Using ClaroRead with Dragon NaturallySpeaking V7 and V8

ClaroRead has a number of features that can help using Dragon NaturallySpeaking dictation speech recognition software.

  1. With ClaroRead PLUS, you can turn on the Echo Dragon feature in Advanced Speech Settings. This will echo back anything that Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognises,when dictating into any application. It will work with the Professional, Preferred and Standard edition of Dragon NaturallySpeaking V8.
  2. With ClaroRead Version 2.5 (Standard and PLUS) the Dragon Training text can be spoken out when hovering the mouse over the text. ClaroRead needs to have "Speak Object under Mouse" turned on in the Advanced Speech Settings. It is possible to modify the amount of text shown in the training window by Dragon, so please contact us if you would like to know how to do this.
  3. With ClaroRead Version 2.5, the main toolbar controls are also mirrored using keyboard hotkeys. Play is F7, Stop is F8, Check Word is F9, Show homophones is F10 and Clear Homophones is F11. Pressing F6 first disables the hotkeys linking to ClaroRead, and puts them back to their default settings (should you need this). If you are using Dragon Standard or Preferred dictating into Microsoft Word, and ClaroRead is open, then you can say "Press F7" and ClaroRead would start speaking from the point where the cursor is.
  4. With ClaroRead Version 2.5 using keyboard hotkeys to control Play,Stop, Check etc we have written a basic Dragon Macro which can be loaded into Dragon NaturallySpeaking Professional V8. We have created some new voices commands that allows you to control ClaroRead by voice when dictating in Microsoft Word.

    The commands when working in Word are:

    CommandAction
    read on
    begin reading
    press play
    type F7    		Starts to read and highlight from the cursor using the selected ClaroRead voice.
    read off
    stop reading
    press stop
    type F8    		Stops reading.
    speak word/line/paragraph
    speak next/previous word/line
    check wordChecks the Word for Spelling, Meaning or homophone
    show wordsShows homophones in colour
    show words in line/paragraph/document
    hide wordsClears homphones shown in colour
    hide words in line/paragraph/document

  5. To install a Macro into Dragon NaturallySpeaking, follow the instructions below. These are taken from the Dragon NaturallySpeaking V8 Help File.

Importing and exporting commands in the Dragon NS Professional Command Browser

You can share custom commands with other users by exporting them to a file and then having the other user import that file. If you have created several users on your computer, you will be able to access these commands no matter which user is currently open. Use the following procedures to import and export commands.

To import command files

  1. On the Tools menu of the DragonBar, click Command Browser.
  2. In the open Command Browser window, click the Manage button.
  3. In the toolbar of the Manage area, click Import.
  4. Use the Choose a file to import from dialog box to navigate to the location of the voice command file (for example, My_Commands.dat) that you want to import, and select the file name.
  5. Click Open.
  6. In the Importing MyCommands dialog box, select the commands you want to import by clicking the check box to the left of the command so that a check mark appears in the box. If you need to expand the list to find the command(s) you want, click on the plus sign (+).
  7. When all the commands you want to import are selected, click the Import button.
  8. The status of the import process and any error messages appear in the Import Status dialog box.

To export a command

  1. On the Tools menu of the DragonBar, click Command Browser.
  2. On the open Command Browser window, click the Manage button.
  3. Select the current group.
  4. Click the plus sign (+) to expand the list if needed to find the command(s) you want to export.
  5. Click the check box to the left of the command grammar so that a check mark appears in it.
  6. Click the Export button on the toolbar.
  7. In the Choose a File to Export to dialog box, you can:
  8. Choose a File name from the ones listed, click Save, and then Click either Overwrite, Merge, or #Cancel on the Exporting MyCommands dialog box that appears. Overwrite replaces the commands in the existing file with the ones you selected. Merge adds the commands you selected to the ones already in the file.
  9. Enter a new file name and click Save.

After importing a voice command file, you can use all the custom voice commands it contains in addition to any custom voice commands that were already in your voice command file. You can also edit commands that are contained in the imported file.

You can also use the Manage area of the Command Browser to edit the properties of commands you have imported.

Each person who uses imported commands can improve how Dragon NaturallySpeaking recognizes them by training the command names in their own voice.