User Manual
MacSpeech Dictate™ License Agreement IMPORTANT - READ CAREFULLY: Before installing this software, carefully read the following terms and conditions. This Software End-User License Agreement (“License Agreement”) is a binding agreement between you (either an individual or an entity), the end-user, and MacSpeech, Inc.
Under the terms of this License Agreement, Recipient receives only a limited right to use the SOFTWARE PRODUCT under all terms set forth by MacSpeech, Inc., which are subject to change. The SOFTWARE PRODUCT is protected by United States copyright laws and international copyright treaties, as well as by other intellectual property laws and treaties.
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL MACSPEECH, ITS SUPPLIERS, OR THE OWNERS OF THE RIGHTS IN THE SOFTWARE PRODUCT, AND/OR ANY OF THE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, OR EMPLOYEES, BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR OTHER LOSSES OR DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY LOSS OF PROFIT OR SAVINSG, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, EXPENDITURES FOR SUBSTITUTE SERVICES OR SOFTWARE, AND ANY LOSS OF DATA) WHATSOEVER, IN CONNECTION WITH OR ARISING OUT OF THE
Credits MacSpeech Engineering: Jeff Ganyard …and the rest of MacSpeech: Chris Hardy Jacob Hazelgrove Paul Herzog Eric Hon-Anderson Jim Kelley Robert Stuller Hugh Brown Anne Schwing Stephane Gauthier Michael Schwing Jay Gonzales Brenda Shiepe Carla Hernandez Jack Simonton Sara Jennings Carly Taylor Andrew Taylor Donald MacCormick Colin Taylor David Popovitch Debra Schwartz Special Thanks To: Apple Inc. for the wonderful Mac OS X. Nuance Communications, Inc.
Table of Contents Introduction Installation and Making a Voice Profile Initial Installation Creating a Voice Profile Microphone Setup Voice Training Interface The Profiles Window The Status Window The Available Commands Window The Dock Menu The Status Menu Item Keyboard Shortcuts Speech Modes and the Microphone Microphone Off and On Sleep Mode Learning and Switching Modes Dictation Mode What You Can Say in Dictation Mode Navigation and Editing Commands Capitalization, Spacing, and Numbers Title Case 1 3 4
Uppercase Lowercase Spaces Numbers Letter Names in Dictation Mode Letters Diacritical Letters Ligatures and Non-Latin Letters Spelling Mode What You Can Say in Spelling Mode Letter Names in Spelling Mode Letters Diacritical Letters Ligatures and Non-Latin Letters Numerals Punctuation Commands Global Commands The Web 100 Commands Key Commands How to Say a Key Command Generated Commands Launching Applications Email Messages Application-Based Commands Finder Commands 38 38 39 39 44 44 46 47 48 49 49 49 51 52
TextEdit Commands Safari Commands Mail Commands iChat Commands iCal Commands Windows Note Pad Window Profiles Window Commands Window Command Types Creating a Command Vocabulary Editor Window Microphone Setup Window Voice Training Window Vocabulary Training Window Status Window Available Commands Window Recognition Window How to Train Preferences Window General Preferences pane Appearance Preferences pane Recognition Preferences pane Dictation Preferences pane Command Preferences pane Shortcuts Preferences p
Menus Dictate Menu File Menu Edit Menu Speech Menu Tools Menu Format Menu Window Menu Help Menu Tips on Speaking The Cache and the Golden Rule Two Ways of Working Text and the Cache The Golden Rule of MacSpeech Dictate Why Note Pad Windows Are Special Extra for Experts Cache Commands Cache Purge Note Pad Windows and the Cache Sound Input Troubleshooting What’s Installed Where 139 139 139 140 141 142 142 143 144 145 147 147 148 149 149 149 150 150 152 153 154 156
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Introduction 1 Introduction MacSpeech Dictate is a speech recognition application. This means that you, the user, speak into a microphone and MacSpeech Dictate interprets your speech as actual words. It can then respond to those words. It can respond in one of two ways: • It can interpret your words as a command, in which case it will obey the command.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Introduction 2 Learning. MacSpeech Dictate can’t obey just any old commands. When you start out, you won’t know MacSpeech Dictate’s built-in commands; you’ll learn them as you go along (especially the ones you use most frequently). When dictating, you won’t always know MacSpeech Dictate’s terms for punctuation that you want to use; these, too, you’ll learn as you go along.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 3 Installation and Making a Voice Profile Before you can use MacSpeech Dictate, you must have two kinds of hardware that conform to its requirements: your computer, and a microphone. Computer Requirements • You must be using an Intel-based Macintosh computer. • Your system must be Mac OS X “Leopard” version 10.5.6 or later. • The computer should have at least 1GB of RAM (preferably 2GB or more).
