See It All With Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Software

Imagine you have a handwritten page of text. You want to send it across to someone by mail – but there is a catch. The recipient needs to be able to edit the text, so sending an image is not ideal. Sure, you can transcribe the entire page by typing it out, or you can be smart and use technology (we recommend the latter!).

Optical Character Recognition Software enables users to convert an image of text into a machine-readable format. For example, you can scan the handwritten page using OCR Software, which then saves the text in a digital document. With the inbuilt text editor, you can edit the document, search for words, translate or even count the number of words. Imagine doing all that work manually!
Stop imagining now as we explain all about Optical Character Recognition Software in this blog.
 

What Is Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Software?

We probably don’t have to tell you that many business workflows involve receiving information in print or physical media. Think of paper-based applications, invoices, scanned legal documents or printed employee contracts – they are all a critical part of business processes. However, dealing with large volumes of paperwork is time-consuming, takes a lot of storage and needs impeccable management. Naturally, in the digital age, paperless document management is the way to go.

This is where text recognition technology comes in handy. Would you rather carry a 500-page document or simply load it up as a digital document on your smartphone? Those who choose the latter need to be aware of OCR Software. It is a tool that allows smartphone cameras to detect printed or handwritten text characters and transform them into digital records. OCR Software essentially turns any physical content into machine-readable text, which can be edited, modified or shared easily.

Sounds interesting, right? Although, we find the journey of OCR Software even more interesting – let’s take a look!
 

Evolution And Origins Of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Software

Would you believe us if we said OCR and text recognition technology have been around since the late 1920s? Naturally, OCR Software has seen a lot of changes since then:

The man responsible for one of the earliest OCR innovations was an Austrian engineer, Gustav Tauschek. He patented an optical character recognition device in 1929 and an improved version again in 1935.

Then, Ray Kurzweil founded Kurzweil Computer Products, Inc. in 1974. This company's Omni-font optical character recognition equipment could read text that was written in almost any known font and typeface.

In 1980, Kurzweil sold his business to Xerox, which was keen to advance the commercialization of text recognition and conversion. Although still a nascent technology, transforming physical text into digital files was needed for security purposes as physical notes could be lost or stolen.

When we began digitizing old newspapers in the early 1990s, OCR technology gained popularity. Most of the early work in this field used the Latin alphabet (English). Then, in 1992, text recognition for the Cyrillic script was created, enabling the digitization of Russian text. Soon, other languages followed.

This technology has advanced much since the 90s. Today’s solutions can deliver near-perfect accuracy when transcribing the text. They can recognize various fonts and even the shoddiest handwriting – with punctuation and all!

So, how does this magic happen?
 

How Does Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Software Work?

 
To understand how OCR Software works, we need to break it down into the following steps:
 

• Image Acquisition

  In the first step, a smartphone camera scans the physical document and converts the text into binary data. The OCR Software examines the scanned image and categorizes the light areas as background and the dark areas as text.

• Preprocessing The Image

  The OCR Software further cleans the image and eliminates scanning errors using trained algorithms. Some of the methods used to fix problems during the scan include deskewing or tilting the scanned document, despeckling to get rid of any digital spots and smoothing the edges of the image to get a cleaner scan.

• Text Recognition

  Here is where the magic happens! Generally, Artificial Intelligence-based models are used to target each letter, phrase, or line at a time. There are two main types of algorithms used for text recognition:

  • Pattern Matching

    Each character, known as a glyph, is isolated during the pattern-matching process and compared to another glyph that has been previously stored. Pattern recognition only works if the scanned glyph matches a font glyph in the software's database. This technique works well with scanned copies that were typewritten in a recognized font, such as legal documents.

  • Feature Extraction

    Each glyph is dissected or broken down into features like lines, closed loops and line intersections during feature extraction. It then uses these features to identify the closest match or nearest neighbor among the various stored glyphs. For instance, two slanting lines joined at the bottom will almost certainly refer to a "V."

• Postprocessing The Text

  The software turns the extracted text data into a computerized file once the text has been recognized. OCR Software can also generate PDF or text files that contain both the original scanned document and its edited version.

Now that you know how the magic of text recognition happens, let’s see how it benefits you.
 

Benefits Of Business Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Software

Before we tell you the benefits of OCR Software, we need to ask if you’ve ever seen a handwritten note and reacted like this.
 
If yes, this is why you need OCR Software! Here are some benefits (other than not having to strain your eyes):
 

• Ease Of Data Access

  Businesses with OCR Software have faster access to critical data. When information is stored in digitized text, it becomes easier to search and edit, making information more accessible.

• Disaster Recovery

  One of the primary advantages of utilizing OCR Software is disaster recovery. Data that is electronically stored on secure servers is safe even in the event of an emergency like a sudden fire outbreak or a natural disaster.

• Greater Accuracy Of Data Interpretation

  Utilizing OCR Software improves the quality of the data that organizations store. Businesses can use OCR Software to extract critical data from forms, applications and other physical documents, instantly validate them and then store them in their databases.

• Saves Time

  Finding relevant data is simpler with OCR Software than with conventional manual methods. It takes longer to go through an image than when its contents are converted to a digital format. For business operations, this can save a lot of time as information can be found quicker.

• Higher Productivity

  OCR Software enables businesses to achieve higher productivity by facilitating quicker data retrieval when required. Even if entire documents are not digitized, having relevant information in the database prevents a trip down to inventory and flipping through a million pages!

Well, we’re sure you are convinced about the importance of OCR Software. Yet, better things are on their way – read on to know the expected trends in OCR technology.
 

What’s The Future Of Optical Character Recognition (OCR) Software?

The global optical character recognition market size was valued at USD 7.46 billion in 2020 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 16.7% from 2021 to 2028. That is more growth than that of the blockchain industry!

The major trends in OCR are Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning. These technologies will reshape text and character recognition through better-automated capabilities. Moreover, future OCR Software will not be limited by rules-based techniques such as pattern matching and feature extraction. A type of Artificial Intelligence, called deep learning, is expected to be combined with OCR-based processes. With deep learning, OCR Software will allow businesses to get more than just the digital versions of their paper documents. They will get instant visibility into the meaning and context of the text. This will unlock quicker insights, faster decisions and save time across processes.
 

To Sum Up

We all know how digital transformation is enhancing business efficiency. For enterprises planning to do away with paper documents, OCR Software can streamline their time-consuming pen-and-paper processes. OCR solution solves the issues of paperwork by converting text into digital data that can be edited, shared or analyzed by other business software. If you want to modernize operations, automate processes and improve productivity, OCR Software is a must in your business toolkit!