Free OCR Software: Unlock Easy and Efficient Text Recognition
8 February 2024 Senior Product Manager
Summary
Learn how to convert pictures into text using OCR text recognition software. This article highlights the top free OCR software options and provides step-by-step conversion instructions.
OCR, or optical character recognition, is the analysis and recognition of image files containing text to extract text and layout information. It converts text and characters into codes for data processing, applicable to both printed and handwritten text.
If you receive magazines, newspapers, books, or contracts and want to input them into your computer, you can use OCR for quick recognition conversion. This eliminates the need for manual input. Even if you convert a scanned PDF file to Word format, the text remains uneditable as it is essentially a picture. To extract and reuse data from scanned documents, camera images, or image-only PDFs, professional OCR software is necessary.
The Principle of Operation Behind OCR
When using OCR text recognition software, it analyzes the document image structure and divides the page into sections like text blocks, tables, and images. It then classifies words and characters, compares them to a set of images, and generates hypotheses. Finally, after working through probabilistic assumptions, the program presents recognizable text.
OCR is based on the following two algorithms when recognizing characters:
- pattern recognition — Provides samples of text in various fonts and formats to the OCR software, which is then compared with the characters in the scanned document.
- feature detection — Rules in OCR software with specific letter or number characteristics to recognize characters in scanned documents/pictures. Among the feature rules can include the number of slashes, crosshatches, or curves in a character for comparison. For example, a capital “A” could be stored as two slashes that intersect with a horizontal line in the middle.
The advantage of OCR technology is time-saving, error avoidance in manual text entry, reduced workload, and enhanced digital processing capabilities for paper documents.
OCR software is essential for streamlining workflows and facilitating document processing. To choose a reliable option, this article introduces 9 free and user-friendly OCR text recognition software options.
Renee PDF Aide integrates advanced OCR technology to efficiently convert scanned PDF into editable formats. It supports converting PDF files to Word/Excel/PowerPoint/EPUB/Image/HTML/TXT and other common formats at a speed of up to 200 pages/minute. It can also convert text in image files and supports one-click batch conversion.
Renee PDF Aide supports the conversion of multiple languages, including English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and more. Selecting the recognition language in OCR mode can significantly enhance character recognition accuracy. The software offers high conversion efficiency, making it user-friendly even for computer beginners.
Supported OS:
Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP (32-bit and 64-bit).
advantage:
- It can support multiple languages, and installing new languages is also very simple.
- Support PDF file and image recognition.
- Files can be processed in batches.
- Character recognition accuracy is high.
- PDF editing function.
shortcoming:Only Windows system is supported.
A variety of OCR software has been introduced above, and you can choose one of them according to your own needs. The following will take Renee PDF Aide as an example to introduce the specific operation steps of converting PDF scans and pictures into text.
1. Convert PDF scans to editable file formats
The specific operation steps are as follows:
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① After installing the software, click “Convert PDF”.
② Click “Add File” to import the scanned PDF file.
③ Click the document format to be converted, such as “Word”. Then select “Enable OCR” in the lower left corner of the software, and then select an OCR text recognition mode, such as “A: Recognize text in pictures or PDF scans”.
tipsAfter choosing to enable OCR, Renee PDF Aide will provide three OCR text recognition modes, you need to choose one of them:
- A: Recognize the text in the image or PDF scan: This option defaults that the text on the PDF page is on the image/scanned image, and the program will directly use the OCR function (selecting the corresponding language will have a better effect) to recognize the text on the file Then switch to output.
- B: Recognize built-in fonts (to avoid garbled characters): This option defaults to using embedded fonts for the text on the PDF page. The program will convert these fonts into pictures, and then use the OCR function (selecting the corresponding language will be better) to identify the file. Text conversion output.
- A+B (slower): The program automatically recognizes whether the font in the file is a picture or a PDF embedded font, and then converts and outputs. But the recognition is time-consuming, and the conversion time will be longer.
④ Finally, select the location to save the file and click “Convert” to complete the operation.
