Set style, clean-up and Smart Dictation
Choose a style for each kind of text, set the clean-up level and adjust Smart Dictation with fillers, self-corrections and the word check.
- Applies to
- Windows, macOS
- Version
- Dictate 0.4.0-beta.6
In the sidebar, open Personalize›Style. The style decides how Dictate sets punctuation, capitals and lines, for each kind of text. A style never changes your words.
Where each kind of text applies
The left of the page lists five kinds of text. Dictate tells from the program you dictate into which one applies.
| Tab | Applies in |
|---|---|
| Personal messages | WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram, iMessage |
| Work messages | Teams, Slack, Mattermost, Zoom |
| Outlook, Thunderbird, Apple Mail, Gmail | |
| Documents | Word, Notion, OneNote and every other app |
| Clinical | hospital and practice systems (KIS and PVS), for example SAP, ORBIS, NEXUS, Medistar, T2med |
Below them are the Clean-up and Programs tabs.
Choose a style
- On the left, click a kind of text, for example Email.
- Click one of the five cards. Each card shows an example and marks what the style changes.
The choice applies from the next dictation.
| Style | Effect |
|---|---|
| Formal | capitals, full punctuation, full stop at the end |
| Neutral | punctuation by the usual rules |
| Casual | capitals, less punctuation, no full stop in short texts |
| Very casual | no capitals, less punctuation |
| Excited | capitals, fewer commas, exclamation marks on greetings, thanks and the end |
For Email the style also sets the greeting and sign-off: on their own lines with Formal and Neutral, in the running text with Casual and Very casual.
With Very casual, German nouns keep their capital, so the meaning stays clear. The German nouns small too switch changes that.
For findings and doctor's letters Dictate recommends Formal.
A kind of text without a style of its own follows the general style. The default is Neutral. Use the general style removes a style of its own again.
Set up the style step by step
Click Set up step by step at the top right. After the first round the button says Set up again. The Set up your style dialog walks through the five kinds of text. Every choice applies at once. You can stop at any time, and what you chose stays.
Assign programs to a kind of text
Dictate knows most programs by itself. If Dictate puts a program in the wrong kind, change it:
- On the left, click Programs. The list shows open programs and programs you dictated into lately.
- Next to the program, choose the kind of text. Automatic lets Dictate decide again.
If a program is missing, open it or dictate into it. Then click Refresh the list. In a browser the tab title decides, unless you assign a kind.
Set the clean-up
On the left, click Clean-up. Under Level for every dictation you choose how much Smart Dictation cleans up a dictation. The page shows for each level what becomes of the same dictation:
Said: "uh so the appointment tomorrow uh no the appointment on tuesday is at ten and then we can go through the findings"
| Level | Effect | Result |
|---|---|---|
| None | word for word, fillers too | Uh so the appointment tomorrow uh no the appointment on tuesday is at ten and then we can go through the findings. |
| Light | no fillers, with grammar and punctuation | The appointment on Tuesday is at 10 and then we can go through the findings. |
| Medium | clearer and shorter, as a draft | The appointment is on Tuesday at 10. Then we go through the findings. |
| Strong | as brief as possible, as a draft | Tuesday, 10: appointment, go through findings. |
The default is Light. None turns Smart Dictation off.
Dictate checks every draft. If a new word, name or number comes in, Dictate inserts the Light version instead.
Medium and Strong need MediSync Cloud or the editing model of MediSync Local. Without either, the page says Medium and Strong need MediSync Cloud or the editing model. Until then Light applies. With MediSync Cloud the text goes to MediSync servers for this. More in Cloud or Local.
Clinical text
Text for hospital and practice systems stays at Light at most, even if you choose a higher level. Under Hospital and practice systems you can set a level of its own. Automatic: Light at most is the default.
More switches in the Clean-up tab
Below the levels are Self-corrections (Remove fillers instead when Smart Dictation is off), General style and Allow no new words. They are the same settings as under Settings›Dictation›Writing, see below. Further down, What Dictate cleans up shows examples of fillers, spoken punctuation, self-corrections, and numbers and units.
Smart Dictation in the settings
Open Settings›Dictation. The Writing section has:
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| Writing style | the general style. Open Style goes to the Style page. |
| Smart Dictation | removes fillers, writes numbers and punctuation, and applies your dictionary. Default: on. |
| Remove fillers | shows only when Smart Dictation is off. With Smart Dictation, Dictate always removes fillers. |
| Self-corrections | shows only when Smart Dictation is on. Correction only: the corrected version is written. "Three, no, five milligrams ramipril" becomes "5 mg ramipril.", also in hospital and practice systems. Keep everything: Dictate writes every statement. Default: Correction only. |
| Suggest words from corrections | suggests terms you correct after a dictation for your dictionary. |
| Allow no new words | if a result contains words you did not say, Dictate inserts the rule-based version. Default: on. Leave it on. |
Without Smart Dictation, Dictate writes self-corrections and numbers as you speak them. Spoken punctuation, the dictionary and snippets always go through the fixed rules. The rules then remove fillers only when Remove fillers is on.
Whether Smart Dictation is running
Open Settings›Status and models. The Smart Dictation row shows:
| Display | Meaning |
|---|---|
| On this computer | The MediSync Local model formats. |
| Through MediSync Cloud | MediSync Cloud formats. |
| Formatting with rules | Fixed rules format, for example without a suitable graphics card. See Model packages. |
| Off | You turned Smart Dictation off. |
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