Welcome to Transcript 2.6, a program designed to help you to transcribe the text on digital images of documents.
Transcript is free for personal use. In all other cases you need to register Transcript Pro for a fee of $ 19 USD for a one user license.
Registering the Pro version will give you access to several very useful additional features.
To forestall misunderstandings: Transcript does not convert the image to text on its own! It only tries to make it easier for you to do it.
Before downloading Transcript please be sure to check the license and system requirements.
Transcript came into being because of my dissatisfaction with using a seperate editor and picture viewer when transcribing images of old documents. I always had to switch between the editor and my image viewer when I needed to move the image so the next part would be visible.
I thought that it should be easier when this could be done from within one program. I couldn't find a program that did this though, so I decided that I would try to write such a program myself, and here is the result.
The basic idea is very simple. Divide the screen in two parts. In the upper half the image is shown and in the lower half you can edit the text. Starting with version 2.4 it is also possible to show the text and image side by side but only in the registered version. The size of those windows can be changed as you wish.
From within the editor you can move the visible part of the image in many ways using shortcuts. You can also use keys to move to the previous or next image in the same folder. Besides that it is of course possible to use most of the common editor functions also found in other editors.
Transcipt has furthermore many options and additional features which are designed to help make it easier for the user to transcribe an image.
By default the program remembers the exact position (and many other settings) in the text and image where you were last time and goes back to that position when you start the program.
Transcript has an extensive help file containing context sensitive help. Use the F1 key or go to menu Help to view this help file. It is advisable to read at least the most important items in this help file before you start using the program.
Important to know:
As Transcript is not an OCR program it does not convert the image to text. You have to do the transcription yourself.
The editor part of Transcript uses the standard in Windows available RichEdit library. This library only supports a subset of all possible editor commands.
When you open a rtf or MsWord document made with a full featured editor like MsWord you should be aware that when saving it from within Transcript some editing elements will be lost!
When saving a file made with Transcript itself there will of course be no problems.
Editor elements that are not supported are among others:
Windows: Starting with version 2.6 Transcript officially only supports Windows 7 and higher up to and including Windows 11, 32 and 64 bits. It might still run on older versions but if it doesn't I most likely won't be able to fix it. Transcript does not work on Windows RT tablets with ARM processors.
Linux (not officially supported): I have received a report that Transcript 2.3 worked fine on Linux using Wine, except for scanning documents. I expect Transcript 2.4 and higher will be the same.
Mac (not officially supported): I have received a report that Transcript can be run on a MacBook Air running under Crossover. Transcript might also run on Macs that can run Wine or Parallels but you will have to try that for yourself.
Memory: If the images you want to use are large and high detail then Transcript may need a lot of memory. I would advise at least 2 GB of memory though Transcript will certainly work with less as long as your images are not too big.
Pdf: To be able to use images stored in pdf files you will have to install the 32 bits version of Ghostscript separately which can be downloaded at at Ghostscript.com (choose the Ghostscript AGPL Windows 32 bits exe).
Transcript only supports use of the 32 bits version of Ghostscript even if you are using 64 bits Windows, therefore you will need to install the Ghostscript version that ends in w32.exe. The 32 bits version of Ghostscript works fine on 64 bits Windows. A further requirement is that the pdf files have to be in a location that has write permissions because the images will be extracted as jpg files to the same folder as the pdf file. If you have your pdf files saved on a cd or dvd you will have to copy them to a different location or Transcript will not be able to extract the images.
If the 32 bits version of Ghostscript is already installed then Transcript will automatically detect it when starting and pdf files will show up in the list of images.
By using this program you are agreeing to abide by the following license.
Transcript is free for personal use only. For all other purposes you are required to register Transcript Pro for a fee of $ 19 USD (usually between about € 16 and 17 depending on the exchange rate) per user, to be paid to the author J.G. Boerema.
This means that use of the free version in any organisation including non profit organisations is not allowed. Using Transcript to do research for others, publishing a book or selling transcriptions is never considered personal use and requires registration of Transcript Pro.
Donations are also always welcome as an encouragement for my efforts to enhance this program.
There are two ways to pay for Transcript Pro.
1. With your paypal account or credit card by using the button on the left.
2. On request you can transfer the money to my bank account.
The registration codes will usually be sent within 24 hours unless I'm on vacation then it might take a few more days in extreme cases.
If you are not receiving the registration codes then please first check your spam folder. Sometimes these messages get moved there by mistake.
Transcript is supplied without any guarantees in whatever form imaginable: usage is completely for your own risk. If your laws don't allow this then I don't allow you to use my program.
The author doesn't accept any liability for whatever damages that may directly or indirectly be caused by Transcript.
Though if you encounter any problems please contact me and I will try my best to help.
When you need help, please be als detailed as possible in describing your problems. You should also mention your Windows version and other running programs that may have a relation to the problem. The more detailed you are, the better the chance I can help.
If you are not sure about the required information, in Transcript go to help, About and then the info tab and copy all the information shown there. This will make it easier for me to answer you.
The author is the only one who is allowed to distribute this program. Links to my site are very welcome but you may not link directly to the program downloads without my prior written consent.
Every website linking to me must allow a direct link to the page where that link can be seen.
For any other kind of distribution you always need my prior written consent.
By using this program you are agreeing with the license. The free version can only be used for personal use!
Note: I really appreciate it when you link to my program Transcript, but please do not link directly to the downloads! (See the distribution conditions.)
The registered version of Transcript costs only $ 19 USD (usually between about € 16 and 17 depending on the exchange rate) and has more useful features.
Installer Transcript (2915 KB). Includes the following languages besides English: Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish.
Download and info Transcript beta version (2.6.0 build 116 - July 9, 2022)
The installer checks to see if Transcript is already installed. When that's the case it will uninstall the old version after you give your permission. In the installer you can choose which languages to install and whether it should create a shortcut on your desktop and in a program group under the start button in the program files menu.
If you used the installer to install the program you should run the uninstall program. This can be done in two ways. Either go to control panel - software and click Transcript, or go to Start menu - program files - Transcript - Uninstall Transcript. The program will automatically be removed.
The configuration file Transcript.ini however will not be deleted so your old settings will be available when you install a newer version. If you don't plan on using Transcript again you can delete that file manually.
This configuration file is stored in a folder called Transcript under your "Application Data" folder. The location of "Application Data" varies depending on your Windows version. The exact location on your computer can be found in the About dialog: Menu Help, About. Then open the Info tab and scroll down until you see Transcript basic info. Below that the Transcript.ini path will be listed. Note that this location is sometimes hidden by default on Windows. You may have to unhide it to be able to see it.
I am very grateful for the makers of the following components who made it possible for me to make Transcript the way it is now. Note: you don't need any of these to use Transcript.
This program uses JVCL and JCL source code. You can get this code on the following websites:
The image component uses Graphics32, see:
https://graphics32.org
The images are loaded using my own fork of GraphicEx, see:
https://bitbucket.org/jacobb/graphicex
The Twain (scanner) component I used is an adaption of Colin Wilson's Twain component and can be found here:
http://www.wilsonc.demon.co.uk/delphi_6.htm
For the making of this helpfile I used the free program HelpMaker whose website sadly went offline.
For the translations my thanks go out to the volunteer translators who made it possible to use Transcript in so many languages.
Also thanks to all the people that supplied ideas for improvements and other suggestions.
Copyright © 2003-2022 J.G. Boerema
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