2. Convert images to editable file formats
The specific operation steps are as follows:
① Follow the same steps, select “PDF Converter”, and then directly click the “OCR” function.
② Click “Add File” to add the picture to be converted, and then select the save location of the output file under Output Settings.
③ Click “OCR Language” to select the language corresponding to the picture; and select the direction of the picture.
④ Finally, click “Convert”. The file format converted by the software is TXT format by default.
Example image file:
Microsoft OneNote is a free cross-platform office program for taking notes. It allows users to enter text, create tables, and insert pictures. Notes can be shared with authorized users, and OneNote also supports OCR for recognizing and modifying text in pictures.
To optimize the text, I would remove unnecessary repetition and simplify the language. Here is the optimized text in HTML format:
To insert a picture into OneNote, right-click on the picture and select “Copy Text from Picture”. OneNote will save the text to the clipboard. Simply press Ctrl + V to paste the text where needed. The process is the same for extracting text from a printout file. Right-click on the page and choose “Copy text from this printout page”.
Note: The accuracy of OCR recognition depends on the quality of the photo. If you want to recognize handwritten content, the accuracy of OneNote is relatively low.
Supported operating systems: Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, Mac systems.
advantage:
- When dealing with simple text images, the accuracy reaches more than 90%.
- Supports recognition of scanned PDFs and images.
- easy to use.
- Free to use.
shortcoming:
- Low accuracy when reading text in table images or other complex documents.
- Files cannot be batch processed.
- Sometimes it crashes for no reason.
SimpleOCR It is a good OCR recognition software that can easily convert scanned images into text or Word documents. This is a free OCR recognition software. It has no restrictions on scanned and printed pictures, and it can be completely free. However, if it is an image of handwritten text, there will be limitations, and it only offers a 14-day free trial period. SimpleOCR has a built-in spell checker to assist you in checking the converted text. In addition, you can also set the software to read directly from the scanner, and the output file format of the software can be selected as DOC or TXT.
Like Microsoft OneNote, the accuracy of SimpleOCR recognition is affected by the image quality. The higher the image quality, the higher the recognition accuracy; on the contrary, when recognizing blurred images, the error rate will be higher.
Supported OS: Windows 10/7/8/XP/Vista.
advantage:
- Features a spell checker for word-by-word revisions.
- Support single file and batch file two processing modes.
- Free to use.
shortcoming:
- Direct copy/paste is not supported, only export to Word or text document is supported.
- The user interface is crude and outdated.
- Only three languages are recognized.
- There is no font and formatting detection.
- Only supports input images (TIFF, JPG, BMP) for recognition, does not support input PDF.
Boxoft Free OCR It is a free OCR recognition software that can help you extract text from various images and convert them into editable electronic documents. It supports multiple languages including English, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, German, French, Portuguese, Basque and many more. Plus, it can interface directly with many types of scanners, allowing you to scan paper documents and extract text directly from the scanned images.
Boxoft Free OCR has a built-in text editor, even without Microsoft Office software, you can use it to edit the text recognized by OCR. The software also provides optimization functions such as correcting PDF pages, trimming, and rotating.
Supported OS: Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/7/8/10.
advantage:
- You can define the page range for the output.
- Simple operation and easy to use.
- Recognize characters in many languages.
- Side-by-side windows can be used to visually edit OCR text.
shortcoming:
- Only Windows systems are supported.
- It hasn't been updated in recent years and the user experience is outdated.
- The software cannot recognize the content of handwritten pictures.
- PDF files are not supported.
Free OCR It is a Windows OCR program that uses the Tesseract engine created by HP and maintained by Google. The OCR text recognition accuracy is high. In addition to recognizing PDF scans well, it also supports TWAIN devices such as digital cameras and image scanners. Furthermore, it supports almost all known image types, fax documents and multi-page TIFF files. The software’s interface is simple and easy to use. The output text type supported by Free OCR software is plain text, so you can only copy the text into the document to be pasted.