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 4 plugged into the computer without being the input device; in such a case, your voice will be input in some other way, such as your computer’s built-in microphone, and MacSpeech Dictate will be unable to interpret your speech accurately. Use System Preferences > Sound to make sure your USB microphone is the sound input device. Note.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 5 Your computer is connected to the Internet. You will need an Internet connection in order to enter your registration number and license your copy of MacSpeech Dictate. Accessibility is turned on in System Preferences > Universal Access. Check now that this true. Choose System Preferences > Universal Access, and make certain that Enable access for assistive devices (near the bottom of the window) is checked.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 6 Eject the CD. Launch MacSpeech Dictate from your hard drive. MacSpeech Dictate requests the DVD containing the speech recognition engine data (“MacSpeech English Data”). Leave the dialog up. MacSpeech Dictate asks for the DVD containing the speech recognition data. Insert the DVD into the computer. When it has mounted, return to MacSpeech Dictate and click OK in the dialog.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 7 Installation is now complete, and MacSpeech Dictate displays the license agreement. Click Accept after reviewing it. Click Accept after reviewing the license agreement. MacSpeech Dictate displays the Read Me window. Click Continue after reviewing this information. Click Continue after reviewing the Read Me window. MacSpeech Dictate now asks for your license. A license is a license file.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 8 in order to get it. Click Register This Software to summon a dialog where you can enter your registration number and obtain a license file. Click Register This Software to summon the registration dialog. If you do have a license file, MacSpeech Dictate should find it automatically at this point, and the entire Register This Software step will be skipped.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 9 Fill out the registration dialog and click Register Now. Your computer must be connected to the Internet. When you’ve filled out the dialog, make sure your computer is connected to the Internet and click Register Now. MacSpeech Dictate goes out over the Internet, connects to MacSpeech’s server, and downloads and installs your license file. If this operation is successful, MacSpeech Dictate informs you of the fact. Click OK.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 10 Creating a Voice Profile A voice profile is a complete set of data on how you speak: what your voice sounds like, and what vocabulary you use. In order to speak into MacSpeech Dictate, you must have at least one profile. In many cases, one profile is all you’ll need. But you’ll need multiple profiles in certain situations: • If different people are using MacSpeech Dictate, each will need their own profile.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 11 The Name a New Profile dialog. Give the profile a name, specify a folder in which to save it, and click Choose. MacSpeech Dictate next presents a dialog describing the proper positioning of your microphone. Position the microphone as shown.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 12 Microphone. MacSpeech Dictate has already detected your USB microphone, and unless you have more than one USB microphone plugged into the computer, this will be the only choice offered. Your chosen microphone will be the only microphone that this profile will work with. If you start up MacSpeech Dictate and a microphone is not detected, the Profiles window will report this fact and your only choice will be to quit. Spelling.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 13 While creating a profile, MacSpeech Dialog puts up a progress dialog. After you create a profile, MacSpeech Dictate automatically proceeds to microphone setup. Tip. You are about to begin speaking to MacSpeech Dictate. It might be a good idea to read the “Tips on Speaking” section now. If your microphone is a headset, put it on! Position the microphone correctly.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 14 The Microphone Setup window is where you adjust your sound input level. To begin, click the microphone icon with the red “stop sign.” To begin adjusting your sound input level in the Microphone Setup window, click the microphone icon with the red “stop sign.” The window changes to display a paragraph of text for you to read aloud. Read aloud the paragraph displayed in the box in the Microphone Setup window.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 15 listening to your words; what’s important is how loudly you speak. Try to speak at a natural, consistent loudness, representative of how you will normally speak to MacSpeech Dictate in your current environment.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 16 MacSpeech Dictate has adjusted your microphone sound input level. If you’re creating a profile, click Voice Training to proceed. The next step in creating a profile is to do a session of voice training. This is where you read aloud a little story, so that MacSpeech Dictate can learn how your voice sounds and how you pronounce your words. Click Voice Training to proceed. You’ll be taken to the Voice Training window.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 17 person and microphone. You might even need to create a new profile if your voice changes temporarily — because you catch a cold, for instance. MacSpeech Dictate presents the Voice Training window, containing a description of what’s about to happen. Click the right-arrow button, at the lower right, to proceed.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 18 The Voice Training window, ready for you to start reading a story. Click the microphone icon (with the red “stop sign”) to begin. Here’s what’s going to happen when you click the microphone icon. MacSpeech Dictate will turn on the microphone (the icon will change to a green circle) and will present you with a short page of text to read aloud — usually just a sentence or two.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 19 Warning. The speech recognition engine has no experience with your voice to build on during the first few pages of a new profile’s Voice Training story, so your utterances must be quite short and careful, and the pauses between them must be long, to give the engine a chance to catch up and turn the text green. You will probably need to read like this: “We. Would like. You. To read aloud. For a few minutes.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 20 A page late in the first Voice Training story. You can tell the story is nearly finished, because the blue horizontal progress indicator is nearly full. Notice the level of the sound gain indicator at the right of the microphone icon; this is about the level where you want to keep it, by speaking louder or softer.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 21 During MacSpeech Dictate’s analysis of your reading of the story, be patient. Analysis is extremely calculation-intensive and can take a long time (possibly as long as it took you to read the story in the first place). Do not interrupt. Do not do anything else with your computer. Do not force quit MacSpeech Dictate (doing so may ruin your profile).
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Installation and Making a Voice Profile 22 The Welcome window. Close the window to start using MacSpeech Dictate. You now have a working profile, and the profile is active. You are ready to speak to MacSpeech Dictate and have it type what you say and obey your commands. If you have just installed MacSpeech Dictate for the first time and are curious about where its parts were installed, read “What’s Installed Where.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Interface 23 Interface MacSpeech Dictate’s basic interface is extremely simple. This chapter will tour its key features; details on some of these features appear in later chapters. You can use MacSpeech Dictate while working in any application, so the purpose of MacSpeech Dictate’s interface is to be present (so that you can control MacSpeech Dictate’s behavior) without being in your way. The Profiles Window When you start up MacSpeech Dictate, you might see the Profiles window.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Interface 24 The Status Window The Status window is your control center for MacSpeech Dictate. It floats over the windows of all other applications. Here you can turn the microphone on and off, change modes, and more. For details, see “Status Window.” The Status window floats over all applications. The Available Commands Window The Available Commands window lists the commands you can say to MacSpeech at the moment. It floats over the windows of all other applications.