Voice Recognition

D
Posted By
dipity
Mar 12, 2007
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869
Replies
13
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Closed
I have repetitive strain problems and I think that using a voice recognition program with photoshop might save me enough motion that I can start working again. Yes, I’ve tried all the ergonomic stuff. I’m thinking about Dragon Naturally Speaking because I use a PC.

Has anyone tried using a voice recognition program with photoshop? How about with After Effects?
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TI
Thomas_Ireland
Mar 12, 2007
Haven’t used it with PS or AF, but I have used Dragon Naturally Speaking for years.

I can tell you that for me, it works great! I’s about 99% accurate. Much better than typing, and much faster. Other people I know have had issues with it, but to get it to be the most accurate, do as they recommend.

This means taking the time to properly train on it, update training as required (new location of computer, etc.), and speaking at your normal rate of speed. Most people think that speaking slowly will improve accuracy, but just the opposite is true.

You get out of it what you put into it. Like I said, for me, it works great!
DP
Daryl_Pritchard
Mar 12, 2007
Out of curiousity, how might you envision using Dragon Naturally Speaking? Apart from occasional text edits where it might work more akin to doing text entry as with a word processing app, I’m guessing you see it as being a command processor? I could see where that might work, yet one would have to know exactly how a given command (menu item presumably) is written. For examle you couldn’t say "cut to layer" for "layer via cut". With a bit of time and practice, I’m sure you’d learn the exact names of commands you most use. Meanwhile palette-based operations probably would not lend too well to voice recognition, so I see that as where you’d continue to use the mouse predominantly.

Daryl
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dipity
Mar 13, 2007
Thomas,
Do you use preferred or professional dragon? I’m also wondering whether it’s worth the lots of extra bucks to get the pro version.
DP
Daryl_Pritchard
Mar 13, 2007
Dipity,

You may be in luck if you use DNS Professional…unless version 9 offers custom programmable command features in the Preferred edition that DNS7 Pro did. That’t only based upon what I’ve read, as your question piqued my curiosity given how I’ve favored the use of custom toolbars for easy access to commands without having to use keyboard shortcuts. Luckily I don’t have any mobility issues, but I have heard from others that do, who expressed how they favor toolbars to keyboard shortcuts. So, with no toolbars in Photoshop CS2, what alternative might voice recgonition offer? Interesting question. I did a Google search for ‘"Dragon Naturally Speaking" photoshop’ and found the following at <http://www.edc.org/spk2wrt/hypermail/6298.html>

I currently have a client that is using DNS Professional ver. 7.0 with the Adobe CS Package including Photo Shop, Page Maker and Illustrator. My client has Muscular Dystrophy. He is able to use a mouse within a very small, well defined area. He uses the on-screen keyboard from Windows XP professional along with DNS Professional. I state Professional version specifically because we have had to create step-by-step keyboard commands for these programs for him to vocalize what it is he wants the program to do.

Thus, DNS Professional does enable one to access the menus and issue commands. In my experience, it is helpful to have the ability to operate a pointing device at least somewhat and be able to access a keyboard (on-screen or otherwise) at least somewhat. We did have to spend quite a bit of time together getting the commands set up. He was able to program many of them given some verbal cuing. Others he was doing correctly and hit glitches. At that point, I was able to step in and use a standard keyboard to program the step-by-step commands. Even then, we hit a few glitches. The beauty though of the Adobe programs is that there seems to be more than one way to perform a function. My client is very happy with what he has been able to perform. In summary, I STRONGLY recommend that the OS be Windows XP Professional, and the Dragon Naturally Speaking MUST be the Professional one.

You might be able to e-mail the person who posted that info, as they offer their e-mail in the linked thread.

Regards,

Daryl
DP
Daryl_Pritchard
Mar 13, 2007
Dipity,

Still curious about this, I changed my Google search to ‘"voice recognition" photoshop’ and actually learned of a voice recognition application called speak4, targeted at graphics applications…Photoshop, InDesign, AutoCAD, etc. You can buy it for one application or as a suite for multiple applications. For Photoshop alone, it is $100, which I think is reasonable if it really measures up to simplifying your tasks, and is much less expensive than DNS9 Pro. Here is a video demonstration, but I’ve not watched it fully to really get much beyond the author doing a cut, paste, new layer, and magic wand selection: <http://www.speak4cad.com/demos/PhotoShop/photshop.html>

Just back up to the domain level for more info.

Daryl
RK
Rob_Keijzer
Mar 13, 2007
And when your system locks up, you’d have to get two friends, and the three of you would have to shout "Control!", "Alt!" and "Delete!" simultaneously 🙂
DP
Daryl_Pritchard
Mar 13, 2007
LOL! Indeed!

One thing for sure…if voice recognition could work effectively with PS, I’d only want it used in a single-user setting, so there’s not a raucous atmosphere of people around me all getting chatty with PC. 🙂
D
dipity
Mar 14, 2007
Thanks very much Daryl!
I e-mailed that guy, haven’t had a reply, but haven’t had it bounce back either.

and I’m going to try that software. they have (oh my goodness) a free trial! I’d have to have dragon at work, though, because I’d be working in other programs, like after effects and some others.

so thanks again.

and anyone else who sees this and has actually used Dragon, I’d still like to hear from you.
TI
Thomas_Ireland
Mar 14, 2007
Dipity,

I can’t say anything either way about the pro version, as I have never used it. The first version I bought was version 5. I’m up to version 7 preferred now. I don’t see a need to upgrade any further as this version preforms great the way I use it.

I use it for a continuing journal, and anything else that requires any considerable amount of typing. For shorter messages, I just struggle with the keyboard as it takes a little time to connect the microphone, open the window and such.

Perhaps you can buy the license of an older version and try it out.
DP
Daryl_Pritchard
Mar 14, 2007
Dipity,

If you give the trial of Speak4CAD photoshop version a try, don’t be surprised at seeing some errors. Apparently as the version installs only with Photoshop support, then there is no need to say "enable Photoshop" which only results in an error about loading the grammar engine. At first I didn’t think the app was working, until I realized my own error of saying "Marquee" but watching for the Magic Wand tool selection to occur. I started playing around with Speak4CAD last night and ran into other verbose errors that I didn’t have time to explore much either, but my initial impression is that while this may be versatile software in all the commands supported, it may also be rather immature and problem-prone.

Daryl
DM
Don_McCahill
Mar 14, 2007
My Dad used Dragon a few years back. He couldn’t type, but I got him onto the computer once my Mom passed on. The only problem was faced was that he had to train the computer twice … once with his teeth in and once with them out.

He died several years ago, so I’m not familiar with the newer versions I assume have appeared.
DP
Daryl_Pritchard
Mar 14, 2007
I’ve been playing with Speak4 during my lunch break, and it actually does seem to work rather well. I’d not be too surprised if my errors last night were triggered by talking normally while running Speak4 and perhaps some of my normal talk resulted in an effort to process words outside the command vocabulary. It is an interesting idea, yet might actually be slower at the outset to use until one becomes accustomed to leaving the keyboard alone.

Daryl
B
bob733
Apr 3, 2007
Just for kicks, i made up several Dragon commands to do things i always do. Each command took about 30 seconds to make. I made up commands like "bigger, smaller, inverse etc " to do things like making the brush bigger, smaller, or inversing the selection.

You can write commands to do pretty much what you want (including multiple step photoshop commands).

I also went to www.knowbrainer.com and did a search on Photoshop and there is quite a lot up there, so for better or worse, I would suggest you go there and look.

oh, and as to this comment about abracadabra….that would probably be childs play with the dragon (LOL)

Bob

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