Supported OS: Windows 2000/2003/XP/Vista/7/8/10
advantage:
- Free to use.
- Can be used with any type of scanner.
- It allows zooming in on local areas in an image.
- Tesseract OCR engine has good accuracy.
shortcoming:
- Only the first page of a PDF document can be recognized.
- There is a limit of 10 pictures/documents uploaded per hour.
- Only text output is supported.
- Text formatting is not preserved.
Easy Screen OCR It is an easy-to-use PC screenshot OCR recognition software, which is equipped with a powerful Google OCR engine, which can convert pictures into editable text more accurately and quickly. The difference from other software is that you don’t need to upload any content, just capture a part of the screen, it can be recognized and the text in it can be copied. Also, you can translate it into other languages.
The software can support the recognition of more than 100 languages around the world and the translation of 20 languages. It should be noted that the latest version of the software (1.4.2 and above) requires payment after 20 uses. However, older versions of the software can still be used for free.
Support system: Windows 10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, Mac system.
advantage:
- easy to use.
- Supports two OCR modes, and can recognize 100 OCR languages in Google OCR mode.
- The recognized text can be directly translated into other languages.
shortcoming:
- This OCR recognition only supports screenshots captured by the software.
- Unable to convert extracted text to other document formats.
gImageReader is a simple Gtk/Qt front-end for Google OCR engine tesseract, before using this software, you need to download and installTesseract . The software can recognize printed documents and handwritten content, and you can also choose manual or automatic recognition. The software supports batch processing of pictures and documents. Plus, after the recognition is complete, it displays an image of the recognized text alongside so you can compare and correct in real time. In addition, it also provides a variety of tools, such as spell checker, etc., so that you can check the text carefully in the later stage.
Supported operating systems: Linux, Windows.
advantage:
- Tesseract OCR engine has good accuracy.
- The OCR area can be manually selected and adjusted.
- Support JPEG, GIF, PNG, TIFF image, PDF file input.
shortcoming:
- Only TXT text output is supported.
- Mac system is not supported.
- When you need to install a new language, the operation will be more complicated.
Free OCR to Word The software is an easy-to-use OCR program with basic functions, and the accuracy of text recognition is high. It converts paper documents/images into fully editable and searchable Word documents. And it can be connected with all major types of scanners, allowing you to scan all paper documents, magazines, reports and forms directly into this software for image-to-text conversion. Once your documents are digitized, it is convenient for you to back up and share them. The software supports extracting text from a wide variety of images and even uncommon image formats, including JPG/JPEG, TIF/TIFF, BMP, GIF, PNG, EMF, WMF, JPE, ICO, JFIF, PCX, PSD, PCD, TGA et al.
Supported operating systems: Windows, Mac systems.
advantage:
- The operation interface is simple and easy to use.
- Can interface with all major types of scanners.
shortcoming:
- No text formatting recognized.
- PDF and multi-page files are not supported.
- Text language cannot be set, only English is supported.
PDFMate PDF Converter It is a free PDF format converter, in addition to converting PDF format, it also provides OCR recognition function. With this OCR function, you can convert scanned documents into editable text or Microsoft Word documents. When adding scanned PDF files or images to the software, you need to go to the advanced settings to enable OCR. It should be noted that the OCR function is limited and can only recognize documents that do not exceed 3 pages. PDFMate PDF Converter software also provides the functions of creating, editing, converting and merging PDF files to help you improve your work efficiency.
Supported operating systems: Windows, Mac systems.
advantage:
- Support batch conversion, the conversion speed is faster.
- Support recognition of multiple languages.
- Provide other PDF editing functions.
shortcoming:Only documents within 3 pages can be recognized
Summarize
This article introduces a total of 9 free OCR text recognition software, each of which has its own advantages and disadvantages. However, in terms of functional diversity and text recognition accuracy, Renee PDF Aide is better than other OCR text recognition software. If you also need to convert PDF file formats or edit PDF files, Renee PDF Aide can also help.
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