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Interface 25 The Dock Menu The MacSpeech Dictate Dock menu provides commands for showing and hiding MacSpeech Dictate’s windows, and for controlling modes and microphone state. The Dock menu is available no matter what application is frontmost. The Dock Menu lets you control MacSpeech Dictate no matter what application is frontmost.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Interface 26 Keyboard Shortcuts MacSpeech Dictate lets you define global keyboard shortcuts (“hot keys”) to perform each of the following tasks: • Turn the microphone on or off. • Switch between Dictation mode, Spelling mode, and Command mode. • Show or hide the Recognition window. To set these keyboard shortcuts, use the Shortcuts Preferences pane.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Modes and the Microphone 27 Modes and the Microphone The most important thing that you need to be in control of and aware of when using MacSpeech Dictate is its state. At all times, the microphone is either on or off; and if the microphone is on, MacSpeech Dictate is in one of four modes. These settings determine whether and how MacSpeech Dictate will respond to your speech. The Microphone Microphone Off. MacSpeech Dictate is not listening at all. No sound can affect it.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Modes and the Microphone 28 commands in Dictation mode and Spelling mode as well, but Command mode can be an advantage because MacSpeech Dictate doesn’t have to decide whether what you’re saying is something to be typed or a command to be obeyed. You might switch to Command mode when you are about to issue a command or a series of commands and you want to make certain that nothing you say is interpreted as dictation and typed accidentally into your document. Sleep Mode.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Modes and the Microphone 29 • Click the optional status menu item in the menu bar so that it appears with a red “stop sign”. • Press the keyboard shortcut for toggling the microphone. To turn the microphone on, when the microphone is off: • Choose Speech > Microphone On. • Choose Microphone On from the Dock menu. • Click the microphone icon in the Status window so that it appears with a green “go button”.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Modes and the Microphone 30 Sleep Mode To pause your work temporarily, switch to Sleep mode. In Sleep mode, MacSpeech Dictate is listening, but it is in a special state where it responds only to a very limited set of commands. They are: • Wake Up • Turn [the] Microphone On Anything else you say will be ignored. This allows you to pause your work and have MacSpeech Dictate ignore microphone input until you are ready to resume work.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Modes and the Microphone 31 • Look in the Dock menu. It contains menu items that work just like the Speech menu. When in Sleep mode, you can resume work by doing any of the following: • Say Wake Up or Turn [the] Microphone On. • Choose Speech > Microphone On or Speech > Wake Up. • Choose Microphone On or Wake Up from the Dock menu. • Click the microphone icon in the Status window so that it appears with a green “go button”.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Modes and the Microphone 32 To learn what mode you are in: • Look at the Status window. The mode button’s icon represents the current mode; and in the mode menu, which appears when you click the mode button, the current mode is checked. • Look in the Speech menu. The current mode is checked. • Look in the Dock menu. It contains menu items that work just like the Speech menu.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode 33 Dictation Mode In Dictation mode, you can both dictate text to be typed and issue commands to be obeyed. MacSpeech Dictate will type what you say, interpreting your words as dictation, unless it recognizes what you say as a command. In general, if you speak smoothly and continuously, MacSpeech Dictate will interpret your words as dictation, even if they include words that might be a command.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode 34 Instructions for spacing and capitalization. In general there should be no need for these; MacSpeech Dictate will perform intelligent automatic spacing and capitalization. But if you do need finer control over capitalization and spacing, you have it. See “Capitalization, Spacing, and Numbers.” To insert a space, say Space Bar.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode 35 The words (or the utterance containing them) are selected and the Recognition window opens. See “Recognition Window.” When the Recognition window is open, additional Recognition window commands are available. Navigation and editing commands. These are Dictation mode commands, listed in the next section, designed for basic text navigation and editing, to correct your own errors, to modify what you dictated, or to fix capitalization.
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MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode 37 If you “scratch” or “forget” and then change your mind (perhaps because MacSpeech Dictate removed more than you wanted), say Undo Dictation. Capitalization, Spacing, and Numbers In Dictation mode, you can say commands that apply special rules for capitalization, spacing and interpretation of numbers. This gives you finer control when Dictation mode’s intelligent automatic behavior needs assistance. (For finest possible control, though, use Spelling mode.) Tip.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode 38 In the Status window, the first indicator light will glow green and will read “Abc”. Say the series of words, which will be typed capitalized. Finally, say Caps Off. The indicator light will go out. Uppercase To uppercase (all caps) the next word: • Say All Caps. In the Status window, the first indicator light will glow yellow and will read “ABC”. When you say the next word, it will be typed uppercased, and the indicator light will go out automatically.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode 39 In the Status window, the first indicator light will glow green and will read “abc”. Say the series of words, which will be typed lowercased. Finally, say No Caps Off. The indicator light will go out. Spaces To prevent automatic insertion of a space before the next word: • Say No Space. In the Status window, the second indicator light will glow yellow.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode 40 In the Status window, the third indicator light will glow yellow and will read “123”. Say the digit. The digit will be typed, and the indicator light will go out automatically. Tip. To type 0, say Oh or Zero. To force the next word to be interpreted as a Roman numeral (“I”, “II”, etc.): • Say Roman Numeral. In the Status window, the third indicator light will glow yellow and will read “XIV”. Say the number.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode What You Say Result Forty Two 42 One Hundred Seventy Nine 179 Five Thousand Four Hundred and Twenty Three 5423 Numeral Five Comma No Space Four Hundred and Twenty Three 5,423 Twelve Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Seven 12,537 One Hundred and Forty Two Thousand and Fifteen 142,015 Thirty Five Point Two Three 35.23 Zero Point Zero Three 0.03 Forty-Three Point Twenty Eight Percent Sign 43.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode What You Say Result Nine Slash Twelve Nine Over Twelve 9/12 Numeral Five Space Bar Three Slash Fifty Six 5 3/56 One Thirty Over Seventy 130/70 42 Currency may be spoken normally; the number will be parsed and punctuated in response to your use of the currency name. What You Say Result Ninety Nine Dollars and Fifty Five Cents $99.55 Forty Five Euros and Thirty Five Cents €45.35 Pound Sterling Sign One Hundred and Twenty Point Thirty Five £120.
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MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode 44 Letter Names in Dictation Mode These are the names of letters that you can say in Dictation mode. (Consider using Spelling mode instead, though, as it is more reliable — because Spelling mode knows that you are probably saying the name of a letter — and has a wider range of things you can say.) Letters In Dictation mode, an individual letter (as opposed to known acronyms and abbreviations) must be entered using the International Radio Alphabet.
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MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Dictation Mode 46 Diacritical Letters A diacritical letter is a letter with a marking above or below it. (Spelling mode has a wider repertory of diacritical letters and is recommended.
