How do I use the C-Pen Reader?

C-Pen Readers are available to borrow from the Media Equipment and Staff IT Service Desk on the ground floor of the Library.

Introduction

The C-Pen Reader is a portable scanning pen which can read text aloud, give dictionary definitions and scan text to a PC.

Photo of C-Pen Reader showing location of OK button (centre of circular button), menu button (top right of circular button), power/back button (below right of the circular button), scanner (at the narrowest end of the device).

Turn on and off

Press and hold Power to switch the pen on or off. This also acts as a Back button when viewing the menu.

The pen will switch itself off after approximately 10 minutes of inactivity.

Text reader

This will read aloud any text that you scan. The text will not be saved for listening to again later so this is good for reading on the spot.

Go to the Main Menu (you may need to press Back to access it) and use the arrows to select Text Reader.
Press OK (the round button in the middle of the arrow buttons).
Press Menu again to change the Listen settings.
On the Listen Settings menu, use the arrows to select Adding Mode then press OK.
Select Append and press OK – this will ensure that each new line of text you scan is added to the previous lines.
Now scan some text – see the Tips for Scanning section.
You may now want to adjust the speed or volume of the speech. To do this press Menu again and select Reading Settings. Remember to use the arrows to move to options and OK to select them.
After you have scanned multiple lines of text you may want to hear it all again from the beginning. Use the arrows to move the cursor to the beginning of the text then press OK.

Dictionary

Go to the Main Menu (you may need to press Back to access it).
Use the arrows to select Dictionary, press OK.
Scan the word you want to look up in the Dictionary.
The word will be read aloud and the definition displayed on screen.
Press OK to hear the word and definition read aloud.
Press Menu to access settings such as reading speed and volume.

Scan to file

Using the Scan to File option allows you to scan text and then transfer it to a PC.

Go to the Main Menu (you may need to press Back to access it).
Use the arrows to select Scan to File, press OK.
Use the arrows then press OK button to choose from the following options:

New File – start a new file to save your scanned text
Open File or Continue Scan – add text to a file you previously created
Delete File – delete a file you no longer need
Scan Settings – to change reading settings such as speed and volume of the voice

After choosing New File or Open File you are now ready to start scanning. See the Tips for scanning section.

Copy text to a PC

Connect the pen to the computer using the USB cable.
Use the arrows to select U-Disk and press OK.
A window should open on the PC. Open the e-ScanFile folder.
Here will you find text documents of your scanning.
Open the document and copy and paste the text into Microsoft Word.

Tips for scanning

Hold the pen as you would a normal pen, the angle between the pen and the paper should be between 70° to 90°.

Photo of how to hold the C-Pen Reader above printed text at a 70 to 90 degree angle.

The pen will read printed text between 7.5 and 21 point in size

Example of text in 7.5 point and 21 point.

The pen will not work with handwritten text.
Make sure the text to be read is on a flat surface.
Place the tip of the pen half a word in front of the first word to be scanned.
Lightly press the pen to the paper – the scanner light will come on.
Move the pen across the text. Don’t rush but move the pen at a steady pace.
At the end of the line lift the pen from the paper about half a word length after that last word.
The pen will now read the text aloud. Once it is finished you can scan the next line of text.