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Dear PC Doctor:
I wrote a story and I want to put it on the internet so people can read it. I’m terrible with computers – I thought I’d be able to find someone to type it for me but that hasn’t happened. Is there a program that I can use to scan the handwritten copy and just have it convert to typed words onscreen? I’m open to any suggestions.
Thanks,
Dan
Dear Dan:
It sounds to me like you want to turn handwriting into typed text and then post it online.
If you simply want your writing to be visible on line, you could scan your hand-written documents, save them as photos (jpg) and upload them to your website, blog, or wherever it is that you want people to see them. They would appear as photographs of your hand-written manuscript.
If you want it to be typed, you could, as you mentioned, just have someone type it for you. If you are still unable to find someone to help with that, you might try a voice-to-text approach. There are probably many services to use, free and for a fee. One that I have found which seems to work nicely is a website called Speechnotes, Speech to Text Online Notepad. You can find it online at speechnotes.co. One of the things that makes it easy to use is that it is completely web-based; there’s nothing to download.
First, make sure the computer you are using has a microphone. Second, move to a quiet area. Speechnotes will pick up all the voices within range; the end product will look like gibberish if others are having conversations around you. When you open up the Speechnotes web page, click the picture of a microphone at the top of the screen and begin reading your story aloud. Your text will appear on screen. When you are finished, Speechnotes gives you many options for saving the text, including Google Drive, email, and facebook.
I hope this helps!
Until next time,
Happy Computing!
PC Doctor
Posted: to Athol Library News on Fri, May 6, 2016
Updated: Fri, May 6, 2016