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MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Spelling Mode 48 Spelling Mode In Spelling mode, you can both spell and give commands. MacSpeech Dictate will type individual letters, numbers, and punctuation that you say, unless it recognizes what you say as a command. If MacSpeech Dictate doesn’t recognize what you say as a letter, number, punctuation, or command, nothing happens. Tip. Spelling mode enables a slightly different set of punctuation marks from Dictation mode, which can be useful.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Spelling Mode 49 What You Can Say in Spelling Mode The names of letters and numerals. (For letter names, see the next section, “Letter Names in Spelling Mode.”) To capitalize a letter: ◦◦ Say Cap followed by the name of the letter. Punctuation. See “Punctuation.” Commands. All global, key, generated, and application-based commands are available. Navigation commands.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Spelling Mode To repeat a letter (that is, to say a letter that appears twice in succession): • You may say the letter name preceded by Double, e.g. Double A, Double Alpha. (In case of “u”, say Double Letter U to disambiguate from “w”.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Spelling Mode 51 What You Say Whiskey Xray Yankee Zulu Diacritical Letters A diacritical letter is a letter with a marking above or below it. To type a diacritical letter in Spelling mode: • Say the name of the letter (normal or International Radio Alphabet) followed by the name of the diacritical: A-Acute, Alpha-Acute.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Letter Diacriticals U Acute, Circumflex, Grave, Umlaut; Dieresis Y Acute, Umlaut; Dieresis Spelling Mode 52 Ligatures and Non-Latin Letters You can say the following ligatures and non-Latin letters in Spelling mode: What You Say Result A E Diphthong; A E Ligature; Ligature A E æ O Slash ø O E Diphthong; O E Ligature; Ligature O E œ Eszet; Sharp S; German Sharp; German Sharp S ß S Wedge š Icelandic Eth ð Icelandic Thorn þ Numerals Numerals are individual digits.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Punctuation 53 Punctuation In both Dictation mode and Spelling mode, you can say the names of punctuation marks that MacSpeech Dictate should type. This chapter lists the names of these symbols. These names are listed also in the Available Commands window (and, for Dictation mode, in the Vocabulary Editor window). There are some broad differences between saying a punctuation mark in Dictation mode and saying it in Spelling mode.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Punctuation 54 Stops What You Say Result Mode Comments Period . Both US dialect only Full Stop; Dot . Both Period Paragraph .
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MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Punctuation 60 Other Common Symbols What You Say Result Mode Comments Ampersand; And-Sign; Ampersand Sign (Spelling mode only) & Both Asterisk; Star (Spelling mode only) * Both At Sign; At (Spelling mode only) @ Both Backslash \ Both Backquote; Backtick (Dictation mode only) ` Both Caret; Hat (Spelling mode only) ^ Both Copyright Sign; Copyright (Spelling mode only) © Both Degree Sign; Degree (Spelling mode only) ° Both Ellipsis; Dot-Dot-Dot ...
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MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 63 Commands To learn what commands are available at any moment, use the Available Commands window. See “Available Commands Window.” Commands may be edited — modified, created, activated and deactivated, and deleted — in the Commands window. See “Commands Window.” Commands come in six categories: Mode-based commands. Individual modes may have commands built into them. For example, Capitalize the Word “Valley” is something you can say in Dictation mode only.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 64 Message when iChat or Mail is frontmost. MacSpeech Dictate comes with command sets for Finder, TextEdit, Safari, Mail, iChat, and iCal. See “Application-Based Commands.” If the command you want to say is not a mode-based command, then the way to be certain that MacSpeech Dictate understands your words as a command to be obeyed, and not dictation to be typed, is to switch to Command mode. Global Commands These commands are available in every mode (except Sleep mode).
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 65 MacSpeech Dictate Dictation and Training What You Say Scratch That Forget That Scratch Word Forget Word Undo Dictation Comment Deletes the utterance or portion of utterance immediately to the left of the cursor or selection. An utterance is a phrase that you spoke. “Forget That” is an alternative name for this command. Deletes the utterance or portion of utterance immediately to the left of the cursor or selection. An utterance is a phrase that you spoke.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 66 What You Say Comment Purge Cache Removes all cached information regarding the active window’s contents. This does not delete the text appearing in the active window, but MacSpeech Dictate now assumes that the window is blank, except for Note Pad windows. When “Purge Cache” is applied to a Note Pad window, a “Cache Document” command is automatically generated as well because MacSpeech Dictate always knows about the contents of its own windows.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 What You Say Next Field Previous Field Commands 67 Comment Moves the cursor to the next field by sending a tab and purges the cache. Moves the cursor to the previous field by sending a shift tab and purges the cache. Copy and Paste Outside of a Note Pad window (that is, in an application other than MacSpeech Dictate), these commands are the same as if you had used your hands, and therefore they are violations of the Golden Rule of MacSpeech Dictate.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 68 What You Say Comment Press OK Press the OK Button. Cancel This Operation Cancels the current operation. Save This Document Mimics a Command-S keypress. This command will save the frontmost document in most applications. Menus What You Say Comment File New Selects the New menu item on the File Menu. File Open Selects the Open menu item on the File Menu. File Close Selects the Close menu item on the File Menu.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 69 What You Say Comment Switch To Space Two Switches directly to the Space 2. Switch To Space Three Switches directly to the Space 3. Switch To Space Four Switches directly to the Space 4. Expose All Windows Uses Exposé to expose all windows. Expose Application Windows Uses Exposé to expose windows for the active application. Expose Desktop Uses Exposé to expose the Desktop. Capture Screen Takes a snapshot of the entire screen and saves it on the desktop.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 70 What You Say Comment Quit [Name of Application] Quits the named application. “Quit” commands are automatically generated for all running applications except the Finder and MacSpeech Dictate, and appear in the Applications subgroup in the Available Commands window. Computer As a Whole What You Say Comment Turn Dock Hiding On Turns on Dock hiding. Turn Dock Hiding Off Turns off Dock hiding. Put Computer to Sleep Puts the computer to sleep.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 71 Key commands can help you in situations where you might otherwise have to use the keyboard, when there is no built-in command that lets you say what you want done. And even when there is a built-in command, key commands may be easier to remember; for example, even if you forget the global command for creating a new document in any application (File New), you probably know that its key combination is Command-N, so you can say Press the Key Combo Command N.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 72 So, for example: • To press the Page Down key (in many applications, this scrolls a document down one screenful), say Press the Key Page Down. • To press the key combination Command-Shift-4 (by default, this is the system command for letting you select an area of the screen and take a screenshot of it), say Press the Key Combo Command Shift Four. Modifier key names What You Say Command Shift Option Control Caps Lock Key names: Normal letter and digit names.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 73 What You Say Down Arrow Home End Page Up Page Down Return Enter Tab Space Escape Forward Delete Help Generated Commands MacSpeech Dictate, as it starts up, will optionally generate global commands that let you launch an application or create an email message addressed to someone in your Address Book. Launching Applications To generate commands for launching applications: • Check Generate Application Launch Commands in the Command Preferences pane.