Dragon Installation and User Guide
3. Learn from specific documentsYoucanselectspecificdocumentsorentirefolders
containingtypicaldocuments,yourownorthoseofothers,thatreflectthetypeofdictation
youwilltypicallydo.YoucanthentrainDragonhowyoupronounceunusualwordsor
aboutpropernamesyouneedtodictate.Forexample,ifyouwereanacademicandran
thetooltoaddwordsfromessaysandarticlesinyourfieldofstudy,orabloggerusingalot
ofnewacronyms,Dragonwouldautomaticallylearnyourwords,wordfrequencyand
contexts,andmakebetterguessesaboutyourspeech.Dragonalsomoveswordsfromits
backupdictionarytoitsactivevocabularybasedonthescan.Iftherearealotofwordsto
train,you'llneedtoplanthisactivitywhenyouhaveafewminutestospendaddingthe
words.
4. Learn from sent e-mailsSimilartoLearnfromspecificdocuments,thistoolhelpsrefine
yourprofilebyanalyzingrepresentativetext,onlyinthiscaseitanalyzese-mailmessages
sentfromyourinstalledemailprogram.Inadditiontoanalyzingfrequencyofworduseand
typicalwordsequences,itcansuggestcontactnamesyoumaywanttoaddtothe
vocabulary.Note:Forthefirstrun,planthisactivitywhenyoucanletDragonuseyour
computerfor5to30minutes.Subsequentscansbuildonthefirstone,however,andare
muchfaster.
5. Run Accuracy TuningThisprocessrefinesyouruserprofilebyanalyzingaudioandtext
datathatDragonarchivesfromyourdictation.YoucanlaunchAccuracyTuningfromthe
NewDragonBarorClassicDragonBarAudiomenuorscheduleittorunlater.Choosea
timewhenyourcomputerisonbutyoucancloseDragon–forexample,whenyoutypically
haveamealorameeting.
6. Perform additional trainingDragonlearnsabouthowyoupronouncewordsandyour
vocaltoneswhenyoucreateyouruserprofile,butitcanlearnmoreifyoureadoneormore
ofthesuppliedtrainingtexts.Werecommendyoureadatrainingtextafterafewhoursof
usingDragon.OntheDragonBar,selectAudio>ReadTexttoImproveAccuracy.
7. Turn off what you don't useVisitthePerformanceAssistantforusefulstrategiesfor
optimizingaccuracyandspeedwithDragon.Forexample,youcanturnofftheabilityto
"voice-click"menus,buttonsandothercontrolsinsomeorallprograms,ortheabilityto
openitemsfromtheWindowsStartmenuordesktop.Turningofftheseoptionsreduces
Dragon'suseofcomputerresourcesandreducesthepossibilityofisolatedwordsor
phrasesbeingexecutedascommands,suchas"ClickSend"or"OpenNetwork."
8. Use Smart Format RulestohaveDragonrecognizewhenyouchangeacustomorbuilt-
inauto-formattingoptionorwordpropertyforalphanumerictextoraword.Dragon
automaticallyappliesformattingtomanycommonspokenformsoftext,suchasWeband
e-mailaddresses,streetaddresses,dates,numbers,unitsofmeasure,andsoon.The
SmartFormatRulesfeaturerecognizesyourchangestorulesandofferstocustomizethe
settingstosuityourneedsasyouwork.Youcanalsoaddcustomwordpropertiestowords
tomakeDragon'stextentrymoreintuitiveandefficient.Bysettingwordproperties,you
specifyavarietyofoptionsthatcanbeassociatedwithvocabularyentries.Youcanspecify
thatawordbeprecededorfollowedbyspecificcharactersandcustomizepropertiesfor
placementorhandling.Forexample,questionmarksandexclamationmarkshavedefault
propertiesof"Precedeby(nothing)"and"Formatthenextwordcapitalized."
Or,youcanspecifyoneormoreforwords.IftheAlternateprintedformcheckboxis
selectedfor"meter,"whenyoudictatethewordafteranumberDragonentersonly"m."
Forexample,iftheAlternateformcheckboxisnotselected,andyoudictate"meter,"
Dragontypesthefullword,"meter."
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