# Creating and working with text

## Creating text in your app

1. Open Dragon Professional Anywhere.
2. Place the cursor in your app where you want the text to be written.
3. Select the microphone icon or press the plus sign on your number key pad and start speaking.

If you've placed the cursor in a text field that Dragon Professional Anywhere fully supports, the text is written there and the full range of functionality related to dictating text and editing it via voice is available (Full Text Control).

If you've placed the cursor in a text field that's unknown to Dragon Professional Anywhere, the following options are available:

- The Dictation Box opens and the text is written there; the full range of functionality related to dictating text and editing it via voice is available. When you're finished, select the transfer icon or say transfer text; the text is moved to where you originally placed the cursor and deleted from the Dictation Box.
- You dictate in your text field, using Basic Text Control; that means that only basic speech recognition functionality is supported, without the ability to navigate, edit or format the text using your voice. The microphone icon with the information badge indicates that you're using Basic Text Control. To be able to use full speech recognition functionality, say open Dictation Box.

By default, the Dictation Box is used. If you prefer to dictate directly in your text field, open the Text Input pane of the Options dialog box, go to the What happens when the cursor is placed in an unknown text field? section and select Use Basic Text Control. When you use Basic Text Control, make sure you've placed the cursor in a text field before you start recording, and stop recording before you move the focus away from the text field; otherwise, you'll lose text.

Note: If your administrator has configured system-wide settings regarding the use of Basic Text Control, your settings might not apply in all text fields. For more information, contact your administrator.

### Tips

- Keep an eye on the volume indicator around the microphone icon: When it pulses green, the system is picking up your voice. When it pulses red, the volume level is too high or there's too much background noise; try speaking more quietly, hold the microphone further away from you or move to a quieter environment. If the indicator is not pulsing, try speaking more loudly or hold the microphone closer to your mouth.
- When the progress indicator circles round the microphone icon, the system is processing your speech.

Note: When your workstation is locked, recording stops and pressing any microphone button are ignored.

### Tips on working with the Dictation Box

- To recall text from your app to the Dictation Box, select the recall icon or say recall text. The text is moved back to the Dictation Box where it replaces any text written in the meantime. The recalled text is not deleted from your app.
- To work in the Dictation Box without seeing the text being written there, say hide Dictation Box; to display it again, say show Dictation Box. Alternatively, you can show or hide the Dictation Box via hotkey or microphone button or by selecting the menu icon > Show/Hide Dictation Box.
- To clear all text from the Dictation Box, select the clear icon .
- To resize the Dictation Box, drag the corners.
- Enable Dictation Box formatting to be able to format the text in the Dictation Box.
- Configure the behavior of the Dictation Box in the Text Input pane of the Options dialog box.
- You can also edit text in the Dictation Box that has been written in an app that's not fully supported.

## Anchoring the speech focus

When you anchor the speech focus to your app, you can open and navigate through other apps without removing the speech focus from your app; this means that the recognition results are written into the anchored app, even if you move to another app while dictating. You can anchor the speech focus only to apps that Dragon Professional Anywhere fully supports.

To anchor the speech focus, do the following:

1. Open both Dragon Professional Anywhere and the app you want to dictate into.
2. Place the cursor where you want the text to be written and say anchor dictation or press CTRL + ALT + A. The microphone icon changes to the microphone icon with padlock badge .
3. Open any other app you need for analysis or reference.
4. Select the microphone icon with the padlock badge and start speaking; everything you say is written in your app.

To release the speech focus from your app again, close the app or say release dictation.

### Tips

- You can configure the speech focus to be anchored automatically via the Options dialog box.

- You can change which app has the speech focus anchored to it any time. Anchoring the speech focus to another app automatically releases the speech focus from the app it was previously anchored to.

- If the speech focus is anchored to an app and you open the Dictation Box, the speech focus is released from that app. If the Dictation Box is open when you anchor the speech focus to an app, the Dictation Box is closed.

## Editing text

You can use your keyboard and mouse to edit the recognized text:

- Type new text to correct misrecognized text.
- Place the cursor somewhere in the text and then record to insert new text.
- Select text and then record to overwrite existing text with new text.

You can also edit text via voice commands (for example, by saying scratch that).

Note: If you use Basic Text Control to dictate, editing the text via voice is not supported. If you manually select recognized text or place the cursor somewhere in the text and record, capitalization and spacing might not be correct as Dragon Professional Anywhere can't see the surrounding text.

If you work in an app that Dragon Professional Anywhere fully supports, you can edit and correct directly in that app. If you work in the Dictation Box, we recommend that you edit and correct the text there and only transfer the text to your app once it's final. That way, the system can learn from your corrections.

### Editing text written in an app that isn't fully supported

When you work in an app that Dragon Professional Anywhere doesn't fully support, you can add existing text you want to edit to the Dictation Box and edit it there.

Proceed as follows:

1. On the Text Input pane of the Options dialog box, select Add the selected text from the target application to the Dictation Box > Apply All. Open your app and select the text you want to edit.
2. Open Dragon Professional Anywhere and expand the Dictation Box. The text you selected is displayed in the Dictation Box.
3. Place the cursor where you want new text to be added, select the microphone icon or press the plus sign on your number key pad and start speaking.
4. Edit the text, if necessary, and when you're finished, select the transfer icon or say transfer text. The text is transferred to your app and deleted from the Dictation Box.