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 74 XXX, where “XXX” is the name of the application. So, for example, if you have Automator on your computer, a command Activate Automator will be generated, and you’ll be able to say Activate Automator to launch it. The commands for launching applications will appear in the Available Commands window in the Applications subgroup of the Global group.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 75 For example: Send an Email To XXX Copying YYY or Create a Note For XXX Copying YYY. You can have additional CC’ed addressees by appending and: Send an Email To XXX Copying YYY and ZZZ and so forth. To specify an addressee to be BCC’ed: • Append Blind Copying after the primary addressee(s). For example: Send an Email To XXX Blind Copying YYY or Create a Note For XXX Copying YYY Blind Copying ZZZ.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 76 MacSpeech Dictate comes with command sets for the following applications: • Finder • TextEdit • Safari • Mail • iChat • iCal You can create your own application-based commands in the Commands window. The rest of this section lists the application-based commands that ship with MacSpeech Dictate. You can find this same information in the Available Commands window. Finder Commands These commands are available when the Finder is frontmost.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands Finder File Menu Actions What You Say Comment New Finder Window Makes a new Finder window. Make New Folder Makes a new folder. Make New Smart Folder Make New Smart Folder Make New Burn Folder Makes a new Burn folder. Open Selection Opens the selected item(s). Print This Document Prints the selected document. Close This Window Closes the active Finder window. Close All Windows Closes all Finder windows. Get Info Displays information on the selected item(s).
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 78 Finder Edit Menu Actions What You Say Comment Undo Last Action Undoes the last action. Cut Selection Cuts the selection to the clipboard. Copy Selection Copies the selection to the clipboard. Paste From Clipboard Pastes the contents of the clipboard at the insertion point. Select All Selects everything. Deselect All Deselects everything. Show Clipboard Shows the clipboard. Display Special Characters Window Displays the Special Characters window.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Arrange By Kind Arranges the view of the active window or desktop by kind. Arrange By Label Arranges the view of the active window or desktop by label. Keep Arranged By Name Sets the view of the window or desktop to arrange by Name. Keep Arranged By Date Modified Keep Arranged By Date Created Sets the view of the window or desktop to arrange by Date Modified. Sets the view of the window or desktop to arrange by Date Created.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Go To Computer Switches to the main Computer view. Go Home Switches the view in the active window to your home folder. Go To Desktop Goes to the Desktop. Go To Network Switches the view in the active window to the Network view. Go To My iDisk Switches the view in the current window to your iDisk. Access Other Users Public Folder Allows you to access another user’s iDisk public folder.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands Finder Action Menu Actions What You Say Comment Show Package Contents Of Selection Shows the contents of the selected package. Finder Button Pressing What You Say Comment Press Cancel Press the Cancel Button Press Connect Press the Connect Button Press Done Press the Done Button Finder Selection What You Say Comment Select Name Of Selection Selects the name of the selected icon. Select Next Name Selects the next item alphabetically.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Hide This Application Hides TextEdit. Hide Other Applications Hides other applications. Show All Applications Shows all applications. Quit This Application Quits TextEdit. TextEdit File Menu Actions What You Say Comment Make A New Document Makes a new document. Open A Document Allows you to open an existing document. Clear Recent Menu Clears the recent menu. Close All Windows Closes all TextEdit windows.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 83 What You Say Comment Copy Selection Copies the selection to the clipboard. Cut Selection Cuts the selection to the clipboard. Paste From Clipboard Pastes the contents of the clipboard at the insertion point. Paste And Match Style Matches the style at the insertion point when pasting the contents of the clipboard. Delete Selection Deletes the selection. Complete Selection Auto-completes the selection. Select All Selects everything.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 84 What You Say Comment Turn Check Spelling While Typing On Turns on the Check Spelling While Typing feature. Turn Check Grammar With Spelling Off Turns off the Check Grammar with Spelling feature. Turn Check Grammar With Spelling On Turns on the Check Grammar with Spelling feature. Turn Substitutions Smart Copy And Paste Off Turns off the Smart Copy and Paste feature. Turn Smart Copy And Paste On Turns on the Smart Copy and Paste feature.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Make Selection Plain Text Makes the selection plain text. Make Selection Bigger Makes the selection bigger. Make Selection Smaller Makes the selection smaller. Show Colors Palette Shows the Colors Palette. Hide Colors Palette Hides the Colors Palette. Align Text Center Aligns the text to the center. Align Text Left Aligns the text to the left. Align Text Right Aligns the text to the right. Justify Selection Justifies the selected text.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Turn Hyphenation On Turns Hyphenation on. TextEdit Window Menu Actions What You Say Comment Bring All Windows To Front Brings all TextEdit windows to the front. Minimize This Window Minimizes the active window. Minimize All Windows Minimizes all TextEdit windows. Zoom This Window Zooms the front-most window. TextEdit Help Menu Actions What You Say Comment Display Help Displays Help about TextEdit.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Turn Block Pop Up Windows On Turns on the Block Pop-up Windoows feature. Turn Private Browsing Off Turns off the Private Browsing feature in Safari. Turn Private Browsing On Turns on the Private Browsing feature in Safari. Reset Safari Allows you to completely reset Safari. Empty The Cache Empties Safari’s Cache. Hide This Application Hides Safari.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Mail Link To This Page Mails a link to the current web page using your preferred email client. Access Open In Dashboard Window Allows you to open a portion of the current web page in Dashboard. Access Import Bookmarks Window Allows you to import bookmarks from a file. Access Export Bookmarks Window Allows you to export your bookmarks to an XML file. Access Page Setup Window Opens the Page Setup dialog box.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Jump to Selection Jumps to the selection in the current window. Access Spelling And Grammar Window Opens the Spelling and Grammar window. Show Spelling And Grammar Window Shows the Spelling and Grammar window. Hide Spelling And Grammar Window Hides the Spelling and Grammar window. Check Spelling And Grammar Of This Document Allows you to check the spelling and grammar of the active document.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Reload This Page Reloads the current web page. Make Text Bigger Makes the text bigger. Make Text Normal Size Makes the text normal size. Make Text Smaller Makes the text smaller. View Source For This Page Displays the source code for the current web page. 90 Safari History Menu Actions What You Say Comment Jump Back Goes back to the last location visited.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Jump To Bookmark Seven Jumps to the seventh bookmark in the Bookmark Bar. Jump To Bookmark Eight Jumps to the Eighth bookmark in the Bookmark Bar. Jump To Bookmark Nine Jumps to the ninth bookmark in the Bookmark Bar. Show All History Show All History Clear History Clears the history of locations visited. 91 Safari Bookmarks Menu Actions What You Say Comment Show All Bookmarks Shows the Bookmark Manager.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands What You Say Comment Select Next Tab Selects the next tab in the current window. Select Previous Tab Selects the Previous Tab in the current window. Merge All Windows Merges all windows. Move Tab To New Window Moves the current tab to a new window. Open Downloads Window Opens the Downloads window. Show Activity Window Shows the Activity window Bring All Windows To Front Brings all Safari windows to the front.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Commands 93 What You Say Comment Scroll Down Scrolls the page down by a little, but more than by clicking the scroll down arrow. Scroll To Top Scrolls to the top of the current page. Scroll To Bottom Scrolls to the bottom of the current page. Scroll Left Scroll Right Scrolls the page left by a little, but more than by clicking the scroll left arrow. Scrolls the page right by a litte, but more than by clicking the scroll right arrow.
