What Is OCR Software Used For?
OCR, or optical character recognition, is a software package used with scanners to convert documents containing text to editable documents once they are scanned into a computer. The text on the original document must be clear, and some handwriting may not be recognized by the computer. OCR software is usually bundled for free with flatbed and some handheld scanners.
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Features of OCR Programs
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OCR programs come with a variety of features, including the ability to be trained by the user to recognize different fonts and unusual words; built-in dictionaries for word searches by the OCR software; a "preview screen" for seeing which words the OCR program recognized and which ones it got wrong; and the ability to recognize words in different languages.
Bundled OCR Programs
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Most scanners are bundled with free OCR programs included on the setup disc. These OCR programs are usually limited versions of their commercial counterparts. Some of the features available on the full version may not be available on the free version you got with your scanner. One OCR program commonly bundled with scanners is OmniPage.
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Recognition of Characters, Words and Sentences
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OCR programs have improved over the years, and the amount of mistakes in recognizing characters, words and sentences has reduced dramatically. Most OCR programs today have a high recognition rate, but documents containing images with text under them still may not be converted completely.
Uses of OCR Programs
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The programs are used in corporations, educational institutions and other organizations as a way of speeding up the data entry process. OCR software also helps reduce the amount of human error when entering data, but the process still must be checked for unrecognized characters, words and sentences. The United States Postal Service has been using OCR programs to sort mail since the mid-1960s.
Prices of OCR Programs
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Commercial OCR programs vary in price from less than $100 for a basic program to over $400 for professional programs with higher recognition success rates. OmniPage Professional's Standard Version is $149.99 (as of September 2009) and the Professional Version is $499.99. For most home users, the free version included with the scanner may work just fine. For businesses, a version with a higher recognition rate may be desired.
Free OCR Programs For Downloading
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There are several free OCR programs available for downloading from the Internet. TopOCR: Free OCR for Digital Cameras is one such free program. Geared toward recognizing text from poor-quality images on digital cameras and smartphones, TopOCR: Free OCR for Digital Cameras is available for Windows and Linux. Another free OCR program is GOCR, also available for Linux and Windows.
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