OCR software produces machine-readable text that can be edited, searched, and analyzed. This work is important in the world of digital documents since OCR scanning software can help you extract crucial data points and sets from scanned documents that only exist in paper form. OCR technology is also important for many other reasons. It can help increase accessibility to paper documents for people with visual or auditory disabilities, as well as allow you to create new databases with information that was only previously written. This blog will explain how OCR software works, why OCR solutions matter so much to modern businesses and organizations, and how you can implement these solutions.
What is OCR Technology?
OCR, which stands for Optical Character Recognition, is a sophisticated technology. It allows you to scan texts and convert those images of printed or handwritten materials into machine-readable text. Once OCR scanning software has scanned a text or multiple texts, it can then do whatever you want it to do. But usually, the main reasons individuals and organizations employ OCR solutions are to either:
- Extract text and data from printed materials
- Convert old texts into digital formats to preserve them
- Create new databases from older, paper texts
- Translating texts written in other languages
These are the main reasons, but not the only ones. The breadth and versatility of OCR technology mean that you can refine OCR software or program it to do a multitude of tasks depending on your particular needs. You can choose to increase your OCR scanner’s text recognition capabilities so that it can recognize and convert different arrangements of symbols, fonts, and colors.
At the center of OCR technology is character recognition. Traditional scanners used to take simple snapshots of a printed document, so you could not interact with the text other than reading it or making surface changes. OCR software goes further by meticulously scrutinizing the shape, size, and pattern of each character. It then compares these to a database of known characters, encompassing various fonts and styles, and produces a faithful, machine-readable text that can be edited, searched, and analyzed, effectively turning scanned PDFs into intelligible documents.
How Does OCR Software Work?
OCR software starts with scanning. This generates an image made of dots or pixels either by scanning a physical document or using a digital image for scanned PDFs. More advanced OCR PDF scanners come with preprocessing features that clean up the text by eliminating noise, adjusting contrast, and correcting crooked text. The next step is important. OCR technology then tries to detect or recognize the text by trying to identify areas within the image that likely contain text to distinguish it from images or graphics.
When this process is complete, the result is a machine-readable text that can be “read by machines”, meaning that you can then feed this text into a database. This process will instigate a new workflow, where your document management system scans, analyzes, and stores it away so that a permanent copy exists always, and can be referenced whenever you search for a specific keyword in the text.
The entire process is possible only because of a series of intricate algorithms and pattern recognition software, along with hardware such as scanners, printers, and digital capture tools. You don’t need expensive devices or software to have OCR technology, and it can work with even the simplest capture device, such as your phone’s camera, which can double as an OCR scanner with the right app or software.
When To Use OCR Technology?
The advantages of OCR technology are numerous. When it concerns scanned PDFs, OCR scanners can significantly enhance searchability, meaning you can create new databases replete with information that was not digital. You can enable your OCR software to identify specific terms or phrases within scanned documents. This feature means that scanned PDFs can transform from static images into dynamic and searchable repositories of information.
Second, OCR scanning software makes text extraction and editing easier, since it allows users to extract text from scanned PDFs and edit PDFs as effortlessly as any other digital text. This capability is critical for making corrections, summarizing content, or repurposing information. OCR text scanners can also increase accessibility by enhancing inclusivity for individuals with visual impairments. Thanks to text-to-speech software that can read aloud extracted texts, visually impaired users can access both digital content and printed materials that have been converted to digital.
But aside from the efficiency, and accessibility OCR technology offers, OCR solutions are also crucial to preserving and storing important historical documents. OCR scanning software enables the conversion of these documents into digital formats, so they are no longer at risk of deterioration while facilitating efficient digital archiving. But the versatility of OCR technology extends across a wide spectrum of applications, making it one of the most important and invaluable tools for anyone from business leaders to researchers and everyday people alike.