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MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 iCal Commands These commands are available when iCal is frontmost.
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MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 108 Windows MacSpeech Dictate’s windows are: Note Pad window. Like a word processor that takes dictation. Profiles window. Different users, different microphones, different profiles. Commands window. Manage what commands are available, and create new ones. Vocabulary Editor window. Manage what individual words MacSpeech Dictate can recognize, along with their automatic punctuation behavior. Microphone Setup window. Set your sound input level. Voice Training window.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 109 mands; you should never type in a Note Pad window (and if you do, your typing comes out backwards). A Note Pad window is the fastest and most reliable place to dictate. MacSpeech Dictate lets you dictate into any application, but a Note Pad window is the easiest place to dictate, because it is designed for this purpose. A common technique is to dictate into a Note Pad window and then copy and paste into another application.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 110 Note Pad window contents are saved as .rtf files which can be opened for editing later with another word processor (TextEdit, Microsoft Word, etc.). You can also open an existing .rtf file into a Note Pad window (choose File > Open). Profiles Window The Profiles window is for managing your voice profiles. A voice profile is a complete set of data on how you speak.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 111 • If you use MacSpeech Dictate with different microphones, you’ll need a profile for each microphone. • If you use MacSpeech Dictate in different environments (home and office, for example), you should have a profile for each environment, as the ambient sound characteristics may differ. Every profile has a name, which uniquely identifies it. The name of the active profile is visible in the Status window (as its title bar).
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 112 To set which profile should be the active profile: • Select the profile’s listing in the Profiles window and click Make Active. • Double-click the profile’s listing in the Profiles window. Profiles for this version of MacSpeech Dictate are incompatible with earlier versions of MacSpeech Dictate. Profiles from an earlier version of MacSpeech Dictate are marked in the Profiles window with a special icon ( ).
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 113 The Commands window. An active built-in command from the Global set is selected, displaying its AppleScript underpinnings. To switch among command lists: • In the left column, select a command set — Global, or an application context. • At the top of the window, click All, Built-in, or User Defined. It is the combination of both these settings that determines which commands are displayed.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 114 To delete a command: • Select the command, and press Delete, or choose Delete from the tool (gear) menu. You can’t delete an unmodified built-in command. Deleting a built-in command that you’ve modified restores the original unmodified built-in command. To duplicate a command: • Choose Duplicate from the tool (gear) menu. To edit a command: • Select the command name and work in the region below the splitter bar.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 115 Application. The command launches a specified application. MacSpeech Dictate can generate launch commands for all your applications (see “Generated Commands”), but if you didn’t want to activate that option, an Application command would be useful for launching a particular frequently used application. Bookmark. The command jumps to a URL in your default browser. The “Web 100” commands are Bookmark commands (see “The Web 100 Commands”).
