Q&A: Scanning Printed Documents for Editing

Scanning Printed Documents for Editing

Scanning Documents to Edit

Q. Can a regular photo scanner also scan documents and turn them into text I can edit in Microsoft Word?

A. With the right software, most modern photo scanners and multifunction printers can scan documents into digital files, much as you can scan a printed picture into a digital photograph. Once the scanner captures an image or PDF file of the document and saves the file on your computer, you can use an optical character recognition (O.C.R.) program to analyze the scanned document and convert it to text that can be edited in Microsoft Word or another word-processing application.

Some manufacturers include a basic O.C.R. program along with drivers and other utility software when you buy the scanner hardware. If your model did not include O.C.R. software, you can buy it separately. ABBYY FineReader, OmniPage and Readiris are among the commercial O.C.R. programs out there, and some have free versions to try before you buy. FreeOCR is another program that lives up to its name and can be found in online shareware archives.

If your scanner did not come with O.C.R. software, you may have some on your computer anyway. The 2003 and 2007 editions of Microsoft Word include Microsoft Office Document Imaging tools for optical character recognition, for example, and the company has instructions for installing the software for use with Word 2010 at support.microsoft.com/kb/982760. The OneNote program, included with some versions of Microsoft Office and also available separately, has O.C.R. functions as well. Recent versions of Adobe Acrobat have O.C.R. built in, as does the popular Evernote program.

Opening the Mac’s Downloads Folder

Q. When I click on the Downloads folder in the Mac’s Dock, it pops up as a vertical stack of a few icons and I always have to click the “More in Finder” arrow to see all the files in a window. Is there a way to just open the files in a window in the first place?

A. To cut to the chase and open the Downloads folder in a new window, right-click on the Downloads folder icon in the Dock and choose the Open “Downloads” option from the menu. (If your mouse lacks a secondary button, hold down the Control key while clicking the Downloads folder icon.)

In addition to the Open “Downloads” command, the contextual menu has other options for customizing the look of the Downloads folder when you click on it normally. You can switch from the vertical “fan” arrangement to a list or grid of icons, and also change the way the files are sorted when displayed.

TIP OF THE WEEK Want to check mail from two different Gmail accounts in one Web browser? You do not have to sign out of one to sign into the other â€" just sign into one account first and click your e-mail address or name at the top of the page. On the drop-down menu, click the Add Account button and sign in with the user name and password for the second Gmail account.

To switch between accounts, click the address at the top of the page to return to the drop-down menu and select the other mail account from the list â€" or leave them both open in separate browser tabs. You can add more than two Gmail accounts this way, and using multiple accounts does not merge the mailboxes or share information.

As an alternative to adding multiple accounts in Google’s Chrome browser, you can click on the Chrome menu icon on the right side of the toolbar and open a new Incognito window for private browsing. From there, you can log into another Gmail account while keeping the first one open in the other window.

Personal Tech invites questions about computer-based technology to QandA @nytimes.com. This column will answer questions of general interest, but letters cannot be answered individually.

On Syria, Clinton Voices Support for Obama’s Policy and for ‘Political Solution’

President Obama met with Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House on Monday to discuss the situation in Syria and consult the former secretary of state on a response to the country’s use of chemical weapons.

After her meeting with Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton briefly commented on Syria during a White House forum on wildlife trafficking. In her first public remarks on the topic in recent weeks, Mrs. Clinton said she supported Mr. Obama and hopes Congress will do the same.

“Achieving a political solution that ends the conflict is in the interest of the United States,” Mrs. Clinton said. “It will require an intense diplomatic effort guided by the road map” that was agreed upon at the Geneva Convention last June, she added.

Mrs. Clinton endorsed the idea by Secretary of State John Kerry that Syria could avoid an attack by the United States if it were to relinquish its chemical weapons supply. She said President Bashar al-Assad’s potential surrender of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile would be an “important step,” but that “this cannot be another excuse for delay or obstruction, and Russia has to support the international community’s efforts sincerely, or be held to account.”

The comments were the first time Mrs. Clinton has spoken publicly about the escalating violence in Syria since the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack that prompted Mr. Obama to call on Congress to approve a strike. Mrs. Clinton is expected to reiterate her support for Mr. Obama in a speech she will deliver in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening upon receiving an award from the National Constitution Center.

Last week, an aide to Mrs. Clinton released a statement that said the country’s former top diplomat “supports the president’s effort to enlist the Congress in pursuing a strong and targeted response to the Assad regime’s horrific use of chemical weapons.”

Although Mrs. Clinton has mostly kept a low profile on the politically contentious topic, she has been in close contact with White House officials, including several conversations with Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff, according to a person familiar with the talks but not authorized to discuss them for attribution. Mrs. Clinton also placed calls to a couple of her former colleagues in the Senate to help drum up support for Mr. Obama as lawmakers prepare to vote.

