image files and text files. The former are not text,
merely pixels arranged in a sequence that makes them look like text to
the human eye. Each byte or pair of bytes represents a *pixel*. In a
text file each byte or pair of bytes represents a *character* (that's
not 100% true but is sufficiently close for the purposes of this
discussion). Graphics/image files are not computer readable as text
except by OCR (Optical Character Recognition) software. Such software
usually comes in the box when you buy a scanner but you can, of
course, buy it separately or, possibly, find a free program or a trial
version of an otherwise non-free program
You have several possibilities.
1. Enter the data by hand into Calc.
2. Obtain an OCR program that will read the .otg file (this might be
difficult, I couldn't find one although I didn't spend a lot of time
looking).
3. Use Draw to open the .otg file and then save it as a .jpeg, .bmp or
.tiff which most OCR software will be able to read and then obtain an
OCR program that will read the result.
The purpose of the OCR software is to convert an image into text. The
success of the conversion depends very strongly on the clarity
(contrast, blurring, fonts used etc.) of the image.
There's a thing called SimpleOCR at http://www.simpleocr.com/ It's
free but I've never tried it. Read the download instructions
carefully. Then read the installation instructions carefully. If
necessary contact *their* support people.
Alternatively, as others have suggested, use Google to find a suitable
OCR program. ReadIris is good but expensive (mine came free with my
scanner). Omnipage is also good but expensive. There might be trial
versions around.
--
Harold Fuchs
London, England
Please reply *only* to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Some of the above might have been wrong, depending on *exactly* what you
did.
**If** you entered the numbers into a *text box* within your .otg file
then the data are actually stored as text within the otherwise
graphics/image file and you can copy/paste them into Calc or similar:
1. Open the .otg file in Draw.
2. Double click inside the text. If you do this correctly you will see a
box. It has green square dots at the corners and in the middle of the
sides; the dots are joined by lines made of grey hatch marks similar to
`````````````````` but sloping the other way and slightly longer.
3. Select the data you want in the usual way.
4. Do Edit/Copy or press Ctrl-C
5. Open your Calc spreadsheet (or start a new one).
6. Position the cursor to where you want the data to start
7. Do Edit/Paste or press Ctrl-V
Done
--
Harold Fuchs
London, England
Please reply *only* to [email protected]