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 116 Creating a Command In creating a command, consider the following: Context. Should this command be available everywhere (Global), or only in the context of some specific application? Name. The name of the command is the phrase that you will speak to trigger the command. What should this phrase be? Implementation. How will you implement this command? Which of the above command types should it be? To create the command, click the button.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 117 drag text, MacSpeech Dictate chooses the Text Macro type and copies the text into the Text field; if you drag a miscellaneous file or folder, MacSpeech Dictate switches to the File or Folder type and points to the dragged item; and so forth. Implementation. If an implementation was not automatically provided by the previous step, provide an implementation for your command.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 118 Vocabulary Editor Window The Vocabulary Editor window is your interface for viewing and editing the list of words, phrases, and symbols that MacSpeech Dictate can type for you in Dictation mode. To summon the Vocabulary Editor window, choose Tools > Vocabulary Editor.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 119 To edit a vocabulary item: • Select the item, and use the info area at the bottom of the window. If the info area is not present, click the info button to summon it. You can’t edit the written form of a vocabulary item. You can edit the spoken form of a user vocabulary item, but not of a built-in vocabulary item; you should do this if the item’s written form differs from its pronunciation. (For best results, train the item’s pronunciation, as described below.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 120 for most built-in vocabulary items (although some built-in vocabulary items have complex automatic capitalization and spacing rules, which can’t be fully displayed or edited): Spaces before and after. Normal words will have one space before and one space after. But a punctuation mark might follow a different rule. Next word. How should the word following this item be capitalized? In most cases, “Natural capitalization” (the default) will be the right choice.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 121 To delete a user vocabulary item: • Select the word and press Delete (or choose Delete from the gear menu). A dialog appears giving you an opportunity to change your mind. To export and import vocabulary items: • To export, select the item(s) and choose Export from the gear menu. An XML file is created. To import, choose Import from the gear menu and specify an exported XML file.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 122 The Microphone Setup window is where you adjust your sound input level. To begin, click the microphone icon with the red “stop sign.” To adjust the sound input level automatically: • Click the microphone button at the lower left of the window, and read aloud the text that appears in the middle of the window, until the window informs you that the level is adjusted. You might have to read the entire text two or three times before the adjustment is completed.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 123 Voice Training Window The Voice Training window is where you read aloud a little story so that MacSpeech Dictate can train the active profile’s voice model to recognize your speech. To summon the Voice Training window: • Choose Tools > Voice Training. The Voice Training window will also appear automatically as part of the sequence of events when you create a new profile. The Voice Training window, before reading a story.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 124 As you read aloud, passages that have been recognized will turn green. If passages turn red, try again or click “Skip Word”. When you first start to train a profile, you will need to read quite slowly, in very short distinct phrases (but smoothly and naturally), waiting each time for the display of green text to catch up with you. After three or four pages of text, however, you will be able to read at a considerably more normal speed and in larger phrases.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 125 The Vocabulary Training window, ready to add files for analysis. To feed text files to the Vocabulary Training window: 1. Click the right-arrow at the lower right. 2. Click Add to select files to add to the list of files to be analyzed. MacSpeech Dictate can read the same standard formats as TextEdit, such as text files, .rtf, .doc, and .odt files. 3. Click the right-arrow at the lower right once again.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 126 To incorporate words in the Include column into MacSpeech Dictate’s vocabulary: • Click the right-arrow at the lower right. The Vocabulary Training window, after analyzing a text file (shown behind), ready to add a previously unknown word to this profile’s vocabulary. Status Window The Status window is MacSpeech Dictate’s compact control center. When the Status window is showing, it floats over all applications.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 127 The Status window. Top: Current profile. Middle, left to right: microphone button; sound input level; mode button; bring to front button; Recognition window button. (Under the last three buttons are indicators for Caps, No Space, and Numeral.) Bottom: Current dictation context. Underneath: Last utterance (optional). To show or hide the Status window: • Say Show Status Window or Hide Status Window. • Choose Window > Show/Hide Status Window.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 128 The mode button’s icon indicates the current mode. Click it to summon the modes menu, where you can switch between modes. To bring MacSpeech Dictate frontmost: • Click the bring to front button. To summon the Recognition window: • Click the Recognition window button. Available Commands Window The Available Commands window lists the commands you can say at any moment. When the Available Commands window is showing, it floats over all applications.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 129 To show the Available Commands window: • Say Show Available Commands Window. • Choose Window > Show Available Commands. • Choose Show Available Commands from the Dock menu. The Available Commands window will automatically appear when you start up MacSpeech Dictate if it was showing when MacSpeech Dictate last quit. Scroll through the window, or use the search field, to discover commands. Tip.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 130 Recognition Window The Recognition window is your interface for refining MacSpeech Dictate’s voice model by telling it about recognition errors it has made. This is called training the voice model. When the Recognition window is showing, it floats over all applications.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 131 To summon the Recognition window: • Say Show Recognition Window. • In Dictation mode, say one of the following: ◦◦ Train the Word “Someword” ◦◦ Train the Words “Someword” Through “Otherword” ◦◦ Train the Words “Someword” to “Otherword” • Click the Recognition window button in the Status window. • Press the Recognition window keyboard shortcut.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 132 • Press the Recognition window keyboard shortcut. • If “Close Recognition Window after each choice” is checked in the Recognition Preferences pane, the Recognition window will close automatically as soon as you use it to replace a dictated phrase with its correct version. Try different Recognition Preferences pane settings and different ways of summoning and closing the Recognition window as you train your dictation.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 133 In most cases, MacSpeech Dictate will have preserved the recording of your speech from when you dictated the phrase. To play the recording of the phrase selected in your text: • Say Press Play. • Click the Play button at the top left of the window. This can be a useful precaution, because you may not have said what you think you said.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 134 fingers to type in the Recognition window). The only standard command that doesn’t work is “Scratch that”; instead, use Scratch Word or Forget Word. To exit editing mode without entering the corrected phrase into your document: • Say Cancel Edit or click elsewhere. Preferences Window The Preferences window lets you set certain options for MacSpeech Dictate. To show the Preferences window: • Choose Dictate > Preferences.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 135 (This checkbox does the same thing as the checkbox in the Profiles window. If one is checked, the other is automatically checked.) Check Show Profiles Window if you want MacSpeech Dictate to pause and display the Profiles window at launch time; the main reason for doing this would be so that you can select a profile as the active profile. If unchecked, MacSpeech Dictate will automatically activate the profile you were using previously.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 136 Check In the Dock if you want MacSpeech Dictate’s Dock icon (and its Command-Tab application switcher icon) to be badged with a microphone icon showing whether the the microphone is on or off, or asleep. Status Transparency Use the slider to govern how opaque or transparent the Status window should be. Recognition Preferences pane The Recognition Preferences pane governs some behaviors of the Recognition window, and of the recognition engine.