As a member of the Obama administration, Mrs. Clinton took a tough stance toward Syria â€" often arguing more aggressively than Mr. Obama did in favor of the United States aiding the Syrian rebels who seek to oust Mr. Assad.

On Monday, Mrs. Clinton reiterated her hawkish stance. “The Assad regime’s inhuman use of weapons of mass destruction against innocent, men, women and children violates a universal norm at the heart of our global order,” she said. “Therefore it demands a strong response from the international community led by the United States.”

Pundits have cited political calculation for Mrs. Clinton’s decision to remain mostly behind the scenes on the Syria debate, since her 2002 vote supporting the war in Iraq cost her heavily in the 2008 presidential election.

But an aide to Mrs. Clinton said if she were to emerge as too visible on the issue, it would look as if she were undermining the current administration. “She’s mindful of letting her successor do his job the same way her predecessor let her do her job,” this person said.

Mrs. Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, were visiting the White House to discuss how to combat the poaching of elephants â€" one of a variety of causes the former first lady has adopted since she joined her family’s foundation, recently renamed the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

On Monday evening, Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and Chelsea, will hold a foundation fund-raiser at the Italian Embassy that costs $1,000 per person and later, at their Washington home, for $25,000 a couple. Earlier on Monday, Mrs. Clinton delivered a paid speech to an investor conference at the Carlyle Group.

On Syria, Clinton Voices Support for Obama’s Policy and for ‘Political Solution’

President Obama met with Hillary Rodham Clinton at the White House on Monday to discuss the situation in Syria and consult the former secretary of state on a response to the country’s use of chemical weapons.

After her meeting with Mr. Obama, Mrs. Clinton briefly commented on Syria during a White House forum on wildlife trafficking. In her first public remarks on the topic in recent weeks, Mrs. Clinton said she supported Mr. Obama and hopes Congress will do the same.

“Achieving a political solution that ends the conflict is in the interest of the United States,” Mrs. Clinton said. “It will require an intense diplomatic effort guided by the road map” that was agreed upon at the Geneva Convention last June, she added.

Mrs. Clinton endorsed the idea by Secretary of State John Kerry that Syria could avoid an attack by the United States if it were to relinquish its chemical weapons supply. She said President Bashar al-Assad’s potential surrender of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile would be an “important step,” but that “this cannot be another excuse for delay or obstruction, and Russia has to support the international community’s efforts sincerely, or be held to account.”

The comments were the first time Mrs. Clinton has spoken publicly about the escalating violence in Syria since the Aug. 21 chemical weapons attack that prompted Mr. Obama to call on Congress to approve a strike. Mrs. Clinton is expected to reiterate her support for Mr. Obama in a speech she will deliver in Philadelphia on Tuesday evening upon receiving an award from the National Constitution Center.

Last week, an aide to Mrs. Clinton released a statement that said the country’s former top diplomat “supports the president’s effort to enlist the Congress in pursuing a strong and targeted response to the Assad regime’s horrific use of chemical weapons.”

Although Mrs. Clinton has mostly kept a low profile on the politically contentious topic, she has been in close contact with White House officials, including several conversations with Denis McDonough, the White House chief of staff, according to a person familiar with the talks but not authorized to discuss them for attribution. Mrs. Clinton also placed calls to a couple of her former colleagues in the Senate to help drum up support for Mr. Obama as lawmakers prepare to vote.

As a member of the Obama administration, Mrs. Clinton took a tough stance toward Syria â€" often arguing more aggressively than Mr. Obama did in favor of the United States aiding the Syrian rebels who seek to oust Mr. Assad.

On Monday, Mrs. Clinton reiterated her hawkish stance. “The Assad regime’s inhuman use of weapons of mass destruction against innocent, men, women and children violates a universal norm at the heart of our global order,” she said. “Therefore it demands a strong response from the international community led by the United States.”

Pundits have cited political calculation for Mrs. Clinton’s decision to remain mostly behind the scenes on the Syria debate, since her 2002 vote supporting the war in Iraq cost her heavily in the 2008 presidential election.

But an aide to Mrs. Clinton said if she were to emerge as too visible on the issue, it would look as if she were undermining the current administration. “She’s mindful of letting her successor do his job the same way her predecessor let her do her job,” this person said.

Mrs. Clinton and her daughter, Chelsea, were visiting the White House to discuss how to combat the poaching of elephants â€" one of a variety of causes the former first lady has adopted since she joined her family’s foundation, recently renamed the Bill, Hillary and Chelsea Clinton Foundation.

On Monday evening, Mrs. Clinton and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, and Chelsea, will hold a foundation fund-raiser at the Italian Embassy that costs $1,000 per person and later, at their Washington home, for $25,000 a couple. Earlier on Monday, Mrs. Clinton delivered a paid speech to an investor conference at the Carlyle Group.