Skip to content

QUICKSTART.md

Latest commit

 

History

History
160 lines (115 loc) · 3.74 KB

QUICKSTART.md

File metadata and controls

160 lines (115 loc) · 3.74 KB

TestBuddy Quick Start Guide

Get up and running in 5 minutes.

Installation (5 minutes)

Step 1: Install Tesseract OCR

Download and run the Windows installer: https://github.com/UB-Mannheim/tesseract/wiki

Default installation path is fine: C:\Program Files\Tesseract-OCR

Step 2: Install Python Dependencies

cd c:\Users\idavi\Documents\Projects\testbuddy
pip install -r requirements.txt

Step 3: Launch TestBuddy

python main.py

First Run: App creates testbuddy.ini with default settings.

5-Minute Workflow

  1. Open TestBuddy (app stays on top)
  2. Press Ctrl+Shift+S → Windows Snipping Tool opens
  3. Capture text → Snip the area with text
  4. Wait 1-3 seconds → OCR processes automatically
  5. Ctrl+C → Copy text or click "COPY TEXT" button
  6. Done! → Text now in your clipboard

Key Features Overview

Feature Shortcut How to Use
Capture Ctrl+Shift+S Launch screenshot tool
Copy Ctrl+C Copy extracted text
History Button View last 10 OCR sessions
Export Button Save text to file
Help Button View keyboard shortcuts

First-Time Customization

Change OCR Language

Open testbuddy.ini and edit:

[tesseract]
language = fra    # Change to French

Save and restart app. Common codes: eng (English), fra (French), deu (German), spa (Spanish), jpn (Japanese).

See CONFIGURATION.md for complete language list.

Auto-Copy Text

Edit testbuddy.ini:

[behavior]
auto_copy_on_ocr = True

Now OCR results auto-copy to clipboard (no manual copy needed).

Disable History

Edit testbuddy.ini:

[history]
enable_history = False

This saves memory and doesn't track past OCR sessions.

Files Generated

After first run, these files appear:

File Purpose Safe to Delete?
testbuddy.ini Settings No (regenerated with defaults)
testbuddy_history.json OCR history Yes (history lost)
testbuddy_debug.log Activity log Yes (diagnostics lost)
exports/ Exported sessions Yes (old exports lost)

Troubleshooting

"Tesseract not found" Error

  1. Download Tesseract: https://github.com/UB-Mannheim/tesseract/wiki
  2. Run installer (default path is fine)
  3. Restart TestBuddy

OCR gives wrong text

Try different capture mode:

  1. Edit testbuddy.ini:
[tesseract]
psm = 3    # Try 3, 6, 11 (currently 6)
  1. Restart and try again

App is slow or unresponsive

  1. Close other applications
  2. Try simpler screenshot (less text)
  3. Check testbuddy_debug.log for errors

Want to reset all settings

del testbuddy.ini
del testbuddy_history.json
del testbuddy_debug.log
python main.py

What's Next?

  • ✅ Phase 1 Complete: Config, keyboard shortcuts, history, type hints
  • 🎯 Phase 2 (Planned): Image preview, multi-language UI, undo/redo, dark mode
  • 🚀 Phase 3 (Planned): Batch processing, CSV/JSON export, corrections
  • 📦 Phase 4 (Planned): Packaging, Windows installer, auto-updater

System Requirements

  • Windows 10/11 (not Mac/Linux)
  • Python 3.8+ (python --version to check)
  • Tesseract OCR (installed separately)
  • RAM: 256MB minimum, 512MB recommended
  • Disk: 50MB for installation + 100MB for language data

Need Help?

  1. Check Activity Log: Right panel shows what app is doing
  2. Review testbuddy_debug.log: Detailed error messages
  3. Read CONFIGURATION.md: All settings explained
  4. See README.md: Full feature documentation

Ready to extract text? Press Ctrl+Shift+S and take a screenshot! 📸

Version: 1.0.0
Last Updated: December 2025