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 137 preciable increase in response time. Feel free to experiment. After you’ve done a good deal of dictation and honed your voice model using the Recognition window, MacSpeech Dictate will probably be both faster and more accurate, so you can then afford to move the slider to the right a bit. Dictation Preferences pane The Dictation Preferences pane allows the Auto Cache Document feature to be enabled or disabled for certain applications.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Windows 138 Command Generation Check Generate Application Launch Commands to cause global commands for launching applications to be generated the next time you start up MacSpeech Dictate. Check Generate Email Commands to cause global commands for creating and addressing an email message to be generated the next time you start up MacSpeech Dictate.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Menus 139 Menus This section lists MacSpeech Dictate’s menus and menu items. Dictate Menu About MacSpeech Dictate. Summon the About window. Preferences. Summon the Preferences window. Visit MacSpeech’s Web Site. Go, in your default browser, to http://www.macspeech.com. Check for Updates. Communicate over the Internet with MacSpeech to see whether your version of MacSpeech Dictate is the most recent.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Menus 140 Save As. Summon a standard File Save dialog where you can save the current Note Pad window as an .rtf file, specifying the file’s name and location. Save Profile. Save the currently active profile’s data. Enabled only if you have done something (such as training the voice model) to affect the active profile.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Menus 141 Cut. Remove selected text and place it on the clipboard. Copy. Place a duplicate of the selected text on the clipboard. Paste. Insert the contents of the clipboard at the selection point. Paste and Match Style. Insert the contents of the clipboard at the selection point, ignoring any style information on the clipboard. Delete. Remove selected text (without placing it on the clipboard). Select All. Expand the selection to including everything. Find > Find.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Menus 142 Dictation. Switch to Dictation mode. Checked if MacSpeech Dictate is already in Dictation mode. Command. Switch to Command mode. Checked if MacSpeech Dictate is already in Command mode. Spelling. Switch to Spelling mode. Checked if MacSpeech Dictate is already in Spelling mode. Sleep / Wake Up. Switch into or out of Sleep mode. Tools Menu Profiles. Summon the Profiles window. Commands. Summon the Commands window. Vocabulary Editor. Summon the Vocabulary Editor window.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Menus 143 Font > Italic. Toggle the italic styling of the selection. Font > Underline. Toggle the underlined styling of the selection. Font > Bigger. Increase the font size of the selection. Font > Smaller. Decrease the font size of the selection. Font > Show Colors. Show the Color palette. Changes will be applied to the selection. Font > Copy Style. Move styling information from the selection to the clipboard. Font > Paste Style.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Menus 144 Show / Hide Status Window. Toggle the visibility of the Status window. Show / Hide Available Commands. Toggle the visibility of the Available Commands window. The preceding two menu items also appear in MacSpeech Dictate’s Dock menu. An advantage of the Dock menu is that it works even if MacSpeech Dictate is not frontmost. Individual Windows.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Tips on Speaking 145 Tips on Speaking Speech recognition, while it has become far faster and better over the past several years, does not work like the human brain. The speech recognition engine identifies the words you speak, using its knowledge of how you pronounce sounds, along with a rudimentary notion of grammatical and lexical context, but it doesn’t know the meaning of the words, nor does it have the understanding of your speech that a person does.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Tips on Speaking 146 Speak clearly. Don’t mumble. Imagine you’re speaking over a radio connection from the International Space Station, that the signal is undependable and static-prone, and that you’re calmly explaining to a disbelieving ground crew at Houston that a large green alien monster is trying to break in. Clarity is key. Speak naturally. Speak clearly, but speak calmly and naturally. Don’t overemphasize any sounds. Don’t over-emphasize the divisions between words.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 The Cache and the Golden Rule 147 The Cache and the Golden Rule MacSpeech Dictate acts as intermediary between your speech and an application. You speak to MacSpeech Dictate; MacSpeech Dictate causes text to be typed or altered in an application’s window. Sometimes, however, MacSpeech Dictate may appear to type text in the wrong place, or it might seem unable to obey dictation commands correctly.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 The Cache and the Golden Rule 148 Text and the Cache Look at the second example above: think about the command Capitalize the Word “Committee”. How does MacSpeech Dictate know where the word “committee” is? It knows because it typed it in the first place. How does MacSpeech Dictate know where the cursor is now? (It must know this, so that it can know how far to jump back in order to select the word “committee” and capitalize it.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 The Cache and the Golden Rule 149 throw away the current cache, read the document’s contents afresh, and start a new cache. But it’s better not to get the cache out of sync if you can help it.) The Golden Rule of MacSpeech Dictate is designed to keep you aware of the cache: The Golden Rule of MacSpeech Dictate When you’re working with text, don’t mix your voice with your hands.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 The Cache and the Golden Rule 150 your voice to violate the Golden Rule. (But you should try not to, of course.) How can this be? Recall that there are two ways of working with MacSpeech Dictate: bossing your computer around, and working with text. Most of the time, bossing your computer around and working with text don’t interfere with one another. You can dictate text for a while, and then you can say Open Safari and so on.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 The Cache and the Golden Rule 151 navigate this text because it created this text. MacSpeech Dictate also maintains recordings of your voice, and alternative interpretations of what you said. That’s why voice playback and phrase training are possible. All of this information is kept in the cache. But MacSpeech Dictate knows nothing about text that it didn’t enter for you.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 The Cache and the Golden Rule 152 an alteration in the document where vocal commands just won’t do. That’s no crime; simply remember that afterwards you should issue a “Cache” command. For example, sometimes when using the Recognition window to train the voice model and emend some text you’ve already dictated, MacSpeech Dictate might become confused and get the spacing or capitalization wrong, so that you must use the mouse and keyboard to fix the document.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 The Cache and the Golden Rule 153 Tip. Tabbing from field to field is such a common thing to do that MacSpeech Dictate includes two commands to help you with it: Next Field and Previous Field. These commands are in fact a combination of Purge Cache and pressing Tab or Shift-Tab. (Conversely, you should not use New Line or New Paragraph to move from field to field — or if you do, say Purge Cache immediately afterwards.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Sound Input Troubleshooting 154 Sound Input Troubleshooting If MacSpeech Dictate doesn’t respond to your voice or doesn’t seem to be working at all, check your sound input. The problem might be software (your USB microphone might not be your sound input device) or hardware (your USB microphone might not be working at all). Begin by quitting MacSpeech Dictate if it is running. You might restart the computer just in case.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 Sound Input Troubleshooting If things do not appear to be working, suspect the microphone. If possible, try plugging the microphone into a different computer and running the same tests there to confirm this.
MacSpeech Dictate 1.5 What’s Installed Where 156 What’s Installed Where In case you’re wondering where all the pieces of MacSpeech Dictate live on your hard disk, or if perhaps for some reason you’d like to uninstall it, here’s a list of the pieces and where they live (and how big they are). The Application. It lives wherever you put it when you installed MacSpeech Dictate — typically in the top-level /Applications folder, but it could be anywhere. It’s approximately 30MB in size. The Support Folder.
