Rainmaker Research releases writer’s reference software
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Oct 7, 2008 at 10:46am
Rainmaker Research has announced Spell Catcher X 10.3, a new release of thecollection of writing productivity tools. Among other things, it provides spell checking services for more than a dozen languages, and combines its multilingual spell checking with a suite of writing productivity tools. Among its features are:
° DirectCorrect, a new way to check and correct spelling. You can check and fix interactively as errors appear or continue working and fix all errors when it’s most convenient. DirectCorrect leverages advanced Mac OS X text and accessibility technology to provide virtually instantaneous display of errors.
° Spell Catcher auto-corrects common typing errors. Users often mistype a word, possibly inverting two letters. Spell Catcher is intelligent enough to be taught that mistake so that it will automatically correct the error.
° Audible error alerts that warn when mistakes are made, permitting the user to view the suggested correction and act immediately or defer the correction
° User assignable keyboard commands allow individuals to customize the way the application works. Just assign any menu item a keyboard combination that’s easy to remember and typing that combination activates the corresponding menu selection.
° Spell Catcher gathers information not only from its internal dictionaries, but Internet sources as well. Users can obtain additional information about any word that has been flagged, including correct pronunciation
° Integration with the Mac OS X Spelling Panel and support for the following languages:
US English, British English, French, Canadian French, German, Swiss German, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, Canadian English, Portuguese and Brazilian Portuguese, Danish and Russian. Also new in Spell Catcher 10.3 is a French localization.
° Improved spelling suggestions, updated dictionaries, and larger vocabulary as a result of Spell Catcher’s incorporation of a new Proximity Linguistic System.
Spell Catcher also offers tools for enhancing the writing experience. They include:
° A built-in Shorthand Glossary feature saves time by permitting users to automatically enter words, phrases, or even entire documents with a few keystrokes. Simply assign some letters or numbers to a frequently used phrase and whenever those letters are typed, the text is automatically expanded. It will even maintain the correct upper and lower case format and remove any extra spaces. For example, if a user frequently includes boilerplate information such as: “Copyright 2008, Rainmaker Inc., All Rights Reserved”, the shorthand feature enables the user to have all that text entered by just typing “crr”.
° Spell Catcher incorporates a writer’s reference book containing multiple dictionaries and an assortment of thesauri that yields more than 2,000,000 synonyms and antonyms.
° Auto-completion watches your keystrokes and searches the computer and automatically enters information into your document. Examples of information that is automatically entered via this feature are company names, names and email addresses of individuals in the address book, phone numbers and any matching words found in the dictionary or shorthand glossary.
° Spell Catcher corrects double spaces, double capitals, double punctuation and an array of other common mistakes.
° Ghostwriter monitors, records and saves keystrokes, thereby protecting against data loss that can occur in a computer crash, freeze or power outage. It can even help find an URL that you forgot to bookmark but need to locate.
° Ooint and click text manipulation macros allow Spell Catcher to clean up common text problems automatically. Email programs often show quoted text by inserting ”>” and it can be time consuming to try to remove all of these quoting characters. Spell Catcher allows the user to automatically remove these with a click. Additional macro capabilities include the ability to: strip white space and unwanted characters; automatically change case to upper or lower case or format text as title case; display statistics, create smart quotes and display quoted sections; and create custom macros to suit individual needs
° Speech recognition allows a user to control Spell Catcher with audible commands. Just tell Spell Catcher what you want it to do and it will follow your instructions, whether you want to spell-check a selection or run a macro.
Spell Catcher X 10.3 for Macintosh is available for immediate purchase from Rainmaker Research, A trial version is also available. Spell Catcher X requires Mac OS X 10.4.3 or later.
Spell Catcher X retails for US$39.95. Users who purchased Spell Catcher X version 10.2.x on or after Sept. 1, 2007 are eligible for a free upgrade. Other licensed users of SpellCatcher X version 10.2.x can purchase upgrades for $14.95.
Owners of Spell Catcher X 10.1 or earlier versions of SpellCatcher X can upgrade for $19.95. Spell Catcher X users can purchase language plug-ins in for Dutch, Canadian English, Portuguese, Brazilian Portuguese, Danish and Russian for an additional $10 each. Spell Catcher Plus version 3 is also available for Windows.
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Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
