Thank you for your interest in the image processing and OCR library
from Cal Poly.  We're distributing this version of the library via
ftp in response to the large number of requests we've had for it.

We want to be sure to explain that this is not intended to be a polished
product.  It's based on a class exercise here at Cal Poly.  In particular,
you may find that the imaging routines are sometimes slow, since the
class project was not oriented toward execution speed.  Also, the character
recognition is extremely font-specific.  It works quite well on fonts from
the high-end HP laser printer on which it was trained, but is not guaranteed
to work on others.

To keep the lawyers happy (and we do want them to be happy :-)) we have to
mention also that this software was developed at Cal Poly using university 
resources, and thus may be used only for academic purposes, not for 
commercial gain.

We are considering producing a private version of this library, since 
everyone seems so interested in it.  To this end, we would like to ask
for your advice.  Do you feel that there is sufficient need for a library
of this sort to warrant development of a marketable version?  Would such
a version be of interest to you?

This marketable version would of course be more stable than the ftp version,
and might include the following:

1.
A complete set of imaging routines instead of the partial set currently
available.

2.
Higher speed than the current version. 

3.
A font-independent OCR system.

4.
No legal restrictions on commercial use.

5.
Anything else you would like to suggest.  We would like to give you 
the opportunity to tell us which features you'd like to see in a commercial 
version.  It's easy for our team to add them at this point, since we haven't
written the commercial version yet :-).  Is the OCR capability of primary
interest, or are you most interested in imaging routines?  What imaging
functions in particular would you find most useful?  What scanner hardware
or other I/O hardware would you like the package to work with?  What image
formats?

If you have the time, we'd certainly appreciate your input.  Please send
Email to:

cstaley@polyslo.calpoly.edu

We would also appreciate it if you could send a US mail address and phone
number.  Since this may become a commercial product, we feel it's appropriate
to move our team's marketing activities off of the Internet.

Looking forward to hearing your ideas,



Dr. Clint Staley, Associate Prof.
Dept of Computer Science
Cal Poly, SLO
(805) 466-4544
cstaley@polyslo.calpoly.edu
