The OCR process is a tricky one. It’s not as simple as taking a photo of text and getting it translated into words. The OCR process actually works by using optical character recognition software to extract the characters from an image file, such as a PDF or JPG, and then translate those characters into text on your computer screen. In this blog post we will discuss OCR basics like how does OCR work? What are the different types of OCR? And what are some good OCR programs to use for my business?

OCR Basics: How does OCR work?

• Optical character recognition software scans text printed on a page.
• The OCR scanner will then extract each letter and convert the letters into digital data by assigning a numerical value to represent its position in the alphabet, for example A= 65, B = 66, etc.
• This data is stored as an image which can be searched using keywords or phrases (e.g., “cotton”).

Various types of OCR

There are two types of OCR:

• Static OCR - This type scans and stores images of printed text without movement. It is usually used for scanning documents that will not be edited, like PDFs or scanned books.
• Dynamic OCR - This type captures text as it’s being written on a screen by an OCR components software package to improve the accuracy. A great example is if you were typing in Word but wanted everything typed to go into Google DOCR instead. The static version would only capture what was already there while dynamic OCR can scan live content and update with each letter sent so no letters get left out.

The best OCR programs and tools

There’s OCR software that is designed specifically for the job and other OCR tools that can be adapted or modified in some way to help with this process.

These OCR components packages come with a variety of features like recognition accuracy, operating system compatibility, conversion speed and more so it’s important to do your research before settling on only one option.

Of course, Optiic is an OCR service. You can use the Optiic OCR API or we have a free OCR tool online that you can use if you don’t want to mess with any integrations. Some other popular OCR programs include ABBYY FineReader 12 Corporate Edition; Adobe Acrobat DC Pro Plus 2017; etc.

What’s the advantage of OCR?

The main advantage of OCR is that it can transform images into text. This process allows people with visual impairments to read the document and also makes documents searchable on a computer, tablet or smartphone.

This ability to convert an image (or PDF) from graphical form to logical form without any human intervention has grown in importance as we have more data coming online every day. The power of OCR components packages are excellent for converting paper-based documents like forms, receipts and faxes into digital content where they can be shared securely or edited easily by anyone who needs them - even if no one knows how to read handwriting!

Final thoughts

Though OCR components packages primarily work with printed material its worth noting that OCR can also be applied to video and audio files. OCR components packages have been adapted for use with these formats by offloading the OCR process to a cloud-based server where it doesn’t compromise any of the qualities inherent in high-resolution video or audio capture.

OCR strives to convert an image into text without using human intervention at all. In today’s world OCR has become increasingly important because we are constantly generating more data on computers, tablets and smartphones - so if there is no way to convert this content from graphical form (e.g., images) into logical form (text), then many people will not be able to read it!

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