CaptiOCR Instructions

CaptiOCR User Guide

Effective Date: March 2025

CaptiOCR captures and processes on-screen captions in real-time. It's ideal for meetings, presentations, webinars, and any live sessions with captions.

Supported Platform

Currently, CaptiOCR supports Microsoft Windows operating systems.

Installation Methods

Method 1: Using the Installer (Recommended)

1. Download the CaptiOCR Installer (.msi) from the official website or repository
2. Run the installation in a folder where you have write permissions (e.g., your Documents folder)
3. Double-click the executable to run the application
4. Note: On first run, the application will:
   • Create necessary directories (captures, config, logs, resources, tessdata)
   • Check if Tesseract OCR is installed and offer to download it if not found
   • Automatically handle all dependencies

Method 2: Using the Python Script (For Developers)

1. Clone or download the CaptiOCR repository from GitHub
2. Ensure you have Python 3.6 or higher installed
3. Install required Python dependencies:

   pip install pillow pytesseract keyboard tkinter

4. Manually install Tesseract OCR on your system:
   • Download from Tesseract GitHub
   • Install to the default location C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR\
5. Run the script: python CaptiOCR.py

Automatic Setup on First Run

When you first run CaptiOCR, the application performs several automatic setup tasks:

1. Directory Creation: Creates the following directories:
   • captures - Where all captured text files are saved
   • config - For application settings
   • logs - For log files
   • resources - For application resources
   • tessdata - For custom language files if downloaded
2. Tesseract OCR Check:
   • Verifies if Tesseract OCR is installed at C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR\tesseract.exe
   • If not found, offers to download and install it automatically
   • Guides you through the installation process with a simple wizard
3. Language Check:
   • Checks if language files for your selected language are available
   • If missing, offers to download them automatically
   • Downloads language files to a local tessdata directory for easy access

Main Interface

• Language selector: Choose from English, Italian, French, Spanish, German, Portuguese
• Start button: Green button to begin the capture process
• Status area: Shows current application status
• Captured text display: Shows the most recent captured text
• Menu options: Access to additional features and settings
• Interval status: Shows the current capture interval at the bottom of the window

Menu Options

File Menu

• Open Captures Folder: Opens the folder containing saved capture files
• Save Settings: Save your current configuration with a custom profile name
• Load Settings: Load a previously saved configuration profile
• Open Log Folder: Access application logs for troubleshooting
• Exit: Close the application

Settings Menu

• Enable Debug Logging: Toggle detailed logging for troubleshooting
• Live Caption Optimization: Enable special OCR settings optimized for live captions
• Configure Capture Interval: Set custom timing for screen captures

Help Menu

• About: View application information
• Instructions: Access this user guide

How to Use CaptiOCR

1. Language Selection:
   • Select your desired language from the dropdown menu.
   • If the language data isn't available, CaptiOCR will offer to download it automatically.
   • The application will check if the selected language files are installed and prompt you to download them if necessary.
2. Advanced Options:
   • Enable Debug Logging for detailed operation logs.
   • Enable Live Caption Optimization for better recognition of typical caption text.
   • Configure capture intervals through Settings → Configure Capture Interval to balance responsiveness and system resource usage.
3. Starting Capture:
   • Click the green Start (Select Area) button.
   • A semi-transparent black overlay will appear over your screen.
   • Click and drag to select the area containing the captions you want to capture.
   • Press Enter to confirm your selection (or ESC to cancel).
4. During Capture:
   • A transparent yellow window indicates the active capture area.
   • This window includes a blue control bar with status information and a STOP button.
   • OCR results will appear in real-time in the application window.
   • You can move the yellow capture window by clicking and dragging it to follow moving captions.
   • The application automatically adjusts capture frequency based on content changes.
5. Stopping Capture:
   • Press Ctrl+Q or click the red STOP button on the capture window.
   • You'll be prompted to provide a custom name for the saved file.
   • If you cancel or leave the field empty, a default timestamp-based name will be used.

Capture Interval Settings

Access through Settings → Configure Capture Interval:

• Minimum interval: Shortest time between captures (default: 3 seconds)
• Maximum interval: Longest time between captures (default: 5 seconds)
• Increase after (reads): Number of similar captures before increasing interval (default: 1)

The application dynamically adjusts capture frequency to optimize system resources:

• When new content is detected, the interval resets to the minimum value
• When similar content is repeatedly detected, the interval gradually increases
• The interval status is displayed at the bottom of the application window

Settings Management

• Use File → Save Settings to save your current configuration with a custom profile name.
• Use File → Load Settings to choose from previously saved profiles.
• Settings are automatically saved when closing the application.
• Settings include language preference, debug mode, capture intervals, and more.

Output Files

• Raw captures: capture_YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS.txt
• Processed files: [custom_name]_capture_YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS_processed.txt
• Debug logs: log_YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS.txt and ocr_debug.log

All files are saved in the captures directory by default. You can access this folder through File → Open Captures Folder.

Post-Processing

When you stop a capture session, CaptiOCR automatically:

• Analyzes the captured text to identify unique content
• Removes duplicate text blocks to clean up the transcript
• Organizes captured text with timestamps
• Creates a processed file with the custom name you provide
• Maintains the original capture file for reference

Language Support

CaptiOCR supports the following languages:

• English (eng)
• Italian (ita)
• French (fra)
• Spanish (spa)
• German (deu)
• Portuguese (por)

When you select a language, the application will:

1. Check if the language file is available in the standard Tesseract directory
2. If not found, check if it's in the application's custom tessdata directory
3. If still not found, offer to download the language file automatically
4. Download and install the language file when you confirm

Troubleshooting

• Tesseract installation errors:
  • The application will attempt to install Tesseract automatically
  • If automatic installation fails, download and install Tesseract manually from the official repository
  • Ensure it's installed to C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR\
• Language download issues:
  • Check your internet connection
  • Try downloading the language files manually from Tesseract tessdata repository
  • Place downloaded .traineddata files in C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR\tessdata\
• Capture window issues:
  • If the selection window gets stuck, press ESC and try again
  • If the capture window disappears, stop the application and restart
• Poor text recognition:
  • Enable "Live Caption Optimization" in the Settings menu
  • Ensure you've selected the correct language
  • Choose a smaller capture area focused only on the text
• Log files for troubleshooting:
  • Enable Debug Logging in the Settings menu
  • Access logs through File → Open Log Folder
  • Check both log_YYYY-MM-DD-HH-MM-SS.txt and ocr_debug.log

Tips for Best Results

• Select only the caption area, avoiding other screen elements
• Use "Live Caption Optimization" for better recognition of typical captions
• For static captions, use a longer capture interval to reduce processing
• For fast-changing captions, use a shorter interval to catch more text
• Select the correct language for best recognition accuracy
• When capturing from videos, position the capture window to follow the caption area

CaptiOCR is ideal for recording temporary on-screen text, particularly for meetings, webinars, or presentations with live captions. The application works locally on your machine for privacy.